Shopify for B2B: A Guide for New Zealand Trade Retailers

A New Zealand trade retailer can serve very different customers from the same product range. A homeowner might buy one fitting and pay immediately. A contractor might buy by the carton, expect agreed pricing and charge the order to an approved account. Your online store needs to support the commercial rules behind both transactions.

Shopify can support that combination, but choosing a plan requires more care than asking whether it includes wholesale features. Native Shopify B2B is available on Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. The differences matter when your requirements include individual account prices, multiple catalogues, deposits or tailored buying experiences.

This guide helps NZ trade retailers evaluate those differences before committing to a subscription, an application or a development project. It focuses on the decision that affects the whole implementation: which plan can support the way your customers buy, alongside the systems your team uses to fulfil their orders.

Capabilities were checked against Shopify documentation on 27 October 2026. Treat this as a requirements framework and confirm current entitlements before signing a contract. Platform access, configuration, integration and a usable customer experience are separate parts of the investment.

Which Shopify plans support B2B?

The starting point is straightforward: Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus all support native B2B. Starter and Retail do not. An older statement that every native B2B implementation requires Plus is no longer a sound basis for selecting a plan.

The comparison below summarises Shopify’s current B2B entitlements. ‘Yes’ means the feature is available on that plan, not that every theme, payment provider or integration will implement your desired workflow automatically. Check the official B2B feature comparison alongside your proposed scope.

Native B2B capability	Basic	Grow	Advanced	Plus
Companies, locations and buyer permissions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Active catalogue assignments across B2B markets	3 total	3 total	3 total	Unlimited*
Direct catalogue assignment to companies or locations	No	No	No	Yes
Quantity rules and volume price breaks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Net payment terms and reminders	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Native B2B deposits, partial payments and payment requests per fulfilment	No	No	No	Yes
Draft-order invoicing, checkout to draft and PO numbers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reorders, quick order list and B2B Flow automations	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vaulted credit cards	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Contextual storefront and checkout through Markets	No	No	Yes	Yes

* Basic, Grow and Advanced require new Shopify Markets for B2B catalogue features. Their limit is shared across all B2B markets, not three catalogues per market. Plus removes that market-catalogue limit; other technical limits still apply. The catalogue documentation currently specifies a maximum of 10,000 total catalogues per store and 25 directly assigned catalogues per company location.

Basic and Grow: a starting point for simpler trade models

Basic and Grow have the same B2B availability in the comparison above. Grow does not unlock more B2B catalogue assignments or direct company catalogues. Decide between them using the wider subscription economics and operating requirements, rather than expecting Grow to introduce a different wholesale pricing architecture.

These plans deserve consideration when trade customers can be grouped into a small number of shared product and pricing arrangements. An illustrative NZ retailer might have a standard trade group and a reseller group, with a defined assortment for each. The question is whether the required active catalogue assignments fit the shared limit.

Avoid confusing a small catalogue count with a small customer count. Many accounts may share a commercial arrangement. Conversely, a handful of major customers with individually negotiated prices can create a more demanding requirement. Count distinct pricing and assortment needs before selecting a plan.

Also check the current NZ Shopify plan comparison for wider features, fees and billing terms. The B2B feature list alone does not establish which subscription will cost less for your payment mix, staffing and operating model.

B2B sales-staff permissions are listed across the four eligible plans, but additional staff account allowances differ: Basic includes none, Grow includes five, Advanced includes fifteen and Plus includes unlimited staff accounts. Account permissions do not remove those seat limits. Include the people who manage trade orders in the plan assessment.

Advanced: contextual experiences, with the same catalogue ceiling

Advanced is an important middle option. It supports contextual storefront and checkout customisation through Shopify Markets, which Basic and Grow do not. However, Advanced retains the same three-active-catalogue assignment limit and does not introduce direct company catalogue assignments.

That distinction matters if you want to change the shopping experience for a market but can still serve customers through shared catalogue structures. Review how B2B works with Markets and ask your implementation partner to demonstrate the proposed context changes in your theme and checkout.

Do not upgrade to Advanced expecting it to resolve hundreds of individually negotiated account price lists. Nor should you assume every checkout modification is included because contextual checkout is supported. Document the precise content, fields, delivery choices and behaviours you require, and identify the mechanism for each.

