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BigCommerce 7 min read

How to Set Up BigCommerce B2B Edition for Quick Wins

Team reviewing quotes and invoices on a shared B2B account screen

Summary

BigCommerce B2B Edition helps you quickly set up a professional wholesale store with built-in tools for company accounts, custom pricing, quotes, and checkout controls. It streamlines your operations so your team can focus on selling while your buyers enjoy a smoother, more personalized purchasing experience.

If you sell to other businesses, a regular online store just won’t cut it. Different customers need different prices, big orders must be handled easily, and quotes must be quick. Doing all that by hand is a headache. The BigCommerce B2B edition takes care of most of it for you, so you can spend less time on paperwork and more time on actually selling.

This blog explains how to set up the BigCommerce B2B edition.

Setting up B2B Edition? See our BigCommerce development services for B2B setup, integrations and custom features built by certified developers.

TL;DR

BigCommerce B2B Edition makes selling to other businesses easier. You can set up company accounts, custom pricing, quotes, and payment options without getting stuck in complicated setups. It helps your customers order independently and saves your team from a lot of manual work, so you can start seeing results fast.

Why Does BigCommerce B2B Edition Work?

BigCommerce B2B Edition is made for businesses that sell to other companies. It’s the regular BigCommerce platform, but with the extra tools you actually need like company accounts, custom pricing, quotes, invoices, and payment controls. Since it’s built on BigCommerce’s Open SaaS model, it’s flexible, works with other tools, and is easy to connect through APIs.

Your Step-by-Step Roadmap for Setting Up BigCommerce B2B Edition

  • Phase 1: Activate B2B Edition and try it out with a few pilot accounts.
  • Phase 2: Set up the important features first like custom price lists, payment options, and quick order forms.
  • Phase 3: Add quoting, invoicing, and credit workflows so orders run smoothly.
  • Phase 4: Connect your ERP or other backend systems to make operations easier.
  • Phase 5: Tweak and improve. Analyse analytics, adjust the UI, and set up automation where it helps.

Activating B2B Edition in Your Store

If you bought a new BigCommerce store with the B2B Edition, it’s already active in your control panel. For existing Enterprise stores, you’ll need to contact your Customer Success Manager to get it set up. Don’t have one? Reach out to the Sales team or email upgrades@bigcommerce.com.

If you’re using Multi-Storefront, you can also check out the B2B Edition and Multi-Storefront documentation to learn how to enable B2B Edition on additional storefronts.

Getting Your Owner Credentials

Once B2B Edition is active, the store owner automatically gets a B2B Edition account with full permissions. You’ll receive an email from b2bedition@bigcommerce.com with the login details. You can look for the subject line “Welcome to B2B Edition.”

Use the credentials to log in at Apps › B2B Edition in your control panel. If the password change link expires, just go to the B2B Edition login page and click Reset Password.

B2B Edition

Exploring the B2B Edition Control Panel

The control panel is where you manage all your B2B features—find it under Apps › B2B Edition. On the Dashboard, you can see counts for Companies, Price Lists, Super Admins, and import/export summaries. Unread notifications appear as a red circle and can be filtered easily.

B2B Edition Control Panel

Setting Up System User Accounts

After you have your owner credentials, you can start adding staff users. You’ll need to assign their control panel permissions so they can access the app. B2B Edition comes with predefined roles:

  • Sales Reps manage orders, quotes, and companies assigned to them. They cannot change users or settings.
  • An accountant can view and export invoices, but can’t edit them.
  • Financial Manager can view, export, and edit invoicing data.
  • Administrators have full access to companies, users, and settings. You can have multiple Admins.
  • The store owner has complete control, with one per store by default.
store by default

People Also Ask

1. What is BigCommerce B2B Edition?

It’s just BigCommerce, but for companies that sell to other businesses.

2. How long does it take to get started?

If you stick to the basics, you should set up the built-in tools and a few test accounts—you can have a B2B portal running in a few weeks. Things like ERP connections can come later.

3. Can I assign different roles to my team and buyers?

Yes. Standard roles include Junior Buyer, Senior Buyer, Admin, Sales Rep, and Financial Manager.

4. Can I use it on more than one storefront?

Yep. B2B Edition works with Multi-Storefronts. You can turn it on for each store and manage accounts, pricing, and permissions separately.

5. How do I set up checkout for B2B customers?

Turn on B2B Checkout. It lets buyers use company-specific settings like default addresses, credit limits, and purchase order payments. If you want buyers to follow the right steps, you can hide digital wallets like Apple Pay.

How Do You Set Up Buyer Accounts?

B2B Edition lets you control what your clients (buyers) can do in the storefront. Buyers can have roles to create, approve, and manage orders from the Buyer Portal.

To add a new buyer:

  1. 1
    Go to the Companies area in the control panel.
  2. 2
    Click View Details from the company's action menu.
  3. 3
    In the Company Users tab, click Add User and fill in the details.

You can also:

  • Import multiple buyers in bulk via CSV.
  • Allow buyers to add users directly in the Buyer Portal (if they have permissions).

Default Buyer Roles:

  • Junior Buyer: Can request quotes and submit shopping lists for approval. Cannot place orders.
  • Senior Buyer: Can approve lists, place orders, and view company order history.
  • Admin: Can manage all aspects of the company account, including addresses, users, and invoices.

Custom buyer roles can also be created to give specialized access to staff.

How Do You Configure B2B Checkout?

Admin enabling B2B Checkout in the BigCommerce settings screen

Before enabling B2B Checkout, it’s best to disable digital wallet payments (like Apple Pay or Venmo) for B2B buyers. These skip steps that are important for company specific settings. If you still want wallets available for B2C customers, you can hide them for B2B buyers in General Settings.

To enable B2B Checkout:

  1. 1
    Go to Settings › Checkout in the B2B Edition control panel.
  2. 2
    Toggle on B2B Checkout.

Once active, you can customize checkout further to allow purchase orders, require specific info, or even create a custom checkout page.

Conclusion

Setting up BigCommerce B2B Edition doesn’t have to feel like a massive project. Start with the quick wins, like getting the built-in tools working and launching a few pilot accounts. Once that’s running, you can add quoting and invoicing and connect your backend systems.

BigCommerce B2B Edition can make buying smoother for your customers, reduce your team's manual work, speed up sales, and boost satisfaction. At the same time, it gives you a solid setup that can grow as your business grows.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I delete the predefined roles in the B2B Edition?

No, you can only delete custom user roles or custom buyer roles. The default roles can’t be removed.

Is it possible to create user accounts in bulk?

Using a CSV import, you can create multiple buyer accounts at once.

How do I change the language in the B2B Edition control panel?

Go to the Language tab in the control panel and pick the language you want. B2B Edition currently supports:

  • English (default)
  • Chinese
  • French
  • Dutch
  • German
  • Italian
  • Spanish
  • Japanese

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