Even though Shopify’s three core plans are designed to provide a variety of eCommerce solutions for all levels of start-ups and mid-range business, there may come a time when your business grows to the point of needing to upgrade store functionalities beyond what the standard service plans can offer in features and capabilities. Enter Shopify Plus. Keep reading to find what Shopify Plus is, how it compares with Shopify’s other plans, and whether or not it’s a good option for scaling your business.
What Is Shopify Plus?
Shopify Plus is Shopify’s solution for enterprise-level eCommerce merchants requiring a reliable platform that can handle high-volume sales and full-service support that’s tailored to the merchant’s unique requirements. Unless your business makes a minimum of around $50,000–100,000 in monthly sales, Shopify Plus is not a realistic solution due to the costs of adopting and managing the service.
For businesses that are capable of investing in Shopify Plus, the efficiency of your eCommerce management will increase exponentially through customizable solutions that can automate the majority of your mundane tasks.
Shopify vs. Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus holds a significant edge over the eCommerce platform’s standard plans in terms of the premium features offered.
Basic Shopify / Shopify / Advanced Shopify | Shopify Plus | |
---|---|---|
Monthly pricing | $29–299 | $2,000+ |
Online credit card rate | 2.4–2.9% + $0.30 | On request |
In-person credit card rate | 2.4–2.7% + $0.00 | On request |
Shopify Payments transaction fee | $0.00 | $0.00 |
External payment gateways transaction fee | 0.5–2.0% | Negotiable (0.15% possible) |
Customer support |
|
|
Staff accounts | 2–15 | Unlimited |
Permission options |
|
|
Analytics dashboard | Yes | Yes |
Apps |
|
|
Checkout.liquid modification possible | Limited | Yes |
Wholesale functionality | Requires a paid app | Yes |
Access to Plus APIs
(Gift Cards, Multipass, User Permissions) |
No | Yes |
Single dashboard access for multiple stores | Requires a paid app | Yes |
Theme limit per account | 20 | 100 |
A Closer Look at Shopify Plus
Here’s a closer look at each of the features compared in the table above.
Monthly Plan Pricing
There is a simplicity of having flat-rate pricing billed each month when running an eCommerce business. Shopify understands this need, which is why its core plans are designed to help you scale up over time with prices that reflect the needs of your store.
With Shopify, there’s somewhat of a first-class curtain you need to walk through in order to have access to the full range of personalized services and functionalities that the platform has at its disposal. Pricing for Shopify Plus reflects the value of those services and functionalities. If your company is large enough, it’s possible to negotiate your monthly rate with your Shopify Plus consultant depending on the size of your account.
Transaction Fees
It’s important to point out that every level of Shopify, from Lite to Plus, doesn’t have transaction fees as part of the plan as long as you’re using Shopify Payments. If you opt to use a third-party payment gateway instead, the transaction fee for Shopify Plus accounts is generously lowered to 0.15% (versus 0.5–2.0% for the core Shopify plans), which is major savings when processing 1,000 orders or more each minute.
If you crunch the numbers and are still on the fence about whether or not Shopify Plus offers enough value to justify upgrading your plan or migrating from another enterprise platform, then keep reading as we further explore the first-class services provided.
Customer Support
Every Shopify plan provides excellent customer support. You can learn more about them in greater detail here, but basically Shopify users, including Shopify Plus, get access to:
- Shopify Help Center: The help center is made up of “Gurus” that are available to answer any questions you may have regarding your Shopify plan, directly by phone, email, private chat, or Twitter any time, day or night, 365 days a year.
- User manual: Provides all of the essential documentation, accompanied by helpful screenshots, for setting up and running your Shopify site.
- Community forum: An excellent resource for small issues or niche questions that the Shopify manual doesn’t cover.
- Official blog: Offers advice on big-picture marketing ideas, practical how-to information on implementing eCommerce best practices on Shopify, and profiles of successful businesses across industries.
- Expert directory: Lets you hire a freelance specialist that has been vetted by Shopify to help you with sales strategy, marketing design, SEO, and much more.
- YouTube channel: Provides short-and-sweet tips, strategies, and techniques covering Shopify fundamentals, business guides, and success stories.
