- Feature
- Manage Shopify B2B companies, catalogs, and pricing
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Specialty food and drink brands (coffee roasters, craft producers, delis)
Specialty food and drink brands often sell two ways at once. Consumers buy bags of coffee or jars of preserves online, while cafés, delis and farm shops buy wholesale on trade terms. Running both channels cleanly has usually meant either a premium Shopify plan or separate systems. Business Central 29.0, together with changes on Shopify's side, makes this much more accessible.
The industry challenge
A craft coffee roaster selling online and to 150 cafés typically needs:
- Different prices for trade customers and consumers
- Company accounts with several locations (a café group with five sites)
- Correct bill-to and ship-to handling for each location
- Tax registration details for business customers
Shopify's B2B capabilities used to require the Plus plan, which is a big step up in cost for a small brand. Without it, many brands ran wholesale outside Shopify, using email orders, spreadsheets or a separate trade portal. That meant double entry into Business Central and pricing that could drift between channels.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
Microsoft explains that Shopify has extended core B2B capabilities to all plans, and the Business Central connector now supports them. According to Microsoft, these are available on all Shopify plans:
- Company synchronization. Import Shopify B2B companies and company locations, and map them to customers in Business Central.
- B2B order processing. When a B2B order arrives, the connector identifies the company and works out the correct bill-to and ship-to customer from the company location.
- Market catalogs. Assign catalogs to B2B markets for price synchronization. Basic, Grow and Advanced plans support up to three active market catalog assignments, and the Plus plan supports unlimited assignments.
Microsoft also lists improvements to make set-up easier and safer:
- Companies can be opened directly from the Shopify navigation on supported role centres
- Shopify company tax registration IDs can be mapped to the right customer fields
- The connector prevents syncing the same direct company catalog's prices more than once, and recommends market catalogs when one catalog should apply to many companies
- Clearer B2B catalog wording in captions and tooltips
Direct company catalogs and staff member mapping still require an Advanced or Plus plan.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a specialty food and drink brand |
|---|---|
| Channel strategy | Run wholesale and retail through one Shopify store |
| Cost | Core B2B without moving to Shopify Plus |
| Order accuracy | Trade orders arrive with the right company, bill-to and ship-to |
| Pricing control | Trade price lists sync from Business Central without conflicts |
| Admin time | No re-keying of email or spreadsheet trade orders |
A worked scenario
Consider a specialty coffee roaster on a Shopify Grow plan (an illustrative example). It sells retail bags online and supplies cafés and offices on trade terms.
Before, trade customers emailed their orders and an administrator keyed them into Business Central. With Business Central 29.0, the roaster sets up its café customers as Shopify B2B companies, each with its locations, and syncs them to Business Central customers. It creates a "Trade UK" market catalog with wholesale prices maintained in Business Central.
A café group orders for three sites through the store. The connector identifies the company and resolves the right bill-to and ship-to for each location. The administrator now spends the morning on roasting schedules instead of order entry.
Adoption considerations
- Refresh your plan information. Microsoft notes that existing users may need to update the connector's plan information, for example by turning the connector off and on again on the Shopify Shop Card.
- Design your catalogs. Decide which customers share market catalogs and which, if any, need company-specific pricing.
- Know the plan limits. Lower plans support up to three active market catalog assignments.
- Clean up customer data. Match Shopify companies to existing Business Central customers before syncing.
- Map tax IDs. Make sure business customers' tax registration details flow to the right place.
The bottom line
For specialty food and drink brands, wholesale is often the steadiest part of the business, but it's been the hardest to run online. Shopify B2B support across all plans in Business Central 29.0 lets these brands serve trade and retail customers from one store and one ERP. The result is less admin, consistent pricing and room to grow wholesale without a big jump in platform costs.
If you're selling wholesale outside your online store today, it's worth reviewing your Shopify and Business Central set-up with an experienced adviser.
Sources: Microsoft roadmap 573342 · Microsoft roadmap 576836