Glossary: Basics
Distributor
A distributor is a business that buys products in large volume from manufacturers or brands and sells them on to retailers, resellers or other businesses. It sits between the maker and the shop, and usually buys at a deeper discount than a retailer.
In detail
Distributors carry stock, manage logistics and serve many smaller buyers on behalf of the brand. A manufacturer sells in large lots to a distributor, and the distributor breaks those lots into the quantities retailers want. In return the distributor receives a lower price and sometimes a protected territory or a set of exclusive products.
Pricing usually has levels. The brand sells to the distributor at the lowest price, the distributor sells to a retailer at a higher wholesale price, and the retailer sells to shoppers at retail. Each level needs its margin, so a seller who sells to both distributors and retailers must keep the gap between them clear, or the distributor's customers may buy direct.
Brands that work with distributors often keep a separate customer group, price list and set of terms for them. Typical items include larger minimum orders, pallet or full-case quantities, longer payment terms such as Net 60, and an agreed MAP or MSRP so that the whole channel prices consistently.
Distributor and wholesaler are often used as synonyms. A distributor tends to have a formal relationship with a brand and handle brand-specific stock, while a wholesaler may buy and sell many brands without an agreement. If you sell as a manufacturer, think of distributors as a few large accounts with their own terms, not as ordinary shoppers.
Example
A brand sells a skin cream to a regional distributor at $10. The distributor sells it to salons at $14, and the salons sell it to clients at $24. Each level keeps a margin: $4 for the distributor and $10 for the salon.
On Shopify
Shopify catalogs control which products and prices a B2B buyer sees. On Basic, Grow and Advanced you assign up to 3 active catalogs across all B2B markets. Assigning a catalog directly to a company location, for customer-level pricing, is a Shopify Plus feature.
Sources: Shopify Help Center: Shopify B2B features by plan (read October 4, 2026); Shopify Help Center: Creating catalogs (read October 4, 2026).
In BSS B2B apps
BSS B2B Solution can give each level its own pricing by customer tag, so distributors, resellers and retailers see different prices on the same store. Price List is on the Platinum plan, and other modules vary by plan, see the pricing page.
Related use cases
Learn more
Read the Wholesale pricing hub for guides, use cases and setup docs, or the complete Shopify B2B guide.