The support services above are all that is needed for the majority of Shopify users, but they pale in comparison to what Shopify provides to its enterprise accounts. With Shopify Plus, you get all of the standard support plus the following.
Merchant Success Program
The center of Shopify Plus’s hands-on approach is its Merchant Success Program, which provides much of the qualitative value that justifies the high price tag. Every care is taken to satisfy your eCommerce needs, from the initial consultation with your dedicated Shopify Plus Consultant who goes into every minute detail on where your business is now and what you want to achieve in the future, to your personal Solutions Engineer and Launch Engineer who ensure that no stone is left unturned during setup. But what does each Merchant Success Program member do specifically?
- Shopify Plus Consultant: The first step in finding out whether or not the service is the most effective solution for your business. The consultant will work with you to assess what you need, compare it with Shopify Plus’s offerings, and uncover ways to drastically improve your business.
- Solutions Engineer: Once the consultant has a full understanding of all aspects of your business, you will be assigned a Solutions Engineer to manage complete integration of Shopify Plus with your current systems, ensuring full communication between its eCommerce platform and the tools that your business relies on to function.
- Launch Manager: You will also be assigned a dedicated Launch Manager whose role is to help you with everything else that is necessary to make your launch a smooth and successful transition. Whether scaling up from Advanced Shopify or migrating from another enterprise-level platform, this manager’s sole purpose it to coach you through every step, provide individualized guidance and support, and coordinate whatever is necessary on Shopify’s end to help you cross the finish line — basically helping you with every aspect of your eCommerce journey pre- and post-launch and possibly cutting your setup time in half.
Shopify Plus Facebook Community
All Plus users are granted access to several resources including a Facebook community that acts as sort of a private club to share and receive advice, discuss questions and ideas across a broad range of industry topics, and collaborate on strategies. Building strong relationships is the center of this officially run Facebook group, so there are strict rules to protect you against solicitation after joining.
Shopify Plus Partner Directory
Shopify offers an Expert Directory for all of its core plans, made up of freelance specialists that have been vetted by Shopify. However, there is another tier of bespoke specialists and agencies who are able to cater to the needs and intricacies of enterprise-level eCommerce.
The Shopify Plus Partner Directory is specifically designed for that purpose by providing a network of independent specialists who are able to provide wisdom on marketing strategies, SEO, and display marketing with its general service partners; customize tools and functionality with its app partners; and drastically reduce the setup time of your online business with its accelerated launch program.
It’s important to note that Shopify Plus Partners are not employed by Shopify, but they have been selected by Shopify to partner with, which definitely adds a level of trust to hiring them. Also, because they are independent contractors, you will be charged for using their services.
Shopify Plus Blog
Shopify Plus’s official blog posts around 10 articles a month covering a variety topics from how-tos, tips, and strategies to insights and trends from both in-house experts and today’s industry thought leaders. For anyone new to Shopify Plus, we recommend starting your exploration of the blog with the article “10 Things to Do the Moment You Upgrade to Shopify Plus.”
Shopify Plus Academy
Online Shopify courses are available to the public from trusted platforms like Udemy and Lynda, but with a Shopify Plus account, you get access to the Academy. Yet another in-depth, free resource that provides every level of education in an easy-to-digest presentation. Production level is top notch and videos are presented in short tips and how-tos, online workshops, and courses that cover the full breadth of specific topics.
Staff Accounts & Permission Options
Another true gem offered by Shopify Plus is that it allows you to add unlimited staff accounts to your admin panel and offers an additional level of user permission settings for greater oversight at the organization level. (organization admin > store owner > staff). By comparison, Shopify’s core plans allow 2 to 15 staff accounts and limit user permission settings to the store level (store owner > staff).
Analytics Dashboard
At a quick glance, it seems that Shopify Plus offers the same analytic resources as the much cheaper Advanced Shopify plan. What separates the two is the powerful insights that can be uncovered by utilizing the analytics tools available from Plus’s technology partners. Customization is key for all aspects of Shopify Plus and your Merchant Success team will help you to find tailored solutions for managing your analytics and reports that simply aren’t available with Advanced Shopify.
