Office stationery and corporate gifts retailers serve a dual audience: retail consumers buying for personal use and business buyers purchasing in volume for offices, events, or branded merchandise. The B2B requirements — bulk pricing, purchase orders, credit accounts, personalisation at scale — were handled in WooCommerce through a combination of B2B plugins and custom development. Shopify has matured significantly for B2B, particularly with Shopify B2B on Shopify Plus and the growing ecosystem of wholesale apps on standard plans.

Business model types

Pure B2B: Office supplies to businesses only — bulk orders, invoicing, account credit terms
B2C with B2B track: Retail stationery to consumers + separate wholesale/corporate pricing for business accounts
Corporate gifting: Branded merchandise and gifts for corporate events, onboarding kits, client gifts
Print-on-demand personalisation: Stationery personalised with company logos or names at order time
School and education supplies: Schools buying in bulk with PO (purchase order) payment

B2B pricing on Shopify

Standard Shopify (no Plus) options

Wholesale apps: Wholesale Gorilla, B2B Wholesale Hub, Wholesale Lock Manager. Create customer-tagged wholesale pricing without Shopify Plus.
Customer tags: Tag corporate accounts with wholesale or trade. Wholesale apps apply pricing rules based on tag.
Password-protected wholesale section: Separate wholesale collection hidden from retail — accessible only with password or logged-in trade account.
Tiered pricing by quantity: Quantity breaks apps (Quantity Breaks & Discounts, Infinite Options) show pricing tiers on product page: 1–9 = £5.99, 10–49 = £4.99, 50+ = £3.99.

Shopify B2B (Shopify Plus)

Native B2B: company profiles with custom price lists, payment terms (net 30/60/90), purchase orders, multi-location shipping
Company profile: each corporate account is a "Company" in Shopify B2B with associated buyers (contacts) and locations
Price lists: each company assigned a custom price list with fixed prices or % discount off retail
Order approval: require manager approval for orders over a threshold
Net payment terms: B2B on Plus supports payment on account with net 30/60/90 terms

Bulk ordering

Quick order form: B2B buyers want to enter quantities for multiple SKUs on one page, not navigate individual product pages. Use a Quick Order app (Quick Order Form by Sketch, Mass Order)
CSV order upload: larger corporate buyers want to upload a CSV of SKUs + quantities. Requires a third-party app or custom development.
Minimum order quantity (MOQ): set minimum order values or minimum quantities per product variant using MOQ apps
Minimum order value: use Shopify Scripts (Plus) or checkout validation apps to enforce minimum order values for B2B accounts

Personalisation and branded merchandise

Corporate gifts and stationery often require personalisation (logo, name, message):

Text personalisation

Simple text input: add a text field to the product using Product Options apps (Infinite Options, Bold Product Options)
Character limits: set character limit per field appropriate to printing constraints
Preview: for high-value personalised items, a live preview is important. Requires custom Liquid + JavaScript or a specialist personalisation app (Kickflip, Zakeke)
Engraving instructions: show character limit, accepted characters, font options as product metafields or option descriptions

Logo/artwork upload

File upload option: add a file upload field to the product. Apps: Infinite Options (file upload field), or a custom HTML form with file upload.
Shopify doesn't natively handle file uploads in product options — requires an app that stores files separately
Alternative: customer uploads artwork via email after order. Simpler but requires manual handling.
Proof approval flow: for branded merchandise, standard practice is: order placed → proof sent by email → customer approves → production starts. This workflow sits outside Shopify checkout — manage via email or a fulfilment tool.

Purchase orders and invoicing

Schools, councils, and large corporates often pay by purchase order (invoice payment):

Standard Shopify: no native PO payment. Options:
Draft orders: Admin creates a draft order for the corporate buyer, sends invoice link. Customer pays online later. Supports sending payment links.
Net payment terms app: Resolve Pay, Mondu — adds "Pay by invoice" at checkout with trade account credit check
Shopify B2B (Plus): native net terms (net 30/60/90) with invoice generation
Offline payment: configure "Bank transfer / BACS" as a manual payment method. Customer places order with bank transfer payment, you send invoice, they pay via BACS. Requires manual reconciliation.

Corporate account management

Customer accounts: Shopify's new customer accounts (2023+) are required for B2B use — they allow multiple contacts under one company
Company contacts: each buyer at a corporate customer is a separate Shopify customer account under the company
Order history: corporate buyers need full order history for their account — new customer accounts provide this
Multiple shipping addresses: corporate accounts often ship to multiple office locations. Shopify supports multiple shipping addresses per customer account.
Spending limits: Shopify B2B allows spending limits per company or per buyer contact

WooCommerce B2B plugin migration

WooCommerce plugin	Shopify equivalent
WooCommerce Wholesale Prices	Wholesale Gorilla or B2B Wholesale Hub
WooCommerce B2B	Shopify B2B (Plus) or wholesale app on standard
YITH WooCommerce Role Based Prices	Customer tag pricing via wholesale app
WooCommerce Product Add-ons	Infinite Options or Bold Product Options
WooCommerce Purchase Orders	Shopify draft orders or Resolve Pay
WooCommerce Min/Max Quantities	Minimum & Maximum Order Quantity app

Office stationery migration checklist

Choose B2B pricing approach: standard Shopify + wholesale app vs Shopify Plus B2B
Install wholesale app; migrate corporate account customer tags from WooCommerce
Set up tiered/volume pricing for high-volume SKUs
Configure minimum order quantity and minimum order value where applicable
Install quick order form for B2B buyers
Set up personalisation fields for engraving/print products (text input + character limits)
Configure purchase order / invoice payment method (draft orders or net terms app)
Migrate corporate customer accounts: email, company name, credit tier, historical orders
Set up new Shopify customer accounts for corporate buyers (not classic accounts)
Configure multiple shipping addresses for corporate accounts
Build corporate/wholesale-specific collections (hidden from retail browsing)
Notify corporate accounts of new Shopify store, new login process, and any changes to payment terms

The most complex aspect of migrating an office stationery or corporate gifts business is migrating the B2B relationships — the corporate accounts, their pricing tiers, credit terms, and order history. This data doesn't migrate automatically from WooCommerce. Before cutover: export all B2B customer accounts from WooCommerce (email, company name, customer tier/tag, credit limit). Import to Shopify and apply the correct wholesale tags before the store goes live. Corporate buyers expect to log in on day one and see their account, their pricing, and their order history. If their account isn't ready, you'll get support calls and potentially lose the account to a competitor who's easier to deal with.

Migrating an office stationery or corporate gifts store from WooCommerce to Shopify (2026)