B2B (contractor wholesale) vs B2C (homeowner) split, same store or separate?

Same Magento, segregated visibility. Splitting into two stores creates double the surface area (PIM sync, catalog drift, support routing) for no real benefit.

The architecture:

• Single product catalog. Same SKUs serve both groups.
• Customer groups: Retail (default), Pro (verified license), Pro-Gold (top tier). Pricing visibility differs per group via Magento Catalog Price Rules.
• Hidden contractor-only catalog: industrial-grade Hilti, Snap-on dealer-only SKUs, bulk fastener boxes, visible only to Pro group. Implemented via category-customer-group restriction.
• Different checkout flows: Pro group sees Net-30 + ACH + PO-number options; Retail sees card-only. Same checkout URL, different visible payment methods.
• Bulk pricing tiers visible at PDP for Pro group only (e.g. 1-9 units at $24.99, 10-49 at $22.99, 50+ at $20.99).

Typical revenue split for tools merchants $1M, $20M GMV: 40-65% retail (DTC, weekend warriors, gift purchases), 35-60% trade-pro (contractors, electricians, plumbers, facilities maintenance). Pro AOV is 3-5x retail; Pro reorder frequency is 4-8x. The math on trade-pro acquisition pays back fast even at high verification cost.

Adobe Commerce B2B Companies handles the multi-step approval workflow + requisition lists for larger contractor accounts ($10k+/mo). Open Source + Aheadworks B2B Suite (~$1,500) covers smaller pro accounts cleanly.