BigCommerce Alternatives for B2B: Why Manufacturers Are Switching to Shopify Plus

Manufacturers searching for BigCommerce alternatives for B2B in 2026 are not looking for a generic platform list. They are asking a specific question: has Shopify Plus B2B matured enough to replace what they built on BigCommerce, and what does the switch actually involve?

The answer changed in 2023 when Shopify shipped native B2B features: company accounts with buyer roles and location-level permissions, customer-specific catalogs and price lists, and net payment terms built directly into the platform rather than patched in through third-party apps. By June 2026, Shopify had sunset Shopify Scripts and replaced them with Shopify Functions, a significantly more capable checkout customization layer. The capability gap that once made BigCommerce the default choice for mid-market manufacturers has closed.

This guide covers what BigCommerce B2B Edition specifically lacks for manufacturers, what Shopify Plus delivers natively, how ERP integration works post-migration, and what a realistic migration timeline looks like.

Company Accounts

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Via B2B Edition add-on

Shopify Plus B2B: Native, with locations and buyer roles

Customer-Specific Price Lists

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Limited to customer groups

Shopify Plus B2B: Per-company catalogs with fixed and percentage pricing

Net Payment Terms (Net 30/60/90)

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Third-party app required

Shopify Plus B2B: Native

Vaulted Payment Methods per Company

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Third-party app required

Shopify Plus B2B: Native

Checkout Customization Logic

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Limited, no upgrade path

Shopify Plus B2B: Shopify Functions (unlimited custom logic, active June 2026)

MOQ Enforcement at Checkout

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Requires custom development

Shopify Plus B2B: Shopify Functions

B2B + DTC on One Storefront

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Separate storefronts required

Shopify Plus B2B: Unified admin, separate buyer experiences

ERP Integration

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Custom middleware typically required

Shopify Plus B2B: Pre-built connectors available

App Ecosystem

BigCommerce B2B Edition: ~1,000 apps

Shopify Plus B2B: 8,000+ apps

Pricing Model

BigCommerce B2B Edition: Revenue-based tier upgrades

Shopify Plus B2B: Fixed monthly ($2,300–$2,500/month)

BigCommerce ties plan tiers to annual online sales volume. As a manufacturer scales digital order volume through a dealer portal or direct B2B channel, the platform forces upgrades to higher pricing tiers regardless of whether the additional features in those tiers are actually needed. Shopify Plus uses a fixed monthly rate starting at $2,300 per month on a three-year term, with no GMV penalties baked into the base structure. For manufacturers processing significant order volume, the total cost of ownership over a three-year period often favors Shopify Plus.

BigCommerce's B2B capabilities live in its B2B Edition add-on, layered on top of a platform designed for direct-to-consumer retail. This means the core data model treats buyers as individual consumers first and company accounts second. Features like multi-location company accounts, location-level payment terms, and granular buyer role permissions require additional configuration or third-party tooling that would be native on a purpose-built B2B architecture.

Shopify took a similar approach initially but rebuilt its B2B layer as native infrastructure in 2023. Native features share the same data model as the rest of the platform, which means ERP sync, order reporting, and checkout logic all operate from a consistent foundation without data mapping between separate systems.

Shopify sunset Shopify Scripts in June 2026, replacing them with Shopify Functions, a far more capable checkout customization framework. Manufacturers migrating to Shopify Plus after June 2026 build checkout customizations with Shopify Functions from day one, which is an advantage rather than a migration burden.

BigCommerce merchants relying on equivalent checkout workarounds face no comparable upgrade path. Custom checkout logic built on BigCommerce remains their responsibility to maintain indefinitely as the platform evolves.

A mid-market manufacturer typically operates through a combination of direct buyers, regional distributors, and individual dealer accounts. Each account needs a separate pricing tier or catalog, location-specific billing and shipping addresses, contacts with differentiated buying permissions, and net payment terms assigned at the account level rather than per individual contact.

BigCommerce B2B Edition supports company accounts but limits the depth of account hierarchy and location-level configuration. Shopify Plus B2B supports companies with multiple locations, each with their own payment terms, price lists, and active contacts assigned to specific buyer roles: admin access, ordering-only access, or location-specific restrictions.

