MontanaCo

Challenge - Growing Digital Wholesale Without Blurring B2B and D2C Operations

MontanaCo wanted to strengthen its position as a premium Western wear brand while using digital commerce to reach more wholesale buyers. The goal was not simply to take B2B sales online, but to build a separate wholesale setup that could run alongside its retail business and scale without becoming 

The key challenges were:

• Maintaining a Distinct Wholesale Channel - MontanaCo needed its B2B business to run on its own terms, with separate buying rules, pricing, access, and product availability from the retail storefront.
• Extending Wholesale Reach Through Digital Commerce - The brand wanted to make it easier for retailers and boutiques to discover and buy collections beyond traditional offline wholesale networks.
• Supporting Complex Wholesale Requirements - MontanaCo needed a commerce setup that could adapt to its way of selling, rather than forcing the business into a standard B2B ecommerce flow.
• Making Wholesale Easier to Manage - Day-to-day operations needed to stay simple, without relying on multiple plugins, disconnected tools, and workarounds to manage products, inventory, availability, and buyers.
• Keeping Key Data Connected Across B2B and B2C Channels - Even with B2B and B2C running separately, MontanaCo needed selected product and inventory information to stay synced where required.

MontanaCo needed a flexible B2B commerce platform that could give wholesale its own identity, support its specific operating needs, and stay manageable as the business expanded.

Solutions

Flexible Wholesale Commerce - StoreHippo’s Custom-Built B2B Ecommerce Solution for MontanaCo

StoreHippo enabled MontanaCo to build a more flexible B2B wholesale setup around retailer needs while keeping its D2C channel separate.

Here is how MontanaCo built its wholesale commerce experience with StoreHippo:

1. Migration From Shopify for a More Flexible B2B Setup

MontanaCo moved its B2B wholesale business from Shopify to StoreHippo to gain greater control, support deeper customisations, and extend the buying experience to mobile apps without relying on multiple plugins and workarounds.

With 300+ built-in features and a no-plugin approach, StoreHippo gave MontanaCo more flexibility to shape its wholesale setup around its own business needs and enabled them to explore new global markets effortlessly.

2. Dedicated Wholesale Store With Controlled Buyer Access

StoreHippo’s headless, highly customisable architecture enabled MontanaCo to build a dedicated B2B store for retailers and boutiques across the US, with wholesale buying rules tailored to their wholesale model instead of adapting the business to a standard ecommerce flow.

The setup includes:

• Restricted Product Visibility - Products remain hidden until buyers register and log in.
• Protected Wholesale Pricing - Prices are visible only to authenticated wholesale buyers.
• Login-Based Purchasing - Buyers need to register and log in before placing orders.
• Buyer Data Capture - Registration gives MontanaCo a structured way to capture retailer information before granting access to the wholesale catalogue.

Together, these controls give MontanaCo tighter control over who can access its collections, commercial pricing, and wholesale buying experience.

3. Custom Product Availability for Upcoming Collections

Wholesale fashion does not always operate with ready-to-ship inventory. MontanaCo needed the flexibility to showcase products and collections before real stock was available for dispatch.

StoreHippo’s customisable product and storefront setup enabled MontanaCo to add a delivery availability calendar directly on individual product pages. The team could define shipping start and end dates from the backend, while retailers could clearly see when a product will be available.

This enables MontanaCo to:

• Showcase upcoming collections before inventory is ready
• Display products and pricing in advance
• Set clearer shipping expectations for retailers
• Manage product-level availability without removing products from the catalogue

The custom workflow gives MontanaCo more control over how upcoming wholesale inventory is presented, without depending on a separate plugin or external tool.

4. Custom Shopify Channel For Product and Inventory Sync

Although MontanaCo keeps its B2B and D2C storefronts separate, managing product and inventory data independently across both channels would create unnecessary work.

StoreHippo's API-first, extensible architecture helped build a custom Shopify channel that enables MontanaCo to synchronise key product and inventory information between the two setups, keeping two separate B2B and B2C storefronts. StoreHippo also enabled selective field mapping so MontanaCo can choose which product fields are included or excluded from the sync

This gives MontanaCo the benefit of channel separation without duplicating every product-management workflow behind the scenes.

5. Android and iOS Apps for Wholesale Commerce

MontanaCo extended its B2B presence beyond the website with Android and iOS apps built using StoreHippo’s mobile app capabilities. Connected to the same AI-powered commerce backend, the apps give MontanaCo a true multi-channel presence while keeping products, inventory, pricing, and orders synced across web and mobile.

At the time of the project input, the Android app was live, with the iOS app planned for launch.

6. Customised Wholesale Workflows Without a Patchwork of Plugins

MontanaCo needed a wholesale setup that could evolve around its business rather than force the team to work within rigid platform limitations and find workarounds using a host of plugins.

StoreHippo’s built-in commerce capabilities, extensible MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture, and customisation flexibility enabled the brand to implement custom B2B workflows without stitching together multiple plugins, third-party tools, and temporary workarounds.

This gave MontanaCo a cleaner technology setup, greater control over future changes, and more room to adapt its wholesale operations as new business requirements emerge.

7. Foundation for More Flexible Order Fulfilment

Wholesale orders often require adjustments based on changing stock availability, partial fulfilment, or last-minute order changes. Going forward, MontanaCo plans to use StoreHippo’s flexible order management capabilities to support partial cancellations, partial refunds, and partial fulfilment.

This would allow available items to be shipped, while unavailable items are cancelled and refunded separately. This future enhancement aims to enable MontanaCo to manage wholesale orders more efficiently without cancelling the entire order.