The short answer: choose the platform that passes your reorder test
For most established manufacturers and wholesalers selling in the US and Canada, the best wholesale ecommerce platform is a commerce platform with native B2B features, connected to the ERP you already run. It lets a reseller log in, see their own prices and terms, and repeat last month's order without calling anyone. Your ERP stays the record for stock, credit and invoicing.
Feature lists will not separate the vendors, because most of them now tick the same boxes. What separates them is whether a real order from one of your accounts goes through cleanly: the right price, the right terms, the right tax treatment, a believable freight charge, and a clean handoff to your back office. The options fall into four groups.
| Type | Good fit when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Commerce platform with native B2B, such as Shopify, BigCommerce B2B Edition or Adobe Commerce | You want one catalog for wholesale and retail, a modern storefront and room to grow channels | How pricing, terms and orders sync with your ERP, and which features sit on a higher plan |
| Storefront module sold by your ERP vendor | Nearly every order comes from existing accounts and the ERP already holds every price | Storefront flexibility, a consumer channel later, and the cost of changes |
| Dedicated B2B ordering app | Field reps write most orders on a tablet at the customer's door | A second catalog and price book to keep in step with everything else |
| Wholesale marketplace, such as Faire | You want independent retailers you have never met to find you | Commission on marketplace orders and less control of the buyer relationship[7] |
What a wholesale platform has to handle in the US and Canada
Write your requirements from the orders you take today, not from a vendor's feature grid. These are the jobs a North American wholesale site gets judged on within its first month.
- Company accounts. One business with several buyers and several ship-to locations, each buyer seeing only what they may order.
- Account pricing. Negotiated prices per account, price breaks on volume, and separate price lists when you sell in both US and Canadian dollars.
- Payment terms and credit. Net terms for approved accounts, cards for everyone else, and a clear rule for what happens when an account is on credit hold.
- Order rules. Minimums, case packs and order multiples, so a buyer cannot order three units of something you only ship by the dozen.
- Tax status per location. US resale certificates and Canadian provincial exemptions belong to the account location that buys, not to the whole company.
- Freight. Parcel for small orders, LTL quotes for pallets, and liftgate or appointment fees that show up before the buyer commits.
- The back office. Orders, customers and invoices reaching your ERP without anyone typing them in again.
Pick one real purchase order from last month before you book a single demo. Every requirement above can be tested against it, and a vendor who cannot run it has told you what you need to know.
How the main platforms compare
Shopify
Shopify B2B is available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, and not on Starter or Retail. Business customers are set up as companies, and each company's pricing, currency, products, payment and shipping methods can be tailored.[1]
Since April 2, 2026, plans below Plus get company profiles, up to three custom catalogs with tailored pricing, volume discounts and quantity rules, vaulted cards and payment terms. Plus adds unlimited catalogs, catalogs assigned directly to companies and locations, and deposits or partial payments. Contextual checkout is on Advanced and Plus.[2][3]
For tax, a company location can be set to "Don't collect tax", an option Shopify added on September 5, 2024 for exempt business buyers in places without a predefined exemption.[4]
In practice, the catalog limit is the line to watch. A wholesaler with a handful of price tiers fits comfortably below Plus. A distributor with negotiated pricing per account usually does not. See how we set this up on our Shopify B2B service.
BigCommerce B2B Edition
B2B Edition adds company accounts, user roles for buyers and staff, sales quotes with negotiated pricing, and invoice management for purchase orders paid on net terms. Buyers use a Buyer Portal to request quotes and pay open invoices. It is installed as an app and then provisioned through BigCommerce support, so ask for a sandbox with your own catalog early.[5]
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce B2B covers company accounts, shared catalogs with custom prices per company, quick order by product name or SKU, requisition lists for repeat purchases, negotiable quotes, payment on account, and purchase orders with approval rules. It suits complex catalogs and teams with developers on hand, and it asks more of you to build and maintain.[6]
Faire
Faire is a sales channel, not your platform. Under its brand terms effective September 15, 2026, a retailer's first marketplace order costs a 15% commission on the order subtotal plus a $10 new customer fee, reorders cost 15%, and qualified Faire Direct orders from retailers you bring yourself cost 0%. Many brands use it to find new independent stores, then serve repeat accounts on their own site.[7]
Tax and currency: the cross-border checks most demos skip
US resale exemptions run on certificates. On the Streamlined Sales Tax certificate, leaving the single purchase box unchecked makes it a blanket certificate, which stays in force while the purchaser keeps buying, with at least one purchase in any twelve consecutive months. Ask each vendor where that certificate lives, which account location it covers, and what flags it when it lapses.[8]
Canada adds provincial rules. Shopify's Canadian exemption types include reseller, production and machinery, and contractor exemptions, and they only apply in provinces where you are registered for tax. Test a reseller in one province and a contractor in another, and check the tax lines on both orders.[9]
Currency is the other trap. If your Canadian accounts have negotiated prices in Canadian dollars, a platform that converts your US price list at today's rate will quote them the wrong number. Ask to see a CAD price list and a USD price list side by side for the same product.
