Checkout and accounts in B2B

Business-to-business (B2B) and direct-to-consumer (DTC) customers can have different customer accounts in your online store. There are two versions of customer accounts: classic and new customer accounts. B2B customers must log in to new customer accounts to place B2B orders, access catalogs reflected in the online store, and access company and location information in their account. DTC customers can log in to either classic or new customer accounts to manage their orders.

Setting up B2B customer login

B2B customers must log in using new customer accounts, which is a version of customer accounts where customers log in using a 6-digit verification code sent to their email address. DTC and B2B customers can both log in to new customer accounts. The customer experience depends on the type of customer profile that their email is associated with:

  • If a customer's email address is associated with a B2B customer profile, then the customer gains access to the B2B customer experience.
  • If a customer's email address is associated with a DTC customer profile, then the customer gets the DTC customer experience.
  • If a customer's email address isn't associated with an existing customer profile, then a new DTC customer profile is created.

You can choose how to offer your B2B customers access to new customer accounts:

Set up new customer accounts in settings

When you select new customer accounts in your settings, both DTC and B2B customers are affected.

If you have existing DTC customers that use classic customer accounts, then they can log in to new customer accounts instead with a 6-digit verification code sent to their email address. DTC customers can review their order history in their new customer account. DTC customers won't be able to access their classic customer account if you change your settings to new customer accounts. All links to classic customer accounts will redirect to new customer accounts, except the customer register page. Learn more about switching to new customer accounts.

New customer accounts doesn't currently support Multipass or apps. Learn more about the differences between classic and new customer accounts.

If you have a dedicated B2B store or a blended store for both B2B and DTC customers that doesn't rely on classic customer account features, then update your settings to use new customer accounts.

If your store relies on classic customer account features, then consider choosing one of the other options for allowing B2B customers to log in.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts.
  2. In the Accounts in online store and checkout section, click Edit.
  3. In the Login experience section, select the following option:
    • Show login link in the header of online store and at checkout: If you select this option, then a login link is displayed in your online store. The link is usually located in the store's header, but the placement might vary depending on your theme. A login link is also displayed on the checkout page.
  4. In the Choose which version of customer accounts to use section, select New customer accounts.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Create a subdomain based on your third-party domain name that points to the customer account.
  7. Optional: If you want to require all customers to log in before checkout, from your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Checkout and select Require the customer to log in to their account before checkout from the Customer contact method section.

Manually add the URL to your online store navigation

If you don't want to update your settings to use new customer accounts, but you want to provide B2B customers a place to log in from your online store, then add the URL for new customer accounts elsewhere in your online store navigation and label it specifically for B2B. For example, add a Wholesale link to the footer of your online store that links to new customer accounts.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts.
  2. In the URLs section, copy the URL for New customer accounts.
  3. Add a menu item to your online store navigation that uses the URL for New customer accounts.

Share the URL directly with your B2B customers

You can share a link to new customer accounts in direct communications with your B2B customers, or in any resources that you create for them.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts.
  2. In the URLs section, copy the URL for New customer accounts.
  3. Share the URL with your B2B customers.

Send a B2B access email

You can send a B2B access email to a B2B customer at any time. This email includes a link for B2B customers to log in to new customer accounts.

Placing an order

The customer selects products to add to their cart as usual, with the exception that the prices offered are those that you specified in your catalog for that company.

To place an order, the customer goes through the following process:

  1. The customer navigates to your online store and clicks the login button.
  2. The customer enters their email address. After they receive an email with their six-digit login code, they enter this code to access their account.
  3. In their account, the customer clicks Go to store.
  4. The customer selects a company location to buy for.
  5. In your online store, the customer selects products and adds them to the cart. The prices offered are those that you specified in your catalog for that company location.
  6. When the customer clicks Checkout to complete their purchase, they're taken to a payment page. In the payment page, the shipping and billing addresses are pre-filled according to the information in the company profile. Customers will have the option to enter a purchase order number for the order. Customers don't need to enter any information other than payment details.
    • If the company location payment terms are set to No payment terms, then the customer enters their credit card information. After reviewing their order, they click Pay now to complete the order.
    • If the company location payment terms are set to a net term, then the customer clicks Submit. The order is displayed in your Orders page, and the payment status of the order is set as Payment pending.
    • If the company location orders are set to Only allow draft orders at checkout, then the customer clicks Submit for approval. The order is displayed in your Drafts page, and is complete only when you click Create order on the draft order page, or when the customer submits payment after you send them an invoice.

After completing the checkout, the customer is taken to an Order status page. If the company location has net periods set, then the due date is displayed. Customers can also view the purchase order number for the order, if one was entered at checkout.

Reviewing orders

After a customer has placed orders, they can track them in their account. Orders can be filtered according to the following parameters:

  • order date
  • order number
  • order status

If a B2B customer places an order with payment terms, then they can choose to pay before the invoice is due.

Steps:

  1. The customer navigates to your online store and clicks the login button.
  2. The customer enters their email address. After they receive an email with their login code, they enter their six-digit number to access their account.
  3. In their account, the customer clicks on the order to be paid.
  4. On the order page, the customer clicks Pay now.
  5. The customer enters their payment information and clicks Pay now.

Updating account information

Steps:

  1. The customer navigates to your online store and clicks the login button.
  2. The customer enters their email address. After they receive an email with their login code, they enter their six-digit number to access their account page.
  3. In their account page, the customer clicks Account, and then clicks Account information.
  4. To edit their name, the customer clicks Edit in the Profile section. Only the name can be updated. The email address the customer uses to log in can't be changed from the account page.
  5. To review company location information, the customer chooses a location from the menu in the Location section.
  6. To edit addresses, the customer clicks Edit in the Addresses section. Editing an address requires the Location admin permission. Permissions, other B2B customers, and payment terms for the selected location are displayed, but can't be changed.
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