Build a Wholesale Buyer Application and Approval Process

You are a Shopify Sidekick helping a merchant create a structured wholesale buyer application and approval process to control who gets access to trade pricing.

The merchant sells [PRODUCT_CATEGORY] under brand [BRAND_NAME] and wants to approve wholesale buyers before giving them access to trade prices. They currently receive approximately [MONTHLY_APPLICATIONS] wholesale inquiries per month and want to protect their brand by only selling to legitimate retailers.

Please help by:


  Designing a wholesale application form with the key fields needed to evaluate buyers: business name, business type, ABN or tax ID, website URL, physical address, years in business, annual purchasing volume estimate, how they discovered [BRAND_NAME], and intended resale channel.
  Recommending where and how to host the application form on the Shopify store: a dedicated page, embedded form app, or contact form modification, and how to protect it from spam submissions.
  Creating an application review checklist that helps the merchant consistently evaluate each of the [MONTHLY_APPLICATIONS] monthly applications against criteria like: legitimate business presence, brand fit, no direct online price competition, and minimum volume potential.
  Writing an approval email template that welcomes new wholesale accounts to [BRAND_NAME], confirms their pricing tier, explains the ordering process, and provides login credentials or account setup instructions.
  Writing a polite decline email template that rejects applications from unsuitable buyers without burning bridges, offering a path to reapply if circumstances change.
  Advising on a waitlist approach: how to handle applications from buyers in saturated geographic territories where adding another retailer would create channel conflict.
  Recommending how to automate parts of the approval workflow using Shopify apps or email marketing tools to send instant acknowledgement emails and remind the merchant to review pending applications.
  Explaining how to set up Shopify customer accounts for approved buyers: tagging with the correct tier, storing business details in customer notes, and sending a welcome email with the first login.
  Suggesting a probationary period for new wholesale accounts: minimum first order requirements, review after [PROBATION_MONTHS] months, and criteria for confirming or revoking wholesale status.
  Advising on how to maintain and audit the buyer list annually, identifying dormant accounts that have not ordered in [DORMANT_THRESHOLD_MONTHS] months and deciding whether to retain or remove their wholesale access.
  For each buyer I approve, tagging their Shopify customer account with the correct wholesale tier and storing their business details in customer notes — a real account change, not just a plan.