A merchant seeks to implement B2B selling functionality on a standard Shopify plan (not Plus) with a budget constraint of approximately $25/month. They require customer registration/approval, restricted cart access for approved users, VAT handling (domestic vs. foreign orders), and PDF invoice generation.
Recommended Solutions:
SparkLayer emerges as the primary recommendation for B2B pricing and wholesale features, though it may exceed the initial budget
Customer Fields (by Helium) for registration forms and customer approval workflows
Sufio for VAT invoice generation
Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B and Sami B2B Wholesale Pricing as budget-friendly alternatives with VAT capabilities
Sellify as a separate B2B platform that integrates with Shopify, offering dedicated workflows
Key Considerations:
Native Shopify B2B features require Shopify Plus subscription
Most solutions involve combining multiple apps rather than one comprehensive tool
SparkLayer stores pricing in its own database (clarified in discussion)
For Plus users, native Shopify B2B + Customer Fields may be more cost-effective than third-party apps
Outcome: The original poster found a temporary solution using free apps combined together, with plans to upgrade as the business grows. VAT validation remains a requested feature for future development.
Summarized with AI on October 25.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
I’m having a hard time figuring out which apps or custom code is best to accomplish what I want for my cliënt, who wants to sell B2B only without the use of Shopify Plus (too expensive).
It doesn’t have to be free (apps), but we do have a limit of approx. 25$ per month extra. Hope someone with experience or some creative solutions can guide me and share their knowledge :).
The features we’re looking for
Registration form to approve new customers (option to revoke access)
Add to cart > show only to logged in approved customers
Show prices including and excluding VAT / or only excluding
Calculate VAT on Domestic orders only (foreign orders excl VAT, vat exempt)
With the order, send an VAT invoice in pdf
I know this is much. I’ve tried several apps but non of them quite does what we need. If someone has the expertise or knows some great apps, I need your help, thank you!
Doing B2B on Shopify without Plus is certainly possible, and not that difficult if you’re willing to put the time into learning some new software. There are quite a few apps that can offer you B2B features, however we’ve worked with a number (and integrate well with both) so the following are my recommendations, but I do have to say, $25/month extra is a small amount at the potential of growth for your B2B customer base.
Sparklayer is probably going to be the closest app to what you’re describing. In combination with our Customer Fields app to deny/approve customers, and then perhaps use Sufio for sending out invoices for VAT.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you have questions.
Thank you so much for your insights on this! I actually tested Customer Fields App with Sufio and it worked great, but we needed VAT tax validation aswel as some other features. For now I used some free apps combined together, but when the business will grow I will keep those in mind :).
Beyond the B2B basics, do you have any specific requirements? If not, Sparklayer is going to do a great job of handling B2B pricing, but if you want to streamline creating B2B customers - I highly recommend using our app to set up a B2B customer registration form and using our account approval feature to approve/deny B2B candidates on your store.
Hello @josiah_helium , I have the same question, I run a very small business using the Shopify basic plan. Sparklayer looks great but also currently above out budget. Do you know if it’s possible to manage b2b customers through new customer accounts? applying a discount only to specific customers?
Hey @favabean - you cannot use Shopify B2B on Shopify Basic. It is a Plus only feature. Sparklayer exists to provide alternatives to Shopify Plus B2B / Wholesale channel.
You may want to look at different discount apps that can provide a discount from a customer tag of some sort. You would need to either manually assign a tag to b2b customers, or use an app like ours to auto-tag customers based on a wholesale registration form. Regios is a good app for building discounts based on tags.
Hello Josiah! I have a client that needs customized prices based on customer, which is offered by SparkLayer. And I would need to automatically set/update the prices using an API. Is it possible?
Hey Josiah. Actually I was wondering where SparkLayer stores the prices. Is it on your own database? If so, yes, I guess I am looking for a SparkLayer API to adjusts prices. But if SparkLayer stores the prices on Shopify´s database, then I guess I would access Shopify´s API, which I prefer, since I already have access to it.
So I guess my question is: can I adjust prices using SparkLayer´s or Shopify´s API?
Thanks for sharing this. I’m looking into a use case where I need to combine B2B and B2C in one shop. I need to offer both B2C and B2B assortments in the shop, with B2B customers having their own specific assortment and customer-specific pricing. Additionally, they need to apply VAT rules for both B2B and B2C customers. Is Sparklayer an option to implement these requirements, or do you have any other suggestion within a standard Shopify plan?
@AaronMoss , if you’re already on Shopify Plus, I would recommend using Customer Fields with Shopify B2B since you can do a lot with B2B that Sparklayer does, but Sparklayer is going to cost more. If you’re already on Plus, might as well squeeze all the juice out of that lemon that you can.
We have Flow templates built specifically for Plus B2B that automatically creates Companies in B2B when you approve them from our app. If you want to know more, DM me and I can give you a demo.
Shopify is a great DTC platform it’s in its bones. The issue with many of the apps on the app store is that they do not offer a separate store and instead just modify your existing Shopify store to show different prices, etc. However, B2B customers usually have different workflows (bulk ordering by SKUs, re-ordering same products, different price tiers / shipping rules / reqs, etc)
Sellify is a B2B platform that integrates with Shopify and offers an optimized B2B shopping experience providing:
custom price lists (can be changed per account)
quick reordering
separate product listings (ie marketing materials, displays, etc)
handle tax rules and tax exemptions
support multiple logins per account (ie B2B customers may have staff that all need separate logins but can access the same account, order history, etc)
credit terms
account registration & approval
customizable quote and order templates
handle tax inclusive or exclusive pricing
and much more
Sellify syncs to Shopify to automatically update inventory levels and orders can be pushed to Shopify for fulfilment simplifying your B2B operations but the B2B experience happens within Sellify. This has the additional benefit of not modifying your themes with conditional logic for B2B vs Retail customers. Keep your retail store for retail and use Sellify for B2B.
We also offers an integrated CRM so you can better manage your B2B customer relationships (send quotes / orders, manage communications, easy to use task system, sales rep assignment, commission reporting and much much more.
If you’re on Shopify for retail and looking to expand your wholesale business. Check out Sellify.
B2Bridge offers an all-in-one B2B wholesale solution, enabling merchants to set up a complete B2B store quickly and without coding. With features like customizable registration forms, customer segmentation, and tailored price lists, it simplifies wholesale management. B2Bridge also includes a dedicated Quick Order page and flexible Net Payment Terms, streamlining operations for wholesalers and enhancing the buying experience.
Registration Form allows merchants to add multiple custom fields for wholesalers
B2B & Volume Pricing allows pricing customization for each customer group
Quick Order allows customer add/remove multiple items and edit quantity directly
Net Payment Term offers wholesalers payment options with net 30, net 60, net 90
Customer Group allows segment customers and assign custom price lists
Manual order: Generate personalized orders with price, shipping and tax
You can definitely set up B2B selling without using Shopify Plus—though Plus does make it easier. Here’s how you can do it on the regular Shopify plan:
Workarounds:- Create customer-specific pricing using apps like Wholesale Club or Bold Custom Pricing.
Use separate password-protected pages or collections for B2B customers.
Tag B2B customers and set rules for discounts or shipping.
Automate workflows with third-party apps for quotes, invoicing, and bulk orders.
It’s a bit of a patchwork compared to Shopify Plus, but totally doable!
