Sana Commerce vs. Shopify B2B: Which B2B e-commerce platform is right for your business?

Platforms are known for showing hints of their origins in everything they do. That's why Shopify, after spending many years in retail commerce and doing it better than anyone else, approaches B2B the way a retailer would. Its newer offering, Shopify B2B, brings company accounts, pricing catalogs, net terms, and self-serve ordering to the same engine that powers its retail stores. Sana Commerce comes from the opposite starting point. It’s built directly for manufacturers and wholesalers, and all on top of the existing ERP those companies already run.

On a feature list, the two look closer than they actually are. Both offer B2B accounts, customer-specific pricing, and self-service ordering. The real differences come out when you learn what each platform is built for, how each one handles product data, how they connect to SAP or Microsoft Dynamics, and what that means for the team running the channel day to day. To understand these differences, let’s jump into our comparison. 

Shopify B2B at a glance

Shopify B2B brings real B2B capability to the same system millions of retailers run on. As of April 2026, Shopify extended its core B2B features to every paid plan, not just Shopify Plus, at no extra cost. Company profiles, custom pricing catalogs, volume discounts, vaulted credit cards, and payment terms, with existing tools like its no-code automation builder Shopify Flow now work for B2B, too. Non-Plus plans cap customer-specific pricing at three catalogs, while Shopify Plus plans (starting at $2,300 per month) now offer unlimited catalogs. Selling wholesale on Shopify has never been more accessible.

However, most retailers aren’t handling technical catalogs with thousands of attributes, parts identification, and live ERP data. None of that is a knock on the platform. Shopify’s time-to-market is fast, its checkout converts well, and its app store is the largest in commerce. But all of it was built for DTC retail, not B2B. For manufacturers and wholesalers, that really matters.

Sana Commerce at a glance

Where Shopify adapted a retail engine for B2B, Sana Commerce was built for B2B from the start. Founded in Rotterdam in 2007 for manufacturers and wholesalers on SAP or Microsoft Dynamics, it runs on the idea that a webstore belongs on top of the ERP rather than next to it.

Sana Commerce creates a new future of connected commerce, linking the ERP to the rest of your tech stack, CRM included. The store ships complete and already shaped for technical selling, with complex product offerings, content management, a self-service portal, order management, and guided buying tools, all anchored in real-time ERP data. There's no connector app to choose, no sync schedule to watch, and no gap between what the ERP knows and what the buyer sees, because the ERP connection is the product rather than an app you add. That approach has kept Sana in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce four years running, with global customers across manufacturing, industrial equipment and spare parts, construction, chemicals, medical supplies, and electronics.

Because Sana keeps no separate copy of your data, the store can't drift from the ERP, and there's nothing for your developers to maintain when either side updates. Sana Commerce Cloud is a SaaS platform and a certified SAP and Microsoft Gold Partner, with native, certified ERP integration for SAP and Microsoft Dynamics ERPs, including:

• SAP ECC
• SAP S/4HANA
• SAP Business One
• Microsoft Dynamics AX, F&O/SCM
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Business Central

The first difference: Built for B2B manufacturing, or adapted to it

Shopify B2B's features are real, but the platform's shape is retail. Sana's shape is B2B manufacturing and wholesale, so parts buying, account complexity, and reorder behavior are the product itself rather than additions to it. The difference isn't one feature you can point to. It's the whole design of each platform.

What this means once you're live

• Catalog depth

  Sana handles large, technical, multi-attribute catalogs natively. Shopify now supports more variants, but products remain capped at three option types, and technical parts rarely fit in three dimensions. Fitting a parts catalog into that model means flattening attributes or splitting products, and neither helps a buyer search by specification.

• Parts buying

  Sana ships visual and guided part search, exploded views, BOM-style reordering, and bulk ordering built in. Shopify's quick order lists and reorder-from-history tools are built for repeat-buy convenience, not for identifying the right part.

• Account complexity

  Sana drives multi-level hierarchies and customer-specific terms straight from the ERP. Shopify structures accounts as companies with locations, a two-level model managed in Shopify itself, and non-Plus plans cap pricing at three active catalogs across all B2B markets, with unlimited catalogs starting at $2,300 per month on Shopify Plus.

