How do you set up trade accounts on WooCommerce?

What trade customers expect

A trade buyer, whether a shop, salon, café or contractor, uses your site differently from a consumer. They know what they want, they order the same items repeatedly, and they care about price per unit, availability and paperwork. A good trade setup gives them:

• prices that apply only to them, shown clearly
• a simple way to reorder without browsing the whole catalogue
• sensible minimums and pack sizes
• invoices and, for established accounts, payment terms
• an account that is approved, not open to anyone who fills in a form

WooCommerce does not include trade accounts out of the box, but it is well suited to them with the right extensions. This guide covers the practical setup; for the bigger strategic questions, see our B2B webshop guide.

Step 1: an application and approval process

Do not let anyone see trade prices just by registering. Set up a separate trade application form that collects what you need to vet a business:

• company name and registered address
• company number, if they have one, and VAT number if registered
• contact name, email and phone
• type of business and website or shop address
• expected order volume, if useful to you

New applicants should land in a "pending" state. Most wholesale extensions for WooCommerce support this: the applicant gets a holding email, you get a notification, and you approve or decline from the admin. On approval, the customer is moved to a trade role or group and receives a welcome email explaining how ordering works.

Before approving, check that the business is real. Companies House lets you search UK companies for free, and HMRC offers an online service to check a UK VAT number. Keep a note of what you checked.

Step 2: decide how trade pricing works

There are several ways to set trade prices. Choose the simplest one that reflects how you really sell.

Method	How it works	Good when
Percentage off retail	All trade customers get a fixed discount	Margins are similar across the range
Fixed trade price per product	Each product has its own trade price field	Margins vary by product
Tiered or quantity pricing	Price per unit drops at set quantities	You want to reward larger orders
Price groups	Different groups, such as bronze and gold, get different prices	You have distinct customer levels
Customer-specific price lists	Negotiated prices for individual accounts	A few large customers have agreed terms

Whichever you choose, decide what happens to retail promotions. Most shops exclude trade customers from consumer coupons and sales so discounts do not stack.

Showing prices with or without VAT

Businesses usually think in prices excluding VAT, consumers in prices including it. Many wholesale extensions let you show prices excluding VAT to trade customers while consumers continue to see VAT-inclusive prices. Make the label clear on every price. VAT treatment itself, especially for customers outside the UK, depends on your circumstances; HMRC's guidance on gov.uk is the official source, and our guide to VAT for online shops in the UK gives an overview.

Hiding trade prices from the public

Decide whether visitors who are not logged in should see retail prices, no prices, or a prompt to apply for a trade account. If you only sell to trade, hiding prices and the basket for guests keeps your price list private.

Step 3: ordering rules

• Minimum order value or quantity: covers your handling cost on small trade orders. Show the minimum clearly in the basket rather than only at checkout.
• Pack sizes: if you sell in cases of six or twelve, enforce quantity steps so orders arrive in whole packs.
• Trade-only products: some items, such as bulk packs or display units, can be visible to trade customers only.
• Shipping: trade orders may need different rates, such as pallet delivery or free delivery above a threshold. WooCommerce shipping methods can often be limited by customer role with the right extension.

Step 4: fast reordering

Trade buyers do not want to click through category pages each week. Give them faster routes:

1. Quick order form: a single page listing products by SKU with quantity boxes, so a full order can be entered in one go.
2. Order lists or favourites: a saved list of what each customer usually buys, ready to adjust and add to the basket.
3. Reorder from history: a button in My account that puts a previous order back in the basket.
4. Search by SKU: make sure your shop search finds products by code, since trade buyers often order that way.

Step 5: payment terms and paperwork

New trade accounts can pay by card like everyone else. For established customers, you may offer payment on invoice. Several WooCommerce extensions add an "invoice" or "pay later" payment method that you can restrict to approved roles or individual customers. Set a credit limit in your own records, and agree your terms in writing. Send a proper VAT invoice with each order, using an invoice extension or your accounting software, and include the details trade customers need, such as their purchase order number if they supply one. Linking your shop to accounting software saves rekeying every order.

Testing and running the trade side

Before launch, create a test trade account and go through the whole journey: apply, get approved, see trade prices, hit the minimum order, check out on invoice, and receive the right emails and invoice. Then check a consumer account and a logged-out visitor still see the correct retail experience. Keep trade stock in the same count as retail so large orders do not oversell what consumers can buy; our guide to stock management for small shops covers this.

If you would rather not assemble the trade side from several extensions, Shop Pro at Retail Web Hosting starts from £89 a month and includes B2B price lists and order lists, priority support, and moving your existing shop for you.

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