"i only speak liquid" #15: Unlock wholesale without Shopify Plus 🔓

Hey all 👋!

Welcome to 'i_only_speak_liquid' by Storetasker, where active Shopify developers like me (Tony) share learnings we face daily. This is my 3rd edition of 4 before we rotate out to another developer. Hope you enjoy it!

PS: I'm an expert on Storetasker: It’s a gated network of vetted Shopify developers. Apply here if you want in.

What I’ve been thinking about:

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how some merchants need a wholesale store but can’t afford Shopify plus (yet).

How can you achieve wholesale functionality in a non-plus Shopify store?

You may use an app, but sometimes that is not possible.

Another option is modifying the theme to wholesale.

I’m explaining the latter in this guide. I’m not doing a detailed guide because each theme might be different; I’m writing a high-level guide so you can do it on your own on any theme.

Step 1:

You need to find the templates/customers/register.liquid file. Here, we are creating a form so customers can apply to be wholesale customers.

The above code will create a “create customer” form. The hidden input will assign the tag “wholesale” to any customer registered through this form. Feel free to add more fields. You can find the fields you can add here.

Step 2:

Add the tag wholesale to all the products eligible for wholesale purchase. If the store’s inventory is high, an easy way to do it is to download the products in a CSV file, add the tag in bulk to the products in the CSV, and re-upload the CSV.

Step 3:

Create an automatic discount and apply it to all the products with the tag “wholesale”.

Step 4:

Find the liquid files that show the price in the store. Typically, it shows in two places: On the collection cards and the product page. You can find it on product-card.liquid and product-form.liquid (for legacy themes) and in product-card.liquid and in main-product.liquid (for OS 2.0 themes).

Keep in mind that the names could be different in some themes, and even some would have more than two files showing the price.

Add the following code at the start of each file where the price shows. Replace pre_discount_wholesale with the discount your wholesales clients will have (you had set up this in step three). For example, if the discount is 10%, replace pre_discount_wholesale for 0.1

Now, everywhere in the liquid files you detected that show the price, replace the price for the following.

Do the same for the compare at price

Step 5:

Find the cart liquid file. Usually, cart-template.liquid (for legacy themes) or main-cart-items.liquid (for OS 2.0 themes).

Find the for tag inside the templates, and repeat the process in step four. Also, create another variable, sum the total with the wholesale discounts on the variable, and replace it in the total and subtotal.

Voila! Now, the store has wholesale capabilities.

3 links you can’t miss:

• ChatGPT - I’ve spent a significant amount of time exploring how ChatGPT could help me as a Shopify developer. Even though it can’t replace a Shopify developer (yet), it’s a great tool that could increase your developer productivity.

• Shopify Audiences - It’s not a secret that apple is trying to exclude advertisers from tracking customers. This exclusion makes retargeting campaigns, ads custom audiences, etc., useless. Shopify got a deal with Meta and Google to overcome this issue with Shopify Audiences.

• eCommerce 360 - The first visual IDE for React, by the people behind Wix, that can be integrated with Polaris to create amazing Shopify app interfaces.

One app I like:

eMerchant Broker Payment Gateway by BMO Harris Bank

CBD is a huge market. If you are in the health industry, selling CDB products could significantly increase your sales.

However, Shopify won’t accept payments for CBD products by default. Here is where the eMerchantBroker payment gateway will help you. This payment gateway will process payments for your CDB products.

The best part? It’s a payment gateway approved by Shopify. Take a look!

One learning as a freelancer:

There are numerous ways to acquire clients. There are plentiful opportunities, from guest blogging and personal branding to cold emailing and job boards.

Advertising and marketplaces such as Storetasker have been successful for me, but this shouldn't prevent you from exploring other strategies. Other individuals may have success with popular job sites, for example.

Rather than getting caught up in what is right or wrong, it is essential to trust the process and dive in.

Mistakes will be made, but getting started and learning along the way is vital. After all, experience is the best teacher.

-Tony