TL;DR: Shopify Winter '26 Editions delivered meaningful B2B upgrades — store credit for B2B, pickup in store for wholesale buyers, Shopify Collective expanding globally, and more. Most of these are available on Basic and Grow plans. A handful remain Plus-exclusive. This post breaks down exactly what changed, what you can use today, and what it means for your B2B strategy.
Why Winter '26 Matters for Non-Plus B2B Merchants
Shopify's Winter '26 Editions continued a clear strategic direction: making enterprise-grade B2B infrastructure available to merchants on all plans — not just Plus.
For merchants on Basic and Grow, this Editions release is particularly significant. Several features that previously required workarounds or third-party apps are now native, free, and available on your plan.
At WAHOO DEVELOPER, we track every Editions release closely — because the features Shopify ships directly shape how we architect stores on the CAT Stack. Here's our full breakdown of Winter '26 B2B updates and what they mean for you.
What's New in Winter '26: B2B Feature by Feature
1. Store Credit for B2B — Available on All Plans
Shopify Winter '26 introduced store credit for B2B — allowing merchants to issue store credit directly to company locations, either from their location profile or when processing a refund.
Why this matters for Basic and Grow merchants:
- Refunds on wholesale orders can now be issued as store credit rather than cash — keeping revenue within the relationship
- Store credit can be applied to future B2B orders at checkout natively
- No third-party app or workaround required
👉 For merchants managing ongoing wholesale relationships, this is a meaningful retention and cash flow tool — now available without a Plus subscription.
2. Pickup in Store for B2B — Available on All Plans
B2B customers can now select pickup in store as a delivery option at checkout — a feature previously unavailable for wholesale orders.
Why this matters:
- Local wholesale buyers — retailers, distributors, trade customers — can now collect orders directly from your location
- Eliminates the need for separate fulfilment workflows for local B2B accounts
- Reduces shipping costs on high-volume local wholesale orders
👉 Note: Local delivery (as distinct from pickup in store) remains unavailable for B2B checkout. Pickup in store for B2B draft orders created in the admin was already available — Winter '26 extends this to the self-serve B2B checkout experience.
3. Shopify Collective Now Available Globally — All Plans
Shopify Collective — the tool that lets merchants source and sell products from other Shopify brands directly from the admin — expanded to 35 additional countries in Winter '26.
Additionally, suppliers can now discover and connect with new retail partners using the Shopify Collective retailer directory.
Why this matters for B2B merchants on Basic and Grow:
- Expand your product range without holding inventory — source from other Shopify brands and sell on commission
- As a supplier, get discovered by new retail partners actively looking for products to stock
- Build a wholesale distribution network without a separate platform
👉 Shopify Collective is one of the most underused B2B tools on non-Plus plans. The global expansion makes it relevant to a significantly larger merchant base.
4. Automatic Discounts for Eligible Customers — Available on All Plans
Winter '26 introduced automatic discounts that target specific customers — such as VIPs or specific customer segments — without requiring a discount code.
For B2B merchants, this means:
- Wholesale pricing tiers can be applied automatically to tagged B2B customer segments
- VIP wholesale accounts can receive automatic discounts without manual code distribution
- Promotional pricing for specific company groups can be activated and deactivated without catalog changes
👉 Combined with Shopify Flow for customer tagging, this creates a powerful automated B2B pricing layer — available on Basic and Grow without custom apps.
5. Compare-at Prices in Catalogs — Available on All Plans
Merchants can now set compare-at prices directly in the admin for catalog pricing — without CSV imports or API calls.
For B2B catalogs on Basic and Grow:
- Show wholesale buyers the RRP (recommended retail price) alongside their negotiated B2B price
- Reinforce the value of the wholesale relationship visually at the catalog level
- Manage compare-at pricing directly in the admin — no developer or CSV workflow required
👉 A small but meaningful UX improvement that makes B2B catalog management significantly more accessible for non-technical merchants.
6. Shopify Flow: Preview Workflow Results & Redesigned Editor — All Plans
Winter '26 shipped two significant Shopify Flow improvements relevant to B2B automation:
- Preview workflow results — test Flow automations before going live without impacting real store data
- Redesigned Flow editor — a vertical layout with more workspace for building complex, multi-step automations
- Cancel workflow runs — stop automations mid-run when needed
For B2B merchants using Flow for customer tagging, order management, and inventory alerts, these improvements make building and maintaining complex B2B automation workflows significantly more reliable.
👉 The ability to preview workflow results before going live is particularly valuable for B2B automations — where a misconfigured workflow can affect real wholesale orders and customer relationships.
7. 2048 Variants Per Product — All Plans
Shopify Winter '26 increased the product variant limit from 100 to 2048 variants per product.
For B2B merchants with complex catalogs:
- Manage highly configurable products — multiple sizes, colours, materials, and specifications — within a single product record
- Eliminate the need to split complex products across multiple listings
- Simplify B2B catalog management for manufacturers and distributors with large SKU ranges
👉 This is a significant structural change for merchants in manufacturing, industrial supply, and fashion wholesale — where variant complexity has historically forced messy catalog workarounds.
