To begin, the B2B (business-to-business) sector is when one company establishes a commercial relationship with another. These types of business relationships arise primarily from the needs of each company, but they also depend on the needs and desires of their clients or buyers. In this way, they can offer solutions tailored to the demands of their market.
And what about the digital realm? We know that e-commerce has grown in popularity over the years, and it couldn't be left behind in this new model. B2B e-commerce has helped companies reduce costs and improve efficiency through various tools available on the market.
Shopify, being the largest platform for creating online stores, decided to add B2B functionality to its Shopify Plus plan to help thousands of merchants who want to expand their market reach.
Let's meet her!
What is the B2B function like on Shopify?
Shopify's B2B functionality consists of a set of features that allow you to sell directly to other businesses (B2B) through an e-commerce platform without needing any other applications. This feature is designed for sellers who offer wholesale products. For example, a parts supplier that sells bicycle components. In this case, the primary customers would be bicycle shop owners.
Thanks to Shopify's B2B feature, you can set up product catalogs, companies, payment terms, and different currency types to connect with various customers in a single business profile.
Shopify allows you to create different price lists for B2B customers. Depending on the customer's role, a specific price list will be displayed. These price lists can be shared by multiple users, making it easier for different people within the same business to access the e-commerce site, fill their shopping carts, or manage payment methods.
NOTE: The B2B feature on Shopify is only available to those who purchase a Shopify Plus plan. To learn more and find out why you should hire a Shopify Plus Partner, click here.
What can you do with the B2B feature for Shopify Plus?
To provide a good shopping experience
With the B2B feature for Shopify Plus, you can enhance the shopping experience, from product viewing to order confirmation. You can achieve this by adding custom pricing, publishing products with complete information and features, and setting payment terms. The B2B feature can also represent companies with diverse buyers and locations while easily managing purchasing permissions.
Give your online store a unique touch
Thanks to Shopify Plus software , you can create an efficient online store with personalized content for each user. This means your e-commerce elements can be configured to be dynamic and respond simultaneously to a wide range of information, such as customer data, historical behavior, and even their geographic location. This way, your Shopify store stays up-to-date for different customers. Plus, you can choose from a new, ready-to-use B2B theme that will add a fresh and intuitive design to your online store.
Enjoy self-checkout
Another way to expand your operations while improving the shopping experience is by allowing users to make purchases with quick wholesale ordering tools and manage their accounts with an intuitive and customizable portal for each of them.
Train your sales team
If your business has other people who help you sell your brand's products through a Shopify store, the B2B feature allows your team to place orders and access information from their assigned accounts, as long as they have the specific permissions to manage those types of actions in your e-commerce.
Do you have wholesale clients? B2B for Shopify Plus has the option for you.
Another great feature of the B2B function within Shopify Plus is that it has a series of tools and functions that facilitate wholesale sales, such as the ability to manage large orders professionally, automatically, and in a personalized way, ensuring that your customers receive their orders on time without compromising the sales process.
The B2B module for wholesalers in Shopify has a number of features that make it stand out, such as:
- All-in-one stores. What do they mean? They are stores that accept B2B (business-to-business) and DTC (direct-to-consumer) orders. In all-in-one stores, you can activate discount codes and gift cards for your B2B or DTC customers to use, thus centralizing your operations.
- Dedicated stores. Unlike all-in-one stores, dedicated stores are exclusively for B2B customers. To open a dedicated B2B store, you need to create a new store , configure existing integrations, and manage the dedicated store's settings separately. If needed, consider contacting an e-commerce agency specializing in Shopify.
- B2B Price Lists. Once you've set up your catalogs and the companies you'll be selling to for B2B customers, you can offer customized prices to them when they log in to their customer profile from your Shopify store, without needing to log in to a separate store homepage. Instead of having a single, general price for all your products, you can set up multiple price lists that apply to different companies, markets, or customers, depending on your configuration.
- Set a minimum purchase amount. One of the main differentiators of wholesale purchases is the quantity of products the customer buys. It would be unusual for a wholesale customer to only want one item from your online store, right? That's why setting a minimum purchase amount within the B2B feature in Shopify will not only ensure more sales, but it could also reduce costs such as shipping, packaging, and production.
- B2B payment screen. Here, wholesale customers can view detailed payment terms, discounts applied to their purchase, and the payment methods assigned to them.
Benefits of the B2B feature in Shopify
By now, you might be getting a sense of what Shopify's B2B functionality can do for you and your clients. But to be absolutely sure, we'll share the most interesting points that will make you want to contact a Shopify Expert for more information.
Create personalized shopping experiences with labels
With Shopify's B2B feature, you can create different profiles using tags that represent your buyers. In these tags, you can include the specific information we described earlier, such as exclusive discounts, gift cards, custom payment options, and shipping terms.
There are different types of tags , such as product, transfer, customer, order, blog post, and preliminary order tags.
One unique feature of labels is that customers won't be able to see them; only you can use them to sort your online store's products and organize results based on your customers' recent searches.
Automating the checkout process with Shopify Flow and Shopify Functions
When you set up prices and payment terms for each of your customers, you can automate tasks that take longer to do manually, such as purchase invoices, shipping, and order management.
An efficient way to achieve this is with Shopify Flow, an automation tool that allows you to automate tasks, processes, and campaigns for your business through workflows that connect with other applications installed within your e-commerce platform. This way, you can focus on other tasks that require your attention without losing sight of managing your business.
On the other hand, there are applications integrated into Shopify Functions that will allow you to create everything from custom discounts for wholesale sales to unique shipping rules.
*This is an exclusive feature of Shopify Plus, and its main purpose is to help brands directly configure the tasks mentioned above from the control panel.
Quick Order List Functionality
Quick Order List refers to the Quick Order List section, where you can add fully customizable product tables to your e-commerce site, making it easier for your customers to purchase large quantities of products quickly and efficiently. Imagine you're at the supermarket looking for a specific set of products, and you can add those items to your cart without having to walk through the entire store, because the products you're looking for are directly available to you.
This is essentially how this tool helps a Shopify Plus Partner.
The intuitive Shopify system you already know
In previous blog posts, we've mentioned that Shopify is easy to use thanks to its intuitive interface, which makes it accessible to anyone, even those without technical expertise. And the B2B functionality is no exception!
With Shopify, you can use innovative features for wholesale, such as product bundles, discounts, and workflow automation. Plus, you can tailor your e-commerce to your needs thanks to the 8,000 apps included in the Shopify Plus ecosystem.
Conclusion
The B2B feature for Shopify Plus is incredibly useful for stores that primarily offer specialized products to other wholesale or retail businesses. While this feature contains a wealth of information that might seem confusing at first, as you become familiar with its features and benefits, you'll realize the potential growth your brand can achieve.
A Shopify Plus Partner is aware of this functionality; by teaming up with them, you'll not only understand the B2B world on Shopify, but you'll also see how every component of your online store will be agile and efficient for you and your customers.
At Getmore, we'd love to answer all your questions and partner with you to achieve your business goals. Contact us !
