For a long time, the answer seemed relatively easy.

If you were primarily a consumer brand, Shopify was an obvious choice.

If you were a manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler with complicated B2B requirements, BigCommerce was often worth a closer look.

But ecommerce has changed.

Shopify has significantly expanded its native B2B capabilities, including company profiles, catalogs, payment terms, quantity rules, volume pricing and self-service purchasing. Many of these capabilities are now available beyond Shopify Plus.

At the same time, BigCommerce continues to invest heavily in B2B functionality, with capabilities such as company account hierarchies, buyer permissions, quoting, invoice management, purchase orders, approval workflows and a dedicated buyer portal.

So the old question—

“Is Shopify or BigCommerce better?”

—isn’t particularly useful anymore.

The better question is:

“Which platform fits the way our wholesale business actually sells?”

And that depends on a lot more than the storefront.

Start With Your Business, Not the Platform

Before comparing Shopify and BigCommerce, think about how your customers actually buy.

A simple wholesale business might look like:

Customer logs in → sees wholesale pricing → orders → pays → receives products.

That’s relatively straightforward.

A more complex distributor might look like:

Company

↓

Multiple locations

↓

Multiple buyers

↓

Different permissions

↓

Customer-specific catalogs

↓

Negotiated pricing

↓

Purchase order

↓

Credit terms

↓

Approval

↓

ERP

↓

Warehouse

↓

Partial shipment

↓

Invoice

↓

Payment

The second business has a very different ecommerce requirement.

And this is where platform selection becomes important.

Shopify B2B vs BigCommerce B2B at a Glance

Requirement	Shopify B2B	BigCommerce B2B
B2B customer accounts	Strong	Strong
Company profiles	Yes	Yes
Customer catalogs	Yes	Yes
Volume pricing	Yes	Yes
Quantity rules	Yes	Yes
Payment terms	Yes	Yes
Quick/reorder workflows	Yes	Yes
Buyer roles	Good	Strong
Complex company hierarchies	More limited	Strong
Quoting	Often customization/apps depending on workflow	Strong
Purchase orders	Supported	Strong
Approval workflows	Available through Shopify functionality/customization	Strong
Invoice management	More dependent on architecture	Strong
DTC + B2B together	Excellent	Excellent
App ecosystem	Extremely large	Large
API/customization	Strong	Strong/open
Complex B2B workflows	May require customization	Strong native fit
Headless architecture	Strong	Strong
Best known for	DTC + brand experience	B2B + flexible commerce

The important caveat is that feature availability depends on the specific plan, B2B configuration and implementation, so a platform-level comparison should not be treated as a substitute for requirements analysis.

Shopify B2B in 2026: A Much Stronger Contender

The biggest change in this comparison is Shopify itself.

In April 2026, Shopify expanded foundational B2B capabilities to Basic, Grow and Advanced plans. These include company profiles, B2B catalogs, payment terms, volume pricing and quantity rules, among other features.

That changes the conversation.

A company no longer has to assume:

“If we’re doing B2B, we automatically need Shopify Plus.”

You can now build a meaningful B2B operation using Shopify’s native capabilities on lower plans.

However, Shopify still reserves some advanced functionality for Plus.

For example, Shopify’s current documentation lists unlimited B2B catalogs, direct catalogs assigned to specific companies or locations, deposits and partial payments among capabilities available on Plus.

So Shopify’s B2B offering has become much broader—but plan selection still matters.

Where Shopify B2B Is Particularly Strong

1. B2B + B2C in One Ecosystem

This is probably one of Shopify’s biggest advantages.

Imagine a brand selling:

Direct to consumers

and

To retailers and distributors

from the same business.

You may want:

Retail customer

• Retail catalog
• Retail pricing
• Credit card checkout

while:

Wholesale customer

• B2B catalog
• Wholesale pricing
• Payment terms
• Company account

Shopify is particularly attractive when B2B and DTC are both important parts of the business.

Shopify explicitly positions its B2B capabilities around running B2B and B2C through the same platform and, where appropriate, the same store.

2. Shopify Has a Huge Ecommerce Ecosystem

Shopify’s ecosystem is enormous.

That’s useful when you need:

• Marketing tools
• Reviews
• Search
• Merchandising
• Email
• Analytics
• Shipping
• Customer service
• Loyalty
• Subscriptions
• Marketplace integrations
• Specialized B2B applications

If your organization already has a Shopify store, development team, agencies and apps, moving to another platform isn’t a trivial decision.

