Your B2C customers tap, click, and pay in seconds. Your B2B customers? Still sending purchase orders via email. Still waiting weeks for bank transfers to clear.
If you're a Shopify merchant selling consumables (supplements, coffee beans, etc) to both consumers and businesses, you know exactly what we're talking about. Retail customers breeze through checkout with modern payment methods. Wholesale buyers get stuck, not having access to the right methods to pay quickly.
That payment mess is costing you serious money. European B2B e-commerce is a trillion dollar opportunity, however, most businesses are leaving cash on the table because their B2B payment options are outdated.
Late payments affect 46% of B2B sales on credit in Europe. Yes, nearly half of B2B sales are negatively affected by payments that get delayed, and have to be chased by the merchant.
For Shopify merchants serving both B2C and B2B, it's like running two different businesses. B2C side: smooth, modern, works great. B2B side: phone calls, e-mails and frequent payment reminders. All friction.
You're losing B2B sales from customers who expect a better process. The ones who tolerate it? They're buying less than they would if checkout would offer them to pay on account.
Most Shopify merchants don't understand European B2B buyers truly. They don't want to pay upfront. They can't, actually.
Account-based purchasing is where the magic is: place order now, pay later. Give your B2B customers a payment method that aligns with how their internal operations systems work.
Most Shopify stores only do immediate payment. So these buyers abandon cart, pick up the phone, send an email... and everyone wastes time on something that should take thirty seconds online, in the store you already have.
Pay-on-Account means customers order now, pay later. Simple.
It's not revolutionary, European B2B has worked this way forever. What's new is making it work online in a modern store.
Conversion goes up. Over 80% of B2B buyers bail if they can't get payment terms that fit their processes. That's not a typo. Eighty percent. Revenue that could've been yours, but is now in someone else's hands.
Orders get bigger. When buyers can pay on account, on your checkout, they order more. With a higher AOV, you grow your business faster, without having to grow the amount of customers - meaning your CAC also gets lower.
You win more deals. Most Shopify stores can't do this. If you can, you win more business. Simple as that.
The widely spread thought that offering payment terms means waiting forever to get paid is a myth. SEPA Direct Debit gets you paid faster than the old way. Way faster.
The cycle is pretty simple: your customer enables Pay-on-Account → authorizes SEPA collection → you ship → payment happens automatically on the agreed date. No chasing. No guessing when you get paid.
Traditional invoicing is a nightmare. Send invoice. Wait. Customer maybe processes it. Wait more. Maybe they pay. Maybe they don't. European businesses waste 74 days a year chasing payments. That's almost three months! You and your team should use that time to work on things that actually matter.
Automatic just works. Payment pulls on schedule. No calling Susan in accounting to request an update on the payment, or getting proof of transfer.
It saves you money, too. SEPA fees cost between €0.20 and 0.50 per transaction, doesn't matter if it's €100 or €10,000. Compare that to paying someone to make collection calls.
It covers a wide market: 36 countries. Customers in Spain pay your Dutch account with the same ease you order a pizza on a Friday evening. With SEPA, transfers just clear fast and cheap. It's designed for this use-case, so why not use it?
Businesses already use it. Many business payments are already happening through SEPA, so your customers are used to being charged. Why not join by providing them with the same convenience?
Northern Europe gets it. Dutch, Swedish, Danish businesses love automated payments. They actually prefer it over manual transfers.
Germany is all about security and process. SEPA Direct Debit? Perfect fit. Reliable, documented, trackable.
Late payments are an issue in many other European countries. But guess what? SEPA actually helps fix that. Automated collection means no more "forgot to pay" excuses.
Bottom line: Pay-on-Account gives them the easiest way to order and receive your products, SEPA gives you the fast payment without the operational hassle.
Step 1: Payment provider matters. Most don't do Pay-on-Account with SEPA. Find one that actually understands European B2B (for example: Mollie).
Step 2: Turn it on. Complete the onboarding for the Firmhouse B2B pay-on-account options. Contact our team to get you set up.
Step 3: Basic approval process. New customer wants credit? Quick check, and manually approve their account to now be able and use pay-on-account on the Shopify Checkout.
Step 4: Digital mandates. Customer authorizes SEPA during checkout when applying for the pay-on-account option. No papers, no bureaucracy.
Step 5: Connect with a couple B2B customers who complain about your current process and test it. Onboard them to pay-on-account and get the first automated SEPA payments coming in.
Your B2B customer's experience in the new set up:
Order products in the Shopify store, pick Pay-on-Account on check out → Pay via pre-authorized SEPA and IBAN account in their account → Get goods shipped today, payments automatically processed → Money leaves account automatically when due → Accounting gets all the invoice and notifications automatically
No manual transfers. No forgotten payments.
Your view is even better. More sales, more products shipped and faster payments:
This is how B2B payments should work. Finally.
"But payment risk!" Set approval limits. Check new customers. Also, SEPA authorization upfront is safer than hoping someone pays an invoice eventually.
"Customers won't like automatic collection" They already use it for multiple other things. Plus they're getting the payment terms they want and prefer.
"What if payment fails?"Firmhouse automatically retries failed SEPA payments three times and shows you exactly what happened. If the last attempt is not successful, simply request payment using flexible invoice payment links.
B2B customers who don't have the option to pay on account mean money you're potentially not making.
Want to fix this and capture the B2B sales you're missing? Let's do it. Your numbers will improve, guaranteed. Adding pay on account via Firmhouse on Shopify unlocks the B2C experience that B2B customers have been long wishing for, with a faster and more customer friendly ordering experience.
Ready to make the step and modernize your B2B channel? Get the B2B sales you're missing. Book 20 minutes to discuss Pay-on-Account.
Want to learn more about the feature? Dive in on this Help Center article to learn more.
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