B2B at enterprise, Plus Companies vs AC Companies, what’s actually different?
Both have "Companies" but they solve different procurement realities.
Shopify Plus B2B Companies (released 2023, mature in 2024-25):
- Wholesale-account abstraction, one Company has many buyers
- Tag-based catalog visibility (which products show to which Company)
- Custom price lists per Company
- Draft Orders as quote workflow (single-step approval)
- Net-30 / Net-60 buckets on payment terms
- B2B account hub for self-service reorders
Best for D2C-flavored B2B, wholesale tier where the buyer experience mirrors retail. Strong fit for beauty / apparel / CPG brands selling wholesale to boutiques.
Adobe Commerce B2B Companies (mature since 2018, deepened in 2024):
- Multi-buyer roles per Company (Admin / Buyer / Approver / Junior Buyer)
- Multi-level approval chains (requester → manager → CFO, with $-threshold routing)
- Negotiable Quotes, full RFQ workflow with line-item negotiation, PDF export, version history
- Requisition Lists, recurring orders shared across the Company team
- Customer-segment catalogs, different SKU sets per Company segment
- Per-buyer credit limits + per-buyer payment terms (Net-15 / Net-45 / Net-60 mixed)
- Punchout (OCI / cXML) integration to Coupa / Ariba / SAP SRM
Best for procurement-style B2B, industrial distribution, food-service, MRO, B2B SaaS reseller channels.
Verdict: if your buyer journey involves a quote-to-order cycle longer than 24 hours, multi-buyer roles per company, or punchout integration to procurement systems, AC wins by a wide margin. If your B2B is wholesale-with-self-service, Plus B2B is now genuinely good.