The Storefront API is a public GraphQL API from Shopify that lets developers read and write commerce data to build custom buyer-facing experiences. You use it to query products, variants, prices, and collections, manage a cart, and hand the buyer off to Shopify checkout. Unlike the Admin API, it is designed for the shopper side of a store and is safe to call from a client, headless site, or custom app surface.
How it works
You authenticate with a Storefront access token (public or private) and send GraphQL queries and mutations to a shop’s /api/{version}/graphql.json endpoint. Typical operations include fetching a product with its variants and prices, creating and updating a cart, applying discount codes, and generating a checkout URL. Because it is GraphQL, each request returns only the fields you ask for, which keeps custom interfaces fast.
Why it matters for B2B quoting
Merchants who want a bespoke quoting or wholesale ordering interface often reach for the Storefront API because it exposes the pieces a quote needs: catalog data, contextual pricing, and a path to native checkout. With the buyer context features (buyer identity and company location), you can surface B2B catalogs and price lists so a logged-in buyer sees the right prices inside a custom flow. That said, building and maintaining a quoting layer on the Storefront API is real engineering work: you own the UI, the state, and the follow-up.
Example
A distributor builds a headless request page where a buyer selects SKUs and quantities. The page queries the Storefront API for B2B pricing, assembles a cart, and produces a checkout link the buyer completes on Shopify. If you would rather not build this yourself, app-based tools like ShopQuotes deliver a similar checkout-ready quote flow without custom code. See related terms in the B2B quoting glossary.