How to Sell Wholesale on Shopify

Why Add Wholesale to Your Shopify Store

Wholesale orders are larger, more predictable, and cheaper to acquire than individual consumer orders. A single wholesale customer ordering 200 units per month replaces the marketing cost of acquiring 200 individual customers. Wholesale margins are thinner (typically 50% off retail), but the volume, consistency, and low acquisition cost make the channel highly profitable when managed well.

Adding wholesale alongside your direct-to-consumer (DTC) Shopify store creates a diversified revenue base. If your DTC sales dip during a slow season, wholesale orders from retailers provide baseline revenue. Many brands generate 30% to 50% of total revenue through wholesale while keeping the higher-margin DTC channel as their primary focus.

The challenge is managing two pricing structures, two customer experiences, and potentially different product assortments from one platform. Shopify's built-in B2B features and third-party apps solve this by letting you show different prices to different customer groups without maintaining two separate stores.

Shopify's Built-in B2B Features

Shopify has been expanding its native B2B capabilities, with the most complete features available on Plus ($2,300+/month) and progressively more limited features on lower plans.

On Plus: The B2B channel creates a completely separate wholesale storefront that shares your product catalog but displays custom wholesale prices. You create "company" profiles for each wholesale customer, assign them to price lists (different price tiers for different customer levels), set payment terms (net 15, net 30, net 60), and define minimum order quantities. Wholesale customers log in to see their specific pricing while retail customers see standard pricing. Plus also supports draft orders, custom catalogs per customer, and vaulted credit card payments.

On Shopify and Advanced plans: You can use customer tags and discount codes to approximate wholesale pricing. Tag approved wholesale customers, create automatic discounts that apply only to tagged customers (e.g., 50% off all products for customers tagged "wholesale"), and restrict access using a password-protected page or a Shopify app. This approach works for small wholesale operations (under 20 wholesale accounts) but becomes cumbersome at scale because it lacks dedicated wholesale reporting, payment terms, and minimum order enforcement.

Using Wholesale Apps on Lower Plans

For stores on Basic, Shopify, or Advanced plans that want proper wholesale functionality without upgrading to Plus, third-party apps fill the gap:

Wholesale Gorilla ($29.95/month)

Creates a password-protected wholesale storefront with custom pricing, minimum order quantities, tiered pricing (buy more, pay less), quick order forms (list view for fast ordering by SKU), and net payment terms with invoice generation. Wholesale customers see the wholesale store while retail customers see your standard storefront. The app supports custom pricing per customer, percentage-off retail pricing, and fixed wholesale prices. It is the most popular wholesale app on Shopify with strong reviews for reliability and support.

B2B Wholesale Club (free to $39.99/month)

Uses customer tags to control wholesale access and pricing. You tag approved customers as "wholesale" and the app automatically shows them discounted pricing across your store. Supports tiered pricing, volume discounts, and minimum order quantities. The free plan includes basic wholesale pricing for unlimited customers. Paid plans add net payment terms, quick order forms, and custom pricing per customer.

SparkLayer ($49/month)

An advanced B2B ordering solution that adds a wholesale order portal to your existing Shopify store. Features include rapid reordering from previous orders, price lists by customer group, minimum and maximum order quantities, credit limits, and integration with accounting tools like Xero and QuickBooks. SparkLayer is the best option for stores with a large number of wholesale accounts (50+) that need enterprise-level B2B features without Plus pricing.

Setting Wholesale Prices

The standard wholesale pricing model is 50% off retail (also called "keystone" markup from the retailer's perspective). If your retail price is $40, your wholesale price is $20. The retailer then sells at $40 (or their own markup), earning $20 per unit. This model works when your production costs are 25% or less of retail price, giving you a 50% margin at wholesale.

If your production costs are higher (common for handmade, small-batch, or premium products), a 50% wholesale discount may not leave enough margin. In this case, consider tiered pricing based on order volume:

• 12 to 49 units: 40% off retail
• 50 to 99 units: 45% off retail
• 100+ units: 50% off retail

This structure rewards larger orders while protecting your margins on smaller wholesale purchases. Communicate your pricing tiers clearly on your wholesale application page or in your wholesale line sheet (a PDF catalog showing products, wholesale prices, and ordering terms).

Always set a minimum first order and minimum reorder amount. A common structure is $200 to $500 minimum for the first order (to ensure the retailer is serious) and $100 to $250 minimum for reorders. Minimum order requirements prevent you from processing unprofitable small orders where the shipping and handling cost exceeds your margin.

Managing Wholesale Customer Accounts

Wholesale relationships require a different management approach than DTC sales. You need an application process, approval workflow, and ongoing account management.

Application process: Create a wholesale application page on your store (as a regular Shopify page) with a form collecting business name, tax ID or resale certificate, business type (brick-and-mortar retail, online retailer, interior designer, corporate gifting), website URL, and estimated monthly order volume. Review applications manually before granting wholesale access. This protects your brand from unauthorized resellers and ensures your wholesale customers are legitimate businesses.

Resale certificates: In the US, wholesale customers buying for resale are exempt from sales tax on their wholesale purchases (they collect tax from the end consumer instead). Require a copy of each wholesale customer's resale certificate or tax exemption certificate before allowing tax-exempt ordering. Store these certificates in your records, because you are liable for uncollected tax if a certificate is missing or invalid during an audit.

Payment terms: Retail customers pay at checkout. Wholesale customers often expect payment terms: net 30 (payment due 30 days after invoice) is the most common. Offering net 30 terms requires you to float the cost of goods and shipping for 30 days, which affects cash flow. For new wholesale accounts, start with payment at time of order or net 15, and extend to net 30 after the customer has placed 3 to 5 orders with reliable payment. Apps like Wholesale Gorilla and the Shopify Plus B2B channel support payment terms natively.

Fulfilling Wholesale Orders

Wholesale orders are larger, heavier, and often shipped via different carriers than DTC orders. A single wholesale order might contain 100 to 500 units versus 1 to 3 units for a consumer order.

For domestic wholesale shipments, UPS Ground and FedEx Ground are typically the most cost-effective carriers for multi-box shipments. Get freight quotes for orders over 150 lbs total weight, because less-than-truckload (LTL) freight is cheaper than parcel shipping at that weight. Shopify does not handle freight quotes natively, but you can add freight shipping quotes manually when creating draft orders for wholesale customers.

Pack wholesale orders securely with individual units bagged or wrapped, packed in sturdy cartons, and clearly labeled with PO numbers and item counts. Include a packing slip listing all items and quantities. Professional packaging communicates quality and makes your brand easier for retailers to work with.