> **AI context:** For a structured overview of Express B2B, read [/llms.txt](/llms.txt). For complete product documentation, read [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).
Express B2B vs. Shopify B2B — B2B Ordering Platform Comparison                        What is manual order intake costing your team annually? [ Find out free  ](/b2b-ordering-cost-calculator)

 [![Express B2B](/brand/lockup-light.svg)](/)  [Features](/features) [Use cases](/use-cases) [Pricing](/pricing) [Who it's for](/industries) [Case studies](/case-studies) [Developers](/developers)  [Sign in](/admin) [ Book a demo ](/#demo)         

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    Comparison 

 Express B2B vs.
Shopify B2B 
=============================

 Shopify B2B is a B2B feature set layered onto a direct-to-consumer platform. Express B2B is purpose-built for distributor workflows — two-step ordering, negotiated per-account pricing, billing account hierarchy, and multi-site management are native, not add-ons. Distributors choosing between them are typically evaluating DTC infrastructure adapted for B2B versus a platform designed for B2B from the ground up.

 Shopify built a great consumer commerce platform, then added B2B features. Express B2B built a B2B ordering platform, full stop. For distributors, the direction matters.

 [ See Express B2B in action  ](/#demo) [ Explore features ](/features) 

  What it's good at

Shopify Plus B2B includes company profiles, customer-specific pricing, payment terms, vaulted credit cards, draft orders, and sales rep assignment. Excellent ecosystem, fast setup, and strong infrastructure. Best fit when B2B is a secondary channel alongside DTC.

Where it breaks down

The checkout and ordering UX is consumer-oriented — not designed for procurement managers placing repeat orders. Approval workflows aren't native. Multi-location ordering (one buyer, multiple ship-to sites per session) requires workarounds. Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month before B2B apps.

Who it's right for

Brands running DTC on Shopify who want to add wholesale or B2B accounts without a separate platform. When B2B is a primary channel — not a secondary one — and the ordering experience needs to be built around how procurement actually works, Express B2B is the better fit.

  DTC-first vs. B2B-first: it shows in the checkout
-------------------------------------------------

Shopify's checkout was designed for a consumer making a purchase decision: browse products, discover something, add it to a cart, enter a shipping address, pay. That flow works perfectly for DTC. For a procurement manager placing the same reorder they placed last month — who already knows the SKUs, the pricing, and the ship-to — it creates unnecessary steps.

Express B2B's two-step checkout removes the friction: select products against a known catalog at known pricing, confirm and submit. No browsing experience needed when you know what you're ordering. No consumer-oriented steps that don't map to procurement workflows.

Approval workflows: app ecosystem vs. native
--------------------------------------------

Order approval routing — holding orders above a threshold until a manager approves — isn't part of Shopify B2B natively. Businesses solve this with third-party apps, which adds monthly cost per app, integration complexity, and a maintenance surface that breaks when Shopify updates.

Approval workflows in Express B2B are native and configurable per billing account. No apps, no integrations — just configure the threshold and approver for each account and it works.

Multi-location ordering: the core use case Shopify misses
---------------------------------------------------------

For a regional manager ordering for multiple restaurant locations, or a procurement lead managing several warehouses, the natural workflow is: select a billing account, pick a site, build an order, submit — then repeat for the next site. Shopify doesn't support this natively. Each location order is a separate session, and there's no account hierarchy connecting them.

This pattern — one billing account, many ship-to sites, orders placed across all of them in one workflow — is the core of Express B2B's account model. It's built for this from the start, not adapted to it.

The cost picture
----------------

Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month. B2B features are included in that tier, but the apps you'll need for approval workflows, advanced B2B reporting, and multi-location management add cost on top. Express B2B's pricing is designed specifically for distributors in the $500K–$50M GMV range — see our [pricing page](/pricing) for details.

