B2B Shopify Pricing & Access-Control Failure

Overview

This intervention addressed a trade-only Shopify store where pricing visibility, cart access, and discount logic were failing in ways that created commercial risk rather than just technical inconvenience.

The issue was not a theme bug.
It was a structural misunderstanding of how Shopify handles B2B pricing and access control.

The Problem

The store exhibited several high-risk behaviours:

  • Product pricing visible to non-logged-in users

  • Cart and checkout accessible without authentication

  • Trade discounts applied only via codes at checkout

  • On-screen prices not reflecting actual customer entitlements

From a customer perspective, pricing appeared inconsistent.
From a business perspective, margins and trust were exposed.

Why It Mattered

In B2B commerce, pricing is not just presentation — it is policy.

When pricing logic is:

  • App-dependent

  • Code-driven

  • Only applied at checkout

it becomes fragile, opaque, and easy to bypass.

This setup risked:

  • Public exposure of trade pricing

  • Margin erosion

  • Customer disputes

  • Ongoing operational confusion

Constraints & Risks

Key constraints included:

  • Live customers already using the system

  • Third-party B2B app deeply embedded in pricing logic

  • Limited tolerance for downtime or behaviour changes

  • Risk of breaking legitimate trade workflows

A surface-level fix would have made the problem worse.

What Was Done

A full audit of platform logic, not just configuration, was performed.

Access Control

  • Reviewed login gating for products, cart, and checkout

  • Identified points where access rules were being bypassed

Pricing Architecture

  • Analysed how prices were derived, displayed, and discounted

  • Distinguished between cosmetic price changes and true account-level pricing

Remediation Path

  • Identified architectural flaws in app-based discounting

  • Mapped a Shopify-native approach to account-based pricing

  • Defined changes required to align visible pricing with entitlement

No changes were applied blindly — the goal was correctness before action.

Outcome

  • Public pricing leakage stopped

  • Correct trade-only buyer journey restored

  • Clear separation established between public and trade experiences

  • A stable pricing model defined without reliance on discount codes

The store moved from a fragile workaround to a defensible commercial setup.

Permanent Change

Pricing and access control are now treated as core platform logic, not theme features or promotional mechanisms.

Future changes can be made deliberately, without re-introducing risk.

Key Takeaway

Most B2B pricing failures on Shopify are not caused by bugs.

They’re caused by forcing promotional tools to behave like policy.

This intervention corrected the model — not just the symptoms.