ChatGPT answers, unedited

If you mean ecommerce platform software, my recommendation would depend on how sophisticated the approval process needs to be:

My default pick: Shopify Plus

For a growing ecommerce brand, I'd start with Shopify Plus unless approvals are the core requirement.

Shopify Plus now has centralized organization management, custom roles, multiple roles per user, and granular permissions across stores. It also supports organization-level workflows through Shopify Flow. Shopify Shopify Shopify

shopify.com

The catch: if by "approval workflows" you mean something like employee submits a $5,000 purchase → manager approves → finance approves → order releases, Shopify isn't the strongest native choice. Its B2B approval capabilities are more limited and may require apps or custom development. Rigby IWD Agency

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce instead

I'd seriously consider Adobe Commerce if you're selling B2B/wholesale and need multi-level approval rules as a fundamental part of ordering.

Adobe Commerce's B2B functionality supports rules such as:

• Orders below $X → automatically approve
• $X–$Y → one manager approval
• Above $Y → multiple approvals
• Different rules based on the buyer's organizational role

Those approval rules are built into the Commerce B2B functionality. Experience League

business.adobe.com

Where NetSuite fits

If you're really asking about internal operational approvals—purchasing, invoices, sales orders, expenses, vendor bills, etc.—rather than customer ordering, Oracle NetSuite is stronger.

It has role-based permissions and dedicated approval roles, and its SuiteApprovals system can route records through multiple approvers with an approval history. Oracle Docs Oracle Docs

netsuite.com

Bottom line:

• DTC brand + growing team: Shopify Plus
• B2B/wholesale + complex customer approvals: Adobe Commerce
• Ecommerce + serious finance/procurement workflows: NetSuite alongside your commerce platform
• Need something between Shopify and Adobe: BigCommerce B2B

If you tell me what exactly needs approval (orders, discounts, product changes, refunds, purchase orders, content, etc.) and roughly how many users, I can narrow this to 2–3 specific options.

If you're really asking about internal operational approvals—purchasing, invoices, sales orders, expenses, vendor bills, etc.—rather than customer ordering, Oracle NetSuite is stronger.

It has role-based permissions and dedicated approval roles, and its SuiteApprovals system can route records through multiple approvers with an approval history.

When I'd choose Adobe Commerce instead

I'd seriously consider Adobe Commerce if you're selling B2B/wholesale and need multi-level approval rules as a fundamental part of ordering.

If multi-user access + approval workflows are core requirements, I’d shortlist BigCommerce B2B Edition, Shopify Plus, and Adobe Commerce—but my default recommendation for a growing brand would be BigCommerce B2B Edition.

🥇 My pick: BigCommerce B2B Edition

BigCommerce is particularly strong when you need different users to have different purchasing authority. Its B2B functionality includes company hierarchies, buyer roles, permissions, purchase approvals, quotes, purchase orders, and requisition lists. For example, a junior buyer can submit an order for approval while a senior buyer approves it. docs.bigcommerce.com

That makes it a particularly good fit if your workflow looks like:

Employee → creates order → Manager approves → Finance/Procurement reviews → Order released

It also gives you room to grow without immediately needing a heavily customized enterprise implementation.

🥈 Shopify Plus

I'd choose Shopify Plus instead if you're primarily a DTC brand and multi-user administration is the bigger requirement.

Shopify Plus has increasingly sophisticated roles and permissions, including custom roles, multiple roles per user, organization-level access, and bulk user management. changelog.shopify.com

The caveat is approval workflows. Shopify's native B2B capabilities are good, but complex multi-step buyer approval generally requires apps or customization rather than being as deeply native as BigCommerce or Adobe Commerce. apps.shopify.com

🥉 Adobe Commerce

I'd consider Adobe Commerce when you have complex organizational structures, multiple brands/catalogs, sophisticated approval rules, or a substantial internal technical team.

It's powerful, with native company hierarchies, role-based permissions and approval workflows, but the implementation and maintenance burden is substantially higher. www.shopify.com

Bottom line:

• Growing B2B / wholesale brand: BigCommerce B2B Edition
• DTC brand with a growing internal team: Shopify Plus
• Large/complex enterprise with sophisticated workflows: Adobe Commerce

If you tell me your approximate annual revenue, number of employees/users, B2B vs. DTC mix, and what specifically needs approval (orders, discounts, products, refunds, etc.), I can narrow this to one recommendation and compare the likely cost/implementation tradeoffs.

