Selling to businesses is not the same as selling to consumers.
The orders are bigger, the relationships last longer, and the growth is more predictable. But only if you make buying for business customers as easy as buying for consumers.
In this edition, I share how to sell wholesale and to business customers on Shopify, what makes Shopify B2B stand out, and how to set it up for long-term success.
Plus, the latest eCommerce news, key industry trends, and three AI prompts you can use to quickly audit your product detail page (PDP), category/collections pages, and blog post pages.
Let’s dive in.
In this issue:
- How to Use Shopify B2B to Build and Scale Wholesale Sales
- eCommerce News and Platform Updates
- Innovation and AI Developments
- Fulfillment and Checkout Trends
- Consumer Behavior Insights
- Steal These Prompts & Evaluate Your Store Like a Pro
- Final thoughts
How to Use Shopify B2B to Build and Scale Wholesale Sales
B2B selling used to mean messy workarounds. Merchants had to run separate wholesale portals, juggle price lists manually, or rely on custom-coded solutions that were expensive to maintain.
Shopify B2B changes this. It gives you a single, integrated platform where you can sell to both consumers and businesses without duplicating your storefront.
Chapter 1: Understanding Shopify’s & Wholesale B2B Capabilities
What is Shopify B2B?
Shopify B2B is essentially a suite of native wholesale features built directly into the Shopify platform and is available only on Shopify Plus.
It enables merchants to support business buyers with tools like personalized catalogs and pricing, net payment terms, and company accounts. All without relying on third-party apps.
In practical terms, Shopify B2B allows you to create dedicated wholesale experiences within your Shopify store: you can group customers into companies, assign custom price lists or discounts to them, and streamline large, bulk ordering from one central dashboard with the Trade theme.
Key benefits of Shopify for wholesale
Whether or not you’re on Shopify Plus, using Shopify for B2B means you can unify your D2C and B2B operations on one platform.
This brings several advantages:
Single Backend for All Sales
Manage your retail and wholesale orders, products, and inventory in one place, eliminating the need for separate store systems. Shopify Plus, in particular, allows running both channels in one admin and is often called a blended store.
Even without Plus, many merchants use a single Shopify store, along with some workarounds, to handle both audiences.
Modern Buying Experience
B2B buyers today expect an online experience similar to that of B2C customers. Shopify’s polished online storefronts and checkout ensure your wholesale customers get a user-friendly, fast experience.
Features like mobile-responsive themes, quick reorder options, and integrated payments can delight B2B buyers who are used to clunky old-school portals.
Extensibility and Apps
Shopify’s App Store and APIs provide flexibility to add on extra wholesale functionality as needed. There are apps for everything from tiered pricing and customer verification to bulk order forms and ERP integrations (we’ll cover top apps later).
This means even standard Shopify plans (Non-Plus) can be extended to handle quite complex B2B requirements with the right apps.
Reliability and Security
As a fully hosted platform, Shopify provides robust security, PCI compliance, and uptime, all of which are critical when your wholesale revenue depends on buyers being able to place large orders 24/7.
You won’t need to maintain servers or apply security patches as you would on open-source platforms. This is a big relief for many B2B merchants migrating from systems like Magento or WooCommerce.
Continue reading the rest of the article →
eCommerce News and Platform Updates
Shopify Q2 earnings beat expectations
Shopify’s Q2 revenue rose 31 percent year over year to 2.1 billion dollars, with GMV reaching 87.8 billion dollars. Growth was driven by enterprise adoption, international expansion, and strong B2B sales momentum. Read more
New Shopify B2B tools released in July
Merchants can now customize tax and duty settings, accept manual payments, and access enhanced inventory reporting for wholesale orders. These updates improve flexibility and efficiency for B2B sellers. Read more
Shopify Adds Targeted Automatic Discounts
Shopify now lets you apply automatic discounts to specific customer groups, like wholesale accounts, loyalty members, or repeat buyers. No discount codes to leak, no offers getting shared where they shouldn’t.
It works online and in POS Pro, so you can keep promotions targeted and margin intact. Read more
BigCommerce Rebrands to Commerce
BigCommerce has rebranded as Commerce, positioning itself more like a parent company than a single platform brand. The eCommerce CMS still exists alongside Feedonomics and Makeswift, but the change gives the company room to expand into new areas.
Industry watchers see this as a setup for acquisitions, potentially in AI, and a step toward competing in “agentic commerce,” where AI agents do the shopping on behalf of customers. It is a bet that aligns with BigCommerce’s history of being more open in payments and integrations, which could make it attractive to merchants who want to sell in multiple ecosystems at once.
The challenge will be shifting merchant perception. Many still view Shopify as the clear market leader. Commerce now has the chance to redefine its role in the next decade of online selling (and hopefully increase its stock value 🙂).