The existing ecosystem has value.

3. Shopify Is Often Attractive for Brand-Led Businesses

Some wholesale companies don’t want their B2B site to feel like an old procurement portal.

They want:

The sophistication of a modern consumer website with the functionality of a wholesale portal.

This is especially relevant for:

• Fashion
• Beauty
• Food & beverage
• Lifestyle
• Consumer products
• Home goods
• Premium brands

For these businesses, Shopify’s storefront experience can be a significant advantage.

4. Shopify B2B Can Be a Lower-Friction Starting Point

For a company entering B2B ecommerce for the first time, Shopify’s expanded native B2B features can make the initial implementation relatively straightforward.

You may be able to start with:

Company accounts

↓

Catalogs

↓

Wholesale pricing

↓

Quantity rules

↓

Payment terms

↓

Customer accounts

↓

Self-service ordering

And then add customization as the business grows.

That can be a sensible approach for a growing wholesaler that doesn’t yet need highly sophisticated procurement workflows.

Where BigCommerce B2B Gets Interesting

BigCommerce takes a somewhat different approach.

Instead of B2B feeling like an additional layer on top of a primarily consumer-oriented platform, B2B is a major part of BigCommerce’s positioning.

BigCommerce B2B Edition includes capabilities around company accounts, account hierarchies, quotes, invoices, buyer roles, approval workflows, purchase orders and self-service purchasing.

That matters when your customers don’t simply “shop.”

They procure.

1. Complex Company Structures

Let’s say your customer is:

ABC Industrial Corporation

Underneath it:

• Corporate headquarters
• East Coast division
• West Coast division
• Manufacturing facility
• Distribution center
• Purchasing department
• Finance department

And perhaps 20 individual buyers.

Not everyone should have the same permissions.

A junior buyer might:

Create an order

A purchasing manager might:

Approve an order

A finance manager might:

Manage payment information

A corporate administrator might:

Manage multiple locations

This type of structure is central to serious B2B ecommerce.

BigCommerce B2B supports company account hierarchies and role-based permissions designed around these kinds of purchasing structures.

2. Quoting

This is another important difference.

Wholesale isn’t always:

Product → Cart → Checkout.

Sometimes it’s:

Product → Quote → Negotiation → Approval → Order.

A distributor might request:

5,000 units

The supplier may respond with:

Special price: $18.40/unit

Then the buyer accepts.

BigCommerce B2B Edition includes quote-to-cart capabilities and sales-quote functionality as part of its B2B offering.

For businesses where negotiated orders are common, that can be a significant advantage.

3. Purchase Orders and Net Terms

Wholesale customers often don’t behave like consumers.

They may want:

Purchase Order

rather than:

Credit Card

And they may have:

Net 30

or:

Net 60

payment terms.

BigCommerce B2B Edition is designed around these procurement workflows, including purchase orders and net payment terms.

Shopify also supports payment terms and B2B purchasing workflows, but businesses with more complex procurement processes should carefully map the exact requirements against the Shopify plan and any required customization.

4. Buyer Approval Workflows

Imagine a buyer places a:

$75,000 order.

Does it immediately become a confirmed order?

Probably not.

Perhaps:

Buyer

↓

Purchasing Manager

↓

Finance

↓

Final approval

↓

Order

That’s a real B2B process.

BigCommerce’s B2B offering includes buyer approval workflows designed around this type of purchasing structure.

For organizations with formal procurement controls, this can be a meaningful differentiator.

5. Buyer Portal

A B2B buyer often wants more than a storefront.

They want a place where they can:

• View orders
• Reorder
• Manage users
• Review invoices
• Access account information
• View purchasing information
• Manage company details

BigCommerce positions its B2B Edition around a dedicated buyer portal and self-service account capabilities.

Shopify also provides B2B customer accounts and self-service purchasing capabilities, including order history and reordering.

Again, the difference isn’t simply whether the feature exists.

It’s how deeply your business needs to use it.

Shopify vs BigCommerce: The Real Difference

Here’s the simplest way I would explain it.

Shopify asks:

How can we make B2B ecommerce as easy and flexible as modern commerce?

BigCommerce asks:

How can we make complex commerce work for businesses that sell to other businesses?

Neither philosophy is inherently better.