What Remains Plus-Only in Winter '26
Not everything in the Winter '26 B2B release is available on Basic and Grow. Here's what remains exclusive to Plus:
- ACH payments for B2B — Accept ACH bank payments at checkout via Shopify Payments. US only, Plus only.
- Payment requests per fulfilment — Send a separate payment request for each shipment of a multi-shipment order. Plus only.
- Dynamic payment terms and deposits — Use Shopify Functions to set dynamic payment terms and deposit requirements. Plus only.
- Order review rules — Set dynamic rules to determine which orders need review based on conditions. Plus only.
- Direct catalog assignment — Assign catalogs directly to specific companies and locations (vs. market-level assignment). Plus only.
- Unlimited B2B catalogs — Basic, Grow, and Advanced are limited to 3 active catalogs across all B2B markets.
- Contextual checkout and storefront — Market-specific checkout and storefront customisation via Shopify Markets. Advanced and Plus only.
👉 The Plus-only features are primarily advanced payment infrastructure and high-volume catalog management. For most SMB wholesale operations, the features available on Basic and Grow are sufficient to run a fully functional B2B channel.
The Full B2B Feature Picture on Basic & Grow (Post Winter '26)
Combining the Winter '26 updates with Shopify's existing B2B infrastructure, here's what Basic and Grow merchants now have access to natively:
- ✅ Company profiles with multiple locations and customers
- ✅ Up to 3 active B2B catalogs with custom pricing
- ✅ Net payment terms (Net 15, Net 30, Net 60, Net 90)
- ✅ Self-serve B2B buying experience
- ✅ Quantity rules and minimum order requirements
- ✅ Store credit for B2B company locations
- ✅ Pickup in store for B2B checkout
- ✅ Compare-at prices in catalogs
- ✅ Automatic discounts for eligible customer segments
- ✅ Shopify Collective for sourcing and selling across brands
- ✅ Shopify Flow for B2B automation (with preview and cancel capabilities)
- ✅ 2048 variants per product
- ✅ Checkout Blocks order value limits (minimum and maximum subtotals)
- ✅ Quick order lists and Trade theme
- ✅ Draft orders for B2B
- ✅ B2B analytics and reporting
👉 This is a comprehensive wholesale infrastructure — available without a Plus subscription.
What This Means for Your B2B Strategy
The Winter '26 Editions release reinforces a pattern that has been building across multiple Shopify releases: the feature gap between Plus and non-Plus plans is narrowing fast.
For merchants on Basic and Grow, the strategic implication is clear:
- The tools to run a serious B2B operation are already in your plan
- The barrier to wholesale is no longer the platform — it's the store structure
- Merchants who build the right foundation now will activate these features immediately as they ship
- Merchants who don't will continue to underuse a growing stack of powerful, free capabilities
At WAHOO DEVELOPER, every Shopify Developer Store we build is architected to take full advantage of the current B2B feature set — and structured to activate new features as Shopify ships them, without requiring a rebuild.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify B2B available on the Basic plan?
Yes. Shopify B2B is available on Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus plans. Core features — including company profiles, custom catalogs (up to 3), net payment terms, store credit, and pickup in store — are available on all plans. Some advanced features, including ACH payments, dynamic payment terms, and direct catalog assignment, are exclusive to Plus.
What B2B features did Shopify Winter '26 Editions add?
Key Winter '26 B2B additions include: store credit for B2B company locations, pickup in store for B2B checkout, Shopify Collective expanding to 35 additional countries, automatic discounts for eligible customer segments, compare-at prices in catalogs, Shopify Flow improvements (preview, redesigned editor, cancel runs), and 2048 variants per product.
What B2B features are still Plus-only after Winter '26?
Plus-exclusive B2B features include: ACH payments at checkout, payment requests per fulfilment, dynamic payment terms and deposits via Shopify Functions, order review rules, direct catalog assignment to specific companies, unlimited B2B catalogs, and contextual checkout and storefront customisation via Shopify Markets.
Do I need to upgrade to Plus to run a serious B2B operation on Shopify?
For most SMB wholesale operations, no. The B2B feature set on Basic and Grow — particularly after Winter '26 — is sufficient to run a fully functional wholesale channel. Plus becomes necessary when you need ACH payments, unlimited catalogs, direct company-level catalog assignment, or advanced payment term customisation at scale.
How do I make sure my store is ready to use these B2B features?
The features are available — but using them effectively requires a store structured for B2B from the foundation. WAHOO DEVELOPER's Shopify Developer Store service includes full B2B architecture as standard, ensuring your store is ready to activate every feature Shopify ships — without a rebuild.
The Features Are There. Is Your Store Ready?
Shopify Winter '26 Editions added more capability to the Basic and Grow B2B stack. The question for most merchants isn't whether the features exist — it's whether their store is structured to use them.
👉 Explore our Shopify Developer Store service — built to activate every Shopify B2B feature from day one.
👉 Talk to a Shopify Sidekick AI Expert — and get a structured view of your store's B2B readiness today.