Shopify Storefront MCP Connects Directly to OpenAI
Shopify’s integration with ChatGPT has been getting a lot of attention for product recommendations and links to checkout. Just as exciting is the new ability to connect Shopify Storefront MCP directly to OpenAI responses.
This opens the door for AI-powered guided shopping experiences right on your site or inside your app. OpenAI can pull product data from your storefront and even add items to the cart based on a customer’s context. Imagine a shopper telling your site they are hosting a weekend party for 15 people and instantly getting a curated shopping list built from your inventory.
The potential for B2B is just as strong. Guided ordering, automated replenishment, and more relevant product suggestions could make buying faster and smarter. Read more
Shopify Launches AI Agent Commerce Tools
Shopify is betting that AI agents will become a common way people shop, and they just released three new tools to make adding commerce to those agents effortless:
- Checkout Kit lets you embed Shopify checkout directly into an AI agent or chat experience. Microsoft’s Copilot is already using it.
- Shopify Catalog enables fast global product search across millions of merchants.
- Universal Cart allows customers to shop from any store in one cart.
The goal is simple: let developers and merchants build embedded commerce experiences without reinventing checkout or navigating marketplace regulations. Products, carts, and payments can all flow inside the conversation.
Amazon and Walmart go big on summer sales
Amazon’s four-day Prime Day event generated 7.9 billion dollars on Day 1, nearly 10 percent higher than last year. Walmart countered with a six-day “Deals” campaign both online and in-store, expanding competition for mid-summer spending. Read more
Innovation and AI Developments
AI Overviews becoming dominant
Nearly half of all Google searches now display AI-generated summaries. Brands should begin optimizing for Answer Engine Optimization to stay visible. Read more
OpenAI explores commerce monetization
OpenAI is testing referral fees for purchases made directly through ChatGPT. This could create a new customer acquisition channel for brands as AI-driven shopping grows. Read more
Cloudflare tests pay-per-crawl for AI bots
Cloudflare is trialing a model that charges AI companies for bot access to websites, giving publishers a potential new revenue stream. Read more
Google expands AI Overviews reach
Alphabet says AI Overviews now reaches two billion monthly users globally, with AI Mode exceeding 100 million monthly users in the US and India. UK rollout began the week of July 29. Read more
Fulfillment and Checkout Trends
Tax-Free goods gap shuts, hitting air shipments hard
The U.S. ended its “de minimis” exemption for low-value imports from China, sending air cargo shipment volume down 10.7 % year-on-year by May. Ecommerce platforms re-routed shipments to other regions, triggering significant logistic disruption. Read more
Drone and dark store fulfillment scaling up
Walmart expanded drone delivery to more than 100 stores and converted select locations into dark stores dedicated to online orders. Read more
ShipBob launches air delivery service for 2-day shipping
On July 12, ShipBob introduced zone skipping to consolidate shipments by destination region before entering carrier networks. This can lower shipping costs, cut delivery times, and allow merchants to run fewer fulfillment centers while still reaching over 80% of U.S. customers quickly. Read more
Amazon cuts prep services at fulfillment centers
As of July, Amazon no longer provides prep services, like labeling, polybagging, or bubble wrappingat fulfillment centers. Sellers must now prepare items themselves before sending them in. Read more
Walmart’s fulfillment services get a major upgrade
Walmart’s new 2025 Marketplace Seller Playbook promotes expanded Walmart Fulfillment Services, claimed to be 15% cheaper than competitors, and introduces a Multichannel Solutions feature that lets sellers fulfill across platforms. Read more
Consumer Behavior Insights
A CPG eCommerce rebound
In the four weeks ending July 13, U.S. consumer packaged goods (CPG) e‑commerce sales posted the fastest growth in almost three years. Beauty and non-food categories led, fueled by Prime Day and other July promotions, which is proof that discretionary spending still has steam when timed right. Read more
Longer-term inflation expectations climb
The New York Fed’s July Survey of Consumer Expectations saw 5-year inflation expectations jump to 2.9% (from 2.6%), while 1-year expectations nudged up to 3.1%. That’s the highest long-term inflation outlook since March, meaning shoppers expect higher prices for a while. Read more
Consumers lean into purpose-driven spending
A Mastercard survey reveals a major mindset shift: nearly two-thirds of global consumers are prioritizing "bucket-list" experiences, like travel or special dining, over material purchases. Among higher earners, 59% say they’d rather invest in meaningful experiences than buy stuff. Financial brands are responding with curated offerings, like bespoke travel perks tied to elite credit cards. Read more
Social commerce isn’t just growing, it’s booming
One in three Americans aged 18–34 now shops via social media weekly. Social commerce is rapidly going mainstream, with TikTok Shop, Instagram, and Pinterest turning scrolls into purchases. Read more
TikTok shop + Live commerce = Explosive opportunity
Top e‑commerce sellers say TikTok Shop is “explosive.” For anyone not on it, you're already behind. Livestream selling, like a digital QVC, is gaining traction across TikTok, Amazon, YouTube, and Instagram, pointing to a live-commerce boom ahead. Read more
U.S. retail spending surges on summer deals
Retail spending bounced back strongly in July as consumers rushed summer deals ahead of tariff hikes. Total retail sales (excluding autos and gas) jumped 5.9% year-over-year, the largest monthly gain since tracking began in 2022. Grocery and beverage sales also rose notably. Read more
Steal These Prompts & Evaluate Your Store Like a Pro
AI now makes it faster and easier to uncover what’s helping or hurting your store’s performance.