  Side by side
------------

Feature

Express B2B

Shopify B2B (Plus)

B2B-native ordering flow

✓

~ Consumer base

Two-step express checkout

✓

✗

Per-account negotiated pricing

✓

✓

Net payment terms

✓

✓

Multi-site ship-to ordering

✓

~ Workaround

Native approval workflows

✓

✗

Company account hierarchy

✓

✓

Sales rep assignment

✓

✓

Starting price

Accessible

$2,000+/mo

  The bottom line
---------------

Shopify B2B is the right choice if B2B is a secondary channel and you want to keep everything in one platform. The infrastructure is excellent, the onboarding is fast, and the feature set covers the basics well.

If B2B ordering is the primary business — if your buyers are repeat procurement buyers who care about speed, accuracy, and account structure rather than product discovery — Express B2B was built for that specifically. The two-step checkout, multi-site ordering, and native approval workflows are not features you have to build toward. They're the starting point.

 [ Download the free vendor comparison matrix  ](/resources#vendor-comparison) 

  Compare other options

 [ vs. BigCommerce B2B ](/compare/bigcommerce-b2b) [ vs. Magento ](/compare/magento) [ vs. NetSuite ](/compare/netsuite) [ vs. Microsoft Dynamics ](/compare/microsoft-dynamics) 

Free download

B2B Portal Vendor Comparison Matrix

50+ evaluation criteria pre-filled for Express B2B. Add the other vendors you're evaluating and share with your team.

  Work email   Get it free Sending…  

Check your inbox

 Or download directly → 

  B2B is your primary channel?
----------------------------

Let's show you what a platform built around that looks like. 30 minutes, your account structure, your real ordering workflow.

 [ Book a demo  ](/#demo) 

 Express B2B · Book a Demo 

 Step 1 of 3 About you 

Let's start with you
--------------------

We'll use this to personalise the demo and come prepared.

 Full name \*  

 Work email \*  

 Company \*  

 Your role  Select… Owner / Founder VP or Director Operations Manager Sales Manager Technical / IT Other  

  Continue   Please fill in your name, email, and company to continue.

About your business
-------------------

Helps us understand your setup before the call.

 Industry  Select your industry… Educational Supply &amp; Publishing Industrial Components &amp; Manufacturing Food &amp; Beverage Distribution Safety, Facilities &amp; Janitorial Supply Medical &amp; Dental Consumables Office &amp; Print Supply Chemicals &amp; Cleaning Supply Subscription Fulfillment (schools / institutions) Promotional &amp; Branded Products Agriculture &amp; Farm Supply Other distribution / wholesale  

 Annual B2B order volume  Select a range… Under $500K $500K – $2M $2M – $10M $10M – $50M $50M+  

 How do customers currently place orders?  Select the main method… Phone or email Spreadsheets or shared forms Existing e-commerce site ERP customer portal Mix of methods  

  Back   Continue   

Your ordering setup
-------------------

A few quick questions about your current workflow.

 How many customer accounts do you manage?  Select a range… 1 – 10 11 – 50 51 – 200 200+  

 Do your buyers ship to multiple locations?  Yes   No — single location  

 What's your biggest challenge with the current ordering process?  

  Back   Pick a time →   

Thanks, there!
--------------

We've got everything we need. Pick a time below — we'll come prepared with your answers so you get a demo built around your business.

 Scheduling widget

Replace with your Calendly or Cal.com embed

 Prefer to see it first? [Join a free group walkthrough every Tuesday →](/live-demo)

 Express B2B · Contact Us 

 Get in touch
------------

We read every message and reply within one business day.

 First name \*  

 Last name \*  

 Work email \*  

 Company  

 Company website  

 Phone  

 Your role  Select… Owner / Founder VP or Director Operations Manager Sales Manager Technical / IT Other  

 What's this about?  Select… Pricing question Request a demo Partnership or integration Technical question General question Other  

 Message \*  

 How did you find us?  Select… Google search LinkedIn Word of mouth / referral Industry event or conference Online ad Other  

Please fill in your first name, last name, email, and message.

  Send message    

Message sent!
-------------

Thanks for reaching out. We'll get back to you at  within one business day.

