How to offer net payment terms to wholesale customers
Process Wholesale lets wholesale customers (B2B customers) check out now and pay later with a payment term such as Net 30. You turn it on under Settings > Net terms, choose up to three terms, and the customer picks one on the Quick Buy order details page. Choosing a term creates a Shopify draft order with those payment terms. Net payment terms need the Enterprise or Professional plan and work only through the Quick Buy order form. Net terms are also called deferred payment, pay-later terms or invoice terms.
At a glance
- Plan: Enterprise or Professional
- Where: Process Wholesale > Settings > Net terms > Net payment terms
- Applies to: Logged-in customers tagged
B2Bwho order through Quick Buy. Optionally, only customers who also have the tagB2Bnetterms. - Terms available: Due on Receipt, Due on Fulfillment, Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Net 60, Net 90. Up to 3 at a time.
- Default: Off. When first turned on, Net 15, Net 30 and Net 90 are selected.
- Where customers choose: The Quick Buy order details page only, never on product pages or in the Shopify cart
Before you start#
- Add the Quick Buy block to your theme. Net terms appear nowhere else. See how to set up the Quick Buy wholesale order form.
- Quick Buy is shown only to logged-in customers with the
B2Btag.
Steps to turn on net payment terms#
- In Shopify admin, open the Process Wholesale app.
- Select Settings, then select Net terms in the list on the left.
- Check Enable net payment terms in the Quick buy table.
- Under Select payment terms (maximum 3):, open the list and select up to three terms. Remove a term from the selection to make room for another. A fourth term cannot be added.
- Optional: check Force Payment Terms to require a term on every Quick Buy order.
- Optional: check Allow net terms for specific customers only to offer terms only to customers you choose. See how to offer net terms to specific customers only.
- Select Save.
Video walkthrough: How to enable net payment terms (3 minutes) shows how to set up net payment terms.
How to offer net terms to specific customers only#
With Allow net terms for specific customers only checked, only wholesale customers who also have the customer tag B2Bnetterms see payment terms in Quick Buy. You give customers the tag with the Select Customers picker or in Shopify admin.
When you select Save in the picker, Process Wholesale adds B2Bnetterms to every customer selected in the picker and removes it from every other wholesale customer, straight away. Customers who already have the tag (spelled exactly B2Bnetterms) are selected automatically, but only on the pages of the list that you open, and they are selected again each time their page loads. Follow these steps so no customer loses net terms by accident:
- Under Settings > Net terms, check Allow net terms for specific customers only, then select Save in the save bar to store the setting.
- Select Select Customers. The Select customers for Net Terms window lists customers with the
B2Btag, 20 per page, with Name and Email. - Open every page of the list with Next before you change anything, so that every customer who already has
B2Bnettermsis loaded and stays selected. - Check or clear customers one by one. Use the Search customers... box to find a customer. A customer you clear is selected again if you reopen their page or search for them before saving, so check your clears last.
- Do not use Select all when your selection spans more than one page. Select all works on the page you are looking at: it replaces the selection you made on other pages with the customers on this page, and when it is already checked, clearing it clears the whole selection. The label shows how many customers are selected in total and how many are on the page, for example Select all (12 of 20 selected).
- Select Save in the window. A message confirms the change, for example "Customer net terms updated: 3 added, 1 removed".
Cancel closes the window without changing tags, but your checks and clears stay in the picker until you reload the Settings page. To start over, reload the page.
The picker saves tags as soon as you select Save in the window. The Allow net terms for specific customers only checkbox is saved separately, with the page's save bar.
What wholesale customers see#
On the Quick Buy form, the customer selects View Order to open the Order details page. When net terms are on, that page shows a Payment terms row with one button for each term you offered, such as Net 30. An information icon explains: "When checking out with payment terms, you will be able to complete your order now and pay within the selected time frame. If you would like to pay for your order now, do not select any payment terms, and click 'add to cart' to add all of your items to the cart and checkout normally."
- Selecting a term highlights it. Only one term can be active, and selecting it again clears it.
- With a term selected, an Order note box appears ("Do you want to add any note to your order?") and the button at the bottom reads Checkout.