Here are three ready-to-use AI prompts to evaluate your store’s most important pages for conversions, UX, UI, and brand alignment.
1. eCommerce Product Detail Page (PDP) Audit Prompt
You are an eCommerce CRO and SEO expert. Your task is to evaluate the quality of the product detail page (PDP) at this URL [enter your website’s URL here]. Assess how well it follows best practices for a high-converting, user-friendly, and search-optimized product page.
Create a table with the following categories as rows: Product Title, Visuals/Images/Video, Product Description, Trust Signals (reviews/ratings/badges), Call-to-Action clarity, Mobile Responsiveness, Technical Specifications/Details, FAQs section, Internal Links (related products or categories), Urgency/Scarcity tactics, Audience Relevance, Keyword Optimization, Structured Data (Schema markup), Meta Tags (title & description), Canonical/Duplicate Content, Voice Search/Featured Snippet Readiness.
For each category row, add three columns:
- Visual score – 🟥 = weak, 🟧 = moderate, 🟩 = strong performance
- Comment – a brief note explaining why that aspect is strong or where it falls short
- Improvement – specific suggestions to improve that aspect
Next, list any missed opportunities or notable weaknesses not covered above (e.g. missing content, slow loading, poor accessibility) and suggest how to fix them (what to add or change).
Finally, provide a short summary including: the overall PDP performance (high, moderate, or low), the page’s best feature, its biggest opportunity for improvement, and a recommended action – e.g. keep as-is, update, major rework, or remove the page if it’s not salvageable.
2. eCommerce Collection/Category Page Audit Prompt
You are an eCommerce UX, SEO, and CRO expert. Your task is to audit the collection (category) page at this URL [enter your website’s URL here] and evaluate how well it supports product discovery, engagement, and search visibility.
Create a table with the following categories as rows:
- Page H1 + Intro Copy
- Featured Image / Banner Visuals
- Page Speed & Mobile Load Performance
- Product Grid Design & Consistency
- Filtering & Sorting UX
- Pagination vs. Infinite Scroll
- Number of Products Displayed by Default
- Collection Page SEO Title & Meta
- Structured Data (ItemList / Breadcrumb Schema)
- Internal Links (Top Nav, Cross-links, Footer)
- Keyword Targeting for Category Intent
- Category Description / Contextual Copy
- Visuals or Icons Within the Grid (e.g. badges, quick view)
- Personalization or Merchandising Rules
- AEO / Featured Snippet Optimization (FAQs, Q&A)
- Calls to Action (CTA) Placement and Clarity
For each row, include:
- Visual Score – 🟥 = weak, 🟧 = moderate, 🟩 = strong
- Comment – what’s missing or done well
- Suggested Fix – specific improvement based on eCommerce best practices
Then list any missed opportunities not already covered.
End with a summary that includes:
- Overall audit rating (high, moderate, low)
- Best feature of the page
- Most critical issue to fix
- Recommended next step: update, rework, or rebuild
3. eCommerce Blog Post Audit Prompt
You are an eCommerce SEO and content strategist. Your task is to evaluate the blog post at the URL below and assess its performance in terms of SEO, user engagement, brand positioning, and product integration.
Create a table with the following categories as rows:
- Blog Title & Headline Relevance
- Hook & Opening Paragraph
- Formatting (Headers, Short Paragraphs, Bullets)
- Visual Content (Images, Charts, Product Shots)
- Internal Links (to PDPs, Collections, Guides)
- External Links (to Credible Sources)
- Keyword Targeting & Semantic Coverage
- Readability Score / Tone of Voice
- Depth & Word Count vs. Intent
- Calls to Action (CTA in Body & End)
- Structured Data (Article Schema, FAQs)
- Meta Title & Description Optimization
- URL Structure / Slug Clarity
- Mobile Usability & Page Speed
- Product Mentions & Integration (Shoppable Content)
- AEO & Featured Snippet Optimization
For each category, provide:
- Score — 🟥 = weak, 🟧 = moderate, 🟩 = strong
- A comment on what’s missing or what’s working
- A suggestion for improvement
Finish with a summary including:
- Overall audit rating
- Strongest area
- Most urgent issue to fix
- Action plan: update, expand, rework, or retire
8 Chrome Extensions for eCommerce
When you’re running an eCommerce business, the right browser extensions can be like a secret weapon, streamlining your workflow and revealing insights at a click.
