Wholesale discount types compared: flat, tier, price list and cost plus markup
Process Wholesale has four discount families: flat discounts (one percentage or amount off), tier discounts (the discount grows with product quantity, cart value, cart quantity or a customer's loyalty), price lists (a fixed price per product variant) and cost plus markup (the price is the product's cost plus a percentage). You create them in the Process Wholesale app under Discounts. Every discount has a discount tag, and a logged-in wholesale customer (B2B customer) gets it at Shopify checkout when they carry both the B2B tag and that discount tag. Flat and tier discounts work on every plan, the loyalty tier type needs Enterprise or Professional, and price lists and cost plus markup need Professional.
At a glance
- Where: Process Wholesale > Discounts, with the tabs Flat Discounts, Tier Discounts, Price Lists and Cost-Plus Discounts
- Who gets a discount: Logged-in customers tagged
B2B(any capitalization) who also carry the discount's tag. Pending customers taggedB2B_Registerationget no discount at checkout. - How many: Starter 1 discount, Enterprise and Professional 100 (flat and tier discounts counted together)
- Applied by: Shopify automatic discounts that Process Wholesale creates in your store. You can see them in Shopify admin under Discounts.
- Also called: wholesale pricing, B2B pricing, tiered pricing, volume pricing, quantity breaks, customer-specific pricing
Every wholesale discount type side by side#
| Discount type | Based on | What it changes | Shopify automatic discount | Plan | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat discount | Nothing: the same discount every time | Each eligible item: percentage off or amount off per unit | B2B Order/Loyalty Discount | All plans (variant selection: Enterprise or Professional) | 20% off everything for approved wholesale customers |
| Quantity tier (Individual Product Quantity) | Units of the same product in the cart | Each eligible item: percentage off, amount off or a fixed price per unit | B2B Order/Loyalty Discount | All plans | 1 to 9 units 10% off, 10 or more 20% off |
| Cart value tier (Total Cart Value) | Cart total after flat and quantity discounts | The whole order: percentage off or amount off | B2B Order/Loyalty Discount | All plans | Orders of 500 or more get 5% off |
| Cart quantity tier (Total Cart Quantity) | Total units in the cart, or of selected products or collections | The eligible items as a group: percentage off or amount off | B2B Cart Quantity Discount | All plans | 50 or more units of any mix get 10% off |
| Loyalty tier (Loyalty) | The customer's spend or number of orders over the last N days | The whole order: percentage off or amount off, on top of other discounts | B2B Order/Loyalty Discount | Enterprise or Professional | Customers who spent 5,000 in the last 365 days get an extra 5% off |
| Price list | A price you type for each variant | Each listed variant: the customer pays your price | B2B Price List Discount | Professional | A negotiated price sheet for a key account |
| Cost plus markup | The variant's Cost per item in Shopify | Each eligible item: price becomes cost plus your markup percentage | B2B Cost Plus Markup Discount | Professional | Distributors pay cost plus 25% |
Cost plus markup never raises a price: when cost plus markup comes to the regular price or more, the customer pays the regular price.
Flat discounts#
A flat discount gives the same percentage off (Percentage Off) or amount off each unit (Price Off) to every eligible item, whatever the quantity. It can cover All products, selected products, selected collections or, on Enterprise or Professional, selected variants. When a customer has several flat discounts, the one with the highest priority (1 is highest) wins for each product. Set it up in How to create a flat wholesale discount.
Tier discounts#
A tier discount has a list of tiers, and the tier the customer reaches decides the discount. All four kinds are created on the same form under Discounts > Tier Discounts, with the Method selector:
- Individual Product Quantity: quantity breaks per product. Buying more units of one product lowers the price of that product. See quantity tiers.
- Total Cart Value: spend more, save more. The discount is on the whole order. See cart value tiers.
- Total Cart Quantity: buy more units in total, of any mix, and save. See cart quantity tiers.
- Loyalty: an extra discount for customers whose spend or order count over a period reaches a tier. Process Wholesale re-checks every 2 hours. See loyalty discounts.
Price lists#
A price list sets the exact price a customer pays for each product variant you add to it. It is the right choice for a negotiated price sheet where each product has its own price. Price lists need the Professional plan. See How to create a wholesale price list with fixed prices.
Cost plus markup#
Cost plus markup prices each eligible item at its cost plus a markup percentage. Process Wholesale reads the cost from the Cost per item field on each variant in Shopify. With a cost of 10.00 and a 20% markup, the customer pays 12.00. Cost plus markup needs the Professional plan. See How to price wholesale products at cost plus a markup.