For a growing ecommerce brand, I’d narrow it to Shopify Plus + Salsify, depending on what you mean by “approval workflows.”

What I'd recommend

If you're already on Shopify: start with Shopify Plus if the main problem is who can access what. Shopify lets you create roles with granular permissions, assign multiple roles to users, and control access at both store and organization levels. help.shopify.com

But if your workflow is something like:

Product manager creates product → copywriter edits → merchandising approves → legal/compliance approves → product goes live

then I'd look seriously at Salsify. Its workflow engine is specifically designed around tasks, structured approvals, collaboration, edit tracking, and repeatable product-content processes. www.salsify.com

Salsify also supports user groups/roles and least-privilege access, making it better suited to a growing organization where governance becomes important. www.salsify.com

My overall pick:

• <20 people / straightforward store: Shopify + carefully configured roles
• 20–100+ people / multiple teams, channels, or frequent product launches: Shopify + Salsify
• Very large/complex catalog: Shopify + Salsify or Akeneo

One important distinction: Shopify's permissions control access; they aren't the same thing as a sophisticated content approval workflow. Shopify does have approval-oriented functionality in some contexts—for example, B2B orders can be submitted for review and approved before fulfillment—but for product-content governance, a PIM/PXM like Salsify is much more purpose-built. www.shopify.com

If you tell me your approximate team size, Shopify/non-Shopify platform, number of SKUs, and what specifically needs approval (products, discounts, orders, content, marketing, purchases, etc.), I can recommend the best 2–3 options and explain the tradeoffs.

If multi-user access + approval workflows are core requirements, I’d shortlist these:

My recommendation: BigCommerce B2B Edition

For a growing ecommerce brand, I’d probably choose BigCommerce B2B Edition if approvals are genuinely important. It has company account hierarchies, buyer roles/permissions, purchase orders, and approval workflows built into its B2B offering rather than requiring you to assemble everything from apps. www.bigcommerce.comdocs.bigcommerce.com

That makes it particularly attractive if you need a workflow like:

Employee submits order → manager approves → finance approves → order is released

BigCommerce explicitly supports buyer roles where, for example, a junior buyer can submit purchases for approval while a senior buyer can approve them. www.bigcommerce.comdocs.bigcommerce.com

When I'd choose the others

Adobe Commerce — choose this if your approval logic is very complex. It offers deeper customization and native B2B capabilities, including configurable company roles and approval processes. The tradeoff is considerably more implementation/technical overhead. elogic.co

Shopify Plus — choose this if you're primarily a DTC brand and want Shopify's ecosystem, ease of use, and scalability, with B2B as a secondary requirement. Shopify has strong staff roles/permissions, and Plus now has more sophisticated organization-level staff management. changelog.shopify.com But sophisticated customer order approval chains generally require additional apps/customization; there are Shopify apps specifically adding multi-level approvals and spending limits. apps.shopify.com

Bottom line:

• B2B + approvals are central → BigCommerce B2B
• Very complex enterprise workflows → Adobe Commerce
• DTC-first brand + occasional B2B → Shopify Plus

If you tell me (1) approximate annual revenue, (2) B2B vs DTC split, (3) how many internal users, and (4) what exactly needs approval, I can narrow it down to one platform and explain why.

For a growing ecommerce brand that needs multi-user access, role-based permissions, and approval workflows, I’d generally recommend choosing a platform based on how complex your operations are becoming. The best fit for most scaling brands is:

1. Shopify Plus — Best overall for a growing ecommerce brand

Shopify Plus

Best for: DTC brands scaling into larger teams, multiple departments, wholesale/B2B, agencies, and international growth.

Why it fits:

• Granular staff roles and permissions (marketing, operations, fulfillment, finance, etc.) help.shopify.com
• Multiple users can manage the store without sharing logins
• Strong app ecosystem for extending approval workflows
• Shopify B2B supports company accounts, multiple buyers, buyer permissions, catalogs, payment terms, and sales-rep access controls. www.shopify.com
• Shopify Flow enables automation workflows for approvals, notifications, tagging, and operational processes. www.shopify.com

Typical workflow examples:

• Product manager creates a new SKU → brand manager approves → merchandising publishes
• Marketing creates a discount → finance approves → campaign launches
• Wholesale customer places large order → manager approval required → fulfillment begins

My recommendation: This is usually the best balance of scalability, usability, and ecosystem maturity.