They simply appeal to different types of businesses.

What About Pricing?

Pricing shouldn’t be evaluated simply by asking:

“Which platform subscription costs less?”

That’s too simplistic.

Your actual cost of ownership includes:

• Platform
• Apps
• Development
• Integration
• Maintenance
• Payment processing
• Customization
• Support
• Migration
• Future upgrades

A platform that costs less initially but requires ten additional applications and extensive custom development may not actually be cheaper.

Likewise, paying for capabilities you don’t need isn’t good economics either.

The correct question is:

What will it cost us to operate the B2B business we actually want?

Shopify vs BigCommerce for NetSuite Users

This is particularly important for many US manufacturers and distributors.

If you’re already running:

NetSuite

as your ERP, ecommerce shouldn’t become another isolated system.

You may need:

NetSuite → Shopify/BigCommerce

for:

• Products
• Inventory
• Customer pricing
• Availability

and:

Shopify/BigCommerce → NetSuite

for:

• Customers
• Orders
• Payments
• Fulfillment
• Financial information

The ecommerce platform becomes the customer-facing commerce layer.

NetSuite remains the financial and operational system of record.

Shopify + NetSuite

Shopify can be an excellent choice when the business wants:

• Strong storefront experience
• DTC + B2B
• Large app ecosystem
• Flexible customer experience
• Strong merchandising
• Modern consumer-style UX
• Custom integrations

The integration architecture becomes especially important when B2B pricing, inventory and customer information live in NetSuite.

BigCommerce + NetSuite

BigCommerce can be particularly compelling when the business has:

• Complex B2B pricing
• Account hierarchies
• Quotes
• Purchase orders
• Approval workflows
• Distributor relationships
• Manufacturer workflows
• Multiple buyer roles

BigCommerce itself emphasizes ERP connectivity and B2B workflows, while also maintaining an API-oriented architecture for customization and integrations.

What About Customization?

This is another area where the two platforms should be evaluated carefully.

You don’t want to ask:

“Which platform can be customized more?”

Almost every serious ecommerce platform can be customized.

Instead ask:

“How much customization will our specific business require?”

If your business needs:

• Custom pricing
• Custom product logic
• ERP synchronization
• Customer-specific catalogs
• Custom checkout
• Quote workflows
• Special shipping rules
• Sales-rep functionality
• Custom approval processes

then architecture becomes more important than the platform’s marketing feature list.

A Simple Decision Framework

Here’s how I’d approach the decision.

Choose Shopify B2B if…

Your business is primarily:

• Brand-driven
• DTC + B2B
• Marketing-focused
• Experience-focused
• Moderately complex

You want:

• Fast launch
• Excellent storefront
• Large app ecosystem
• Strong DTC capabilities
• B2B and B2C together
• Flexible customization

Shopify is especially compelling if your B2B requirements are straightforward enough to fit its native capabilities or can be handled cleanly through apps and targeted development.

Choose BigCommerce B2B if…

Your business is primarily:

• Wholesale
• Manufacturing
• Distribution
• Industrial
• Complex B2B

And your buyers expect:

• Company hierarchies
• Multiple users
• Buyer roles
• Approval workflows
• Quotes
• Purchase orders
• Invoice management
• Complex pricing
• Self-service procurement

BigCommerce’s B2B Edition is purpose-built around many of these workflows.

What If You Sell Both B2C and B2B?

This is where the decision gets more interesting.

Suppose you’re a manufacturer with:

60% wholesale

40% direct-to-consumer

You need:

B2C

• Beautiful storefront
• Fast checkout
• Promotions
• Reviews
• SEO
• Marketing

B2B

• Customer pricing
• Company accounts
• Quotes
• Purchase orders
• Net terms
• Multiple buyers
• Approval workflows

Both Shopify and BigCommerce can support combined B2B/B2C commerce.

Shopify explicitly supports B2B and DTC within the same platform, while BigCommerce positions its B2B offering around managing B2B and B2C from the same backend.

The question becomes:

Which side of the business is more complex?

If B2C experience is your competitive advantage, Shopify may have the edge.

If B2B procurement is the heart of your operation, BigCommerce deserves serious consideration.

What About Headless Commerce?

Both platforms can support modern composable architectures.

