How it works - SparkLayer - The powerful B2B eCommerce platform

It's time to level up your B2B experience.

Connect your systems to the SparkLayer API

The SparkLayer Backend

Connect to your B2B data.

One of the biggest challenges of B2B eCommerce is connecting to data such as customer-specific pricing. With SparkLayer, you can safely and securely connect to your B2B data in a variety of ways. You can use our powerful built-in price management tools, use one of our ready-made integrations to connect to your systems (e.g. ERP or CRM) or build your own via the SparkLayer API. Once you're connected, you're ready to enable the powerful frontend ordering experience.

Rapidly create B2B pricing and B2B customer rules
Set B2B pricing automations, e.g. 50% off retail prices
Configure settings such as pack sizing and quantity pricing
Connect with major systems such as Brightpearl, Patchworks, Katana, Unleashed, and Linnworks
Integrate with any backend system with our API
Safe and secure with an industry leading infrastructure

See how SparkLayer connects

The SparkLayer Frontend

Activate the feature-rich frontend experience.

SparkLayer comes with a ready-made B2B-optimised frontend interface that simply overlays sections of your existing eCommerce store with special B2B ordering widgets. You can do away with having to build and maintain complex functionality or needing to replatform your entire store! It's super lightweight and works with leading eCommerce platforms, Shopify and Shopify Plus, with a rapid setup process.

Officially authorised 5-star Shopify app for easy setup
Retain your stores existing look and feel
Run both DTC (retail) and B2B on the same store
Rapid to set up, just a few lines of code
Customise extensively to suit your branding
Zero impact on speed & performance
No ongoing maintenance required

See how installation works

The fast and easy way to enable B2B.

Using the power of SparkLayer, you can implement and launch your next B2B store in hours (or less!).

Test on our LIVE demo store Test on our LIVE demo store B2B Customer Demo See how it works as a B2B customer Sales Agent Demo See how it works as a Sales Agent

Self-Service Features

Empower your B2B customers.

Once connected, SparkLayer lets your customers sign into your Shopify store and then begin placing orders. If you were managing this process manually, get ready to be amazed! The SparkLayer Frontend has many powerful features to making B2B ordering a breeze, including:

Customer-specific pricing & pack sizes

Configure pricing rules on a per-customer basis with support for price lists, pack sizing, minimum and maximum order quantities, and more.
My account area with order history

Customers can keep track of all their orders, see real-time order status updates, and download invoices.
Tiered price-breaks

Display price-breaks clearly to your customers, letting them gain savings based on the quantity of products they purchase.
Quick-ordering and shopping cart

Customers can easily search by product code, update quantities, and checkout using saved addresses and agreed payment terms e.g. pay on credit.
Import orders quickly via CSV

Customers can easily import entire orders via a CSV file and populate their order contents.
Fast re-ordering

Customers can duplicate previous orders in a single click, making re-ordering quick and easy.
Shopping lists and saved orders

Customers can easily save their favourite products to shopping lists and quickly re-order from these within a few clicks.
Request a Quote

Give you customers the option to submit orders as quotes, allowing you to edit them before fully processing.
Configure pre-orders and backorders

Easily set inventory to be on pre-order or backorder and even set custom "shipping dates" to give visibility to customers.
Sales agent ordering

Create sales agents that have the ability to place orders on behalf of certain B2B customers as well as process offline orders e.g. phone orders.
Company Users

Allow B2B companies to create "teams" to share activities such as placing orders, creating shopping lists, and more.
Payment methods

Enable payment methods for specific customers including Pay by Invoice, Pay by Card, and even Buy Now Pay Later with our partners such as Balance.

Learn more about the features

How SparkLayer & Shopify go hand-in-hand.

With SparkLayer set up on your Shopify store, you can bring a world-class experience to your B2B customers. Best of all, SparkLayer works with all Shopify plans. See how they compare below.