• Reorder behavior

  Sana is built around repeat, high-frequency reordering tied to live ERP order history. Shopify's reorder tools read Shopify's own order history, which only knows about orders placed through Shopify.

The second difference: How the store talks to your ERP

Shopify's ERP story changes depending on which ERP you run. There is no native or certified Shopify connector for SAP at all, so SAP integration always runs through third-party middleware or custom API work. Microsoft Dynamics varies by version. Dynamics 365 Business Central has a first-party connector that Microsoft built as part of Shopify's Global ERP Program, included free with Business Central cloud subscriptions. Every other Dynamics version (AX, F&O/SCM, and NAV) has no native option and relies on third-party connectors, same as SAP.

Even with the best native connector, the architecture is the same. The Business Central connector keeps the two systems in sync on a schedule, so Shopify holds its own copy of pricing, product, and customer data. Sana is built with the ERP as its foundation, reading directly from SAP or Dynamics at the moment a buyer requests it, so pricing, inventory, and account data are always current with nothing to synchronize.

What this means once you're live

• Pricing accuracy

  Shopify can retrieve pricing through APIs or custom integrations in some architectures, though most ERP integrations sync pricing on a schedule. Sana reads each customer's price live from the ERP on every visit, as the standard architecture rather than a custom build. 

• Data maintenance

  With Sana you maintain one database, the ERP, so inventory management happens in one place. With Shopify you keep two systems in step, which is more work and more room for drift.

• Integration maintenance

  Sana's connectors are Sana's responsibility through every ERP and platform update. On Shopify, third-party connectors put that upkeep on your team or the app vendor. The Business Central connector is Microsoft-maintained, though its versions ride Business Central's release schedule, so staying current on ERP updates becomes a requirement for keeping the sync healthy.

• Implementation

  Sana arrives with native, certified connectors for SAP and every listed Dynamics version. Shopify's first-party option covers Dynamics 365 Business Central only, with third-party app or custom connector work required for SAP and every other Dynamics version.

The third difference: What helps you grow the channel

Sana includes built-in analytics and a Commerce Console that puts performance data and next steps in one place, surfacing reorder and replenishment patterns you'd otherwise miss. Workflows adds no-code automation on top. Set a rule (say a buyer who hasn't ordered in 60 days or an account slipping below its usual spend), and Sana runs the follow-up automatically. Sana's AI works in the same direction, auto-generating product descriptions and attributes and powering the guided part search that gets buyers to the right item fast.

Shopify brings real strengths here, too. Shopify Flow, its no-code automation tool, is included free on all plans from Basic up and now works for B2B. The difference is what the tooling can see. Flow acts on Shopify's own commerce data, such as orders, tags, and inventory, and typically needs an added integration before it can react to what's happening in the ERP. Sana's automation reads live ERP buying behavior directly.

What this means once you're live

• Where insights live

  Reorder and replenishment patterns surface in Commerce Console out of the box. On Shopify, that picture gets assembled from third-party analytics and marketing apps.

• Follow-up

  Sana's Workflows act on live ERP buying patterns automatically. Shopify Flow automates from Shopify's own data and usually needs an app or integration to see what the ERP sees.

• What the tooling is built around

  Sana's growth tools aim at B2B reorder and account growth. Shopify's aim at retail conversion and campaign performance, which is exactly what they were built for.

Sana Commerce vs. Shopify B2B: Feature comparison

Here's a side-by-side look at how the two B2B commerce platforms compare:

Where Shopify B2B has an edge

Shopify's strengths are real, and for some businesses, they're decisive.

• Speed of launch

  A Shopify store goes live faster than almost anything in commerce. If time-to-first-sale is the metric and the catalog is simple, Shopify wins it.

• The app ecosystem

  Thousands of apps cover almost any capability you can name. If your need is common in retail, someone has built for it.

• Checkout and front-end polish

  Shopify's checkout is among the best-converting in the industry, refined across millions of customer storefronts.

• B2C and B2B reach

  One platform serving consumers and business buyers together is Shopify's home turf. If your business genuinely spans both and your B2B requirements stay simple, that consolidation is worth real money.

The trade-off starts where retail stops. Technical catalogs, part identification, ERP-driven account terms, and data accuracy at the moment of the transaction aren't apps you add. Either the platform was built around them or it wasn't.

