The best choice for you will rely on your unique business requirements.
Perhaps you want to open a wholesale website in addition to your current D2C (direct-to-consumer) one. Maybe all you want to do is launch an internet wholesale company that targets merchants.
It’s not just you.
Platforms like Shopify Plus are well-suited to handle this duty as more firms look to wholesale eCommerce for growth and cost-saving benefits.
Beginning your wholesale journey has never been simpler thanks to applications that are simple to integrate and knowledgeable Shopify Plus Partners that are here to assist you.
Furthermore, you can accomplish it in a number of ways:
- Use a wholesale channel on Shopify Plus
- Make use of a distinct clone store with a different domain.
- Use a single domain-named wholesale and retail store.
Let’s examine each wholesaling choice’s operations with an emphasis on benefits and drawbacks.
Option 1: Utilise a Wholesale Channel with Shopify Plus.
Only Shopify plus subscribers have access to a wholesale channel on the platform. It is a unique, password-protected addition to your online store that is only accessible to your wholesale clients.
A wholesale channel needs different login information because it is a distinct extension of your online store. Your wholesale channel does not have access to your online store for normal customers.
As a result, your wholesale channel enables you to sell comparable goods in greater quantities and at lower prices. In addition, you can provide wholesale goods that are not shown in your online shop.
Having a Wholesale Channel Has Benefits
The Shopify wholesale channel’s flexible volume choices and order tracking, for example, make processing and managing large orders for wholesale customers simpler.
The following are additional ways that a wholesale channel might help your firm.
- Pricing options: Because your wholesale channel and online store are independent of one another, you can provide volume-based pricing and incentives to entice customers to buy in bulk.
- Inexpensive and easy setup. Since a wholesale channel uses your Shopify Plus account, no additional coding or programming is required. It makes use of the same app connectors as your e-commerce website.
- Simple administration. Even though your wholesale channel has a different domain name, it enables you to maintain your product listings in a single store rather than two different stores.
- Increased product personalization.You can sell wholesale-only goods through a wholesale channel. It reduces bounce rates by making it simpler for your wholesale customers to explore and locate what they’re looking for.
- Improved inventory control. The minimum and maximum order limitations are controlled by a wholesale channel, guaranteeing that your wholesale purchases are worthwhile and your inventory is sufficient to fill them.
Things to Think About Before Using a Wholesale Channel
Generally speaking, Shopify’s wholesale channel is a great way to handle B2B commerce. Before deciding to install something, you need take into account a few restrictions.
- Only available on Shopify Plus. Only Plus members have access to this option, and the $2,000 starting monthly plan is too expensive for many small firms.
- There are few choices for visual customization. Aside from the logo and the products mentioned, your Shopify wholesale channel will seem similar to other Shopify wholesale channels.
- Minimal SEO. It is impossible to gain new clients through search traffic because wholesale channels and the products they display don’t rank on search engines.
- Equal shipping costs. Default shipping costs for wholesale customers are the same as those on your primary website. When processing numerous purchases, it can be challenging to manually amend each order in order to customise delivery prices.
Option 2: Establishing a separate wholesale website with a different domain
You can make several copies of your main store—which could be your wholesale store—without paying any additional fees if you have a Shopify Plus account.
For running your wholesale business across several locales, languages, and currencies (international trade), opening a second location is ideal. This capability enables your company to enter international markets, leading to expansion.
Additionally, from a marketing standpoint, cloning your website is more efficient in producing regional content and boosting organic traffic.
Benefits of a Clone Store
Cloning your website with Shopify doesn’t mean starting from scratch. It only requires moving CSV files from your main store and combining them with extra information, like a duplicate of your theme.
You gain from a clone store in the following ways.
- Centralised administration. If you manage several stores, you can utilise Shopify organisation admin to manage them collectively rather than individually. You may edit and modify all of your stores at once thanks to this feature.
- Affordable discounts. You can provide percentage-based bargains, currency-based discounts, and fixed-amount discounts on Shopify clone stores because they accept Shopify scripts and discount codes.