Basic to Advanced
Enterprise plan

B2B Features What B2B merchants need	Shopify Standard functionality Shopify Plus "B2B on Shopify"	Shopify + SparkLayer When combined together
Pricing (Price lists, discounts, pricing rules)
Product-specific pricing Ability to set custom pricing for product SKUs and to vary these across customers
Percentage price adjustments Ability to set percentage discount rules against products and to vary this across customers
Customer-specific % discounts Ability to set customer-specific percentage discounts that apply on top of price lists
Multiple price lists Ability to set multiple price lists against a customer and for the lowest price to win
Multi-currency pricing Ability to set price lists up for different currencies, e.g. USD, EUR, GBP
Tiered quantity pricing Handling for quantity price-breaks (e.g. buy 3, save 10%) on parent and variant level
Pack sizing and unit quantities Configuration of product pack sizes, minimum and maximum order quantities
Display pricing as NET Ability to specify and display all pricing to B2B customers as net pricing (versus gross)
Product-specific discounts Ability to set additional discounts that apply on top of price lists
Customers (Self-service, payments, configurations)
Shopping lists Ability for customers to create custom shopping lists to quickly populate orders
Quick ordering Ability for customers to rapidly populate an order from collection and product detail pages
Quick re-ordering Ability for customers to track orders, re-order quickly from previously placed orders
Credit and balance management Ability to set credit limits against customers and display live balances
CSV order importing Ability for customers rapidly import an order via a CSV file
Order history and tracking Ability for customers to see their order history and live shipping tracking
Address book management Ability for merchants to configure whether or not specific customers can edit addresses
Customer-specific payment methods Ability to set specific payment methods on a per-customer basis versus at a company-wide level.
B2B-only products Ability to configure which products B2B customers see when logged in
B2C stock reservation Ability to reserve stock for B2C customers if using a hybrid B2C & B2B store
Rapid multi-product ordering Ability to add multiple SKUs and quantities to an order in 1-click
Company profiles Ability to assign customers to a company and configure their shipping & billing locations
Orders (Payment types, shipping, configurations)
Payment by invoice terms Flexibility to set payment terms against a customer (e.g. net 15, net 30, net 60)
Payment on account Ability to allow customers to place orders on account, using their live credit balance
Request for Quote Ability to allow customers to place orders as quotes that can then be editted
Order total rules Ability to configure minimum and maximum order totals before placing an order
B2B-specific shipping rules Ability to configure specific shipping rules for B2B customers on a hybrid B2C & B2B store
Order flow Orders placed by B2B customers can optionally be routed as draft orders or completed orders within Shopify
Sales Agent Ordering
Login as a customer Ability to login as a customer to manage their account.
Place orders as a customer Ability to place orders on behalf of a customer at their B2B prices.
Manage shopping lists Ability to manage shopping lsits on behalf of a customer and save their favourites.
Store setup (Configuration)
Combine with B2C Allow B2C and B2B to be managed and run from a single Shopify store
Ready-made frontend widgets B2B ordering interface that can be enabled rapidly via code snippets
Low maintenance cost Ready-made widgets and components that don't require custom development
Full customisation of frontend experience Customise and configure Shopify store and build a bespoke experience
Optimised for mobile and tablet Frontend experience fully compatible with mobile and tablet devices
Advanced tools (Sales Agents, reporting, integrations)
Sales agent ordering Allow sales agents to login and place orders on behalf of specific B2B customers
Custom API for integrations API access to build custom integrations for ERPs, CRMS, PIMs
Analytics and Segmentation Ability to segment B2B orders and customers and to analyse data

See full feature comparison, 40+ features See all features

The SparkLayer Dashboard

Get visibility of your systems.

The SparkLayer Dashboard lets you manage your integration. It gives you a detailed overview of your B2B data and provides a real-time health check to make sure all data is successfully synchronising; from products and price lists, to orders placed via the SparkLayer Frontend on your store. You can even invite additional team members and add additional stores to your account.

View B2B Order Activity

All orders that are placed via SparkLayer will appear in the dashboard and you can report on key metrics to monitor performance.

Monitor your B2B data feeds

Keep tabs on all the B2B data that SparkLayer connects to such as product feeds, price lists, and B2B customers.

Configure your store in easy steps

The self-service technical onboarding process means that you can be quickly up and running with SparkLayer.

Invite your team members

Invite your colleagues, technical integration partners, and anyone else with different access privileges.

