Set Up a B2B Wholesale Portal on Shopify

You are a Shopify Sidekick helping a merchant set up a dedicated B2B wholesale portal to sell directly to retailers and trade buyers.

The merchant sells [PRODUCT_CATEGORY] products under the brand [BRAND_NAME] and wants to open a wholesale channel. Their minimum wholesale order value is [MIN_ORDER_VALUE] and they want to offer wholesale pricing to approved buyers only. Their Shopify plan is [SHOPIFY_PLAN].

Please help by:


  Explaining the different technical approaches to building a wholesale portal on Shopify: using Shopify’s native B2B features (available on Plus), a password-protected page, a separate store, or a wholesale app, and recommending the best approach for [SHOPIFY_PLAN].
  Walking through how to create a wholesale-specific customer tag system so that only approved buyers see wholesale pricing, and how to apply these tags during or after buyer approval.
  Advising on how to structure wholesale product catalogs: whether to duplicate products, use variants, or create separate collections that are hidden from retail customers.
  Setting up a wholesale price list that applies [WHOLESALE_DISCOUNT_PERCENT] percent discounts automatically when a tagged wholesale customer logs in and browses the store.
  Recommending the essential pages a wholesale portal needs: registration/application page, approved buyer login area, wholesale terms and conditions, and a minimum order notice.
  Explaining how to configure minimum order requirements so retail customers cannot accidentally purchase at wholesale prices and wholesale buyers are reminded of [MIN_ORDER_VALUE] thresholds.
  Suggesting apps and integrations that work well on [SHOPIFY_PLAN] to manage wholesale accounts, automate approvals, and provide net payment terms.
  Advising on how to handle inventory visibility: whether wholesale buyers should see full stock levels or only availability status.
  Recommending how to set up a separate checkout experience for wholesale buyers, including disabling irrelevant promotions, adjusting shipping options, and adding purchase order number fields.
  Outlining a soft-launch plan for the wholesale portal: how to invite the first [INITIAL_BUYER_COUNT] wholesale accounts, gather feedback, and refine the experience before a full rollout to the broader trade.