Hide specific products from certain users (product-level)

A step-by-step guide for merchants who need product-level visibility control. Hide selected products from specific visitors: guests, retail customers, or any group you define.

This guide walks you through every step: choosing which products to hide, who can still see them, and how to verify it works. On the app’s Pricing page, Lock Product is included in the paid plans (Basic Shopify, Grow Shopify, Advanced Shopify, Shopify Plus), not in Free.

Tip

Best Practice

Be clear about your goal before you start: do you want to fully remove the product from the storefront (no trace anywhere), or just block the product page while keeping it visible in listings? BSS B2B Lock supports both modes: you choose in Step 1.

On This Page

1. Eligibility Requirements
2. Understanding the Hide Products Feature
3. Availability & Limitations
4. Hide Products Steps
5. Verify It Works on Your Storefront
6. Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Eligibility Requirements

Before setting up a Hide Products rule, confirm the following:

• You have an active Shopify store on any paid plan.
• BSS B2B Lock is installed from the Shopify App Store.
• You have Editor or Admin access in your Shopify store.
• Your store uses a compatible theme: Online Store 2.0 is recommended.
• For tag-based access: customer tags must already be set up on your Shopify customer records.

Note

⚠️ Legacy Theme Note

On non-2.0 themes, the automatic cleanup of empty product grid slots may not render correctly. Test on a staging store or contact BSS B2B Lock support before going live.

Understanding the Hide Products Feature

Hide Products removes selected items from your storefront entirely for visitors who don’t meet your conditions: no product card, no search result, no product page. This is different from Hide Price, where the product stays visible but the price is hidden.

Mode	What blocked visitors see	Best for
Fully Hide Product	No trace anywhere, not in collections, search, or direct URL	Wholesale-only items, secret catalogs
Only lock product page	Product visible everywhere, but product page shows ‘Access Denied’	Items discoverable but purchasable by approved buyers only

Note

Hide Products vs. Hide Price

Use Hide Price when everyone can see the product but only approved buyers see its price. Use Hide Products when certain customers should not know the item exists at all.

Availability & Limitations

Item	Details
BSS B2B Lock plan	Lock Product is included in Basic Shopify, Grow Shopify, Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus; not in Free (Pricing → Compare all features)
Theme	Online Store 2.0 recommended; legacy themes may show empty grid slots
Access conditions	Login, tags, passcode, secret link, email, date/time, location, and more
AND / OR logic	Supported: conditions in one rule = AND; separate rules = OR
Google Search	Hidden products may still appear on Google for up to 24 hours after saving

Step 1 - Lock Target: Choose Products

Step 1 - Lock Target. Select Products in the What do you want to lock? dropdown

Note

Step 1 Lock Target: Select Products and configure product scope

1. Go to your Shopify Admin.

2. Click Apps in the left sidebar.

3. Select BSS B2B Lock from your installed apps.

4. Click Locks → Add lock rule.

5. In the Start with a preset modal, select Create my own lock (or Require login to view products), then click Continue.

6. In the Lock name field, enter a clear name: e.g., Hide wholesale products from retail.

7. Confirm Status is set to Enable.

8. Under Lock Target, open the What do you want to lock? dropdown and select Products.

Then configure the product settings (see screenshot below):

9. Under Restricted products, open the dropdown and select Specific products (or All product, By tags or By collections if applicable).

10. Use the Search products field to open the Select products picker and select the products you want to hide. Remove an item with ×, or click Clear all.

11. Under Product Visibility Control, select your visibility mode:

• Fully Hide Product: “Completely removed from storefront (no trace in collections, search, or product page).” (recommended for wholesale-only items).

• Only lock product page: “Product stays visible everywhere, but the product page shows “Access Denied.””

12. Under Search visibility, optionally check Hide price on Google search to prevent prices from appearing in search results.

Note: Google re-indexing can take up to 24 hours. Your store must be public for this setting to apply.

13. Keep Hide from navigation menu checked (default) to also hide links to these products in your navigation menu.

14. Click Next to proceed to Step 2.

Restricted products: Specific products with the selected products listed and the Summary updated

Product Visibility Control: Fully Hide Product or Only lock product page, plus Hide from navigation menu

Step 2 - Access & Message: Define Who Can Still See the Products

This is where you set the conditions that grant access. The order in which BSS B2B Lock evaluates rules is: Everyone → Secret Link → Passcode → Sign-In → Age Verification → Email Subscription → Date & Time → Market → Tag / Specific Customers → Custom Liquid → Specific IP → Specific Region.