Plus: individual account pricing and more advanced payment controls

Shopify Plus becomes particularly relevant when catalogue assignments must reflect individual companies or company locations. A trade chain may have agreed product prices that differ from the standard contractor tier. Direct catalogue assignment lets the implementation represent those account arrangements without forcing every buyer into the same market-level structure.

A catalogue is more than a percentage discount. It governs available products and their prices, with support for overall adjustments and fixed product prices. Shopify’s catalogue documentation also explains assignment rules and precedence when multiple catalogues apply. Test overlapping assignments carefully so the displayed price matches the intended agreement.

Plus also provides native B2B deposit requirements, partial payments and payment requests per fulfilment. Those controls can matter for special orders or staged deliveries. They are different from simply offering an approved customer net payment terms, which are available on all four eligible plans.

The commercial case for Plus should identify the requirement it solves, the work it avoids and the ongoing responsibilities it creates. Higher subscription spend needs a defensible purpose. Equally, a cheaper plan becomes less attractive if multiple workarounds make pricing harder to audit or support.

Model trade accounts, pack sizes and pricing before configuration

Shopify B2B uses companies and company locations to represent business customers. A location carries relevant account details and purchasing context. A buyer associated with multiple locations can select which one they are buying for. This needs to match your customer structure, not merely the list of delivery addresses imported from an old website.

Location permissions distinguish buyers who can order and see their own orders from location administrators who can see all orders for that location and manage relevant address details. Review Shopify’s company and location model before mapping ERP debtor accounts, branches and contacts.

Quantity rules and volume pricing are available across Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. Use the quantity-pricing guidance to distinguish minimums, maximums and purchase increments from price breaks. A minimum quantity of twelve does not, by itself, describe whether the ERP sells twelve individual units or one carton.

Prepare representative baskets containing mixed pack sizes, price exceptions, restricted products and a changed account assignment. OSE’s guide to connecting B2B pricing with contracts and the ERP provides a broader framework for ownership and consistency. Label any example pricing as illustrative, then validate against real approved agreements.

Apply the plan differences to three NZ trade scenarios

The following examples are illustrative buying models, not OSE customer projects. They show why revenue or account count alone is a poor shortcut for choosing a B2B plan. Each would still need a working demonstration and a complete commercial assessment.

A retailer with two shared trade tiers

Consider a regional tools retailer with a consumer shop and approved contractor and reseller groups. If those groups share defined assortments and prices, and the required catalogue assignments remain within the lower-plan limit, Basic or Grow may be a viable starting point. Confirm the market setup and product visibility before adding another wholesale application.

A supplier with a differentiated trade buying experience

Now consider a supplier whose trade customers need different storefront content and checkout context, while pricing still fits a small set of shared catalogues. Advanced merits evaluation because it adds contextual experiences through Markets. The decision is about those demonstrated experience requirements, not an assumption that Advanced includes individual company catalogues.

A retailer serving negotiated branch accounts

A larger supplier may have branch customers with specific product agreements, different payment arrangements and deposits for special-order goods. Plus should be assessed against those requirements, including direct catalogue assignment and native payment controls. Map branch identities carefully, check catalogue overlaps and prove how the ERP receives the final agreed transaction. Do not estimate the implementation from the subscription alone.

Separate payment terms, order review and credit control

Net terms determine when payment falls due. Shopify supports net 7, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90, measured from the order date, plus due-on-fulfilment terms; a fixed due date can be applied to an individual draft order. These options should not be mistaken for a finance department’s particular statement or end-of-month convention.

Shopify’s payment-terms documentation makes another important distinction: payment is not automatically captured when the terms expire. Decide who collects payments, where reconciliation occurs and how overdue accounts affect future orders. A payment term is not a complete credit-control integration.

Checkout-to-draft allows orders to be submitted for merchant review, and is available across all four eligible plans. A PO number is also supported across those plans. Neither feature alone establishes a buyer-side, multi-step procurement approval process. Map any supervisor approvals, spending limits or account holds separately.

For NZ operations, confirm the payment methods actually available to your store and customers. Shopify’s plan table lists ACH as US-only; do not present it as a New Zealand bank-payment feature. Test bank transfer instructions, payment status changes and finance handling with the selected providers and ERP.

