Checkout for B2B and Wholesale: What's Different and How to Handle It

Shopify's B2B features — available on Plus — handle a lot of the wholesale complexity natively: customer-specific pricing, payment terms, minimum order quantities. But checkout blocks are still essential for capturing B2B-specific information and communicating the right things to the right buyers.

Purchase order numbers

B2B buyers typically need to attach a purchase order number to their orders for internal accounting. A custom text field for 'Purchase Order Number (optional)' saved as an order attribute costs nothing to add and saves significant back-and-forth with finance teams. Make it optional — not all B2B buyers use PO numbers.

Conditional blocks for B2B vs. DTC

Tag B2B customers appropriately in Shopify and use those tags to control block visibility. B2B customers don't need to see a gift message field or a 'How did you hear about us?' survey. DTC customers don't need to see a PO number field. Tagging lets you show each segment only what's relevant.

Net payment terms

If your B2B customers have net-30 or net-60 payment terms, confirm this at checkout rather than after. A text block showing 'Net 30 payment terms apply to your account — invoice will be sent to [email]' reduces post-order confusion and support requests.

Minimum order messaging

If a B2B account has a minimum order requirement, make that clear before the customer reaches the payment step. A banner showing 'Your account minimum order value is $500 — current order: $420' allows the customer to add items rather than discovering a failed checkout at the last second.

Account-specific notes

Some B2B relationships have specific delivery instructions, packaging requirements, or compliance notes. A custom text block visible only to specific customer accounts — configured via customer tags — can surface these without cluttering the checkout for DTC buyers.