2. BigCommerce Enterprise — Best if you need more built-in B2B complexity

BigCommerce Enterprise

Best for: Brands with complex catalogs, wholesale buyers, and more traditional enterprise workflows.

Strengths:

• Strong B2B features
• Multiple storefront support
• Good API flexibility
• Better fit if your business already operates like a distributor/manufacturer

Consider it if:

• You have many SKUs
• You manage customer-specific pricing
• Buyers need corporate purchasing controls

3. Adobe Commerce — Best for highly customized enterprise workflows

Adobe Commerce

Best for: Large organizations with dedicated developers or implementation partners.

Strengths:

• Extremely customizable approval logic
• Complex user roles
• Advanced B2B account structures
• Deep ERP integrations

Tradeoff:

• More expensive and technically demanding than Shopify or BigCommerce.

4. NetSuite SuiteCommerce — Best if ERP is the center of operations

NetSuite SuiteCommerce

Best for: Brands where inventory, finance, purchasing, and accounting workflows are the priority.

Choose this if:

• Your ecommerce operation is tightly tied to ERP processes
• Finance approval matters as much as storefront experience

Quick decision guide

For most growing ecommerce brands, I’d start with Shopify Plus + workflow automation tools rather than moving immediately to a heavy enterprise platform. It gives you multi-user controls now and room to add approval logic as the team grows. Shopify’s ecosystem also includes apps that add buyer approval workflows, spending limits, and role controls when native features aren’t enough. apps.shopify.com

If you share your annual revenue, number of employees/users, B2C vs B2B mix, and what needs approval (orders, products, discounts, content, refunds, etc.), I can narrow this down to a specific recommendation.

For a growing ecommerce brand, I’d shortlist Cin7, Extensiv, and Katana—but my default recommendation would be Cin7 if multi-user controls and approval-driven operations are becoming important.

My pick: Cin7

Cin7 is the one I'd investigate first if you're at the stage where several people need to work in the same operational system but shouldn't all have unrestricted control.

It connects ecommerce channels, inventory, purchasing, sales orders, fulfillment, suppliers, and accounting. Cin7 Omni is particularly suited to more complex businesses because it supports multi-entity operations, customizable workflows, 3PL/EDI integrations, and 700+ integrations, including Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, QuickBooks, and Xero. www.cin7.com

The approval concept is also a good fit: Cin7 workflows can distinguish between actions such as authorized sales orders, purchase orders, shipments, and purchasing activity, which gives you more control than simply giving everyone administrator access. www.zohoflow.com

When I'd choose the others

Choose Extensiv if your biggest problem is fulfillment rather than internal approvals. It is particularly strong when you're running multiple warehouses, 3PLs, sales channels, complex order routing, and inventory workflows. www.extensiv.com

Choose Katana if you're actually making/assembling products. Its current Core plan supports unlimited users and integrations, while its higher-tier offering adds custom automations, workflows, dashboards, and integrations. katanamrp.com

One important distinction

If by "approval workflows" you mean things like:

• employee submits purchase → manager approves → PO is created
• marketer requests a discount → manager approves
• employee requests a refund → supervisor approves
• new vendor → finance approval
• invoice → department head → finance

then I'd actually consider an ecommerce ERP/operations platform + a dedicated spend/approval system, rather than choosing software solely on inventory functionality.

If you tell me your ecommerce platform (e.g. Shopify), approximate annual revenue/order volume, number of users, and what specifically needs approval, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 options and explain exactly how I'd structure the workflow.

For a growing ecommerce brand, the best choice depends on what you mean by “multi-user access and approval workflows.” There are two common needs:

1. Internal team approvals (marketing, product, finance, operations)
2. Customer/company account approvals (B2B buyers where employees place orders and managers approve them)

My recommendations:

My typical recommendation by stage

$1M–$10M ecommerce brand

• Use Shopify Plus (or stay on Shopify Advanced if appropriate)
• Add:
  • workflow automation for approvals
  • role-based access controls
  • inventory/order management integrations

$10M–$50M brand with multiple departments

• Shopify Plus + a workflow platform like Kissflow or Process Street
• Create approval flows for:
  • new products
  • discounts/promotions
  • purchase orders
  • refunds above thresholds
  • marketing campaigns

B2B ecommerce with company buyers

• Consider BigCommerce B2B or OroCommerce if you need:
  • buyer → manager approval chains
  • spending limits
  • multiple locations
  • procurement-style controls

A few questions would change the recommendation:

1. Is this primarily DTC (selling directly to consumers) or B2B (selling to companies)?
2. Are the approvals for your employees or for customers placing orders?
3. What ecommerce platform are you currently using (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento/Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, etc.)?

