Shopify has made major strides in supporting B2B and wholesale merchants — but running a business-facing storefront still comes with extra complexity. From tiered pricing to customer segmentation to bulk order coordination, there’s more going on behind the scenes. And that’s where workflows make the biggest impact.
With the right automation in place, your B2B store can run more smoothly without relying on manual input. Let's take a look at some common Shopify B2B workflows, what they unlock for your business, and how tools like Arigato help make them possible.
Why B2B stores need workflow automation
B2B operations tend to involve higher order values, more repeat customers, and specialized fulfillment or communication needs. Manual processes slow down every part of that — from onboarding new accounts to routing orders to the right internal team.
You’re managing relationships, terms, timing, and expectations, not only the actual products in your store.
Automation helps you deliver a better experience at every stage. You can tag and segment customers based on their registration or purchase activity, send internal alerts when large or complex orders come through, and adjust product handling logic automatically. With workflows in place, your team can focus on closing sales — not clicking buttons.
B2B-specific workflows you can automate
The best place to start is with the repetitive tasks your team already handles every day. Here are some of the most common B2B automation opportunities.
Customer segmentation and tagging
Wholesale accounts often need different treatment than retail buyers. You can use workflows to tag customers based on how they registered, what type of business they run, or how much they’ve purchased.
For example, if a customer fills out a wholesale registration form and includes a tax exemption ID, a workflow can apply the correct tags and notify your team. You can also segment customers by region, assigned sales rep, or account type — all automatically, as data updates in Shopify.
Pricing, products, and order routing
Not every product is available to every buyer. With automation, you can manage product logic behind the scenes without needing to maintain dozens of versions.
You might set metafields when a B2B-only product is updated, or notify fulfillment teams when a product requires special handling. If certain SKUs always ship from a specific warehouse or require vendor coordination, a workflow can automatically route the order based on product tags or order contents.
Post-order communication
B2B orders often require extra coordination. You can build workflows that notify your operations team when an order includes flagged items, or alert your sales rep when one of their accounts places a new purchase.
You can also automate external communication. For example, you might email your vendor with a formatted summary when custom SKUs are ordered, or send a tailored post-purchase message to B2B buyers with specific payment terms.
Using Arigato to automate B2B workflows
Most of these workflows aren’t possible with Shopify’s default automation tools alone. Arigato gives you the flexibility to build automation that reflects how your B2B business actually operates.
You can trigger workflows from a wide range of events — including customer updates, metafield changes, and order contents. You can also delay actions, set conditions, and run logic based on specific thresholds like order size, account type, or custom tags.
Arigato supports team and vendor notifications by email or Slack, updates metafields and tags automatically, and pushes data to tools like Airtable, Google Sheets, or Trello for downstream visibility.
To make setup easier, the ecommerce workflow template library includes ready-made examples tailored to wholesale and B2B operations. You can adapt them to your logic in minutes, without writing code.
Shopify B2B workflows TL;DR
B2B on Shopify doesn’t have to be a manual grind. With the right workflows, your store can tag accounts, manage product logic, alert the right team members, and stay organized without chasing tasks.
And when you need automation that goes beyond the basics, Arigato Automation gives you the Shopify automation tools to build exactly what your B2B operation needs — from signup to fulfillment to reorders.