Shopify has become one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the world. The ease of use and powerful features make it the go-to platform for everyone wanting to start their online e-commerce business. 

Selling D2C (direct-to-customers) on Shopify is quite simple and Shopify’s basic plan offers most of the infrastructure for setting it up. But when it comes to selling B2B or wholesale on Shopify, the requirement changes as the customer buying pattern of large customers differs from that of retail customers or individuals. To run wholesale on Shopify, users need to upgrade to the Shopify Plus plan which generally is too expensive for businesses. 

In this article, we will see how you can sell wholesale on Shopify without Shopify Plus plan. We’ll also list a few good wholesale apps that will help you create a wholesale store on Shopify without Shopify Plus plan.

How is selling wholesale on Shopify different

Selling wholesale on Shopify differs significantly from retail sales, primarily in terms of customer interactions in the store, pricing, and order volumes. In wholesale, you are dealing with other businesses rather than individual consumers. 

Wholesalers generally tend to buy products in bulk quantities and at cheaper prices than retail so that they can resale the product later.

This wholesale buying pattern requires you to create a personalized experience for your wholesale customers. 

You need to curate and offer different discounts for your different wholesale customers based on their buying patterns, unlike retail where you have a few discounts running for all the store visitors. 

Plus, there is a requirement to display certain products, collections, and pages, just for your wholesale customers and hide them from others. Moreover, as wholesalers tend to buy products in bulk, you have to implement a bulk ordering system to ensure that your big customers find it easy to order products in large quantities from your store. 

Why Not Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is undeniably powerful, and it offers advanced features for high-volume businesses. However, its price can be a significant barrier for smaller businesses and e-commerce entrepreneurs. Currently, Shopify Plus Plan costs almost $2000 per month, which is super high for small businesses. Fortunately, you don’t need to invest in Shopify Plus to sell wholesale effectively. Let us know see how you can see wholesale on Shopify without upgrading to the super-expensive Shopify Plus plan. 

Selling Wholesale on Shopify using Wholesale Helper apps

Wholesale Helper offers a suite of wholesale apps on Shopify that allows Shopify store owners to create a personalized wholesale experience without upgrading to the Shopify Plus plan. Curating and offering custom prices and discounts, controlling access to your Shopify store’s content, and creating a bulk ordering experience to facilitate large-quantity purchases, these apps support it all.

Let us look at the Wholesale Helper apps that can help you run wholesale on your Shopify store.

1. Wholesale Pricing Discount

As we discussed above, offering personalised pricing to customers is one of the most important parts of selling wholesale on Shopify. Wholesale Pricing Discount is one of the most powerful apps on Shopify that allows store owners to create custom pricing and discounts for their different customers. These discounts can then be applied to customers based on their tags or login status. 

Using the app, store owners can also create a wholesale sign-up form to onboard new B2B customers. Plus, the app allows stores to offer Net Payment Terms and set advanced shipping rates to their wholesale buyers.

Features of the app

• Percentage discounts
• Individual variant pricing
• Quantity breaks/tiered pricing 
• Net payment terms like Net 30, Net 60, and Net 90 to wholesale buyers
• Advanced shipping rates based on order values/weight
• Wholesale sign-up form

Pricing – Starts from $19.99 per month and has a 21-day free trial.

2.Wholesale Lock Manager

When you are running a Shopify store where you cater to both retail (D2C) and wholesale (B2B) customers, you might want to keep certain products or collections just for your B2B customers. Also, you might want to keep wholesale pricing different from your retail pricing. Wholesale Lock Manager allows store owners to hide certain products, collections, pages, URLs, from select customers based on their tags or login status.

Stores can also password protect their store and share page URLs as secret links to their select customers. The app helps them maintain exclusivity and create a personalised shopping experience for their customers.

Features of the app

• Hide Shopify’s store content – Pages, URLs, Products, Collections, Prices, or the entire storefront. 
• Hide products and collections from specific customers based on tags and their login status. 
• Require users to enter password to access the store
• Create secret links to pages to share with select customers 

Pricing – Starts from $9.99 per month and has a 8-day free trial.

3.Wholesale Order Form

You have set discounts using the Wholesale Pricing Discount, managed store’s content using Wholesale Lock Manager, but what about facilitating bulk ordering on your store? Wholesale buyers prefer to buy products in large quantities at once and avail volume discounts. Wholesale order form helps you implement a bulk order form in your Shopify store so that your bulk buyers find it super easy to buy products in bulk quantities from your store. 

Features of the app

• Enable customers to place repeat order in just a few clicks
• Customise the single page order form to match your store’s theme
• Order Form or Matrix on each product 
• Control who can see the order form
  
  
  

Pricing – Starts from $15.99 per month and has a 8-day free trial.

Conclusion

Selling wholesale on Shopify without Shopify Plus is not only possible but also practical. By using apps like Wholesale Pricing Discount, Wholesale Lock Manager, and Wholesale Order Form, you can create an efficient and smooth wholesale experience for your customers at a lower cost. These apps offer free trials, allowing you to see how well they work with your store before committing.

These tools help you set different prices for various customer groups, limit access to wholesale sections, and simplify the ordering process. This makes it easier to enter the wholesale market and grow your business. With these resources, you can expand your reach, increase your sales, and manage your wholesale operations effectively, all without needing to upgrade to a premium plan.