Running a B2B ecommerce operation isn’t just about selling in bulk; it’s also about controlling who can see what. Wholesale distributors don’t want competitors, end‑customers or casual browsers seeing contract pricing. At the same time, legitimate buyers need a friction‑free way to create an account, submit paperwork and get approved. In other words, the user journey must include a B2B login to view gate with a human approval workflow behind it. This guide explains why that’s important, how Shopify Plus and non‑Plus stores handle it, and what custom workflows can make it seamless.
Why hide pricing and products?
Most B2B companies operate with negotiated price lists and tiered discounts. Showing those prices publicly erodes margins and invites uncomfortable conversations with retailers. When distributors allow anyone to browse their product catalog, they risk exposing sensitive information and losing leverage in negotiations. Shopify’s native B2B solution (available on Shopify Plus) is designed around the principle that only approved buyers should see wholesale data. According to Shopify’s help centre, B2B customers must sign in to access B2B‑specific information such as products and pricing. Merchants can even restrict access to their store or specific pages so only logged‑in B2B customers can view them; non‑B2B visitors see a message and are prevented from browsing. This “login‑to‑view” requirement protects pricing while still making catalog browsing and ordering easy for approved buyers.
Options for non‑Plus stores
What if you’re not on Shopify Plus? Third‑party apps and custom theme modifications can simulate B2B gating. An industry guide notes that apps such as BSS B2B or Locksmith can be combined with tags and metafields to hide prices or entire products until the customer is logged in. Another approach is to embed tag‑based pricing logic directly into your theme templates. These quick fixes work but require manual maintenance: the same guide warns that tag‑based solutions lack scalability and need careful setup of tags and metafields across all products and customers. Because pricing logic lives in your theme, any mistake can expose pricing to the wrong audience.
Designing an approval workflow
Hiding prices is only half the problem; you still need a way to vet new customers. The typical B2B approval flow includes:
Custom registration form – Collect details like business name, tax ID and reseller number. Apps like Addify ‑ Approve New Customers let merchants manually review and approve new registrations and can show a dropdown for users to select a tag/group during sign‑up (for example, “B2B wholesale” or “retailer”). This enables merchants to enable validation only for specific customer types (B2B, wholesalers, retailers).
Pending state – Automatically tag new sign‑ups as “pending” and deny access to prices and cart. Until they are approved, your theme or gating app should hide sensitive content. A community discussion confirms that Shopify doesn’t offer manual approval natively; you need an app or custom form to collect extra information and then use Liquid conditions such as
{% if customer.tags contains 'approved' %}to grant access.Manual or automated review – Administrators review the application and supporting documents. The B2B Pilot app, for example, allows merchants to manually review new customer registrations, set automatic approval rules based on customer tags, add custom registration form fields and send custom emails to applicants and admins.
Approval and tag assignment – When a customer is approved, the admin updates the record with an “approved” tag or adds them to an approved company. This tag triggers the gating logic in your theme or access‑control app to reveal pricing and allow checkout. Some workflows can automatically send a “B2B access granted” email through Shopify Flow when a company request is approved.
Continuous account management – Approved buyers might need different roles. The Echidna B2B guide explains that a mature portal will support roles such as Buyer, Approver, Admin and Sales Rep, with threshold‑based or multi‑step approval workflows and states stored in metafields. For example, you might require an “Approver” to sign off on orders above $5 000 or control who can place orders vs. just viewing pricing.
Implementing the gate
Once you have an approval process, you need to enforce it across your storefront:
Tag‑based gating and hidden prices
For non‑Plus stores, the most common approach is to use customer tags to determine whether to show prices. This involves adding Liquid conditions to your product and collection templates: if the logged‑in customer has an “approved” tag, display price and Add‑to‑Cart; otherwise, display a call‑to‑action like “Login to view prices” and a sign‑up link. Access‑control apps such as Locksmith or BSS B2B wrap this logic into a UI so you can hide specific products, collections or prices based on tags. They also help remove price data from structured meta tags to avoid exposing it to search engines.
Shopify Plus native B2B
If you’re on Shopify Plus, you can avoid custom coding by using the native B2B system. Shopify Plus creates B2B companies and locations, each with its own payment terms and price lists. These companies must log in through the B2B login page, and only approved company contacts can see wholesale products and pricing. You can then assign catalogs and payment terms per company and use Shopify Flow to automate tasks such as sending approval emails and updating company permissions. You can also restrict access to entire stores or specific pages so only B2B users can browse.
Headless or custom storefronts
For enterprises needing complete control, headless storefronts built with Hydrogen or a custom React front‑end allow you to integrate a login gate at the API level. You can authenticate users, fetch their tags or company IDs via the Shopify GraphQL Admin API and conditionally render price and cart components. You can also connect to external systems (ERP, CRM) to validate and approve accounts programmatically. However, this requires significant development investment and ongoing maintenance.
Best practices and pitfalls
Collect only necessary information – Requiring every applicant to upload tax certificates and trade references may deter genuine buyers. Choose fields that balance compliance with friction.
Communicate expectations – Use email notifications to acknowledge submissions, explain the approval timeline and inform buyers when access is granted or denied.
Maintain customer tags and metafields – Use consistent tag names and keep approval status in a metafield. Inconsistent tags cause logic errors.
Protect SEO – When hiding prices and products, ensure you also exclude the price from meta tags and sitemaps. The Echidna guide recommends hiding empty categories from navigation and search and using robots/meta rules to prevent gated content from being indexed.
Plan for scale – Tag‑based gating works for dozens of products but becomes brittle when you manage hundreds of price lists and catalog segments. Consider migrating to Shopify Plus or building a dedicated B2B portal when your catalog grows.
Conclusion: Build trust before you reveal price
Login‑to‑view gating isn’t about hiding information; it’s about building qualified relationships. B2B buyers want to know they’re getting a fair deal, and merchants need assurance that the visitor is a legitimate business. By combining custom registration forms, manual approval workflows, tag‑based gating and Shopify’s B2B features, you can protect your pricing while still giving buyers a smooth purchasing journey. Ready to modernize your wholesale portal? Request ourB2B Portal Feature List & Cost Estimator and learn how we’ve implemented approval workflows, gated catalogs and dynamic pricing for distributors around the world.
