As the global supply chain becomes increasingly important for retailers, the wholesale industry has experienced massive growth. Between 2017 and 2023, sales increased by over 40%, reaching nearly $10 trillion. No matter the size of your operations, today’s clients expect you to have a fully functional site. Is a Shopify wholesale website the right choice? This guide outlines the pros and cons.
Can You Sell Wholesale Items on Shopify?
Shopify is a leading website creation and e-commerce platform. When you use Shopify’s framework to build your website, it’s easy to set up payment processing, inventory management, shipping, and marketing channels.
Depending on how large your business is, some aspects of wholesale can require specialized solutions that go beyond Shopify’s core features or require an upgraded subscription. The good news is that Shopify is designed around the use of store integrations.
With plug-and-play Shopify wholesale apps, you can add nearly any type of functionality your operations require, including:
- Workflow automation
- Supply chain management
- Dropshipping channels
- Order tracking
- Email marketing
- Specialized billing options
Shopify provides support out of the box for full e-commerce stores and hybrid warehouse locations with physical point-of-sale terminals.
Is Shopify Good for Wholesale?
Shopify is an excellent choice for wholesale businesses that need a mixture of flexibility, ease of use, scalability, and affordability. One of its biggest advantages is that it provides a unique website for your business with the payment processing tools you need to get up and running quickly.
What Are the Benefits of Shopify for Wholesale Businesses?
When you compare Shopify with other options, it’s easy to see why the platform is popular with B2C and B2B businesses:
- Less competition: On Amazon, your business has to compete directly with other sellers, including Amazon itself. Shopify means independence, with your marketing efforts supporting your business only.
- Sales-ready features: WordPress is a popular website hosting platform, but it primarily supports service-based businesses, not e-commerce sites. Shopify has the robust payment processing and order management tools you need for wholesale.
- Comfort for small businesses: Not all wholesalers are massive companies. Shopify’s simple website management tools are easy for small and medium organizations to understand, reducing the need to hire IT personnel.
- Cost-effective solutions: Instead of hiring a large team of programmers to create (and maintain) a bespoke website from scratch, you can use your budget wisely with Shopify’s built-in tools and powerful apps.
- Flexibility: Compared to platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify offers far greater customizability and store flexibility. This is primarily because of its 8,000+ app integrations, which address everything from marketing to distribution.
Shopify is to e-commerce what the Apple iPad is to tablets. It’s easy to use, simple, friendly, and practical. You can edit your website’s code if you want to, but there are plenty of app solutions for the majority of wholesale businesses.
How Much Does Shopify Cost for Wholesale?
Using Shopify for wholesale is affordable compared to other platforms, but there are some limitations you should be aware of. For example, the platform’s most powerful wholesale features are locked behind a Shopify Plus subscription, which costs at least $2,300 a month. Other Shopify plans cost from $19 to $299 a month, but they max out at 10 inventory locations and 15 staff accounts.
What can you do if your business is too large for these limitations but too small to afford a $2,000/month subscription? Small-to-medium wholesale businesses can think outside the box. If a Shopify Advanced subscription is the right fit for your operations, use app integrations to flesh out your store’s functionality in exactly the right places.
What Features Do You Need for a Wholesale Website on Shopify?
When deciding whether Shopify is the right choice for creating a website for your organization, it’s essential to understand the key features to look for. An effective wholesale website platform needs to cover all your bases for customer service and business management.
1. Site Customization Features
Unless you plan on hiring a team of developers to build your site from the ground up, you also need a platform that lets you customize the appearance of products, categories, web pages, FAQs, and other content. The more flexibility offered, the more control you have over the look and feel of your brand, especially when it comes to images, videos, carousels, charts, buttons, and layouts.
Shopify wholesale features: You can choose a B2B-oriented Shopify wholesale theme, purchase a premium Shopify theme with integrated B2B features (more product variants, etc.), develop a headless website for multiple device channels using Shopify’s APIs, or edit your store in Liquid for even deeper customization.
App solutions: Shopify apps allow you to customize nearly every aspect of your store. For example, Kiwi Sizing allows for custom size charts, and Automatic Discounts & Upsells can help you create dynamic promotions.
2. Wholesale Pricing Tools
Few things are more important for wholesale websites than in-depth pricing tools. After all, your entire business model depends on offering a range of customers different price points based on order volume, product type, seasonal factors, and market trends. Look for the ability to set various volume-based discount tiers and advanced tools that adjust pricing while maintaining your desired profit margins automatically.
Shopify wholesale features: Shopify Plus lets you set volume-based price tiers out of the box. You can also create unique payment terms on a per-customer, per-location, or per-category basis.
App solutions: Wholesale Pricing Now offers in-depth pricing customization, such as volume-based, tier-based, and personalized discounts. Discount pricing is displayed in real-time to drive higher purchase volumes and encourage customers to upgrade to higher tiers, ultimately increasing your overall revenue.
3. Account Creation and Management Options
No two customers are exactly alike. Unique accounts are beneficial for you and assist with order tracking.
On your end, customer relationship management tools improve your warehousing operations, inventory management, and available capital. Account-based discount categories can also simplify price adjustments and let you sell to distributors and retailers using the same e-commerce store.
Shopify features: With Shopify, clients can create unique accounts, log in to see unique catalogs and product prices, and manage their order history. You can also customize buyer permission levels, add tax exemptions, specify payment terms, and create unique pricing structures for your best customers.