Which wholesale discount types can apply together?#
A wholesale customer can carry several discount tags, and several discounts can apply to the same order:
- Flat discount and quantity tier on the same product: only one applies to that product. The Tag priority setting under Settings > Discount settings decides which: Prefer flat tag (the default) or Prefer tier tag. Checkout follows Tag priority only after the Settings page has been saved once; until then it behaves as Prefer tier tag. See priority and stacking rules.
- Cart value tier and loyalty tier: added on top of the flat and quantity tier discounts, on the same order.
- Cart quantity tier: applied by its own automatic discount, B2B Cart Quantity Discount, alongside the others when the Discount combinations settings allow order discounts to combine. Order Discounts is checked by default.
- Price list and cost plus markup: applied by their own automatic discounts. Whether they apply on the same order as flat and tier discounts depends on the Price List Discount combinations and Cost Plus Markup Discount combinations settings, which are off by default.
- One of each kind: a customer gets at most one cart value tier, one cart quantity tier and one loyalty tier per order, even when they carry several tags of that kind.
The full rules, with examples, are in Which wholesale discount applies: priority and stacking rules. Shopify discount codes are covered in Using Shopify discount codes with wholesale discounts.
Example. A customer carries a 10% flat discount for all products, a cart value tier of 5% from 500, and a 10% loyalty tier they have earned. Their cart totals 1,000.00. The flat discount takes 100.00 off. The cart value is now 900, so the cart tier takes 5% of 900, which is 45.00. The loyalty tier takes 10% of the remaining 855.00, which is 85.50. The total wholesale discount is 230.50, and the customer pays 769.50.
Which one should I use?#
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Give the same discount on everything (or on a set of products) | A flat discount with Percentage Off or Price Off |
| Lower the price per product the more units of that product are bought | A quantity tier (Individual Product Quantity) |
| Reward larger orders by value: spend more, save more | A cart value tier (Total Cart Value) |
| Reward larger orders by unit count, across any mix of products | A cart quantity tier (Total Cart Quantity) |
| Reward repeat buyers with an extra discount | A loyalty tier (Enterprise or Professional) |
| Charge an exact price per product or variant | A price list (Professional), or a quantity tier with Fixed Price |
| Base wholesale prices on what each product costs you | Cost plus markup (Professional) |
Different customer groups can get different discounts: create one discount per group and give each group its own discount tag. See How to assign discounts to wholesale customers.
What every discount type has in common#
- The discount tag is the link. Creating a discount does not give it to anyone. A customer gets it when the discount tag is on their Shopify customer record, together with
B2B. Add tags from the Customers page, automatically on approval, or to all wholesale customers at once with Bulk assign discount. - Tag names use lower-case letters and numbers only, must not contain
b2b, and cannot be changed after the discount is saved. Give every discount its own tag name, even across discount types: a customer who carries a tag gets every discount that uses it, except that a flat discount and a quantity, cart value or loyalty tier with the same name never both apply. - Checkout applies the price. Process Wholesale does not change your product prices in Shopify. The discount is applied at Shopify checkout, and in draft orders that have a customer (see draft orders).
- Storefront display is separate. The Product Wholesale block shows discount tables on product pages, and Quick Buy shows wholesale prices on its order form.
Frequently asked questions#
What kinds of wholesale discounts can I set up with Process Wholesale?#
Process Wholesale offers flat discounts, quantity tiers, cart value tiers, cart quantity tiers, loyalty tiers, price lists and cost plus markup. Flat and the first three tier kinds work on every plan, loyalty needs Enterprise or Professional, and price lists and cost plus markup need Professional.
Can a customer get more than one wholesale discount on the same order?#
Yes. A customer can carry several discount tags. Per product, one flat discount or quantity tier applies, and a cart value tier, cart quantity tier and loyalty tier can be added on top for the order. See priority and stacking rules.
Do wholesale customers need a special tag to get a discount?#
Yes, two tags. The customer needs the B2B tag, which Process Wholesale adds when you approve them, and the discount tag of each discount they should get.
How many discounts can I create on my plan?#
Starter allows 1 discount, and Enterprise and Professional 100. Flat and tier discounts count together toward the limit. Current plan prices are shown on the Shopify plan page that opens from Plan in the app.
Do wholesale discounts change the prices shown in my theme?#
No. Your theme keeps showing the regular price. The discount is applied at checkout, and the Product Wholesale block and Quick Buy show wholesale prices to wholesale customers on the storefront.