Partner referral portal

For partners, easily add and manage your clients using SparkLayer and track your referral commission payments.

'Test' and 'Live' data mode

Set up multiple environments (e.g. for staging and production), letting you test SparkLayer with confidence.

Securely connecting to your data.

How SparkLayer connects.

To visualise how SparkLayer connects, think of it as sitting outside your current architecture. It talks directly to your backend system (e.g. ERP, PIM) and your Shopify store, retrieves the B2B data it needs, and then enables the SparkLayer Frontend for your B2B customers to place orders. Read more in our guide to B2B data.

Scroll right to see more

How SparkLayer works across your systems

Our commitment to security.

Keeping customer data safe and secure is a paramount to SparkLayer. We work hard to protect our customers and design our solution to use security-first principles.

Built on secure cloud infrastructure
SparkLayer is built on modern cloud technologies. Utilising Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services, we provide industry-leading scalability and performance.
Built to meet data standards
We comply with industry regulations and standards to keep data safe. All SparkLayer customers have their own dedicated data storage, providing an additional layer of security.
Additional layers of protection
All data is duplicated in multiple instances and backed up as an additional layer of protection. Within our infrastructure, data is fully encrypted by default, at rest and in transit.

Questions & Answers.

Which eCommerce platforms and systems does SparkLayer integrate with?

SparkLayer works with Shopify and Shopify Plus with more platforms coming soon! Our officially appproved 5-star rated SparkLayer Shopify App means you can integrate with SparkLayer with total confidence. Learn more about our Shopify integration.

SparkLayer also integrates with a range of other systems, from payment gateways to multi-channel operations platforms. You can find our full list of integrations here.

How does SparkLayer compare to other B2B solutions?

A good question! There are many B2B solutions on the market and each offer a variety of benefits that may suit specific use-cases or customer types. Beyond functionality and features, there is one major benefit of SparkLayer that makes it compelling - you get to use your existing website and SparkLayer simply 'layers' on top (hence the name, SparkLayer!). Many other solutions are built as 'web portals' meaning customers have to use an entirely separate website. Whilst this may be useful, if you already have an existing website (e.g. for your DTC retail customers) or you use an eCommerce platform you're already familiar with, you'll need to manage multiple systems and tools which can add operational complexity.

We'd be happy to discuss this in more detail!

How do I enable SparkLayer on my store?

There are two key steps to enabling SparkLayer on your store. Firstly, you need to install our official Shopify app and configure your B2B data (e.g. pricing). And secondly, you need to implement SparkLayer on the frontend of your store.

When your SparkLayer account is created, our online onboarding process guides you through all the elements of installing SparkLayer on your store and we're here to help if you require assistance.

The process does require a moderate level of technical experience and we're happy to advise on the best approach. You can also learn more about how onboarding works

Can I run my B2C store alongside my B2B store?

Yes! It's possible to install SparkLayer onto your existing Shopify B2C store (i.e. retail), meaning you can run both B2C and B2B on the same store. We call this a 'hybrid setup' and we've a guide here that explains how works.

When your B2B customers sign in, they simply see the special SparkLayer frontend widgets that allow them to see their prices and place orders.

Sometimes it can be better to separate out your B2B store onto a secondary Shopify store and we've detailed some of the common reasons.

Can I use SparkLayer on a custom platform?

Yes, providing you're able to integrate your platform with an external API. Learn more about the SparkLayer API

How does SparkLayer compare to Shopify's own B2B solution?

A good question! It's important to note that "B2B on Shopify" is only available to Shopify Plus merchants and we've a full guide here on how it works and how it compares to using SparkLayer. You can also learn more about Shopify & SparkLayer here.

How much does SparkLayer cost?

Please refer to our pricing for more details.

How do I sign up to SparkLayer?

To get started, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial here. Alternatively, you can book a demo and we can run through how SparkLayer works.

How do I learn more about the SparkLayer features?

You can learn all about the full feature-set of SparkLayer in our SparkLayer Docs.

How long does SparkLayer take to set up?

