Sparklayer is one of the leading wholesale solutions designed to transform Shopify stores into powerful wholesale platforms.
The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive look at SparkLayer. This Sparklayer review examines its strengths, potential drawbacks, and highlights the best alternative solutions for businesses seeking comprehensive wholesale function.
What is SparkLayer?
Sparklayer is an all-in-one B2B and wholesale solution designed to transform any existing Shopify store into a fully featured wholesale platform. It integrates directly within the Shopify admin, enabling merchants to offer a seamless wholesale experience alongside their B2C operations.
The app provides over 20 features tailored for B2B needs, including customizable pricing rules, quantity discounts, customer-specific price lists, and allowing businesses to manage complex pricing strategies easily.
Key Features of SparkLayer B2B & Wholesales
Sparklayer Shopify empowers B2B customers with a user-friendly self-service portal where they can place orders, request quotes, manage accounts, create shopping lists, and reorder with a single click. Here are the key features of this app that need to be considered.
Flexible and Dynamic Pricing
The tool allows you to create a variety of pricing structures. You can set up base price lists, tiered price lists, and promo price lists. Crucially, by using the Shopify tagging system, you can also create custom pricing specifically for individual customers. When quantity increases, the price per unit automatically decreases. With over 20 B2B features, businesses can set customer-specific price lists and discounts, offering flexibility tailored to individual customer needs.
Customer Self-Service
The SparkLayer Shopify app offers self-service features, enabling B2B customers to efficiently manage their orders. They get access to a “My Account Area”, enabling them to place orders, track them, manage shopping lists, and experience rapid checkout.
Customers can create and manage shopping lists for easy reordering. Allows multiple users from the same company to work together on orders using a shared account.
Sales Agent Support
The app includes tools for sales agents. They can effectively manage B2B customer accounts, place orders on behalf of customers, and even handle offline orders such as phone orders. Agents can masquerade as customers to approve and reorder quickly, enhancing personalized service and operational efficiency.
Multiple Payment Options
Sparklayer offers multiple flexible payment options tailored for B2B customers, enhancing the checkout experience and streamlining order processing. The platform supports several payment methods including:
- Pay by Invoice: Customers can choose to pay after receiving an invoice, with the option to display custom messages explaining the process.
- Pay on Account: Allows customers to pay on account terms, suitable for established clients with credit arrangements.
- Pay Online by Card: Enables online card payments through integration with standard checkout processes like Shopify, supporting various payment gateways such as credit cards and PayPal.
- Request for Quote: Customers can submit quotes for review, facilitating a smooth transition from quote to order.
These payment methods can be customized in terms of display order and default selection based on customer groups, ensuring that the most relevant options are presented to each user.
Seamless Integration with Shopify & Other Systems
SparkLayer B2B & Wholesales integrates with existing Shopify themes and is built around the Shopify tagging system. It allows you to integrate it into your existing Shopify store, blending B2C and B2B operations. The app doesn’t load or affect the page speed for non-logged-in customers, ensuring the consumer-facing experience remains unaffected. Wholesale orders come in through a separate sales channel in Shopify. It integrates smoothly with major systems like Brightpearl and Linnworks and also offers API Access for custom development. Full support for Online Store 2.0 is provided.
Security, Performance, and Scalability
You don’t need a separate analytics solution for wholesale because you are able to easily filter orders by B2B Ordering in Shopify analytics. From a technical perspective, this Shopify app is built on modern cloud infrastructure using Google Cloud Platform and AWS, ensuring high scalability, reliability, and performance. Each customer’s data is stored securely with dedicated resources, and the platform follows security-first design principles to protect sensitive business information.
International Capabilities
Sparklayer is fully compatible with Shopify Markets, supporting multi-currency and multi-language functions, which makes it ideal for merchants selling internationally.
The app also integrates smoothly with popular back-office systems like Linnworks, Brightpearl, Xero, and QuickBooks, enabling merchants to maintain their existing workflows without disruption.
Robust API and Customization
This solution also provides extensive API access and a software development kit (SDK), allowing for custom integrations with ERP, CRM, and other enterprise systems. This flexibility enables merchants to tailor their B2B workflows and data synchronization according to their unique business requirements. Furthermore, the app offers a B2B Commerce Framework called SparkLayer Ignite, which extends B2B functionality to any website or platform beyond Shopify.
SparkLayer Pricing Plans
SparkLayer B2B & Wholesales has pricing plans from $49 Per Month (Up To 50 B2B Orders, 2 Sales Agents) to $299 Per Month (Up to 150 B2B orders, 5 Sales Agents, Quoting Engine, API for integrations).
- 14-day free trial available for all paid plans.
- Free to install, with enterprise custom pricing.
| Plan | Price (USD/month) | Features & Limits |
| Starter | $49 | Up to 50 B2B orders, 100+ features, free onboarding |
| Growth | $149 | Up to 100 B2B orders, 2 sales agents, advanced discounts, B2B invoices, inventory support |
| Pro | $299 | Up to 150 B2B orders, 5 sales agents, quoting engine, API for integrations, team accounts, templates |
| Enterprise | Custom | All features of Pro, customized order volumes, dedicated onboarding, 24/7 SLA, API & system integrations |
Pros and Cons of SparkLayer B2B & Wholesales
Pros of Sparklayer
- Seamless integration with Shopify, no need for separate storefronts.
- Easy onboarding with expert support and free setup.
- Excellent customer support praised for responsiveness and helpfulness.
- Flexible pricing and payment options for B2B customers.
- Sales agent ordering simplifies managing complex B2B relationships.