App solutions: Shopify apps can add account-based store locks, allowing DTC customers to purchase individual products while you reserve specialized deals, bundles, and promotions for your wholesale clients.
4. Payment Processing
Payment processing integrations are what make e-commerce websites different from conventional sites. Today’s wholesale business clients don’t want to go through the complex process of phone-based orders. Let customers choose what to buy and how much, view available inventory, and complete transactions online accurately and swiftly.
Pay careful attention to the range of supported payment options and any transaction fees charged. Credit card processing is vital, but alternatives like Apple Pay, Stripe, and Square are important for many clients.
Shopify support: Shopify Payments supports all mainstream credit card brands, including Visa, Discover, and JCB. You can also set up PayPal, Apple Pay, and third-party payment gateways with additional options. Amazon Pay isn’t supported on Shopify.
5. Invoicing or Billing Software
Billing functionality, net payment terms, and deferred checkouts are a must for Shopify wholesale and B2B stores. Some platforms also offer integrations with popular software suites, such as QuickBooks. Your wholesale platform needs to support the type of billing your clients expect, such as ACH transfers.
Shopify features: You need a Shopify Plus plan to create draft orders with net 7, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 payment terms. You can also set invoices as payable on order fulfillment and set up fixed-date billing with draft orders.
App solutions: Shopify’s Free Invoice Generator provides simplified billing with net terms, and you can send the completed invoices via email. Wholesale pricing apps let B2B clients skip the normal checkout process for seamless ordering.
6. Inventory Management Tools
Many e-commerce platforms provide integrated inventory management tools. If your website needs to cater to B2B and DTC clients, make sure you have the ability to set maximum order volumes. This prevents end users from abusing sale pricing or leaving VIP clients without support.
For dedicated wholesale stores, you also need to be able to set minimum order quantities for each discount tier accurately and easily. This is key for preserving your profit margins.
Shopify features: The Shopify 2.0 platform lets any store set maximum and minimum order quantities per product, but not by pricing tier or client. For that, you need a Shopify Plus plan.
App solutions: Wholesale pricing apps give you control over pricing per tier. You can also create product variants that are only accessible to wholesale customers to ensure sufficient quantities for your main clients.
7. Advanced Filtering Options
While not always a make-or-break feature for wholesale sites, advanced product and collection filters improve the customer experience and reduce the risk of ordering mistakes. Ideally, customers should be able to view all available variants with certain characteristics, such as color, type, or size.
Shopify features: Shopify provides excellent tools for creating products, variants, and collections. You can publish as many product or category pages as you need, add custom checkout buttons, and create attractive layouts.
Shopify themes: For streamlined organization on desktop and mobile, such as sidebars and accordions, you may need to invest in a premium Shopify wholesale theme. This costs $199 to $499 on average.
8. Shipping and Tracking
Order fulfillment is one of the most critical and complex parts of e-commerce wholesale operations. On one hand, you want your B2B website to provide a range of shipping options for customers.
On the other hand, some wholesale businesses manage part or all of the fulfillment pipeline in-house. Others partner with specific 3PL carriers. Take your time reviewing the supported shipping options available, as well as scalability solutions for future growth.
Shopify support: Shopify’s shipping software includes order fulfillment options and integrations with top carriers (UPS, DHL Express, and USPS). Shopify’s Track with Shop allows for parcel tracking in the U.S., Canada, and some parts of Europe.
App solutions: Shopify app integrations expand available shipping partners (including Amazon and FedEx) and add order syncing with multiple platforms.
9. Cybersecurity
Don’t forget about the importance of cybersecurity for supply chain logistics and wholesale. For B2B clients to trust you with their account data and payment card information, your website must have an excellent reputation for cybersecurity. Complying with PCI DSS requirements isn’t easy when you build a custom website that has payment gateway integrations.
This is an area where Shopify excels:
- Level 1 PCI DSS compliance
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- Transport Layer Security protocols
- Threat monitoring tools and DDoS prevention tools
Building your website with Shopify can lower the need for third-party IT and PCI compliance requirements.
How Can You Add Wholesale To Your Shopify Store?
The route you take when creating a wholesale website on Shopify depends on many factors. Here’s what to consider when making your decision:
- Budget: Does your monthly sales volume allow you to invest in the costly but powerful Shopify Plus, or do you need a more cost-effective solution?
- Warehouse locations: How many staff members, storage warehouses, and fulfillment centers do you need to manage?
- Customization: Are your operations complex enough to require changes to backend systems, or are app integrations sufficient for your functionality requirements?
- Site management: How much are you willing to invest in website security, DDoS protection, and maintenance tasks?
- Suppliers: What platforms do your preferred wholesale suppliers and manufacturers integrate with?
- Scalability: How well will your website serve your needs five or 10 years down the road?
In many cases, Shopify provides the right balance of functionality and efficiency for wholesalers. With flexible app integrations, your wholesale business can address unique needs even with budget constraints.
Learn More About Shopify Wholesale App Solutions
At StayTuned Digital, we have extensive experience with B2B commerce and Shopify wholesale businesses. Our expert team can help you find the right app integrations to solve website functionality issues, improve your customer experience, and achieve long-term business goals.
Our app stack is ideal for retailers looking to take the leap into wholesale, hybrid Shopify store owners, and large-scale import/export businesses alike. Discover a complete range of B2B app solutions for Shopify wholesale today.