Manufacturers need functionality that general-purpose B2B platforms rarely build natively: warranty registration, rebate and store credit management, parts fitment lookup for equipment lines, quote request workflows, saved and shared carts for procurement teams, and printed invoice generation. BigCommerce's app ecosystem covers roughly 1,000 integrations. Shopify's has over 8,000, with a deep library of manufacturer and distributor-specific tools built by developers who know the platform's APIs at depth.

Connecting BigCommerce to NetSuite, Epicor, SAP, or Microsoft Dynamics typically requires point-to-point middleware built and maintained by an agency. Every platform update risks breaking the integration. Shopify Plus has attracted a significant ecosystem of native ERP connector partners who build against a stable API, reducing both implementation cost and ongoing maintenance overhead.

Manufacturers selling wholesale to dealers and direct to end consumers must manage two separate BigCommerce storefronts: separate catalogs, separate checkouts, separate theme deployments, and separate analytics. Shopify Plus allows a single storefront to serve both audiences, with B2B login gating the dealer experience and a public DTC storefront available to consumers, both managed from one admin.

Every dealer, distributor, or wholesale buyer in Shopify Plus B2B operates as a company account. Within that account, manufacturers can create multiple locations (each location gets its own billing address, shipping addresses, payment methods, and price list) and assign individual contacts to roles that control what they can see and do. A purchasing manager can place orders and manage contacts. A field buyer might be restricted to order placement only. A regional coordinator can access only their assigned location.

This structure maps directly to how manufacturers run dealer networks, which is why adoption tends to be driven at the operations level, not just IT.

Shopify Plus B2B lets manufacturers assign a specific catalog to each company or location. Each catalog includes a price list that applies fixed prices, percentage adjustments, or volume-based quantity breaks. A tier-one dealer gets one price list. A regional distributor gets another. A new account without a negotiated rate stays on list pricing until a contract is agreed.

All of this lives in the Shopify admin without a third-party pricing engine. The Shopify B2B page covers the full breakdown of catalog and price list capabilities by plan tier.

Net 30, Net 60, and Net 90 are configured at the company level in Shopify Plus B2B. When a buyer with net terms checks out, they receive an invoice for the approved term rather than a card prompt. Vaulted payment methods let buyers store approved cards against their company account so repeat ordering does not require re-entering payment details.

Both features were previously available only through third-party apps on both platforms. Native implementation means they integrate cleanly with Shopify's order management, reporting, and ERP sync workflows without additional data mapping.

Shopify Functions are the replacement for Shopify Scripts as of June 2026. Where Scripts were limited to pre-defined extension points, Functions allow developers to write custom logic that runs server-side at checkout:

Shopify Plus is the only major SaaS commerce platform that ships this level of checkout customization natively through a supported, upgradeable framework rather than custom code. More on what this enables for B2B operations is covered in the Shopify Plus B2B updates release history, which Shopify has accelerated significantly since 2023.

Sales rep-assisted ordering is standard in manufacturing. A rep builds an order on behalf of a dealer, applies a negotiated price, and submits it for buyer confirmation. Shopify Plus B2B includes draft order functionality natively: reps create orders in the admin, share them with buyers for review, and convert them to paid orders on confirmation. No third-party quoting app is required for standard quote-to-order workflows.

Manufacturers on Shopify Plus B2B do not need separate storefronts for wholesale and DTC. A single store serves public consumers through the standard checkout while B2B buyers log in to see their company-specific catalog, pricing, and payment terms. Inventory management, order reporting, and ERP sync happen in one place, with one admin, one analytics setup, and one theme deployment to maintain.

The most common reason manufacturers delay a platform switch is ERP integration. They have invested in connecting their existing platform to NetSuite, Epicor, SAP S/4HANA, or Microsoft Dynamics, and they do not want to rebuild that integration from scratch.

The Uncap Connect ERP integration suite is built specifically for this transition, with pre-built connectors for the ERPs manufacturers use most.

NetSuite + Shopify Plus: Real-time inventory sync, customer account creation and price list population from NetSuite customer records, order write-back on placement, and invoice status updates in both directions. Customer-specific pricing from NetSuite price levels maps to Shopify Plus price lists automatically.

Epicor + Shopify Plus: Product catalog and pricing sync from Epicor's item master, order write-back with full line-item detail, and warehouse-level inventory feeds for multi-location manufacturers. Epicor part numbers become Shopify SKUs with direct lookup.