Run the demo with a real reorder
Hand the vendor a redacted purchase order from a reseller with two ship-to locations and walk through it live. Each step either passes or fails.
- Reorder as the buyer. Log in as the reseller's purchasing manager and repeat the order. Every line should show the agreed price without a rep stepping in.
- Switch location. Change the ship-to to the second branch. Products that branch may not buy should disappear, and the freight charge should change with the address. If pallets ship LTL, see how freight quotes reach checkout.
- Pay on terms. Place the order on net terms, then put the account on credit hold and try again. The platform should stop the order or route it for review, not quietly accept it.
- Check tax. Use an exempt location and a taxable one, and compare the tax lines.
- Watch the handoff. Follow the order into your ERP and confirm the customer, price, terms and ship-to arrive as entered. This is where most projects slip, so map who owns each field before you sign. Our systems integration work starts with that map.
- Add a second buyer. Log in as a counter employee at the same company and confirm they see only their branch and their permissions.
What choosing the wrong platform costs
The cost rarely shows up in the subscription. It shows up as a second price book someone has to update every Monday, orders re-keyed into the ERP, reps fixing quotes the site should have handled, and resellers drifting back to email because the portal got their price wrong once.
The most expensive outcome is replatforming a year later, with customer records, order history and search rankings to carry across. If you are already there, plan the move from your current platform around the accounts and data you cannot afford to lose.
Where to go from here
Narrow the list to two vendors, book the reorder demo with both, and score them on the same purchase order. For the operations side in Canada, read our guide to B2B order management for Canadian wholesalers. For US distribution, our buying guide for distributors covers dealer access, rep accounts and EDI.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify good for wholesale?
For many manufacturers and wholesalers, yes. Shopify B2B runs on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, with company accounts, custom catalogs, volume pricing, quantity rules and payment terms. Check the catalog limit against how many price tiers you sell at.[1][2]
Do I need Shopify Plus for B2B?
Not to start. Plans below Plus include up to three custom catalogs and payment terms. Plus adds unlimited catalogs, catalogs assigned directly to companies and locations, and deposits or partial payments.[2][3]
Is Faire a wholesale ecommerce platform?
Faire is a marketplace where retailers find and buy from brands. It charges commission on marketplace orders and 0% on qualified Faire Direct orders from retailers you bring, so it works best alongside your own wholesale site rather than instead of it.[7]
Can one platform serve consumers and wholesale buyers?
Yes. On Shopify, business customers are set up as companies with their own pricing, products, payment and shipping methods, while consumers keep shopping as usual on the same store.[1]
How should a wholesale site handle US resale certificates?
Store each certificate against the account location that buys, and track when it lapses. A Streamlined Sales Tax blanket certificate stays in force while the purchaser keeps making recurring purchases, with at least one purchase in any twelve consecutive months.[8]
Sources
- Shopify Help Center: Shopify B2B
- Shopify News: Shopify brings native B2B features to millions more merchants
- Shopify Help Center: Shopify B2B features by plan
- Shopify Changelog: Don't collect tax option now available for B2B
- BigCommerce Dev Center: B2B Edition overview
- Adobe Experience League: Introduction to Adobe Commerce B2B
- Faire: Brand Terms of Service, USA and Canada
- Streamlined Sales Tax: Certificate of Exemption instructions
- Shopify Help Center: Setting Canadian tax exemptions