- With no term selected, the button reads Add to cart and the order goes to the normal Shopify cart, where the customer pays at checkout as usual.
When the customer selects Checkout with a term, Process Wholesale creates a draft order in your store and sends the customer to that draft order's invoice page, where they complete the order. If the draft order cannot be created, the customer is taken to their account page and the saved Quick Buy order is cleared.
What is created in Shopify#
A Quick Buy checkout with a payment term creates a draft order in Shopify admin with:
- The products and quantities from the Quick Buy order
- The payment terms the customer chose
- The customer's email address and their order note
- The tag
processwholesaleand the additional detail Added Via: processwholesale
Automatic discounts are accepted on the draft order. Process Wholesale does not email you about a new net terms order, so check draft orders in Shopify admin.
How to collect payment#
After the customer checks out with a net term, the order is created in your store with the payment due date set to the term the customer selected. To collect payment, send the customer an invoice from the order in Shopify admin. If you collect payment outside Shopify, mark the order as paid in Shopify when the payment arrives. Process Wholesale does not send payment reminders or mark orders as paid.
How Force Payment Terms works#
With Force Payment Terms checked, the checkout button on the Quick Buy order details page is hidden until the customer selects a term, and the page shows "Please select a payment term to proceed with your order." Customers then cannot send a Quick Buy order to the normal cart and pay at checkout.
The setting's help text names the "Add to Order" button. The button that is hidden is the checkout button at the bottom of the order details page, the one labeled Add to cart or Checkout.
Limits and things to know#
- Quick Buy only. Process Wholesale offers payment terms only on the Quick Buy order details page, not on product pages or in the cart.
- Three terms at a time. You can offer at most three of the eight terms.
- No other order fields. The order note is the only extra field, and it is sent only with a payment term. There is no PO number or delivery date field.
- One term per order. The customer chooses one term for the whole order.
- The tag must be
B2Bnetterms. Customers who should see terms when Allow net terms for specific customers only is on need this tag in addition toB2B. - The plan is Enterprise or Professional. On Starter the controls are disabled and show Upgrade to Enterprise. The in-app text names Enterprise; Professional includes net terms too.
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No payment terms on the order details page | Net terms are off, the customer is not tagged B2B, or the customer lacks B2Bnetterms while specific-customers mode is on |
Check the settings and save. Add the missing tag to the customer. |
| Customer sees terms only on the order details page | Terms appear only there | No fix needed. The customer selects View Order on Quick Buy to reach them. |
| A customer cannot check out from Quick Buy | Force Payment Terms and Allow net terms for specific customers only are both on, and the customer lacks B2Bnetterms |
Turn one of the two settings off, or add B2Bnetterms to the customer. |
| Customers lost net terms after using the picker | Saving the picker removes B2Bnetterms from every wholesale customer not selected |
Re-add the tag in the picker after opening every page, or in Shopify admin. |
| A fourth term cannot be added | The limit is three terms | Remove one term, then add the other. |
| You were not told about a net terms order | Process Wholesale sends no notification | Check draft orders tagged processwholesale in Shopify admin. |
Frequently asked questions#
Where does a wholesale customer choose a payment term?#
On the Quick Buy order details page, reached with View Order. Process Wholesale does not offer payment terms on product pages or in the Shopify cart.
Which payment terms can I offer?#
Due on Receipt, Due on Fulfillment, Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Net 60 and Net 90. You can offer up to three of them at the same time.
What happens when a customer checks out with net terms?#
Process Wholesale creates a Shopify draft order with the chosen payment terms and sends the customer to its invoice page to complete the order. The order then has a payment due date matching the term.
How do I collect payment for a net terms order?#
Send the customer an invoice from the order in Shopify admin, or mark the order as paid in Shopify when you receive payment outside Shopify.
Can I offer net terms to only some wholesale customers?#
Yes. Check Allow net terms for specific customers only and give those customers the B2Bnetterms tag, with Select Customers or in Shopify admin.
Can a customer still pay at checkout when net terms are on?#
Yes, unless Force Payment Terms is on. With no term selected, Add to cart sends the order to the Shopify cart and the customer pays at checkout as usual.