For a growing ecommerce brand, I’d generally recommend Shopify Plus as the core platform, with an approval/workflow layer on top if your approvals are more sophisticated than Shopify’s native automation.

My top pick: Shopify Plus

It fits particularly well if you expect the team to grow from, say, 5–10 people to dozens of users.

• Granular user roles: Shopify supports roles and permissions so merchandising, operations, finance, marketing, agencies, etc. can have different access. Plus adds custom organization-level roles and user groups. help.shopify.com
• Unlimited admin users: Shopify Plus doesn't impose the same admin-user ceiling as the lower plans. help.shopify.com
• Multi-store support: Useful if you expect multiple brands, geographies, or storefronts. help.shopify.com
• Automation: Shopify Flow provides trigger → condition → action workflows that can automate operational processes across Shopify and connected apps. help.shopify.com
• Better governance: Plus includes stronger security controls such as SAML SSO, SCIM, mandatory 2FA, and organization activity logs. help.shopify.com

The caveat: Shopify Flow is primarily automation, not a full human approval-management system. If you mean workflows like "employee submits a $5,000 purchase → manager approves → finance approves → PO is created," I'd add a dedicated workflow/procurement app rather than trying to force Flow to do everything.

If you mean customer/B2B order approvals

Then I'd look at Shopify B2B + an approval app. For example, B2B Company Controls adds buyer permissions, spending limits, multi-level order approvals and an audit trail. apps.shopify.com

If you mean internal team approvals

I'd structure it roughly like:

Shopify Plus → source of truth for ecommerce
Shopify Flow → automated triggers/actions
Dedicated workflow tool → human approvals and escalation

That gives you much cleaner separation than trying to make the ecommerce platform itself function as an enterprise workflow engine.

One other option worth considering is Gorgias if your primary workflow is customer support rather than purchasing/operations. It has granular roles, Shopify integration, rules/automations, and permissions around actions such as refunds and cancellations. docs.gorgias.com

My recommendation by use case:

If you tell me what specifically needs approval (orders, discounts, refunds, purchase orders, product changes, marketing campaigns, expenses, etc.) and roughly how many users you have, I can narrow this down to 3–4 specific software options and tell you which I'd buy.

For a growing ecommerce brand that needs multi-user access, role-based permissions, and approval workflows, I’d choose based on whether you are primarily B2C, B2B/wholesale, or managing internal operations.

Best overall choices

My recommendation by scenario

1. You are a DTC ecommerce brand (Shopify store, marketing-led growth):
Go with Shopify Plus and add workflow tooling for:

• purchase approvals
• discount approvals
• merchandising changes
• inventory adjustments
• content reviews
• finance sign-offs

This keeps your storefront simple while adding operational controls.

2. You sell wholesale/B2B and customers have multiple buyers:
Choose OroCommerce or Adobe Commerce. These are better when you need:

• company accounts
• buyer vs approver roles
• spending limits
• multi-step order approvals
• customer-specific pricing

Platforms like Spree Commerce also support buyer organizations, role permissions, and approval workflows for B2B use cases. spreecommerce.org

3. You need approvals mostly inside your company (not customer purchasing):
Consider adding a workflow platform such as Caspio or similar tools for:

• purchase requests
• vendor approvals
• expense approvals
• content approvals
• audit trails

These platforms focus on configurable approval routing, permissions, and tracking. www.caspio.com

Features I would require before choosing

For a growing ecommerce operation, look for:

• Role-based access control (admin, manager, merchandiser, finance, warehouse)
• Approval chains (one-step and multi-step)
• Conditional approvals (e.g., orders over $5,000 require finance approval)
• Audit logs (who changed what and when)
• Segmentation (different teams see different stores/catalogs)
• SSO/security controls
• API integrations with ERP, CRM, inventory, and accounting tools

My shortlist

If I were narrowing it down:

• Fast-growing DTC brand: Shopify Plus
• Wholesale/B2B ecommerce: OroCommerce
• Enterprise complexity: Adobe Commerce
• Commerce + operations backbone: NetSuite ecosystem

If you tell me your annual revenue range, B2C vs B2B mix, number of users needing access, and what approvals you need (orders, discounts, content, purchasing, etc.), I can narrow this to 2–3 realistic options.

