A good wholesale integration with Shopify keeps Shopify as the source of products and stock, shows that stock to wholesale buyers, and sends wholesale orders back to Shopify for fulfillment. Three options connect wholesale selling to a Shopify store: Shopify's native B2B features, SparkLayer and Brandboom. Each syncs different data, in different directions, with different setup. Brandboom is a full wholesale platform. SparkLayer adds B2B ordering to your own storefront. Shopify B2B runs wholesale inside the store you already have. Unlike enterprise wholesale platforms that require a vendor-led setup, Brandboom lets you connect Shopify yourself, from inside Brandboom or through the Shopify App Store, with no vendor-led project.

What does each Shopify connection sync?

What questions should you ask before connecting a wholesale platform to Shopify?

Before you connect a wholesale platform to Shopify, check how it handles each step:

• Who sets it up: is it a self-serve connection you run yourself, or a vendor-led project where the platform's integration team builds and tests the connection before launch?
• Which way data moves: in most setups Shopify stays the source of products and stock, and the wholesale platform reads from it. Check how products come across and how wholesale prices are set.
• Stock by location: if you sell prebooks as well as at-once stock, look for a way to map Shopify locations to what buyers see. That way, future stock doesn't show as available today.
• How orders return: wholesale orders should land in Shopify for fulfillment. Check whether they arrive as draft orders or finished orders, and whether they're tagged so you can tell wholesale from retail.
• What costs extra: some parts of an integration are included and others are add-ons. Ask which is which.
• Wholesale tools beyond the sync: fashion brands usually need line sheets, size runs, prepacks, prebooks and rep ordering, which a storefront alone doesn't provide.

What can Shopify B2B do without another platform?

Shopify B2B runs wholesale inside your existing store. B2B once required Shopify Plus; Shopify has since opened the core features to its Basic, Grow and Advanced plans.

Source: Shopify Help Center.

It's the simplest route for at-once reorders from accounts you already have. One Shopify Community member wrote that if you have "3 or fewer distinct wholesale price levels," native B2B "likely covers your case entirely".

Merchants report these limits:

• Sign-in: buyers get a one-time code by email. A jewelry wholesaler with 1,500 retail partners wrote: "Every shop owner has to fish a code out of email to reorder. Buyers bail".
• Themes: "most paid themes are simply not coded to render native B2B volume pricing tables".
• Pre-orders: Shopify's developer docs say B2B doesn't support purchase options such as pre-orders.
• Reps and shows: a developer wrote that there is "no storefront portal where a rep logs in and orders as the customer."

For fashion brands, the gaps are size-run minimums, prepacks, prebooks, line sheets and rep ordering.

How does SparkLayer work with Shopify?

SparkLayer is a Shopify app, not a separate wholesale platform. It installs as a sales channel and adds B2B widgets to your theme, so signed-in trade customers order on your storefront. Per SparkLayer's documentation:

• Syncs from Shopify: products, variants, stock by location, and customers tagged b2b. Prices live in SparkLayer price lists (generated from Shopify retail prices, CSV upload or API).
• Orders: Shopify draft orders, linked to Shopify companies where used.
• Plans: any Shopify plan. Sales-agent ordering needs a paid tier; API and ERP integrations need Pro.
• Limits: no Shopify discounts, a cart line-item cap, Shopify company payment terms ignored, and no line sheets or buyer network.

What should a wholesale platform's Shopify integration do?

It should connect without a long setup, keep Shopify as the product and stock source, and send wholesale orders back to Shopify for fulfillment. Here's how Brandboom's integration does each of these.

Brandboom's Shopify integration needs no vendor-led project. Brandboom lets sellers connect from inside Brandboom (Account > Shopify) or install the Brandboom app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify stays the product and stock source; Brandboom adds wholesale selling tools.

• Products, Shopify → Brandboom: Brandboom lets sellers import by Shopify collection, mapping variants and fields. Active products import by default. Brandboom can generate wholesale prices or load Shopify prices into a chosen price list. To add products created in Shopify later, re-import the collection.
• Inventory, Shopify → Brandboom: stock syncs live. Showrooms map to Shopify locations, so at-once and future stock show on line sheets. Inventory sync and order export are an add-on with a fee; product import isn't.
• Orders, Brandboom → Shopify: after an order is invoiced and shipped, Brandboom lets sellers choose "Export to Shopify" (requires the Shopify Inventory add-on). The order arrives tagged wholesale, with wholesale prices if that setting is on.
• Status, Shopify → Brandboom: paid or fulfilled orders update in Brandboom.

Brandboom also lets sellers send line sheets that buyers open from a link without an account. Sellers can put prebook and at-once styles on one sheet, write rep orders, invoice, and create shipping labels through a Shippo connection. Plans start at $50/month for the Basic plan. See the Shopify integration page.

How do you choose the right option for your brand?

Start from the problem:

1. Existing accounts reorder at-once stock at a few price levels: Shopify B2B alone.
2. Trade pricing and rep ordering on your own storefront, without line sheets: SparkLayer.
3. Line sheets, prebook and at-once on one sheet, and rep-written orders, with Shopify as the product and stock source and a connection you set up yourself: Brandboom.

Many brands use two routes, with Shopify as the single inventory source. To keep retail orders from using stock promised to prebooks, hold that stock in a separate Shopify location or use the platform's allocation.

FAQ

Do I need Shopify Plus to sell wholesale on Shopify?

No. The Basic, Grow and Advanced plans include company accounts, up to three B2B catalogs, payment terms and volume pricing. According to Shopify's help center, you still need Plus for more than three catalogs, a catalog assigned to one specific company, and deposits or partial payments.

Which wholesale tools sync inventory from Shopify?

SparkLayer and Brandboom both read stock from Shopify. SparkLayer syncs products, variants and stock by location. Brandboom's live inventory sync is an add-on with a fee. Its showrooms map to Shopify locations, so at-once and future stock show on line sheets. Shopify B2B needs no sync, because wholesale and retail share one stock pool in the same store.

Can Shopify B2B handle size runs, prepacks and prebooks?

Partly. The native Quick order list takes quantities across variants, but quantity rules apply per variant. That means you can't set a size-run minimum, require a fixed-ratio prepack or use a size-by-color matrix. Shopify's developer documentation also says B2B checkout accepts one-time purchases only, so prebooks and pre-orders aren't supported.

Do I have to build the Shopify integration myself?

Not with the self-serve options. Enterprise wholesale platforms that require a vendor-led setup have their integration team build the connection with you. SparkLayer installs as a Shopify app you set up yourself. Brandboom lets sellers link their store from Account > Shopify or the Shopify App Store app, import products by collection, and turn on inventory sync for live stock, with no vendor-led project.

Related questions

• What is a line sheet?