Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced: Which Handles Enterprise Buyers?

The 8 B2B Features Only Shopify Plus Provides

1. Company accounts: Shopify Plus allows buyers to create Company accounts with multiple locations, buyers, and roles. Advanced has only customer accounts no company hierarchy.

2. Custom price lists: Assign different price lists to different companies. A retail buyer sees retail pricing; a wholesale company sees their negotiated pricing. Advanced: not available natively.

3. Payment terms: Net 30, Net 60, Net 90 terms with invoice generation. Enterprise buyers expect net terms Advanced requires custom app integration.

4. Minimum order quantities: Enforce MOQs per product per company. Advanced: requires app.

5. Purchase order workflows: Accept PO numbers, generate invoices, support PO-based checkout. Enterprise procurement requires PO workflows.

6. Draft orders and quotes: Create quotes that buyers convert to orders. Advanced: limited draft order functionality.

7. B2B Checkout: Tailored B2B checkout experience with account-specific fields. Advanced: standard DTC checkout only.

8. Shopify Flow automation: Advanced enterprise workflow automation onboarding, reorder triggers, account-specific automations.

When to Stay on Shopify Advanced

Shopify Advanced is the right choice when:

• You have fewer than 5 enterprise/wholesale accounts and they don't require custom pricing or PO workflows
• Your B2B sales are handled manually (email/phone) and don't need self-serve portal
• Your enterprise buyers don't require net payment terms
• Your order volume doesn't justify $2,500/month (you need 2-3 whale accounts to justify Plus)

Shopify Advanced with the right apps (Wholesale Club, Wholesale Helper) can approximate some B2B features but the integration complexity and ongoing app cost (typically $200-400/month in B2B apps) narrows the price gap significantly.