Here are 8 excellent Chrome extensions, free and paid, that every eCommerce merchant should consider adding to their toolkit:
- Keywords Everywhere: This popular freemium extension puts dynamic keyword research at your fingertips. As you search on Google, or even within your Shopify admin or Etsy, etc., it displays keyword volume, CPC, and competition data. Great for brainstorming product keywords or content ideas on the fly. Free to install, for volume data.
- Ahrefs SEO Toolbar (one of my favorites): A handy on-page SEO analyzer. With one click, it pulls up all the key SEO info for whatever page you’re viewing (meta titles and descriptions, header tags, schema markup, image alt text, link count, etc). Use it to quickly audit your product pages or to snoop on a competitor’s SEO setup. Free
- Google Tag Assistant (Legacy): If you use Google Analytics, Google Ads conversion tracking, or any of the Google marketing tags, this extension is a lifesaver. It checks your pages for proper Google tag installation and highlights errors or redundancies. Free
- Meta Pixel Helper: Similarly, this extension helps verify your Facebook/Instagram pixel is firing correctly. It will tell you which events (Purchase, Add to Cart, etc.) were detected on a page and if there are any issues. Free
- Koala Inspector (formerly Shopify Inspector): A powerful tool for competitor research and merchandising insights. When you visit a Shopify store, Koala Inspector can reveal what apps the store is using, what theme they have, and even their new product launches and best sellers. It’s like x-ray vision for Shopify sites. Core features free, advanced data requires a paid plan.
- SimilarWeb – Traffic Rank & Website Analysis: Ever wonder how much traffic a competitor’s site is getting, or where their visitors come from? The SimilarWeb extension gives you a snapshot of any website’s traffic and engagement metrics (global rank, visit estimates, top traffic sources, search vs. social, etc.), and even audience geography. It’s not 100% precise, but it’s great for benchmarking your site or doing market research. Free with optional paid plans for more detailed data.
- Grammarly: You’ve probably heard of Grammarly. I’ve been using it for years. It’s like having a writing assistant riding along in your browser. For an eCommerce merchant, this is fantastic for content productivity: it spell-checks and grammar-checks everything from product descriptions and blog posts to customer emails. The extension works on pretty much any text field in Chrome (including your Shopify admin or Gmail). Free basic version; Premium plans add advanced suggestions.
- WhatFont: A tiny tool that identifies fonts on any webpage. Why is this useful? If you stumble on a beautifully designed site and want to know what fonts they’re using, or if your own site has inconsistent fonts due to a rogue snippet of code, WhatFont will tell you the font family and styles in seconds. It’s a quick way to do a UX/design check or get typography inspiration from around the web. Free.
Each of these extensions can save you time or provide insight that’s hard to get otherwise. Just remember: with great power (i.e., a browser full of extensions) comes great responsibility. Don’t go overboard and bog down your Chrome. Pick the tools that fill a gap in your process. Happy optimizing!
Are You Tracking AI Traffic Yet?
Your site might already be getting visitors from AI tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity. You might even have leads coming in from these sources, but without the right tracking in place, you will never know.
With a few quick GA4 reports, you can see:
- How much traffic is coming from AI tools
- Which tools are sending it
- Where those visitors are landing
- Whether they are converting
It only takes a few minutes to set up. Orbit Media has a simple walkthrough with updated steps and a video to guide you through it. Read more
Meet Us at eTail East
Heading to eTail East in Boston this week? Shero and our partner, Bloomreach, are teaming up to host a night to remember.
Bloomreach personalizes the eCommerce experience with AI-powered solutions for search, marketing automation, and content. Combine that with our Shopify Plus solutions that modernize, scale, and simplify complex commerce operations.
If you are attending eTail East, come join the tour, stop by the Bloomreach booth, or reach out to set up a time to meet.
Learn more about our eTail East event →
Final thoughts
B2B on Shopify is not just for large enterprises. It is an opportunity for any brand that wants to deepen relationships, stabilize revenue, and serve high-value customers more effectively.
The sooner you build a wholesale experience that is easy to buy from, the more defensible your business becomes.
Warm regards,
Gentian
P.S. If you enjoyed this month’s newsletter, feel free to forward it to a colleague or friend in the industry. And as always, I’d love to hear your feedback or topics you’d like to see covered in future editions, just hit reply and let me know!
