Shopify Companies
Applies toShopify
How it works
Shopify Companies is part of Shopify's native B2B features, now on every Shopify plan. You find it at Customers,Companies (opens in your Shopify admin in a new tab). A Shopify company has a profile, locations (offices, branches or warehouses, each with its own addresses) and customers (the contacts who buy for it).
SparkLayer works with those records. It links its draft orders to the buyer's Shopify company, contact and location, so orders show under the company in your Shopify admin.
SparkLayer still identifies B2B customers by their b2b customer tag and puts them in customer groups by their group tag (such as b2b-trade).
Do you need Shopify Companies?
Companies are optional. Use this table to decide before you set them up.
| If you want to… | Then |
|---|---|
| See B2B orders grouped by company in your Shopify admin | Use companies. SparkLayer links their orders automatically. |
| Sell to individual B2B customers on the same terms | You don't need companies. Customer groups handle everything. |
How draft orders are linked to companies
When SparkLayer creates a draft order for a buyer at a company, it links the order to their Shopify company, contact and location. This keeps your Shopify orders and reports accurate.
Buyer orders
Draft order created
Company linked
Shown in Shopify
This means:
- Orders from SparkLayer appear under the company in your Shopify admin. On the orders list, you see the company name under the customer's name.
- Shopify's reports recognise them as B2B orders from that company.
- It resolves Shopify's warning that "Some apps may not attribute B2B orders correctly on your current plan. Check that B2B orders are assigned to a company, not just an individual customer."
Use vaulted credit cards
Because SparkLayer links draft orders to the customer's company and location, your B2B customers can use Shopify's vaulted credit cards (opens in a new tab). They save a card once and reuse it on later orders.
Vaulted cards belong to a company location. When a customer saves a card, at checkout or in their customer account, it's available to every customer linked to the same company location. With SparkLayer, they work in 2 ways:
- Pay Online by Card: when a customer chooses Pay Online by Card in the SparkLayer checkout, the cards saved for their company location appear under Credit card in the Shopify checkout. They can choose one, or click Use a different card.
- Draft orders and invoices: when a customer uses another payment method (for example Pay by Invoice), you can charge a vaulted card on the resulting draft order from your Shopify admin. On the draft order, click Collect payment and choose the saved card.
Before you start
- Shopify Payments turned on. Vaulted cards need Shopify Payments as your payment provider.
- Customers linked to a Shopify company. The customer must be a contact of a company in your Shopify admin.
- A saved card. Someone at the company location must have saved a card during a checkout or in their customer account. Once it's saved, every customer at that location can use it.
There's nothing to set up in SparkLayer. Vaulted cards work in the SparkLayer checkout as long as customers are linked to Shopify companies and Shopify Payments is active. They're available on every Shopify plan that has the Companies feature. Check any transaction fees with Shopify Support.
Control who can use vaulted cards
To stop some of a customer's team from using vaulted cards, use SparkLayer's company users feature. Give those team members the Limited role. They can browse and build an order, but they can't check out: their order goes to the main company user for approval instead. Because limited users never reach the Shopify checkout, they can't charge a card saved for the company location.
Limitations
- Shopify catalogs and payment terms aren't used: prices, product visibility and payment rules come from SparkLayer's price lists and customer groups. The catalogs and payment terms on Shopify company records are ignored.
- Customers linked to several companies: if a customer is a contact of more than one Shopify company, their draft order may not be linked to a company.
- Customers not in a company: their orders are linked to the customer only.
FAQs
No. Customers who aren't in a company buy at their customer group's settings, and you add them to a group with a tag. Use companies to see B2B orders grouped by company in Shopify, or to let colleagues share vaulted cards.
Not for the same customer session: the ordering experience is either SparkLayer or Shopify's native B2B checkout. Your Shopify companies still hold the business, its locations and its contacts, and SparkLayer uses them for ordering.
Both work together. Tags make someone a B2B customer and put them in a customer group. Companies group the people who buy for the same business.
Not for SparkLayer pricing. Companies and Markets are separate features, but on plans other than Plus they're closely linked.
You can create company records without Markets. They work as structured customer profiles with locations, contacts and payment terms. But to give those companies their own Shopify pricing catalogs, you need Markets: on the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans, catalogs are assigned through Markets (customer groupings), not directly to companies. On Shopify Plus, you can assign catalogs directly to company locations without Markets.
SparkLayer doesn't use either for pricing. Your price lists and customer groups are managed in SparkLayer, whether or not you use Markets.
SparkLayer handles it. It links draft orders to the right Shopify company and location, so B2B orders are attributed correctly in your Shopify admin.
Next steps
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