shopify plus agency

Shopify vs Shopify Plus - When to upgrade to Shopify Plus

Last updated: July 07, 2023

Over one million ecommerce stores in 175 countries of all shapes and sizes trust the Shopify platform. Aswell as a smaller businesses, Enterprise brands such as Gym Shark, Deliveroo, Huel & Red Bull online stores are all powered by the platform. Shopify is one of the most scalable, feature-rich and fastest growing ecommerce platforms that exists. However, if you are fast-growth, high turn-over brand then you might want to consider upgrading to Shopify Plus. Over 5,000 global brands choose Shopify Plus, is it right for your business? We've weighed up Shopify vs Shpoify Plus to help you choose!
Learn About Our Services


Shopify Vs Shopify Plus

In case you are new to the platform, Shopify is a complete ecommerce solution that allows businesses to sell online with outstanding order / customer management and features that keep your customers coming back. Shopify merchants have access to thousands of trusted third party apps from the Shopify app store - the capabilities of Shopify are continually developing by a network of expert technology partners too. However if your brand's requirements exceed that of a small to medium business then standard Shopify functionality may not be enough. Shopify offers an enterprise ecommerce solution with access to additional features and customizations aimed towards fast growing global brands. Shopify vs Shopify plus can be a challenge to decide which is best for your business! See also our article on Shopify Plus vs Advanced plans.

This article discusses the price, features, benefits & when to upgrade to Shopify Plus as the ecommerce platform to power your business. It can be a difficult decision knowing when Shopify Plus is right and needed, but we hope article helps or feel free to drop us an email if you are still struggling! If you do choose Shopify Plus you'll be in great company with leading brands such as Gymshark, Huel, Tesla & Heinz all trusting the platform. Shopify Plus is a leading enterprise ecommerce platform for leading global brands. Let's get started!

Introduction to Shopify Plus

Shopify was initially built for small to medium businesses wanting to develop their direct-to-counsumer strategy. But what if your turnover exceeds $1million and your business's complexity outgrows the standard Shopify offering? Shopify Plus is the answer!

As businesses grow, so does complexity and Shopify Plus is the ultimate flexible solution to allow merchants to build a bespoke ecommerce store around their business. Shopify Plus offers the same core dashboard and features as Shopify but with access to extra features, integrations, dedicated support options and more.

It is important to remember although Shopify Plus has incredible features such as unlimited access to code, fast execution times and advanced ecommerce features, it is not for every brand and standard Shopify offers more than enough for majority of small to medium businesss. Don't hesitate to get in touch and our team can help you decide which is best for your business.

Shopify vs Shopify Considerations

When deciding between Shopify and Shopify Plus, Scalability is an important consideration for businesses. Shopify Plus offers additional scalability options, allowing businesses to easily migrate their website from one version to another or to another e-commerce platform. Shopify Plus also offers a range of migration and launch manager tools to help businesses seamlessly transition their website to the new platform.

Another key consideration between Shopify and Shopify Plus is the level of customization that is available. Shopify Plus offers more customization options, allowing businesses to create a more tailored shopping experience for their customers. This includes the ability to create custom checkout pages, design custom shopping carts, and add custom scripts to their website.

How much does Shopify Plus cost?

We strongly advise considering the ongoing costs of the platform when considering Shopify vs Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus' pricing model is based on usage of their services which is measured in monthly sales volume through the Shopify platform. This is based on the principle that the more sales you make, the more support and server resources your brand will need. The Shopify Plus service starts at $2,000 USD per month until your revenue exceed $800,000 per month and the pricing switches to 0.25% of your monthly revenue. For example, a merchant who makes $1 million in sales per month will pay $2,500, whereas you would need $16 million in sales per month to get hit with the maximum price.

Transaction Fees
In addition to the monthly fee, you do have to pay a transaction fee which varies based on the country the credit card is from - these are usually between 1.9 and 2.3% however we recommend getting in touch for up to date information.
If you do not use the Shopfy Payments gateway then transactions will attract an additional 0.15% payment too! However it is still worth noting - these rates are incredibly competitive so it's not all doom and gloom!

