What is Shopify Collective? A Complete Guide For Retailers & Suppliers [2025]

As global retail sales race toward $32.8 trillion by 2026, and ecommerce drives over a third of B2B revenue, merchants face a growing challenge: scale product offerings without scaling overhead. 

With 79% of sales leaders reporting revenue growth, brands need agile ways to meet demand. 

That’s where Shopify Collective comes in—a native Shopify solution helping retailers source products from other brands without holding inventory. 

In this guide, you’ll learn what it is, how it works, and whether it’s the right move for your retail or supplier business.

What is Shopify Collective?

Shopify Collective is a free feature built into Shopify that lets U.S. and Canadian merchants team up with other Shopify stores to sell each other’s products—without managing inventory or shipping.

It’s all about collaborative commerce. Instead of running your store alone, you can work with trusted brands to expand your product range and grow faster, all while staying inside the Shopify ecosystem.

Here’s the big difference: unlike traditional dropshipping, which often involves unreliable overseas suppliers, Shopify Collective connects you with verified Shopify merchants. That means better quality, more control, and no third-party headaches.

As a retailer, you choose which products to sell, set your own prices, and keep full control of your brand. As a supplier, you decide which stores can sell your products and you handle the fulfillment.

For example, if you sell fashion, you can partner with an activewear brand and start offering leggings or gym bags in minutes—no warehouse, no stock, no extra effort.

Everything is synced automatically: inventory, orders, payments. Shopify takes care of the backend so you can focus on selling.

Whether you’re looking to grow your catalog or get your products in front of new customers, Shopify Collective gives you a smart, simple way to do it—without the usual risks or complexity.

Shopify powers over 2.5 million live stores in 2025, making trusted partnerships between sellers more important than ever.

How does Shopify Collective work? (Step-by-step process for both sides)

Shopify Collective is designed to be simple and intuitive, but behind the scenes, it delivers a powerful set of automations that make collaboration between Shopify stores frictionless.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works—first for retailers, then for suppliers.

a. For retailers

1. Apply via Shopify Admin: Retailers access Shopify Collective through their Shopify admin. If eligible, they'll see an option to apply. Shopify reviews your store to confirm that you’re using Shopify Payments, are based in the U.S. or Canada, and are on a paid plan.
2. Discover Suppliers: Once approved, you can browse a curated directory of Shopify suppliers offering products across categories like fashion, fitness, home goods, baby products, and more. You can also send direct invitations to suppliers you already know.
3. Import Products to Your Store: You can choose products you like from a supplier’s price list and import them directly into your own store. Product data—including titles, descriptions, images, and prices—syncs automatically. You can customize how products look, add them to collections, and decide which channels they appear on.
4. Set Your Prices: Shopify Collective gives you control over your margins. You can set retail prices above the supplier's wholesale price—typically earning a 20–40% profit margin per sale, though this can vary by supplier.
5. Make Sales Like Normal: When a customer buys one of these products on your store, the order is placed just like any other product sale.
6. Shopify Routes the Order: Behind the scenes, Shopify splits the order and routes the details directly to the supplier. You don’t have to notify anyone or manage logistics manually.
7. The Supplier Fulfills the Order: The supplier ships the item directly to your customer using their preferred carrier. Your customer sees the transaction as coming from your store—the shopping experience remains consistent and seamless.
8. Payments are Automatic: You receive the full payment from the customer. Shopify then deducts the cost owed to the supplier from your Shopify Payments balance, and the rest is your profit.

The entire process is hands-off for retailers after the sale. No inventory, no packing, no shipping—just growth.

b. For suppliers

1. Join Shopify Collective via Sales Channels: Suppliers can install the Shopify Collective: Supplier sales channel. If you're invited by a retailer or find the app in your dashboard, setup is quick and guided.
2. Create a Supplier Profile: You’ll be asked to create a brand profile that includes a description, shipping locations, fulfillment times, social media links, and other essential business information. This helps retailers understand your brand before connecting.
3. Upload Your Product Catalog: Add your products to Collective just like you would in your Shopify store. You can choose which products are visible to which retailers using price lists. This means you control access and maintain exclusivity where needed.
4. Set Wholesale Pricing: You define the wholesale price for each product, which is what the retailer will pay you. Retailers then set their own margins and resale pricing.
5. Receive and Fulfill Orders Automatically: When one of your connected retailers sells your product, the order is forwarded automatically to your dashboard. You fulfill the order like any other—with your own packaging and carriers.
6. Get Paid Through Shopify: After the order is marked fulfilled, you’re paid automatically via Shopify Payments. You don’t need to invoice the retailer or follow up—Shopify handles all transactions.
7. Manage Inventory in Real-Time: Inventory updates are synced automatically between you and the retailer. If a product goes out of stock in your store, it’s removed or marked unavailable in theirs.