This matters if you want:

• Custom frontend
• Mobile applications
• Multiple storefronts
• Marketplace experiences
• Specialized B2B portals
• Content-driven experiences

BigCommerce emphasizes open APIs and headless architecture as part of its B2B platform strategy.

Shopify also provides extensive APIs and development tooling for custom storefronts and integrations.

But don’t choose headless simply because it sounds modern.

If a standard storefront can deliver the required customer experience, it may be the better business decision.

A Real-World Example

Imagine a US manufacturer selling industrial components.

They have:

• 2,500 products
• 500 wholesale customers
• 40 sales representatives
• 15 customer locations
• Net 30 terms
• Negotiated pricing
• Purchase orders
• Customer-specific catalogs
• NetSuite ERP
• DTC website

They also have buyers who need to:

• Reorder products
• Request quotes
• Submit large orders
• Have purchases approved
• Track shipments
• View account information

This is a complex B2B operation.

In this situation, BigCommerce B2B would deserve very serious consideration because many of those procurement-oriented workflows align directly with its B2B Edition capabilities.

Now change the business.

Imagine a premium skincare manufacturer with:

• 150 products
• 60 wholesale retailers
• A strong DTC brand
• Instagram-driven sales
• Simple wholesale pricing
• Net 30 for approved accounts
• Shopify already running the consumer business

Suddenly, Shopify becomes extremely attractive.

Why introduce another commerce ecosystem if the existing Shopify environment already works?

The Question You Should Really Ask

Don’t ask:

“Which platform has more features?”

Ask:

“Which platform requires fewer workarounds to support our business?”

That’s the real test.

If Shopify requires:

8 apps + custom development + complicated workarounds

while BigCommerce provides:

native B2B functionality + targeted customization

BigCommerce may be the better choice.

But if BigCommerce requires extensive changes while Shopify provides:

native functionality + excellent ecosystem + simpler DTC/B2B management

Shopify may win.

Our 2026 Verdict

There isn’t a universal winner.

But there is a winner for specific business models.

Shopify B2B

Best suited for:

Brands that want a strong DTC + B2B combination, modern customer experience, fast iteration and a large ecommerce ecosystem.

BigCommerce B2B

Best suited for:

Manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers where procurement complexity, account structures, pricing, quoting and buyer workflows are central to the business.

And for businesses somewhere in the middle?

That’s where a proper architecture assessment becomes valuable.

Because the answer may be:

Shopify

or

BigCommerce

or even:

Shopify + NetSuite

or:

BigCommerce + NetSuite

The platform is only one part of the solution.

Before You Choose, Map These 15 Requirements

If you’re evaluating Shopify and BigCommerce, document these first:

1. Number of B2B customers
2. Number of customer locations
3. Number of buyers per company
4. Customer-specific pricing
5. Number of price lists
6. Product/catalog restrictions
7. Minimum order quantities
8. Volume discounts
9. Quotes
10. Purchase orders
11. Payment terms
12. Approval workflows
13. ERP integration
14. Sales-rep involvement
15. B2B + B2C requirements

Then score each platform.

You may be surprised by the result.

The Platform Isn’t the Project

One final point is worth emphasizing.

Choosing Shopify or BigCommerce is only the beginning.

The real project is designing how:

Customer

→

Storefront

→

Pricing

→

Catalog

→

Order

→

Payment

→

ERP

→

Inventory

→

Fulfillment

→

Invoice

→

Customer

will work together.

A beautiful B2B website with broken ERP integration isn’t a successful ecommerce project.

Neither is a technically sophisticated B2B portal that customers hate using.

The best implementation connects customer experience with operational reality.

Need Help Choosing Between Shopify B2B and BigCommerce?

At Creative Solutions Tecnovate, we help businesses evaluate, design and implement ecommerce architectures for B2B and B2C operations.

Our experience spans:

• Shopify development
• Shopify B2B
• Shopify Plus
• BigCommerce
• B2B ecommerce
• NetSuite integration
• ERP integration
• Custom APIs
• Ecommerce automation
• Custom business workflows

If you’re a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or growing brand deciding between Shopify and BigCommerce, don’t start with the platform.

Start with your business requirements.

We’ll help you map those requirements to the right platform, identify where native functionality is sufficient, determine where customization is actually necessary, and design an architecture that can scale with your business.

Not sure whether Shopify B2B or BigCommerce B2B is right for you? Let’s evaluate your current systems, B2B workflow and growth plans before you commit to a platform.