Summary
Shopify opened its native B2B features to Basic, Grow and Advanced plans on 2 April 2026, ending the Shopify Plus requirement that priced most UK SMEs out of trade selling online. This post covers what standard plans now include, which features still need Plus, how the Business Central connector handles B2B orders, and where it stops short.
For years, selling wholesale on Shopify meant paying for Shopify Plus. That single fact kept most UK manufacturers and distributors away from the platform. Shopify B2B and Business Central looked like a sensible pair on paper. But the entry price ruled it out for a business making a few million pounds a year.
On 2 April 2026, Shopify changed that. Company profiles, custom catalogues, volume pricing, quantity rules and net payment terms now come with Basic, Grow and Advanced plans at no extra cost. If you rejected Shopify on price two years ago, the decision is worth revisiting.
What Actually Changed in April 2026
Shopify launched native B2B in 2022, but restricted it to the Plus tier. Buyers on that tier get company accounts, contract pricing and invoice-style payment terms inside the same admin as their consumer store.
The April 2026 update opened the foundational set to every paid plan. Standard plans now include:
- Company accounts, with multiple locations and multiple named buyers per company
- Up to three active pricing catalogues
- Volume pricing, minimum order quantities and order increments
- Net 30, Net 60 and Net 90 payment terms
- Purchase order numbers captured at checkout
- Quick order lists and reordering from order history
- Shopify Flow automation for B2B workflows
Because these features sit in the same admin as your consumer store, you avoid running two platforms. One product record, one stock pool, two ways of buying.
Why This Matters for UK Manufacturers and Distributors
Most trade customers now expect the same self-service they get as consumers. ONS figures put internet sales at 28.3% of all Great Britain retail in June 2026, so the habit is well established. Your trade buyers shop that way at home, then phone your sales desk to place a repeat order.
That gap costs you money in two places. First, your internal team keys in orders that a buyer could have placed themselves. Second, a buyer waiting on a callback can order from a competitor instead.
A trade portal fixes the routine reorders and frees your sales team for the conversations that need a person. When you sell into distribution and wholesale, that shift matters more than any single feature on the list above.
Where Shopify Plus Still Earns Its Fee
Standard plans cover a lot, although some ceilings arrive quickly. Shopify Plus remains the answer if you need:
- More than three active pricing catalogues
- Catalogues assigned directly to a company or a specific location
- Deposits and partial payments on an order
- A dedicated B2B storefront on its own domain
- Checkout customisation through Markets
The three-catalogue cap is the one that catches people out. If you price by customer group, you will fit. But if you hold individually negotiated contract pricing for 40 accounts, you will hit the limit fast.
Work out your catalogue count before you commit to a plan. It is a five-minute exercise that avoids an expensive rebuild later.
How Shopify B2B and Business Central Work Together
Microsoft’s native Shopify Connector ships free with every Business Central online subscription. Support for Shopify B2B arrived in 2024, and the 2026 release wave 1 update extended it further with B2B catalogue support through Markets, volume-based pricing and company profiles.
In practice, orders from a Shopify B2B storefront import into Business Central using company and location mapping rather than standard consumer customer matching. Your ERP stays the record of truth for stock, pricing and financials. Shopify handles the buying experience.
The connector also imports orders from your consumer store and Shopify POS, so a single Business Central company can sit behind all three channels. For a wider view of how the two systems exchange data, read our guide to how Business Central and Shopify work together.
Check Your Business Central Version First
One piece of housekeeping matters before anything else. The Shopify Connector released with 2025 release wave 2 relies on Shopify’s July 2025 API, which reached end of support at the end of June 2026.
If you have not upgraded to 2026 release wave 1, your sync may already be failing or blocked. Shopify supports each API version for 12 months only, so this is a recurring task rather than a one-off. Microsoft updates the connector in each major release, which means staying current is the whole job.
Our implementation team checks connector versions as part of any Shopify project. Ask your partner where you stand if you are not sure.
What the Native Connector Does Not Cover
Honesty helps here. The native connector handles standard B2B order flow well, although several wholesale workflows fall outside it.
Quote management sits outside the connector. So does enforcement of minimum order quantities on the Business Central side, and complex purchase-order-from-customer processes. Third-party integration tools cover these gaps when you need them.
Rather than assume you need one, map your actual order process first. Many distributors find the native connector covers 80% of their volume, with the remainder handled by the sales desk as it always has been. You can review the full Business Central feature set to see where the standard product already answers a requirement.
Five Questions to Answer Before You Start
Run through these before you speak to anyone about a build:
- How many distinct price lists do you genuinely operate?
- Which trade customers place repeat orders you could automate today?
- Do your item numbers and units of measure match across systems?
- Who owns customer master data once orders flow in automatically?
- What does your sales team do with the time a portal gives back?
Clean data answers most of these. Because the connector maps items, customers and locations between platforms, inconsistent SKUs create problems that no amount of configuration solves.
Talk to a Microsoft and Shopify Partner
Tecvia works with both platforms. We are a Microsoft Solution Partner and a Shopify Partner, which means one team handles the ERP side and the storefront side of your project.
If you want to know whether Shopify B2B fits your trade operation, get in touch for a straight answer. You can also read more about our Shopify work or our approach to Business Central implementation.
FAQs
For anything not covered here, get in touch directly. We’re happy to answer questions specific to your business and your ERP requirements.
No. Since 2 April 2026, company profiles, custom catalogues, volume pricing, quantity rules and net payment terms come with Basic, Grow and Advanced plans. Shopify Plus adds unlimited catalogues, deposits, partial payments and a dedicated B2B storefront. Most SMEs start on a standard plan and upgrade only when they hit the three-catalogue limit.
Yes. Microsoft includes the connector with every Business Central online subscription at no extra charge. You still pay for your Shopify plan separately. The connector does not work with on-premises or private cloud Business Central, so those deployments need a third-party integration tool.
Yes, and that is the main advantage of native B2B. One admin holds your products, stock and orders for both audiences. Trade buyers log into a company account and see their own catalogue and pricing, while consumers see standard retail prices.
A single store with a clean product catalogue usually takes three to seven days, including testing. Multiple stores, negotiated pricing, or several warehouse locations push that to two to four weeks. Data quality drives the timeline more than anything else, so audit your item and customer records early.
Shopify supports each API version for 12 months. The connector shipped with the 2025 release wave 2 uses the July 2025 API, which lost support at the end of June 2026. Without an upgrade to 2026 release wave 1, API calls can be blocked and synchronisation stops.