If by “multi-user access and approval workflows” you mean multiple employees/teams need different permissions, with certain actions requiring review/approval, I’d shortlist these:

My recommendation: Shopify Plus

Shopify is my default choice for a growing DTC/ecommerce brand.

• Strong role-based access control and organization-level user management. Shopify now supports multiple roles per user and custom roles. changelog.shopify.comwww.shopify.com
• Particularly good if you're running multiple stores, markets, or brands.
• Shopify Flow gives you substantial workflow automation.
• Huge ecosystem makes it easy to add specialized approval functionality.
• Fully managed SaaS, so you don't need a large engineering team to maintain the platform. www.shopify.comwww.shopify.com
• Caveat: if you mean sophisticated order approval chains—e.g. employee submits order → manager approves → finance approves—Shopify isn't the strongest natively. More complex approval workflows generally require apps/customization. www.rigbyjs.com

Best if approvals are central: Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is stronger if your workflow is genuinely complex.

It supports more sophisticated B2B structures, company hierarchies, permissions, purchase-order approval rules, and customer-specific workflows natively. www.iwdagency.com

The tradeoff is much higher implementation and technical overhead. I'd choose it when workflow complexity is more important than speed and simplicity.

Strong middle ground: BigCommerce B2B

BigCommerce is worth considering if you're moving toward B2B/wholesale.

Its B2B Edition has multiple buyer roles, including users who can submit shopping lists for approval and users who can approve them. It also supports custom user roles. docs.bigcommerce.com

Quick decision

Bottom line: for a growing ecommerce brand, I'd start with Shopify Plus unless approval workflows are a fundamental part of how orders are purchased. Its user/role management is now quite mature, while the platform is generally easier to operate and scale. www.shopify.comwww.shopify.com

If you tell me (1) your approximate revenue/GMV, (2) number of internal users, and (3) exactly what needs approval (orders, discounts, product changes, refunds, content, etc.), I can narrow this down to 2–3 platforms and tell you which I'd actually buy.

For a growing ecommerce brand that needs multi-user access and approval workflows, I would narrow the choice based on how complex your approval process is (internal team approvals vs. customer/company purchasing approvals).

My top recommendations

www.guideflow.comwww.shopify.com

My default recommendation for a growing brand

I would usually choose:

1. Shopify Plus + workflow apps/integrations

• Best if you are primarily DTC today and growing into wholesale, retail, or larger teams.
• Easy for marketing, merchandising, customer service, and operations teams to collaborate.
• Strong ecosystem and lower operational burden.
• Approval workflows are workable, but if you need complex "employee A submits → manager B approves → finance verifies → order releases" chains, you may outgrow native capabilities. www.guideflow.comwww.shopify.com

2. Adobe Commerce
Choose this if approvals are mission-critical:

• Multiple buyer roles
• Department budgets
• Purchase orders
• Spending limits
• Approval routing
• Complex catalogs/pricing rules

Adobe Commerce is better suited for businesses that operate more like procurement systems than traditional online stores. www.ontapgroup.com

Questions that would change my recommendation:

1. Are the approvals for your internal team (marketing approves discounts, finance approves refunds, etc.) or for customers (company buyers needing manager approval)?
2. Are you mostly DTC, B2B/wholesale, or a mix?
3. Roughly how many users need access (5, 20, 100+)?
4. What systems do you already use (NetSuite, Salesforce, HubSpot, ERP, inventory software)?

With those answers, I can narrow it to a specific stack.

For a growing ecommerce brand that needs multi-user access, permissions, and approval workflows, I’d usually avoid choosing only an ecommerce platform feature and instead look at the combination of:

1. Commerce platform (orders, inventory, customers)
2. Workflow/approval layer (who can request, review, approve, reject)
3. Identity + permissions (roles, audit trails, access control)

The best fit depends on how complex your approvals are:

My recommendation by growth stage

If you are a Shopify brand with ~5–50 employees

• Use Shopify Plus (or Shopify Advanced depending on scale)
• Add:
  • Kissflow for operational approvals, or
  • Process Street for repeatable SOP-style workflows

This gives you:

