A B2B catalog is a curated collection of products, paired with specific prices and a publication, that a merchant makes available to particular business customers or company locations. It controls two things at once: which items a buyer can see and buy, and what those items cost that buyer. Different buyers can be assigned different catalogs, so a wholesale account and a distributor never have to share the same product list or pricing.
How it works
On Shopify B2B, a catalog ties together three pieces: a set of products (often a specific collection or subset), a price list that sets B2B pricing (fixed prices or a percentage adjustment off retail), and a publication that governs where those products appear. You then assign the catalog to a company or to individual company locations. When a buyer for that company logs in, the storefront shows only their catalog’s products at their catalog’s prices.
Why it matters
Wholesale relationships rarely run on one flat price. A returning distributor, a first order account, and a regional location may each have negotiated terms. Catalogs let you honor those terms automatically instead of editing prices by hand or maintaining separate stores. They also keep restricted or made to order items hidden from buyers who should not see them.
Example
A lighting supplier creates a “Contractor” catalog with 300 SKUs at 25 percent off retail and assigns it to their trade accounts, while a “Designer” catalog exposes the full range at list price. Each buyer sees only their own version.
In quoting
Catalogs define the products and prices a buyer is entitled to, which sets the baseline a quote is built from. When a company requests custom pricing beyond their catalog, that becomes a quote. See the B2B quoting glossary for related terms.