Using Customer Tags with B2B Lock

Customer tags are the backbone of most serious B2B setups in Shopify.

B2B Lock doesn’t create new account types – instead, it uses Shopify customer tags to decide who can see what. If you design your tags well, your locks stay simple and easy to maintain.

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1. Why tags matter

Tags let you:

• Group customers into segments (wholesale, distributor, VIP, region, tier, etc.)

• Control catalog visibility with B2B Lock

• Connect your B2B setup to:

  • Registration apps

  • CRM / ERP

  • Manual approvals

B2B Lock can check tags in Step 2 – Control access:

“If the customer is tagged with wholesale” “If the customer is tagged with b2b-approved”

If the condition is true → they see locked content. If not → they see your lock message instead.

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2. Common tag patterns

Here are simple, scalable patterns to use:

Access level tags

• wholesale – generic wholesale customer

• b2b-approved – generic B2B approval

• vip – high-value customers

• staff or internal – internal accounts, testers

Region or market tags

• us-wholesale

• eu-distributor

• jp-partner

Tier tags

• silver

• gold

• platinum

You can combine them as needed on each customer (e.g., wholesale + eu-distributor + gold).

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3. Where tags come from

Tags can be:

• Added automatically by:

  • B2B registration apps (approve → add tag)

  • Workflows / automation (Shopify Flow, Zapier, etc.)

• Added manually by staff:

  • In Shopify Admin → Customers → Edit → Tags

Best practice: Have a clear internal rule like:

“Once wholesale is approved, tag customer wholesale and remove pending-b2b.”

This keeps your B2B Lock rules simple:

• “If the customer is tagged with wholesale…” instead of trying to mix multiple temporary states.

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4. Good tag design: do & don’t

Do

• Use short, consistent names: wholesale, gold, us-wholesale

• Document tag meanings internally (“What does b2b-approved actually mean?”)

• Use tags to reflect business reality:

  • Who can see what

  • Who gets which pricing or catalog

Don’t

• Create lots of near-duplicates like wholesale, wholesale_customer, b2b-wholesale

• Overload tags with too many meanings

• Rely on tags you never actually apply consistently

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5. How tags interact with B2B Lock

In B2B Lock, you’ll mostly use tags in Step 2 – Control access:

Examples:

• Hide prices for everyone except wholesale:

  • If the customer is tagged with wholesale → allow

• Lock a collection only for EU distributors:

  • If the customer is tagged with eu-distributor → allow

You can also combine tags with other conditions:

• signed-in AND tagged wholesale

• tagged gold OR came via secret link

Once you commit to a clear tag strategy, rules are easier to read, change, and debug.