SAP S/4HANA + Shopify Plus: Material master sync, customer-specific pricing from SAP condition records, and automated order-to-cash workflow triggering SAP delivery creation on order placement. The connector handles the SAP BAPI and RFC layer without requiring SAP middleware licensing.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 + Shopify Plus: Customer and contact sync, price list population from Dynamics trade agreements, and order integration supporting both standard and drop-ship workflows. B2B company accounts in Shopify map to Dynamics customer accounts with full contact hierarchy.

Acumatica + Shopify Plus: Bidirectional sync covering inventory, pricing, customers, and orders with native support for Acumatica's warehouse management module and lot/serial number tracking for manufacturers with traceability requirements.

The connector architecture is middleware-free on the Shopify side, meaning Shopify Plus updates do not break the integration. The Uncap Connect layer handles transformation and error handling with a monitoring dashboard that surfaces sync failures before they affect orders.

A BigCommerce to Shopify Plus migration follows five phases regardless of catalog size or ERP complexity.

Phase 1: Audit and mapping (weeks 1 to 3)

Catalog structure (products, variants, options), customer accounts, order history, and current customizations are audited against the Shopify Plus data model. BigCommerce uses "options" and "modifiers" for product variants. Shopify uses "options" and "variants" with a 100-variant-per-product limit that requires planning for manufacturers with large configuration matrices. This phase identifies any catalog restructuring needed before migration begins.

Phase 2: ERP reconnection (weeks 2 to 5, overlapping)

The ERP integration is planned in parallel with the catalog audit. New Shopify-side endpoints are configured in the connector layer. Historical ERP data does not need to move, since the ERP remains the source of truth. What gets mapped is which data flows (inventory, pricing, orders, customers) run in which direction and at what frequency.

Phase 3: Company account and price list migration (weeks 4 to 6)

B2B customer accounts, purchase history, and pricing assignments are migrated to Shopify's company account structure. Because passwords cannot be migrated from BigCommerce (they are stored as one-way hashes), B2B buyers receive account activation emails when they access the new platform for the first time. This is standard across platform migrations and is communicated to dealer networks in advance with clear instructions.

Phase 4: URL redirect strategy (weeks 5 to 7)

BigCommerce URL structures differ from Shopify's. A complete URL mapping is built for all product, collection, and content pages to carry Google's existing ranking signals into the new platform. Canonical tags are set correctly before go-live to prevent duplicate content issues during the transition window.

Phase 5: Staged go-live (week 8)

A phased rollout by dealer tier or account segment reduces migration risk. High-value accounts go live first, with a parallel period where any orders that reach the legacy BigCommerce store are processed manually until full cutover is confirmed. Full cutover typically happens within one to two weeks of the staged go-live.

Total timeline: A mid-market manufacturer with 10,000 to 50,000 SKUs and a single ERP integration typically completes migration in 8 to 12 weeks. Larger catalogs or multi-ERP environments extend this to 16 to 20 weeks. Catalog restructuring and ERP connector configuration are the longest variables, not data migration itself.

Shopify Plus B2B is the right choice for manufacturers who run mixed B2B and DTC operations, need fast time-to-market, and want access to a large app ecosystem without a large internal development team. It handles the majority of manufacturer use cases natively as of 2026.

Manufacturers with extremely complex multi-organization requirements, such as separate legal entities needing fully isolated backends, catalogs, and workflows with no shared infrastructure, or operations requiring multi-round RFQ negotiation where buyers and sellers exchange multiple quote revisions before an order is placed, should also evaluate dedicated enterprise B2B platforms. These are typically enterprises with $100M or more in annual digital revenue and a dedicated commerce operations function.

For mid-market manufacturers building or rebuilding a dealer portal, wholesale channel, or direct B2B ordering experience, the combination of Shopify Plus native B2B capabilities and Shopify solutions for manufacturing covers the use case without the implementation complexity and ongoing development overhead of enterprise alternatives.

Uncap has delivered 380+ B2B commerce implementations as a Shopify Platinum Partner since 2013. If your manufacturing business is evaluating a move from BigCommerce to Shopify Plus, we can assess your current architecture, ERP integration requirements, and dealer account structure and provide a migration scope in a single working session.

Book a Strategy Session