ForgeB2B: Full-Stack B2B Overlay for Shopify Without Plus
10/10
Demand Score
B2B brands are forced into Plus or multiple apps to achieve basic workflows, inflating costs and creating brittle stacks that slow sales.
7/10
Blue Ocean
Competition Level
$499-3k
Price/Month
Predicted customer spend
12 days
Time to MVP
Difficulty: Hard
The Problem
B2B sellers are frustrated by Shopify’s limited native B2B feature set, costly plan upgrades for basic functionality, restrictive staff account quotas, and the need to cobble together multiple paid apps to achieve standard business sales workflows.
Competitor Landscape
- Shopify Plus B2B
- SparkLayer B2B
- Bold Custom Pricing/B2B
- Wholesale Gorilla
- QuoteMachine
- Mechanic (workflow)
Must-Have Features for MVP
Customer/company hierarchies, budgets, approval flows
Custom price lists and catalog visibility rules
Quote builder with versioning, approvals, and e-sign
Quick order matrix + CSV import
Sales rep/CSR masquerade with audit trails (seat virtualization)
Net terms, credit limits, dunning, consolidated invoicing
Punchout cXML/OCI and PDF purchase orders
ERP connectors (NetSuite, Acumatica, QuickBooks), tax and freight integrations
⚠️ Potential Challenges
- API limits around Draft Orders and pricing overrides
- Complex edge cases: split shipments, multi-warehouse, multi-currency
- Maintaining secure sales rep impersonation without breaching Shopify TOS
- Punchout/EDI variability across buyers
Risk Level: Moderate
🎯 Keys to Success
- Reduction in app stack and subscription costs
- Avoided Plus upgrade costs
- Higher B2B conversion and AOV via fast reordering and quotes
- CSR productivity gains from seat virtualization
- Shorter onboarding time for new B2B accounts
Ready to Build This?
This hard-difficulty project could be your next micro-SaaS success.