Shopify for apparel brands that sell to boutiques too
Apparel catalogs hit Shopify's variant model harder than most: every style is size × color, sometimes × inseam or fit. Shopify now allows 2,048 variants per product across three options, which fits almost every garment. The wholesale side (boutique price lists, case-pack minimums, Net 30) runs natively from Basic. The real decisions are how to handle prepacks, line sheets and pre-season orders.
Size × color × fit within three options
Shopify products have up to three options and 2,048 variants1. A jean in 12 waist sizes × 5 lengths × 4 washes is 240 variants, well inside the limit. A fourth dimension (say, fit) is where it breaks: either fit becomes separate products grouped with a shared name, or two dimensions combine into one option ("32 × Slim"). Combined Listings, which present separate products as one, are Plus-only2.
Apparel wholesale, mapped to Shopify
| What boutiques expect | How we set it up on Shopify | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale prices at roughly half of retail | A B2B catalog with a percentage adjustment, then fixed prices where margins differ | 3 catalogs below Plus3 |
| Minimum per style, e.g. 6 units | Quantity rules on the variant: minimum and increment | Rules apply per variant, so a full-run minimum needs a bundle or prepack product |
| Size runs / prepacks (1-2-2-1) | A separate prepack product or variant with its own SKU | Inventory tracks the prepack, not each size, unless an app breaks it down |
| Net 30 for established accounts | Payment terms on the company location4 | Terms are set per location, not per order |
| Pre-season ordering | Draft orders or a pre-order app on the retail side | B2B checkout doesn't support pre-orders natively5 |
| Line sheets | A B2B-only collection plus a PDF export | Shopify has no native line-sheet builder |
Seasonal drops and the same SKU twice
Fashion brands reissue styles each season. If the new season reuses the old SKU, sales history carries over; if it gets a new SKU, reports split. Decide before migrating, because Matrixify imports will follow whatever SKU rule you give us. Old-season product URLs should redirect to the closest current style or the category, not the homepage.
Where we'd keep an app
Brands that sell mostly through prepacks or need a visual grid order form, with sizes across and colors down, still benefit from a wholesale app. The B2B app comparisons show which ones include an order grid and what they cost. For everything else, native B2B is enough. Check your own setup in the B2B plan fit check.
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- Shopify blog: Introducing 2,048 product variants (Oct 15, 2025), checked October 22, 2026.
- Shopify Help Center: Adding variants (limits), checked October 22, 2026.
- Shopify Help Center: B2B features by plan, checked October 19, 2026.
- Shopify Help Center: B2B payment terms, checked October 19, 2026.
- Shopify.dev: Build for B2B, checked October 19, 2026.