 Close 

 Express B2B · Fit Check 

 Question 1 of 5 

Find out if Express B2B fits your operation
-------------------------------------------

5 questions about your current ordering process. We'll diagnose exactly what's costing you — and whether this platform solves it.

- Takes under 2 minutes
- Personalised diagnosis at the end
- No email required to see results

  Let's find out   

Question 1 of 5

How do most of your customers send you orders today?
----------------------------------------------------

Don't overthink it — pick the one that happens most.

 By phone or email

My team transcribes them manually

  Spreadsheets or shared forms

Structured, but still manual to process

  Through an existing site or platform

It works, but it wasn't built for B2B

  A mix — every customer does it differently

Different methods, constant switching

  Continue   

Question 2 of 5

How much of your team's week goes into manually processing orders?
------------------------------------------------------------------

Think about data entry, confirmations, corrections, and follow-up emails.

 Less than an hour a week

We're pretty automated already

  A few hours — it adds up

Noticeable, but we manage

  Half a day or more each week

It's a real drain on the team

  It's basically someone's full-time job

A whole role dedicated to order intake

 Back  Continue   

Question 3 of 5

How confident are you that every order goes out at the right negotiated price?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each customer may have different rates. How is that tracked today?

 Very confident — we have a reliable system

Pricing is centralised and accurate

  Mostly — but we manually double-check

Some process, but still human verification

  We catch errors — sometimes after they ship

Wrong prices reach customers occasionally

  Not very — it's a real risk for us

Pricing errors happen and we don't always catch them

 Back  Continue   

Question 4 of 5

When a customer ships to multiple locations, how does that work today?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Select all that apply to your customers.

 Each location orders separately

No central oversight — each site is its own account

  One person manages all locations

Lots of back-and-forth, easy to get something wrong

  It's messy — errors happen regularly

Wrong addresses, wrong items, missed locations

  Our customers only have one location

Not a factor in our business right now

  All of the above apply

Multiple of these are true for different customers

 Back  Continue   

Question 5 of 5

What would you fix about your ordering process if you could?
------------------------------------------------------------

Select all that apply — most operations have more than one.

 Stop spending time on manual order entry

Eliminate the data entry work entirely

  Make sure pricing is accurate every time

Right rates, automatically, no double-checking

  Give customers a self-service way to order

They shouldn't need to call or email us every time

  Get real visibility into what's been ordered

Status, history, and confirmations without chasing

  All of the above

Every one of these is a problem for us

 Back  See my results   

Analysing your responses…
-------------------------

Identifying what's costing you the most

Here's what's costing you most:

   Chat with AI about your results    

 Express B2B AI Coming soon 

AI chat is in development — we'll notify you when it launches.

  Send me my results   [ Keep exploring instead ](/features) 

Where should we send them?
--------------------------

We'll email your personalised assessment. A team member will be in touch within one business day.

 Full name  

 Work email \*  

 Company (optional)  

 Phone (optional)  

Please enter your work email to continue.

  Back   Send my results    

Check your inbox.
-----------------

Your fit assessment is on its way. A team member will be in touch within one business day.

 [ Explore the platform ](/features) 

 [![Express B2B](/brand/lockup-dark.svg)](/)Purpose-built B2B ordering for distributors with $500K–$50M annual GMV.

### Product

 [Features](/features) [Who it's for](/industries) [Use cases](/use-cases) [Pricing](/pricing) [Cost calculator](/b2b-ordering-cost-calculator) [Free resources](/resources) [Case studies](/case-studies) 

### Company

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### Compare

 [vs. Phone &amp; Email](/compare/phone-and-email) [vs. Magento](/compare/magento) [vs. BigCommerce B2B](/compare/bigcommerce-b2b) [vs. NetSuite](/compare/netsuite) [vs. Shopify B2B](/compare/shopify-b2b) [vs. Microsoft Dynamics](/compare/microsoft-dynamics) [vs. Infor](/compare/infor) 

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