B2B Commerce

Overview

B2B commerce adds wholesale capabilities to your store: company accounts where multiple employees order under one credit limit, custom pricing per account, a quote-to-order workflow for large or custom orders, and net payment terms (Net 30/60/90) with invoice generation. Most platforms have first-party B2B features or dedicated apps that handle these requirements without custom development.

When to Use This Skill

• When onboarding wholesale customers who require account-level pricing, catalogs, and credit terms
• When building a distributor portal where multiple employees at the same company can place orders under a shared credit limit
• When implementing a configure-price-quote (CPQ) flow for custom or large-volume orders
• When replacing a phone/email-based wholesale ordering process with a self-service portal
• When B2B customers require purchase order numbers on invoices for their accounts payable process

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine your platform and choose the right B2B tool

Platform	Recommended Tool	Why
Shopify Plus	Shopify B2B (built-in)	Shopify Plus includes Company accounts, custom catalogs, payment terms, and a dedicated B2B checkout — no extra app needed
Shopify (non-Plus)	Wholesale Club or Wholesale Gorilla	Both apps add customer-tag-based wholesale pricing, minimum order quantities, and hidden wholesale sections without requiring Plus
WooCommerce	WooCommerce B2B (WooCommerce.com extension) or B2BWoo	WooCommerce B2B handles company registration, role-based pricing, and net terms; B2BWoo is a premium alternative
BigCommerce	BigCommerce B2B Edition or the built-in Customer Groups	BigCommerce B2B Edition adds company accounts and quotes; Customer Groups (all plans) handle tiered wholesale pricing
Custom / Headless	Build company accounts, custom catalogs, and a quote workflow from scratch	Full control over credit limits, approval workflows, and invoice generation

Step 2: Set up company accounts and wholesale pricing

Shopify Plus — B2B (built-in)

1. In Shopify admin, go to Customers → B2B → Companies → Create company
2. Enter the company name, billing address, payment terms (e.g., Net 30), and credit limit
3. Add company locations (shipping addresses) and assign buyer contacts to the company
4. Create a Price List for the company: go to Customers → B2B → Price Lists → Create price list and set custom prices per product or a percentage discount on all products
5. Assign the price list to the company — company buyers see these prices when logged in
6. Company buyers see a B2B-specific checkout with net terms payment options and a PO number field

Quote workflow on Shopify Plus:

• Shopify's built-in B2B includes a Draft Orders feature — sales reps create draft orders for buyers, the buyer reviews and approves, then the draft converts to an order
• Go to Orders → Create order to create a draft; share the link with the buyer for approval

Shopify (non-Plus) — Wholesale Club

1. Install Wholesale Club from the Shopify App Store
2. Create a "Wholesale" customer tag in Shopify
3. In Wholesale Club, create a discount tier for the "Wholesale" tag: e.g., 30% off everything for tagged customers
4. Apply the wholesale tag to customer accounts when you approve them for wholesale
5. Tagged customers see the discounted prices when logged in; non-tagged customers see retail prices
6. For minimum order quantities: Wholesale Club's paid tier supports MOQs per product or order

WooCommerce

WooCommerce B2B (official extension):

1. Install from WooCommerce.com
2. Go to WooCommerce → B2B → Registration to create a wholesale account registration form with business details (company name, tax ID, etc.)
3. Manually approve wholesale registrations in WooCommerce → B2B → Customers
4. Set pricing rules: apply a percentage discount to user role "Wholesale Customer" across all products or per category
5. For net terms: WooCommerce B2B adds a "Pay by Invoice" payment gateway — orders placed with net terms generate an invoice PDF and allow deferred payment

Alternative — WooCommerce Role-Based Pricing:

• Create a "Wholesale" user role (using the User Role Editor plugin)
• Use the WooCommerce Role-Based Pricing plugin to set per-role prices per product or per category

BigCommerce

Customer Groups (available on all plans):

1. Go to Customers → Customer Groups → Add
2. Create a "Wholesale" group with a percentage discount on all products or category-specific discounts
3. Assign wholesale customers to this group manually or via registration form rules
4. Customers in the Wholesale group see group-specific pricing at checkout

BigCommerce B2B Edition (add-on for growing wholesale operations):

1. Contact BigCommerce sales to add B2B Edition to your plan
2. B2B Edition adds: company accounts with multiple buyers, quote requests, corporate payment methods, and a buyer portal
3. The buyer portal lets company admins manage users, view order history, and request quotes from a self-service interface

Step 3: Set up a quote workflow

For large or custom orders, a quote workflow lets buyers request a price before committing.