Step 2 - Access & Message. For example, choose Tagged customers – Must have specific tags under User type

Note

Step 2 Access & Message: Choose your access condition

15. In Rule 1, click a condition chip: User type, Passcode, Date & time, or More (Email, Location, Other condition).

16. For User type, open the Select access rule dropdown and choose your specific rule:

• Everyone - No restrictions (use as a fallback for public content). The app notes: “When this condition is selected, it will take the highest priority.”

• Signed-in customers - Must be logged in.

• Tagged customers – Must have specific tags (e.g., wholesale, b2b-approved, distributor).

• Specific customers – Must match exact email.

The dropdown also includes Request access – visitor request, you approve; Customer must be in this company name; Customer must be in this company location; and B2B customer – Shopify B2B only.

17. If using customer tags: enter the tag(s) in the Customer tag field: e.g., wholesale or vip-partner.

18. Optional: check Reverse access rule to invert the logic (e.g., block tagged customers instead of allowing them).

19. Optional: add more conditions inside the same rule to require all of them (AND), or click + Add rule to create Rule 2 (OR): for example, allow distributors OR allow visitors arriving via secret link. If no rule has a condition yet, clicking Next shows “Add at least one condition to this rule before you continue.”

Note: Visitors who don’t meet any rule will not see the hidden products anywhere on your storefront.

20. Set your lock message: this is what blocked visitors see if they arrive at the product URL directly. In the Preview card, click Customize message and include a login link or instructions to request access.

21. Click Next to proceed to Step 3.

Common access condition combinations

Goal	Condition	Example tag / setting
Wholesale customers only	Tagged customers	wholesale or b2b-approved
Logged-in customers only	Signed-in customers	(no tag needed)
VIP segment only	Tagged customers	vip or gold-tier
Regional distributors	Tagged customers + Location	eu-distributor + EU region
Invited partners only	Secret link	(generate secret URL to share)
Logged-in wholesalers	Sign-in AND tagged customers	Must be logged in AND tagged wholesale

Step 3 - Exclude Pages (Optional)

Use this step to add exceptions: pages or URLs that should bypass the lock even if they relate to hidden products.

Note

Step 3 Exclude Pages: Add exceptions to the rule

22. In Exclude from lock rules, check Specific pages and add any URLs that should remain accessible regardless of the lock, or check Selected products to keep some products shoppable.

23. Common examples: a staff preview link, a test product URL, or a public lookbook page that references a hidden product.

24. Click Save to activate the rule.

Note

✅ Save to activate

The rule does not apply to your live storefront until you click Save: in Step 3 or in the Contextual Save Bar at the top of the page. You can click the name of a completed step to return to it; your entered data is kept.

Verify It Works on Your Storefront

Test in Incognito mode after saving the rule. Use the checklist below.

Test as	Action	Expected result
Blocked visitor (guest)	Browse to a collection with hidden products	Hidden products do not appear in the grid
Blocked visitor (guest)	Visit the product URL directly	Lock message or Access Denied screen, not the product page
Approved visitor (tagged/logged-in)	Browse the same collection	Hidden products are now visible
Approved visitor (tagged/logged-in)	Click through to the product page	Page loads normally with price and Add to Cart

Tip

ℹ️ Cache tip

If results look wrong, clear your browser cache and reload. Shopify may serve cached pages for a few minutes after a rule is saved.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Issue	What to check
Products still visible to blocked visitors	Rule Status must be Enable → correct products selected in picker → test in Incognito
Approved customers can’t see the products	Check customer tag in Shopify Admin → confirm tag name matches exactly (case-sensitive) → check Reverse access rule is not on
Empty slots in collection grid	Theme compatibility issue: switch to Online Store 2.0 or contact support
Products still showing on Google	Google takes up to 24 hours to re-index → enable Hide price on Google search under Search visibility → store must be public
Unintended products are being hidden	Go back to Step 1 → switch from All product to Specific products → check for other active rules overlapping

Note

Need more help?

If your issue is not listed here, use the Chat Support button inside the BSS B2B Lock app. The support team typically responds within 12 hours. Include your store URL, the lock rule name, and a description of what you are seeing.