- Improved data insights. A multi-store strategy for wholesale allows you to cater to a range of demographics and gives you a greater chance to learn about the visitors to your store and their preferences.
- Zero-risk testing. You can test new apps, code, and theme additions in a clone store without affecting your live store. They are accessible through the Shopify Partner programme, an advanced Shopify plan, and are categorised by Shopify as development stores.
Questions to Ask About a Clone Store
- Fees for international transactions. Even if the transaction is made in the local currency, some credit cards or banks may incur international transaction fees when working with clients from other countries.
- Higher expenditures for maintenance. To achieve optimal reliability, running clone websites will require the use of additional programmes and hardware. By requiring longer maintenance windows and more expensive integration subscriptions, this need escalates your technical costs.
- Confusion is a possibility. Your customers may be unsure of which website to visit if your branding and promotion efforts aren’t obvious enough. The customer’s shopping experience and your sales may be impacted by this uncertainty.
Option 3: Using a single domain for your retail and consumer websites
This option allows you to access both of your stores from a single domain name. To get wholesale rates and discounts, your wholesale customers log into your existing D2C store.
In some sectors, a combined wholesale-retail strategy benefits both consumer groups without the hassles and expenses of administering numerous solutions.
Promotions and new goods are available to retail customers on one website, while simple restocking and a variety of shipping choices are available to wholesale clients.
Benefits of a Uniform Domain Approach
- Simpler to brand and advertise. Since people only need to visit one domain for both purposes, promoting one website for both categories of clients increases the recall of your marketing message. There is no doubt about where to go.
- Less expensive upkeep. Your overall requirement for technical support and costs are decreased with a combined wholesale-retail website. It lessens the need for integrated programmes, the amount of time it takes to maintain your website, etc.
- An improved purchasing experience. Customers are more likely to find what they’re looking for with a single information source than with several websites. Convenience is offered by this function, which also improves the purchasing experience.
- Your catalogue is centralised by it. A single database, as opposed to several, intricately linked databases, houses all of your information on a consolidated webpage. A website administrator will find it simpler thanks to this organisation to update or retrieve your data.
- Simple to set up. Setting up a combined wholesale-retail website doesn’t require you to subscribe to new app integrations and systems; you may use existing ones instead
A Unified Domain Approach’s Drawbacks
- The potential for human error. Since both retail and wholesale clients can access the same website, there is a higher chance of human error, such as when wholesale discounts incorrectly display as retail discounts.
- Narrowly tailored. Your capacity to provide customised services to each customer type is constrained if you use one domain for wholesale and retail consumers. Increased attention to one has an effect on sales and the shopping experience of the other.
A summary of the primary distinctions between each wholesaling choice may be found in the table below.
- A Channel for Wholesale
- A Single Website
- Inexpensive choice
- Second-most costly choice.
- Most pricey possibility
- Two websites are combined into one store through a wholesale channel.
- A single domain name is used for all stores on a single website.
- Two domain names for two stores make up a clone store.
Engage a Shopify Plus Partner
Those are the three options for selling wholesale on Shopify Plus as of right now, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Your particular business needs will determine which choice is best for you. A Shopify Wholesale channel, on the other hand, would be the best choice if you are just beginning your wholesale journey. Of the three, it is also the simplest and least expensive.
To find out more about how we can help your company succeed, get in touch with us right away info@wizesaas.com
Question and Answer Sheets
1: What distinguishes Shopify Plus from Shopify?
It isn’t. Large, enterprise-level enterprises should use Shopify Plus, whilst small to medium-sized businesses should use Shopify.
2: Shopify Partners are what?
Shopify partners are professionals explicitly hired to assist merchants or enterprises with setting up storefronts on Shopify, developing Shopify apps, etc.
3: The price of Shopify Plus is quite high?
According to the Shopify Plus plan, your requirement for support and server resources will increase as your revenue rises. Charges for greater volume business therefore start at $2,000/month or more.