A metafield is a custom data field you attach to a Shopify resource (a product, variant, customer, company, order, and more) to store information that the platform’s built-in fields do not cover. Each metafield holds a typed value (text, number, date, JSON, a reference to another resource, and so on) under a namespace and key that keep your custom data organized. Metafields let you extend Shopify’s data model without leaving the platform.
How it works
Every metafield lives on a specific resource and has three parts: a namespace (a grouping label), a key (the field name), and a value with a defined type. You can define metafields in Shopify admin under Settings, then Custom data, which turns them into editable fields on the relevant record. They are also readable and writable through the Admin API and can be surfaced in themes with Liquid.
Why it matters for B2B quoting
Quoting often needs data that has no standard home in Shopify. Metafields give you a durable place to keep it. On a company or customer record you might store a negotiated discount tier, a payment terms note, or a tax exemption reference. On a product or variant you might store minimum order quantities, price-break notes, or a lead time. On a draft order or quote you might store a buyer PO number, an approval status, or an internal owner.
Because company-level metafields sit inside Shopify’s native B2B model, they stay attached to the buying company across every quote and order, which keeps context consistent for your sales team. See the B2B quoting glossary for related terms.
Example
A wholesale merchant defines a custom.approval_status metafield on draft orders. A rep sets it to “pending manager review” while a large quote is negotiated, then to “approved” before sending. The value is queryable, so the team can filter open quotes by status instead of tracking them in a spreadsheet.