Shopify Plus and B2B mobile apps: what changes at that scale
At a larger scale
Shopify Plus mobile app development, and apps for B2B and wholesale.
Two different problems that share a page because they share a shape: the
customer is already yours and buys repeatedly, so the app is not
persuading anybody. It is removing steps from an order they were always
going to place.
What changes on Shopify Plus
Mostly scale and governance rather than capability. A Shopify Plus
ecommerce app reads the same API as any other, and what differs is
what it has to survive.
-
Catalogue size. Past a few thousand products,
navigation stops working and search and filters carry the app. A
menu structure is a way to hide things at that size. -
Traffic peaks. A campaign or a drop puts more load
on the app in an hour than a normal week, and the failures are
predictable — stock counts and checkout under load. -
Shopify Functions and scripts. Discounts and
shipping logic you have already built apply in the app because
checkout is Shopify’s own. Nothing is reimplemented. -
Multiple markets. Currency, language and shipping
zones are read from Shopify, so a market added there appears without
an app release.
What changes for B2B and wholesale
A Shopify B2B mobile app is a reordering tool that happens to look
like a shop. The buyer knows exactly what they want and orders it
regularly, which inverts almost every design decision.
-
The last order is the home screen. Not a hero
image. A buyer reordering forty lines wants the previous order and a
way to change three of them. -
Prices differ by account. Customer-specific
pricing, minimums and payment terms come from Shopify’s B2B
features, and the app shows what the signed-in account is entitled
to. -
Nobody browses. Search by code, by name and by
barcode carries the whole app, and a barcode scan from the shelf is
worth more here than anywhere else. -
Order history is the product. What was ordered,
when, and how much of it — usually the most-used screen after
reordering.
Where the return is, at this size
For an enterprise Shopify mobile app the case is rarely conversion rate.
It is order frequency and the cost of the sales relationship.
Orders per account, per year
A wholesale buyer who can reorder in thirty seconds orders more often
than one who has to email a representative. This is the number worth
measuring before and after, and it moves more than basket size does.
Cost per order taken
Every order placed in the app is one not typed by somebody in your
office. At B2B volumes that is a real operating cost rather than a
convenience.
The channel you own
A notification to two hundred trade accounts about a restock costs
nothing and reaches everybody within the hour. At Plus scale the same
reach through advertising is a budget line.
Questions at this scale
Does TicApp support Shopify Plus?
Yes. The app reads the same Shopify API on Plus as on any other plan, and checkout is Shopify's own — so Functions, scripts, markets and B2B pricing all apply without being rebuilt. What Plus changes is catalogue size and peak load, which are build considerations rather than blockers.
Can one app serve both retail and wholesale customers?
It can, and whether it should depends on how different the two catalogues are. A single app with account-based pricing is simpler to run; two apps are worth it when the brands, the catalogues or the audiences genuinely differ.
Does the app handle customer-specific pricing?
Yes, through Shopify's own B2B features. The signed-in account determines the prices, minimums and payment terms shown, because the app is reading Shopify rather than holding its own price list.
How does the app cope with a very large catalogue?
Search and filters rather than navigation, and lists that load as you scroll rather than all at once. Past a few thousand products the menu stops being a way to find things, and an app built around one at that size is slow in exactly the place it is used most.
Bring the awkward requirement to the first call.
Customer-specific pricing, an ERP in the middle, two brands on one Plus account — those decide the shape of the project and are better raised early than late.