Apps & Third Party Software
Although Shopify host a huge range of free apps, many of the enterprise feature-rich tech does unfortunately attract a monthly fee. Now it's also super important to remember some apps will pay for themselves through the increase in sales their features bring, think loyalty, subscription payments and upselling. It’s hard to place a number on how much these apps will cost you - they can range from a few pounds to thousands of pounds per month. It's worth remembering due the increased flexibility of Shopify Plus, your development team may be able to build you features from scratch without relying on third party apps - saving you monthly fees. In any event, when you’re factoring in your overall monthly cost, it’s helpful to consider what you may be spending on apps.

Maintenance, Security & Servers
Finally some good news, Shopify host all the ecommerce stores on their own extremely powerful servers meaning you don't need to worry about server management, security testing or upgrades - it's all included. Shopify's servers are increidbly powerful and incorporates a content-delivery-network (CDN) - this is a fancy way of saying it has lots of servers all over the world ready and waiting to send your website to your customers at lightning fast speeds. This network allows Shopify to be able to offer unlimited bandwidth and over 10,000 transactions per minute! It's worth remembering competitor platforms such as Magento require merchants to manage their own servers which can be incredibly expensive and unreliable..

Shopify vs Shopify Plus: Other Key Features

Some features are exclusive to Shopify Plus, making the decision of which plan to go for more easy for those merchants wanting more advanced features. For example, the bulk account inviter is a feature that is available in Shopify Plus, which is not available in the regular version of Shopify. This allows businesses to easily invite multiple users to their account at once, making it easier to manage large organisations or groups. Shopify Plus allows merchants to use Shopify Scripts to customize their storefronts and automate tasks. These scripts can help businesses create custom promotions, optimize shipping, and more. Shopify Plus also includes a wholesale channel that allows businesses to create a separate storefront for wholesale customers with custom pricing, minimum order quantities, and other features. Finally, Shopify Plus customers get early access to new features and beta programmes that are not yet available to standard Shopify customers. It is clear that from these additional features that Shopify Plus is a more advanced platform vs Shopify, so the higher cost could be seen as worthwhile for larger and more complex businesses.

When should you upgrade to Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is not for every business and the standard Shopify packages exceeds the requirements and more of most brands. Therefore when weighing up Shopify vs Shopify Plus you should consider the specific features you might need that is not achieveable with standard Shopify. However as ecommerce business grow you'll need a bespoke solution that manages your cusomer's demands in the most efficient way possible, in our experience this is usually around the $750,000 annual turnover point. Revenue alone is not a reason to choose the Shopify Plus platform, the decision should be made if functionality required to achieve daily operations in the most efficient way is not possible without it. Shopify and Shopify Plus is an incredibly fast ecommerce solution that doesn't compromise on quality - quite the opposite. To put this into perspective a legacy enterprise website would take around 12 - 18 months to build however with Shopify the average time is just 90 days. We can help you decide if you need the Plus platform or whether we can help you develop a solution that doesn't require the large monthly investment.

Put simply, Shopify Plus is the solution for those merchants currently serving exponentially more customers than expected and looking to scale without the need for large investments of time, money, or resource. Let's dig into the features of Shopify Plus.

 