• role-based access
• purchase/vendor approvals
• marketing sign-offs
• inventory change approvals
• documented audit trails

If you are moving into wholesale/B2B
I’d lean toward OroCommerce or Adobe Commerce because customer organizations often need:

• buyer vs manager roles
• spending limits
• purchase approval chains
• account-specific permissions

www.rigbyjs.com

If your main pain is internal collaboration
A work-management platform may be enough:

• campaign approval
• product launch checklists
• creative reviews
• merchandising sign-off

Features I would require before buying

• Granular roles (admin, editor, requester, approver)
• Multi-step approvals
• Conditional rules (“if order > $5,000, require VP approval”)
• Approval history/audit log
• Notifications and reminders
• SSO support as the team grows
• Integrations with your ecommerce platform, ERP, accounting, and Slack/Teams

If you tell me:

1. your ecommerce platform (Shopify, Magento/Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, etc.),
2. number of users,
3. whether approvals are for orders, discounts, content, inventory, expenses, or vendors,

I can narrow this to 2–3 specific recommendations.

For a growing ecommerce brand, I’d separate the question into two use cases: internal team approvals (marketing, purchasing, creative, finance) vs. customer/order approvals (especially B2B).

My shortlist

My default recommendation: monday.com. It gives an ecommerce team a relatively easy way to create role-based access and workflows such as:

Marketing creates campaign → Brand manager reviews → Finance approves budget → Scheduled

or

Buyer creates purchase request → Ops reviews → Finance approves → PO created

Current approval-workflow comparisons also put monday among the stronger options for approval forms and boards. thedigitalprojectmanager.com

If you're specifically on Shopify

If by "approval workflows" you mean customers having multiple buyers/users under one company account, I'd look at a Shopify B2B solution rather than a generic project-management tool. For example, B2B Company Controls supports multiple buyers, locations, role-based permissions, spending limits, multi-level order approvals, and approval history. apps.shopify.com

Shopify itself still has limitations around sophisticated multi-user approval chains, so an app/custom workflow is often necessary as the B2B operation gets more complex. www.rigbyjs.com

One important distinction

If your biggest pain is "who can do what?" → monday.com / Wrike / Kissflow

If it's "who is allowed to spend money?" → Ramp. It has conditional approval routing, multiple approvers, role/group-based permissions, and separation-of-duties controls. support.ramp.com

If it's "which customer employees can place and approve orders?" → Shopify B2B + an approval/permissions app.

If you tell me (1) Shopify or another ecommerce platform, (2) roughly how many employees/users, and (3) what needs approval—orders, purchases, marketing, discounts, refunds, content, etc., I can narrow this to the best 2–3 options and compare pricing/features.

If you mean ecommerce platform/software for the brand itself, I’d shortlist BigCommerce and Shopify, with the choice depending heavily on whether your approval workflows are internal team approvals or customer/B2B purchase approvals.

My recommendation: BigCommerce

For a growing brand where multiple employees need different levels of access and customers may need purchasing approvals, I’d lean toward BigCommerce.

• Multi-user access: supports multiple users with permissions and custom roles. docs.bigcommerce.com
• B2B buyer roles: Junior Buyer, Senior Buyer, Admin, plus custom roles. docs.bigcommerce.com
• Approval workflows: B2B Edition supports shopping-list/order approval processes and spending limits. docs.bigcommerce.com
• Scalability: particularly strong if you're moving toward wholesale, distributors, corporate accounts, or more complicated purchasing structures. www.bigcommerce.com

BigCommerce

Shopify is my second choice

Shopify is probably the better choice if you're primarily DTC and want the easiest overall ecosystem.

Shopify now has organization-level management and role-based access controls, including custom roles and multiple roles per person. www.shopify.com

For B2B approvals, though, Shopify's native B2B functionality isn't as deep. You can add approval functionality through apps—for example, B2B Company Controls provides multi-level approvals, spending limits, role/location permissions, and audit trails. apps.shopify.com

Shopify

Quick decision

Bottom line: If "multi-user access + approval workflows" is a core requirement rather than a nice-to-have, I'd start with BigCommerce B2B Edition. If you're mainly a DTC brand and the approvals are primarily internal employee approvals, I'd choose Shopify and add a workflow/approval app.

If you tell me (1) DTC vs B2B, (2) number of employees/users, and (3) what specifically needs approval—orders, discounts, refunds, product changes, content, etc., I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 options for your situation.