Glossary
Shopify B2B and wholesale terms, defined.
Short, plain definitions of the terms a wholesale merchant meets on Shopify. Each one says whether it is a native Shopify feature, something Copiara adds, or a wholesale practice, so nothing Shopify ships is passed off as an app's.
Copiara is in early access. It is not on the Shopify App Store yet, so nobody can install it today. Shopify facts in these definitions checked October 22, 2026.
- AI conciergeCopiara
- The Copiara AI concierge is a chat added to the merchant's own theme as an app embed that checks a buyer's price and stock and stages an order inside that buyer's company context. It never bypasses approvals and never invents a price or stock level. More
- Approval chainWholesale practice
- An approval chain is the ordered set of people at a buying company who must sign off on a purchase, usually by amount, before the order goes to the supplier. In Copiara the merchant writes approval rules that send an order to the company's approvers or admins before it is placed in Shopify. More
- B2B checkoutShopify feature
- The B2B checkout gives a logged-in B2B customer a checkout built from their company information, with the payment terms, deposits, payment methods and wholesale discounts assigned to their company location. A company location can instead be set to submit orders as drafts, so staff review them before they are confirmed.
- B2B on ShopifyShopify feature
- B2B on Shopify is a suite of native features for selling to other businesses through the Shopify admin and online store, including companies, catalogs, payment terms and quantity rules. It runs on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus plans. More
- Blended storeShopify feature
- A blended store is a single Shopify store used for both B2B and direct-to-consumer customers, managed from one Shopify admin. The alternative is a dedicated store, a separate Shopify store used only for B2B customers. More
- Buyer approvalCopiara
- A buyer approval is a sign-off from someone inside the buying company, collected before an order is placed. In Copiara the merchant sets the approval rules, and an order that needs approval is cleared before it is placed in Shopify. More
- Catalog (B2B)Shopify feature
- A B2B catalog is a set of products, with their prices, that you choose to sell to B2B companies, so each buyer sees the products and pricing assigned to them. On Basic, Grow and Advanced a store can assign up to 3 active catalogs across its B2B markets, while Shopify Plus has no catalog limit and can assign catalogs directly to company locations. More
- CompanyShopify feature
- A company is the parent organization for one or more company locations, and every B2B customer has to be set up as a company to use Shopify B2B. A company can have multiple locations.
- Company contactShopify feature
- A company contact is the individual who buys on behalf of a company, set up in Shopify as a customer assigned to one or more of the company's locations. A customer can belong to only one company, and logs in with their email address through customer accounts.
- Company locationShopify feature
- A company location is the business you are selling to in a B2B transaction, and each location can have its own catalogs, payment terms, checkout options and shipping addresses. A buyer with access to several locations chooses which one they are buying for when they log in.
- Contract pricingWholesale practice
- Contract pricing is a price a supplier has agreed with a specific buyer for specific products, held for an agreed period instead of the list price. In Shopify B2B the prices a buyer sees are set in the catalogs assigned to the B2B market they buy in or, on Shopify Plus, directly to their company location. More
- Counter offerWholesale practice
- A counter offer is the seller's revised price or terms in answer to a buyer's request or offer, which the buyer can accept or answer again. In Copiara staff counter line by line on one quote record, and Shopify Sidekick can stage the figures and a note for staff to review and send. More
- Credit exposureCopiara
- Credit exposure is the amount a buying company owes or has committed to buy, measured against its credit limit. In Copiara it counts orders in approval, approved, or placed and not yet paid, as Shopify reports them. More
- Credit limitCopiara
- A credit limit is the most a buying company may owe a supplier at one time. In Copiara it is set per buying company in the admin, and a store-wide setting either warns about or refuses an order that would take the company over it. More
- Draft orderShopify feature
- A draft order is an order that staff create in the Shopify admin for a customer who orders by phone or email instead of through the online store. With a B2B customer and company location on it, its prices, payment terms and checkout options follow that company's settings, and staff can set a custom price on a line to quote a negotiated price. More
- Margin floorCopiara
- A margin floor is the lowest margin a seller will accept on a quote. In Copiara it is checked on the server against the whole quote's blended margin, and a counter, saved price, discount or accept that would take the quote below it is refused. More
- Minimum order quantity (MOQ)Wholesale practice
- Minimum order quantity, or MOQ, is the smallest quantity of an item that a supplier will sell in one order. In Shopify B2B it is set with a minimum quantity rule on a product variant. More
- Net termsShopify feature
- Net terms are payment terms that give a buyer a set number of days to pay, counted from the day the order is placed. Shopify offers Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Net 60 and Net 90. More
- Payment termsShopify feature
- Payment terms define how long a company has to pay for an order, and can be set for each company location. Shopify offers Net 7 through Net 90 and due on fulfillment, plus a fixed date on individual draft orders.
