Shopify Wholesale Channel: What Replaced It, How to Set Up
The Shopify wholesale channel was a separate, password-protected wholesale storefront for Shopify Plus stores, and it was retired in 2024. Wholesale on Shopify now runs on Shopify B2B, which is built into the normal admin and, since April 2, 2026, available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans. There is no channel to install anymore: you create companies, give them a catalog and payment terms, and they buy on your own storefront after signing in.
Setup steps and plan limits come from the Shopify Help Center’s B2B pages (read October 23, 2026). The retirement date comes from Shopify’s own partner update of June 2023, read on October 31, 2026: “we are deprecating the Plus Wholesale Channel effective April 30, 2024”, with a self-serve migration tool sent to affected merchants. Shopify’s current help pages no longer carry the history. Setup steps follow Shopify’s blended store checklist and store type pages.
What the wholesale channel was and what replaced it
The old channel ran as a second storefront next to your online store, with its own price lists and a login for approved buyers, and it was a Plus-only feature. B2B replaced it with features inside the admin itself: companies under Customers > Companies, catalogs under Markets > Catalogs, and payment terms on each company location. Buyers sign in to the same store retail customers use, or to a separate B2B store if you choose one.
For a store starting wholesale now, that changes two things. You no longer need Plus: Shopify’s plan table lists B2B on Basic and up, and only a handful of features (unlimited catalogs, catalogs per company, deposits) stay Plus-only. And you no longer maintain two storefronts by default, which brings the first decision forward.
Choose blended or dedicated before anything else
Shopify asks you to pick a store type first and warns that switching later means redoing most of the setup, including companies, catalogs and theme work.
| Blended store | Dedicated store | |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | One admin for retail (D2C) and wholesale | A separate Shopify store for B2B |
| Inventory | Shared; cannot be split by customer type | Separate by default |
| Store gating | Not possible; only logged-in B2B buyers see B2B prices | Store URL and login page can be limited to B2B customers |
| Discounts | All customers discounts apply to B2B too unless you limit them to a market | Apply to B2B only |
| Notifications | Same notifications and abandoned cart emails for both | B2B only |
| Apps | Set up and paid for once | Set up and paid for again |
A blended store fits when you sell the same products from the same stock with the same team. A dedicated store fits when wholesale needs its own stock, its own staff or a gated site. Our article on retail vs wholesale on one store goes through the trade-offs in detail.
Set up wholesale on Shopify step by step
This order follows Shopify’s setup checklist for blended B2B stores. A dedicated store follows the same steps in its own admin.
- Move existing wholesale customers first. If your wholesale buyers already exist as ordinary customers (tagged by an app, for example), Shopify says you must migrate their details and order history to companies with the built-in migration tool before you build on top.
- Create companies and locations. Go to Customers > Companies and create a company, then add a location for each business address you sell to. Each location can carry its own tax ID, tax exemptions, shipping and billing address, prices and payment terms. Add the buyer’s contacts as customers of that location. Large lists can be imported with the Matrixify app.
- Set payment terms per location. Open the location and pick a term in the Payment terms section: net 7, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 days from the order date, or due on fulfillment. You can also choose to have all orders submitted as drafts for your review.
- Build a catalog. Go to Markets > Catalogs, create a catalog, choose the products and set wholesale prices as an Overall adjustment (a percentage up or down) or as fixed prices per product or variant; fixed prices win over the adjustment. Add quantity rules (minimum, maximum, increment) and quantity price breaks where you sell by the case. On Basic, Grow and Advanced, catalogs require the new Shopify Markets.
- Assign the catalog. Below Plus, assign it to a B2B market that contains the companies; you can have up to 3 active catalogs across all B2B markets. On Plus you can also assign a catalog directly to one company location.
- Hide wholesale-only products from retail. If some products are for trade only, exclude them from the catalogs of your region markets so retail visitors never see them.
- Turn on customer accounts. B2B needs the new customer accounts under Settings > Customer accounts; legacy accounts cannot be used for B2B orders. Buyers sign in with their email and a one-time code, with no password to manage. A blended store can keep legacy accounts for retail and link the new sign-in page for wholesale buyers.
- Check payment and shipping methods. They apply to everyone by default. The free Checkout Blocks app can hide or rename methods for B2B buyers, and set minimum or maximum order limits.
- Add a wholesale application form. Install the free Shopify Forms app, then go to Apps > Forms > Create form, add the Company and customer fields (company name and email are required) and place it as a popup or inline form. Each submission creates a company, a location and a customer for you to approve or deny. This does not work in a gated dedicated store.
- Add the quick order list. Free Shopify themes from version 11.0 include a Quick order list section, which lets buyers enter quantities for many variants on one page. Custom themes need Liquid code.
- Test as a buyer. Click the icon next to a company location to view the store as that buyer, or log in as a test customer, and place a test order before you invite real buyers.
What changes by plan
| Feature | Basic, Grow | Advanced | Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2B market catalogs | 3 active | 3 active | Unlimited |
| Catalog for one company or location | No | No | Yes |
| Deposits and partial payments | No | No | Yes |
| Different store content per market | No | Yes | Yes |
When those limits get in the way, an app can fill the gap; our Shopify B2B app comparison lists when one is worth paying for, and wholesale pricing covers how to set the price lists themselves.
If you used the old channel
Old guides and videos still show the channel’s own app, price lists and password page; none of that exists in the admin today, so follow the B2B steps above instead. If your wholesale buyers sit in the customer list as tagged customers (from the old channel era, a wholesale app or a manual setup), use the migration tool from step 1 rather than recreating them, so their order history stays attached to the new company.
Mistakes that cost a week
- Running a retail sale with eligibility All customers in a blended store, which also discounts wholesale prices.
- Forgetting that wholesale buyers get the same abandoned cart emails as retail shoppers in a blended store. Edit the notification templates with Liquid if that matters.
- Building catalogs on Basic, Grow or Advanced before switching to the new Shopify Markets.
The Shopify B2B and wholesale hub has the rest of the series.
FAQ
Does Shopify still have a wholesale channel? Wholesale selling moved to Shopify B2B, which is part of the admin rather than a separate sales channel, so there is no wholesale channel to install.
Can wholesale and retail share one store? A blended store runs both, with one admin and shared inventory. Wholesale buyers sign in to see their catalog prices, and everyone else sees retail prices.
Can I hide the store from retail visitors? Only in a dedicated B2B store, where the store URL and login page can be limited to B2B customers. A blended store cannot be gated, because retail shoppers still need to buy.