One store or a separate trade storefront?

A retailer selling to consumers and businesses must decide how much of the experience should be shared. A blended approach may simplify shared content and merchandising, while a separate trade storefront can make sense where buying journeys, assortments or operational ownership differ substantially. Neither structure eliminates the need for clear product and pricing controls.

Native B2B also requires Shopify customer accounts; legacy customer accounts cannot be used for B2B orders. Buyers must sign in and be associated with a company location to receive B2B context. Review the customer sign-in requirements when migrating existing trade accounts, so old login expectations do not undermine the launch.

Map the anonymous visitor, logged-in retail customer and approved trade buyer separately. Check what each can discover, which prices they see, which products they can purchase and what happens after changing company location. Test direct product links as well as navigation and search.

Start with OSE’s comparison of extending an existing website versus building a separate B2B portal. Keep architecture and subscription decisions connected: a plan that supports the desired pricing may still need theme work, account setup and product-publication configuration to deliver the intended experience.

ERP integration remains a separate implementation decision

A Shopify subscription does not automatically connect your ERP or reproduce every rule held there. MYOB, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Cin7 and other systems have different data structures and connector capabilities. Shopify’s external integration guidance describes the available approaches; the implementation still needs a defined data contract.

Specify the owner, direction and timing for products, stock, companies, locations, catalogue prices, payment terms, orders and fulfilment updates. Ask which B2B entities the proposed connector actually supports. An integration that exchanges retail products and orders may not synchronise company locations or negotiated trade pricing.

Test failure handling as carefully as a successful order. What happens when the ERP rejects an account, a price changes during checkout or an order times out? Who can identify the problem and replay the transaction without duplication? Our guide to preventing and recovering from ERP integration failures develops those controls.

Include NZ fulfilment scenarios in acceptance testing: rural addresses, different island delivery zones, bulky items, collection orders and split shipments where relevant. These are requirements to prove with your carrier and configuration, not capabilities to assume from the B2B plan name.

Build an NZ business case around the complete operating cost

Compare subscription fees with implementation, integration, migration, theme work, applications, payment processing, support and internal ownership. Check quoted currencies and billing commitments, and show management a consistent NZD planning view using an explicit exchange-rate assumption. Avoid converting a headline subscription into a complete project budget.

Document how prices will be displayed to retail and trade customers, how the checkout handles the selected account context and how finance will validate tax configuration. Confirm those requirements with your finance adviser. A blended retail and trade store needs coherent pricing communication throughout the journey, not just the correct number on the final invoice.

If you evaluate an app on a lower plan, require a demonstration of its pricing mechanism and limitations. Identify what is native, what the app supplies and what needs custom work. Compare renewal costs, compatibility, data ownership and support responsibilities against a Plus implementation, rather than assuming apps are either inherently cheaper or inherently unsuitable.

When appointing an implementation partner, use our guide to choosing a B2B eCommerce agency in New Zealand to compare proposals against the same requirements, delivery evidence and support commitments.

Choose the plan through a practical discovery process

Begin with a small set of demanding customer scenarios and classify each requirement as mandatory, useful or later. Include your largest trade accounts, ordinary repeat buyers, new applicants, branch purchasers and the sales team. Ask each group to show how it orders today and where manual intervention occurs.

Then compare candidate plans against those scenarios. Basic or Grow may fit shared catalogue needs; Advanced may be appropriate when contextual experiences matter; Plus deserves evaluation for direct company pricing or advanced payment requirements. If no Shopify configuration fits a mandatory workflow economically, compare alternatives rather than redesigning the business around a preferred product.

Request a scope that names dependencies, unresolved decisions, acceptance criteria and the owner of ongoing changes. Pilot with a defined customer group and measure successful orders, pricing exceptions, support effort and reconciliation. Adoption and revenue outcomes need evidence after launch; a feature checklist cannot establish them in advance.

OSE can help assess the platform, buying journey and integration together. Talk to OSE about your NZ B2B requirements before committing to a plan or a rebuild. Bring representative account structures, approved price arrangements, sample orders and your current systems map so the recommendation can follow your business requirements.

Frequently asked questions