Where Sana Commerce has an edge

For manufacturers and wholesalers on SAP or Microsoft Dynamics, the gaps Shopify leaves are the exact ones Sana was built to fill.

• Parts buying comes standard

  Buyers search by machine or image, work from exploded views, land on the exact component, and reorder in a couple of clicks. No part number memorized, no call to your service desk.

• Catalogs built for technical depth

  Thousands of attributes per product, cross-references, and specification search live natively in Sana’s complex product offerings, with no three-dimension ceiling to design around.

• Data buyers can trust at checkout

  Every price, stock level, and account term matches the ERP at that exact moment, with no sync in between. That matters when 75% of B2B buyers say they'd switch suppliers for a better online experience.

• One ERP story, not three

  Sana's certified connectors cover SAP and every listed Dynamics version the same way, built and maintained by Sana. No checking which ERP gets a first-party connector and which gets an app, and no middleware layer inflating the total cost of ownership.

• Growth tooling that sees the whole picture

  Commerce Console and Workflows read live ERP buying behavior, including orders that never touched the webstore.

• A single source of truth

  Prices, stock, customer data, and order logic live in the ERP and nowhere else.

Which platform matches how you sell?

Both platforms are strong at what they were built for. The real question when choosing an e-commerce solution isn't which one is better, but which one was built for a business like yours.

When to choose Sana Commerce

• You sell equipment, parts, or consumables. Buyers find the exact component by machine or image and reorder in seconds, without knowing a SKU.
• SAP or Microsoft Dynamics runs your business. The store reads live ERP data on every visit, so buyers see real contract pricing, real stock, and real account terms regardless of which SAP or Dynamics version you run.
• Your catalog outgrows three dimensions. Technical products with many attribute axes fit Sana's PIM natively instead of being flattened into option types.
• You want less integration to own. One certified connector Sana maintains, no middleware, and one system of record.

When to choose Shopify B2B

• Speed of launch matters most. Nothing gets you selling faster, and since April 2026, that's true for wholesale on any paid plan.
• You sell across B2C and B2B on one storefront. Shopify was built for exactly this.
• Your catalog and buying patterns look like retail. Simple products, discovery-driven buying, and campaign-led growth all play to Shopify's strengths.
• You run Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and a light catalog. Microsoft's first-party connector plus Shopify's B2B features make a workable path for straightforward wholesale on that specific ERP.

What to ask in every demo

A generic demo won't surface the differences that matter for SAP and Dynamics teams. These questions will:

• "Do you read our SAP or Dynamics pricing live, or on a sync schedule?" This is the whole architecture question in one line. Listen for the word "sync."
• "Which app or connector handles our ERP integration, and who maintains it after an ERP upgrade?" With third-party connectors, the honest answer is usually your team or the app vendor. Get it named before you buy.
• "If we're on Dynamics 365 Business Central, whose connector is that, and what changes for other Dynamics versions?" The Business Central connector is Microsoft's, ships inside the ERP, and follows Business Central's release schedule. For AX, F&O/SCM, or NAV, the answer changes completely. Make sure you hear the difference.
• "Can you show a buyer finding and reordering a part by machine or image, not just part number?" This separates a platform built for parts buying from one with a search box. Ask them to use a part with variants or substitutes so you can see how it really handles.
• "How does the platform handle our catalog's attribute depth?" Ask with your real numbers. If your parts carry more than three option dimensions, ask exactly where those attributes go and how a buyer filters on them.
• "Can you demo with our ERP, not a sample environment?" A vendor confident in their connection will show live data.

The bottom line for manufacturers running SAP or Dynamics

The choice is simpler than the comparison table makes it look. Do you want a commerce channel built for how your buyers actually buy, on top of the ERP you already run? Or a retail platform extended toward B2B and connected to your ERP through a sync?

With Sana, the ERP is the foundation rather than a data source managed in parallel. Every price, stock level, and account term a buyer sees comes straight from SAP or Dynamics at that moment, whichever version you run. The parts-finding, the analytics, and the automation on top all work from that same live data, so what buyers see is what your ERP knows. And the connection itself is Sana's job to build, maintain, and keep current, not yours.

If you're ready to see what a live, ERP-built connection looks like for your business, request a demo and see it running on your ERP, not a sample environment.