Exclusive Apps for Shopify Plus
Besides the option of hiring a Shopify Plus apps partner to design custom tools and functionality for your site, there are several popular apps that are designed specifically for enterprise eCommerce to simplify operations and expand opportunities for your business.
Shopify Plus will enhance your store capability with exclusive apps not allocated to basic Shopify users. These apps include Transporter, Bulk Account Inviter, Shopify Flow, Launchpad, and Script Editor.
Transporter & Bulk Account Inviter
There are many hurdles when it comes to migrating your store from another eCommerce platform like Magento or BigCommerce. The Transporter and Bulk Account Inviter apps are designed to drastically simplify this process.
The Transporter app converts essential records from your legacy platform like customer information, production details, and orders into CVS files that can then be uploaded to your Shopify site. The Bulk Account Invitor app supports Shopify Plus accounts by sending out invites to your customer email list asking them to activate their accounts after migration is complete.
Shopify Flow
Efficiency is what the Shopify Flow app does best. Designed with maximum user experience in mind, the app lets you automate your processes easily by selecting from a large collection of templates that can be customized to your needs with the built-in visual editor — no coding required. An essential tool for enterprise-level stores.
Launchpad
There’s a lot that goes into launching new products and coordinating flash sale campaigns. Launchpad makes sure that whatever you’re promoting goes off without a hitch. You can temporarily change your online store theme, apply additional discounts through Shopify scripts, easily set starting and ending dates and times, and even prevent customers from pre-loading their carts to try and get the upper hand. Once the promotion is over, you can quickly reset your site back to normal and review how well it performed using the built-in analytics dashboard.
Script Editor for Modifying the Checkout.liquid
Shopify makes editing your theme easy with its simple Liquid coding language. One issue that most store owners face is redesigning the checkout experience. While all Shopify plans can modify some elements of the checkout page, the Script Editor available to Shopify Plus members unlocks the majority of limitations, improving the user experience by more effectively applying custom coding such as for discounts, shipping methods, customer fields, and payment options based on shopping cart values or profile history.
It’s important to note that some limitations still exist, such as the need for knowledge in the Ruby coding language and certain restrictions due to Shopify’s strong security measures.
Integrated Wholesale Functionality
It’s possible to set up a wholesale eCommerce store using one of Shopify’s three standard plans with the addition of a third-party app or two. However, with Shopify Plus, wholesale integration is seamless and complete. Using the built-in Wholesale Channel gives you an edge over competitors in quickly scaling your business by requiring no additional app setup, web development, or coding to provide a fully responsive experience for B2B customers.
Again, the purpose of Shopify Plus is to help your business spend less time on the mundane and more time achieving your vision — a collection of features allow you to create, automate, integrate, manage, and, review every aspect of your wholesale store.
Plus API Integrations
Shopify Plus offers several ways to further enhance its functionality when creating private or custom apps. Developers can access exclusive Plus APIs for creating and managing gift cards, simplifying customer login across multiple websites, and easily retrieving staff information from your account.
Single Dashboard for Multiple Stores
Having multiple stores across multiple accounts can be a management nightmare. Rather than having to use a paid app like Multi-Admin Multiple Stores that Shopify’s core plans are required to use, Shopify Plus throws in the ability to run multiple stores from a single dashboard as a standard feature. It essentially gives you a complete summary of your company, encourages team collaboration, and enhances automation.
Is Shopify Plus Right for Your Business?
Shopify Plus’s pricing model is based on monthly sales volume. This means that the more sales your store makes, the more personalized and dedicated support, server infrastructure, and enterprise-level tools, functionalities, and customizations your site will require. Scaling every aspect of your business to meet your vision can be fast-tracked because your success is Shopify’s success.
When compared to other enterprise eCommerce platforms, you may find that Shopify Plus provides many of the same core features, yet it maintains its status as an industry leader because of its robust ecosystem that can cover niche, B2C, B2B, and wholesale markets.
If you’ve made it this far through our in-depth look at Shopify Plus’s features, we suggest contacting the Merchant Success Team to confirm whether or not they can turn your eCommerce vision into a reality.