- No negative impact on consumer site performance.
- Supports multi-language and multi-currency for international sellers.
- Regular updates and improvements based on user feedback.
Customer review: “This app has helped us to work seamlessly with our B2B clients. The team, especially Ben, have been very responsive and helpful. They have also moved very quickly on suggested improvements. I only wish more 3rd party apps worked with such diligence as these folks.” – Flagsource Unlimited
Cons of Sparklayer
- At $299/month, several users feel that SparkLayer does not deliver enough return on investment relative to its pricing. Its pricing may be high for very small businesses or those with low B2B order volume.
- Some users found the app difficult to set up. Setup and onboarding can take 2-4 weeks to fully integrate and train team/customers.
- Support is reportedly slow for users outside SparkLayer’s primary time zone, with some needing to wait until 4 AM local time for assistance.
Customer review: “Expensive and is pretty basic for the money. Tax is not dealt with in a business friendly manor, does not support business to business well.” – Lighthouse Marine Equipment Ltd
B2Bridge – Best Alternative to Sparklayer
B2Bridge presents a robust and flexible alternative to Sparklayer for merchants seeking advanced B2B capabilities on Shopify. B2Bridge excels in delivering a powerful B2B solution for Shopify merchants, offering features that enhance wholesale operations and customer experience. Here are five key features that make B2Bridge stands out:
- Price List Management: B2Bridge allows merchants to create multiple customizable price lists that can be assigned to individual customers or customer groups. This enables precise control over pricing strategies, ensuring that each B2B buyer sees prices tailored to their agreements.
- Customer Groups: Merchants can organize customers into distinct groups, each with its own pricing, discounts, and access rights. This segmentation simplifies managing diverse wholesale clients and streamlines pricing and permission settings.
- B2B Registration Form: B2Bridge offers a customizable B2B registration form that allows prospective wholesale customers to apply for access directly through the storefront. The form supports approval workflows, enabling merchants to vet and approve new B2B accounts before granting wholesale pricing and features.
- Lock/Hide Price: To protect sensitive wholesale pricing, B2Bridge enables merchants to lock or hide prices and products from non-logged-in users or unauthorized customers. This ensures that only approved buyers can view wholesale prices, maintaining confidentiality.
- Quick Order Page: The app includes a dedicated quick order page where B2B buyers can swiftly add multiple products by SKU or name. By default, the Quick Order page is accessible to everyone, including your B2C customers. However, when customers log into your store and have a price list assigned, they will only see the products and updated B2B prices specific to their assigned list.
- Net Payment Terms: B2Bridge supports flexible net payment terms such as net 30 or net 60, allowing merchants to offer invoicing and extended payment options. This feature is crucial for maintaining strong B2B relationships and effectively managing cash flow.
Customer review:
“I can’t recommend this app enough! I needed a huge amount of customization to tailor it perfectly to my B2B needs, and the customer support team (especially Viet) went above and beyond to make it happen. They worked tirelessly with me for several weeks, ensuring every detail was implemented, including full localization to fit our market. The app itself is simple to use yet packed with all the essential features we needed for seamless B2B sales. And what truly sets them apart? When something was missing, the team didn’t just say “sorry” – they actually built the feature for us! Incredibly skilled and dedicated developers. If you’re looking for a flexible, powerful, and well-supported B2B solution for Shopify, this is the one. A+ service and an amazing app!” – Junta Design
The B2Bridge app includes all the essential B2B features needed to launch a B2B site quickly – especially ideal for newly established stores, hybrid stores, or those migrating to Shopify from other platforms. B2Bridge does not impose any order limits on any of its plans, allowing unlimited orders regardless of the subscription level.
>> TRY IT OUT: B2Bridge – B2B All-in-One
| Plan | Price (USD/month) | Features & Limits |
| Professional | $99 | Unlimited B2B price lists, custom pricing for product variants, volume discount for product variants B2B, registration forms, net terms, quick order page, manual order, standard support |
| Enterprise | $199 | All features in Professional plan, exclusive customization service, dedicated 1 on 1 support |
Here is a detailed comparison table of B2Bridge and Sparklayer features:
| Bridge | Sparklayer | |
| Pricing | ||
| B2B pricing | Yes | Yes |
| Volume pricing | Yes | Yes |
| Order | ||
| Order Limit / MOQ | Yes | Yes |
| Quantity Increments | Yes | Yes |
| Order history / reorder | No | Yes |
| Quick Order form | Yes | Yes |
| Manual Order | Yes | No |
| Customer | ||
| Tax | Yes | No |
| Net terms | Yes | Yes |
| Registration form | Yes | No |
| Lock page / hide price | Yes | No |
B2Bridge’s strengths in price list management, customer segmentation, B2B registration, price locking, quick ordering, and net payment terms make it a compelling alternative to Sparklayer. Sparklayer’s plans start at $49 per month but can quickly become more expensive because of the limited orders. This makes B2Bridge a cost-effective solution for merchants seeking robust B2B capabilities without ongoing high subscription costs. Besides, B2Bridge has a committed support team that consistently puts user satisfaction first and delivers prompt, effective assistance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sparklayer stands out as one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly B2B wholesale solutions for Shopify merchants. It offers a comprehensive set of tools with excellent support but requires some onboarding effort and possibly developer help. For merchants seeking alternatives, solutions like B2Bridge provide strong competition at a lower price – starting at just $99 for a full suite of essential B2B features – along with responsive and dedicated support whenever you need it. Overall, this app remains a powerful and reliable platform for transforming Shopify stores into wholesale powerhouses.