For suppliers, Shopify Collective provides a zero-cost distribution network. There are no subscription fees, commissions, or marketing costs—you only pay standard Shopify transaction fees.

This makes Shopify Collective ideal for brands looking to scale without adding complexity. You can reach new audiences, collaborate with aligned retailers, and increase revenue—all while maintaining brand control and shipping directly to the customer.

Who can use Shopify Collective? (Eligibility requirements)

Shopify Collective is designed to be simple and inclusive for eligible businesses—but there are a few requirements to get started.

To qualify, your store must:

• Be based in the United States or Canada
• Use a matching store currency (USD or CAD)
• Have Shopify Payments fully set up and active
• Be on a paid Shopify plan (not on a trial or development store)

That’s all. There’s no revenue threshold or minimum sales volume required. Shopify has confirmed that you do not need $50,000 in annual revenue to join.

Once approved, you can start using Shopify Collective immediately—whether you're looking to import products as a retailer, offer your catalog as a supplier, or both.

Benefits of Shopify Collective for retailers and suppliers

Shopify Collective gives both retailers and suppliers meaningful ways to grow their business—without additional overhead, complicated integrations, or inventory risk.

For retailers

If you run a Shopify store and want to expand your catalog quickly, Shopify Collective makes it easy to sell products from other trusted brands without managing fulfillment.

Key benefits for retailers:

• No need to buy or store inventory
• Quickly expand your catalog with quality products
• Partner only with vetted, trusted Shopify brands
• Set your own pricing and profit margins
• Let Shopify automate inventory syncing and order fulfillment
• Increase your average order value by offering more variety

Retailers have used Shopify Collective to test new categories, offer seasonal items, or strengthen their existing product mix—all while maintaining full control of their storefront and customer experience.

One example is Ten Thousand, a fitness brand that partnered with GORUCK. Within a week, they synced their product catalogs and began collaborating. The result: a 16 percent increase in sales from new customers, driven entirely by the partnership.

For suppliers

If you're a supplier selling on Shopify, Collective allows you to get your products in front of new audiences with minimal effort.

Key benefits for suppliers:

• Open new distribution channels through trusted retailers
• Approve which stores can sell your products
• Maintain full control over branding, pricing, and inventory
• Automate order processing—just fulfill as usual
• Get paid automatically when orders are marked fulfilled

You don’t need to set up wholesale accounts, build custom integrations, or chase payments. Everything happens within your existing Shopify workflow.

As Keith Sant, Founder and CEO of Kind House Buyers, explains:

Limitations and considerations

While Shopify Collective offers a number of advantages, there are a few important limitations to be aware of before getting started. 

Is Shopify Collective right for you?

Shopify Collective isn’t for every merchant—but if you're looking to grow without adding risk, it’s one of the best tools available.

For retailers

Shopify Collective is a great fit if you:

• Want to add more products without managing inventory
• Are testing new product categories or seasonal items
• Need to expand quickly without scaling your logistics
• Want to increase your average order value with more product variety
• Prefer full control over your brand and pricing

This is especially useful for niche stores, lifestyle brands, and any retailer looking to complement their core catalog without the operational load.

For suppliers

Shopify Collective is a smart move if you:

• Want to get your products into more stores
• Are open to B2B partnerships with curated retailers
• Have excess inventory or scalable fulfillment capacity
• Prefer an easy way to offer wholesale pricing
• Want automation around orders, inventory, and payments

Suppliers retain control over how their brand is presented, which products are shared, and who can access them—making Collective a low-risk way to scale.

For merchants who want to do both

Some of the most successful Collective users are businesses that act as both retailers and suppliers. This lets you sell your products through partners while also importing theirs into your own store.

If your brand has multiple product lines, shared audiences, or strong partnerships with complementary businesses, Shopify Collective offers a powerful way to collaborate and drive growth on both sides.

FAQs

Final thoughts

If scaling your Shopify store feels limited by inventory, logistics, or time, it’s not your business model that needs changing—it’s your approach to product sourcing. That’s where Shopify Collective changes the game.

By connecting retailers and suppliers within the Shopify ecosystem, Collective lets you expand product offerings, drive more revenue, and simplify operations—without adding physical inventory or fulfillment stress.

And if you’re ready to take your store’s marketing to the next level, that’s where Cropink comes in.

With tools like a dynamic creative editor, data-powered ad templates, and a Figma plugin for catalog-ready designs, Cropink helps you turn product feeds into high-performing ad campaigns—fast.

Whether you're managing ads solo or across a growing team, Cropink gives you the creative infrastructure to match your store’s growth.

Create scroll-stopping product ads without breaking your workflow.

Visit Cropink to start designing smarter, faster.

Sources

1. Shopify. 51 Sales Statistics Entrepreneurs Should Know
2. Pagefly. Shopify Collective: What Smart Retailers & Suppliers Know 2025
3. Omnisend. Shopify Collective guide 2025: How to connect, sell, and grow