Features Of Shopify Plus

On the face of Shopify vs Shopify Plus, Shopify Plus unleashes greater flexibility, intelligent automations, maximum feature control and the ability to handle huge numbers of sales at once. So what's extra with Shopify Plus? Let's dive into the plenty of features and factors that make it stand out from the original Shopify platform.
Outstanding Support & Serious Power
Shopify Plus builds on the standard Shopify offering with some of the most advanced ecommerce features. Not only do all Shopify customers have their own named account manger as part of the merchant success program, but you also gain access to priority 24/7 live chat, phone and email customer support to give you advice and the peace and mind for your business. In addition to customer service to help you with problems and faqs, resources such as Shopify Plus Academy give tips and help merchants setup their store to the full potential through resources that cover everything from ecommerce best practices to technical integrations. Shopify Plus can handle massive spikes in traffic and transactions from online stores too. Back in August 2016, Kylie Cosmetics handled over 200K visitors who flooded the online store all at once during one of the biggest product launches in ecommerce history.
Dashboard Built For Large Teams
With unlimited staff accounts & permissions, Shopify Plus now offers a revolutionized interface and admin dashboard to manage all your stores, data analytics dashboard, reports, staff accounts, staff permissions and permission settings, and automation tools (such as Shopify Flow), in one place. This dashboard allows you and your team to have a complete overview of your business, promote teamwork and improve automation. The dashboard is particularly great when you are managing multiple stores in different locations whilst maintaining one central management system.
Localized Stores & Multi-Currency
Shopify Plus allows users to create up to 9 additional stores alongside their main store - often used to offer unique store fronts based on the location the customer is visiting from and the languages that they speak. Merchants can improve trust and improve sales by offering truly personalized geographic experiences to maximize sales with tailored product suggestions, multi-lingual stores and the local currencies. The best part is the admin as you can manage your product inventory, sales, customers and everything else in one place, making selling internationally on Shopify to hundreds of countries around the world as streamlined as possible.
Selling B2B with Wholesale Channel
Selling your products wholesale is a breeze with Shopify Plus's dedicated 'Wholesale Channel'. You can ofer dedicated accounts for your wholesale customers to give them access to a password protected view of your store including tierred quantity prices, order quantity thresholds, unique product visibility to different customers and unique payment gateways to specific customers too. You'll be able to offer your wholesale customers a streamlined, user-friendly and easy way to order your products.
Automate & Schedule
When making a comparison of Shopify versus Shopify Plus, having access Shopify-Plus-only apps such as Flow and Launchpad should be noted. Shopify Flow is an ecommerce automation platform that allows you to automate everyday tasks. The possibilities are huge however some examples include; 'create a support ticket when you receive a negative review' or 'SMS Text a discount code after a customer's second order'. If you can dream it Flow can automate it. Other apps include Shopify Launchpad which allows you to schedule tasks in the future. Tasks include new product releases, promotions, marketing campaigns, discount codes, gift cards, flash sales, content to the Shopify community and more.
Unlimited Technology Access
Shopify Plus helps take your store to the next level by giving your development team the option to build truly bespoke ecommerce solutions and themes with unlimited access to the code of your storefront. Shopify Plus allows full access to the script editor and checkout page code file (standard Shopify accounts cannot edit this code, making the checkout process and checkout experience as powerful as possible for Shopify Plus merchants). Shopify Plus also allows full access to running advanced functions through with additional API calls that are not included with standard Shopify accounts. The coding benefits are a major game changer to Shopify when choosing Shopify vs Shopify Plus. Companies can the best version of their brand and improve efficiency of workflows like no other when choosing Shopify Plus, the most advanced Shopify platform available today.
Learn More About Us
Ready to grow your business with Shopify?
We specialize in Shopify & Shopify Plus to deliver ecommerce partnerships that grow your business. We are ready to talk projects, timelines, team, whenever you are!
Get In Touch
Shopify Plus Powers The Biggest Brands
Shopify powers over a millions merchants in 175 countries and Shopify Plus powers over 5,000 global brands. Shopify vs Shopify Plus - whichever you choose you'll be amongst the best businesses in the world.
Learn More About Standard Shopify
shopify partner shopify agency shopify plus nestle shopify deliveroo shopify plus agency shopify plus lindt shopify partner shopify oatly shopify plus huel
Looking for a Shopify Plus Ecommerce Agency?
We Design & Build Shopify Plus Ecommerce Websites
We are an experienced ecommerce web design agency partnering with ambitious brands to design, develop & optimize outstanding Shopify & Shopify Plus websites. We help brands decide on the best solution with Shopify vs Shopify Plus, whilst offering outstanding designs and technology. Get in touch today!
Bespoke Shopify Plus Websites
Unique & Engaging Designs
Cutting Edge Functions and Features
Migration from other platforms
Conversion & Sales Focused Strategy
Expert Long Term Partner
Get In Touch
Doisy & Dam
Web Design & Development
Our Services
Shopify Design & Development
>
More Work
See more of our work

Looking for a Shopify Plus Agency?
Upgrade or migrate to Shopify Plus with Charle, a leading Shopify Plus agency.
Upgrade to Shopify Plus with Charle
We are an accredited expert Shopify agency we partner with brands to design, develop, launch, support and grow Shopify & Shopify Plus stores. We are a Shopify agency, ready when you are. Talk to our team about your project.
Get In Touch
We’re an Award-Winning Shopify Partner & Ecommerce Web Design Agency In London & Manchester.
awardwinningecommerce awardwinningecommerce awardwinningecommerce
Stay Up To Date With Ecommerce
Join our newletter to receive free ecommerce guides, tips and tricks.
Charle Agency (Charle London Limited) | London Shopify Plus Agency | Copyright 2020 | Terms & Privacy