If you're using our built-in tools to manage your pricing and customers, it's possible to set up SparkLayer in a matter of hours (or less!). Our team is on-hand to guide you through the set up process and can even help set up on your Shopify store for you.

For most extensive integrations - typically merchants using our Enterprise plan that require backend connections - set up times vary and we'll work closely with you to create a full project plan.

Can I customise how the SparkLayer Frontend looks?

Yes, you're able to change styling such as fonts, colours (e.g. of buttons) and spacing easily via CSS to match your current eCommerce store and typically you can get SparkLayer to fit seamlessly with your website look and feel. Watch our video to see some live examples!

Does SparkLayer process payments?

No, SparkLayer does not handle payment processing and instead simply uses the payment methods set up within your eCommerce platform, e.g. Shopify. It's possible to set up both offline payment methods for your B2B customers (e.g. Pay on Account or Pay by Invoice) as well having them pay online via card. For more details, see our guide.

Do I need to have an ERP, PIM, CRM or iPaaS integration to use SparkLayer?

No. With our powerful import tools, you can configure pricing and customer rules all through the SparkLayer Dashboard without the need to have a backend system in place.

If you are looking to use a backend system, SparkLayer works by connecting directly to your central data sources to retrieve your B2B data. If you're using an iPaaS solution (integration platform as a service), SparkLayer can connect directly to this instead, negating the need to connect to an ERP directly.

If you have the technical expertise, the SparkLayer API lets you connect to any system and we also have a range of 'ready-made' integrations. You can find our full list of integrations here.

I have an ERP integration already, will SparkLayer work with it?

The short answer, it depends! If your online store is already connected to your ERP system, there's a good chance that no further integration work is required to connect SparkLayer. When orders are placed via SparkLayer, they'll simply be created like any other which your ERP system can then subsequently import. The same also applies to product stock data, SparkLayer will use stock levels already available on your eCommerce store. If you're looking for a more in-depth integration, such as synchronising B2B pricing, this would require an integration and you can learn more here.

Do I manage my online product catalogue within SparkLayer?

No, the product catalogue and category management is done through your existing eCommerce platform. SparkLayer simply 'overlays' your existing product catalogue with the B2B-specific data such as product pricing and pack sizes. It does this by associating data to the specific product SKU behind-the-scenes and then showing the appropriate content to the customer.

Can I create custom price lists within SparkLayer?

Yes. Within the SparkLayer Dashboard, you can manually create price lists and upload pricing data for each one you create. You can learn more here

Can I automate B2B pricing, e.g. a discount off my store's retail prices?

Yes. SparkLayer's powerful pricing engine lets you create automated rules for your B2B price lists. For example, if you're using Shopify, you can easily set up a B2B price list that applies 20% off your Shopify prices. You can learn more here

Will SparkLayer slow my website down?

No. For performance, the SparkLayer Frontend only loads when a valid B2B customer successfully logs into a website; for your standard (B2C) customers, no code is loaded at all. When a B2B customer logs in, all loading of the interfaces is asynchronous which means a negligible impact on page load times and performance even though SparkLayer is a hosted third-party solution. The result is the end customer will have a rapid experience browsing products and placing orders.

Do I need to hire a developer to integrate the SparkLayer?

No! SparkLayer is really simple to install and we have full step-by-step instructions once you sign up. If you have access to your Shopify storefront theme, it's possible for anyone to do. If you like, we can even install for you if you require any assistance.

How do I see what features are coming to SparkLayer?

You can see what's planned for SparkLayer in our quarterly roadmap. You can also see our latest feature updates in our What's New page!

Does SparkLayer work across different devices?

Yes, SparkLayer is fully compatible with mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

What support do you have and where are you based?

Our head office is located in the beautiful English city of Bath and our team is all based in close proximity. You can learn more about our story here! Since we're UK based, we typically operate our support on UK timezones (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) however we are able to accommodate specific requests should you require assistance outside of these hours. Please speak to our team and we'll be happy to advise.

For customers subscribed to our Enterprise plan, you'll get access to our 24/7 Support SLA and you can learn more here.

Do you have a demo store to test SparkLayer?

Yes! We've a variety of demo stores where you can test the feature-set of SparkLayer. Learn more