- PO numberShopify feature
- A PO number is the reference number a buying company puts on a purchase order, the document that lists the products, prices and quantities it orders from a supplier. In Shopify B2B, buyers can add a PO number to an order, and staff can add one to an order or a draft order in the admin.
- Price listShopify feature
- A price list is the set of prices a B2B buyer is offered, which Shopify B2B carries in a catalog. A catalog can hold an overall price adjustment and fixed prices for specific products, and fixed prices override the adjustment.
- Quantity rulesShopify feature
- Quantity rules sell a product in set increments or set a minimum or maximum quantity that can be bought at one time. They apply to each product variant and can be used together with volume pricing.
- Quick order (quick order list)Shopify feature
- A quick order list lets a B2B buyer add multiple variants of a product to the cart in one click from the product page. It is available on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus plans.
- QuoteWholesale practice
- A quote is a supplier's price for specific items, quantities and terms, offered to a buyer to accept, counter or decline. In Shopify B2B, staff can carry a negotiated quote on a draft order by setting a custom price on the line. More
- ReorderShopify feature
- A reorder lets a B2B customer place a new order by duplicating a past one through customer accounts, with every item added to the cart automatically. Customers with a location admin role can place reorders and view order history.
- Request for quote (RFQ)Wholesale practice
- A request for quote, or RFQ, is a buyer's request to a supplier for a price on named items and quantities before ordering. Shopify B2B has no RFQ object, so staff quote a negotiated price on a draft order instead. More
- Shopify App StoreShopify feature
- The Shopify App Store is where merchants find and install apps that add features to their Shopify admin, most of them built by third-party developers rather than by Shopify. Public apps go through Shopify's app review before they can be installed from it.
- Shopify PlusShopify feature
- Shopify Plus is Shopify's plan for high-volume sellers. For B2B it adds unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to company locations, and deposits and partial payments.
- Shopify SidekickShopify feature
- Shopify Sidekick is an AI-enabled commerce assistant in the Shopify admin that answers questions and completes tasks in everyday language, and presents changes for review before applying them. Sidekick can also work with third-party apps to answer questions and complete tasks. More
- Spending limitCopiara
- A spending limit is the most one buyer can order without an approver. In Copiara the merchant sets it on a contact in the admin, and blank means no limit. More
- Vaulted payment methodShopify feature
- A vaulted payment method is a card or bank account that a B2B buyer saves to a company location so it can be charged later without entering the details again. Shopify supports vaulted credit cards for merchants on Shopify Payments, and vaulted bank accounts for United States merchants on Shopify Payments.
- Versioned quoteCopiara
- A versioned quote keeps the request and every round of the negotiation on one record, so the agreed price traces back to the exchange behind it. Copiara's quoting desk works this way, while Shopify has no RFQ object or versioned quote record. More
- Volume pricingShopify feature
- Volume pricing offers price breaks to customers who buy larger quantities of a product in one order. A product can have up to 10 price breaks, applied to each variant. More
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