Shopify Plus

1. Use Draft Orders — a sales rep creates a draft order with custom pricing
2. Share the draft order link with the buyer via email
3. The buyer reviews the order in Shopify's checkout and approves/places the order
4. For a more formal quote system: install QuoteIQ or CPQ Configurator apps from the Shopify App Store

WooCommerce

1. Install WooCommerce Request a Quote (free, by YITH or similar)
2. Add a "Request a Quote" button to product pages — buyers add items to a quote cart
3. Buyer submits the quote request; you receive an email with the items and quantities
4. Edit the quote (adjust pricing) and send back to the buyer with an approval link
5. Buyer approves → quote converts to a WooCommerce order automatically

BigCommerce B2B Edition

• B2B Edition includes a native quote module — buyers click "Request a Quote" on any product
• You receive the quote request in the BigCommerce admin, set pricing, and send it back
• Buyers approve quotes and place the order in one step

Step 4: Configure net payment terms and invoice generation

Net terms let B2B buyers pay after receiving goods (Net 30 = pay within 30 days of invoice).

Shopify Plus

1. On the company record: set Payment Terms to Net 15, Net 30, Net 60, or Net 90
2. When a B2B buyer places an order, Shopify creates a "due on" date automatically
3. Track outstanding invoices in Customers → B2B → Orders → Invoices
4. Send payment reminders: Shopify automatically emails buyers when invoices are due (configure in Settings → Notifications)

Accounting integration for net terms:

• Connect Shopify to QuickBooks Online or Xero via their Shopify connectors
• Net terms orders sync as unpaid invoices in QuickBooks/Xero
• Your accounting team manages the payment collection follow-up from QuickBooks/Xero

WooCommerce

• The WooCommerce B2B extension's "Pay by Invoice" gateway creates PDF invoices with due dates based on net terms
• Connect to QuickBooks via the QuickBooks Online WooCommerce extension for AR tracking
• For automated payment reminders: use AutomateWoo to send reminder emails 7 days before and on the invoice due date

BigCommerce

• B2B Edition's corporate payment methods include "Net terms" options
• Connect to QuickBooks or NetSuite via their BigCommerce connectors for invoice tracking

Step 5: Custom / Headless — core B2B data model

// Company account with credit management
interface Company {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  taxId?: string;             // EIN, VAT number
  billingAddress: Address;
  paymentTerms: 'prepay' | 'net15' | 'net30' | 'net60' | 'net90';
  creditLimitCents: number | null;  // null = no limit
  creditUsedCents: number;
  status: 'pending' | 'approved' | 'suspended';
}

// Check credit before placing an order
async function checkCreditAvailability(
  companyId: string,
  orderTotalCents: number
): Promise<{ approved: boolean; reason?: string }> {
  const company = await db.companies.findById(companyId);
  if (company.status !== 'approved') {
    return { approved: false, reason: 'Company account not approved' };
  }
  if (company.creditLimitCents !== null) {
    const availableCredit = company.creditLimitCents - company.creditUsedCents;
    if (orderTotalCents > availableCredit) {
      return {
        approved: false,
        reason: `Order exceeds available credit. Available: $${(availableCredit / 100).toFixed(2)}`,
      };
    }
  }
  return { approved: true };
}

// Record credit usage when order is placed (in same DB transaction as order creation)
async function consumeCredit(companyId: string, amountCents: number): Promise<void> {
  // Atomic update prevents race condition when multiple buyers order simultaneously
  await db.raw(
    'UPDATE companies SET credit_used_cents = credit_used_cents + ? WHERE id = ? AND credit_used_cents + ? <= COALESCE(credit_limit_cents, 2147483647)',
    [amountCents, companyId, amountCents]
  );
}

Best Practices

• Require company approval before enabling net terms — run a basic credit check or manual review before setting net terms; at minimum, verify the company's business registration
• Enforce credit limits atomically — check and update credit in the same database transaction that creates the order; race conditions can allow two buyers to exceed the limit simultaneously
• Always put the PO number on invoices — B2B buyers require their internal PO number on every invoice for their accounts payable workflow; missing this causes payment delays of 30–60 days
• Release credit when orders are paid or cancelled — decrement credit_used when you receive payment; this lets buyers place new orders without waiting for manual adjustments
• Set quote expiration dates — approved quotes with custom pricing should expire after 30 days to prevent buyers from ordering at stale prices after costs change
• Audit all quote price changes — log who changed which line item price and when; this is important for margin tracking and potential disputes

Common Pitfalls

Problem	Solution
Individual buyer sees another company's pricing	Scope all catalog and pricing queries strictly by company ID; test by logging in as buyers from different companies
Credit limit exceeded due to concurrent orders	Use atomic SQL update with a WHERE clause checking credit headroom; Shopify Plus's built-in B2B handles this automatically
B2B checkout bypasses the approval flow	Enforce approval checks server-side in your order creation logic, not just in the UI
Wholesale prices show to non-wholesale customers	Customer tags on Shopify and user roles in WooCommerce must be verified server-side; never trust client-side state for pricing

Related Skills

• @vendor-management
• @order-management-system
• @returns-refund-policy
• @multi-channel-selling
• @accounts-payable-management