What is Shopify Plus? Shopify vs Shopify Plus

When expanding your eCommerce business to Shopify, you’re faced with a decision of Shopify or Shopify Plus. Which one to choose? This blog takes a look at the differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus and how to know which one is right for your business now and in the future. 

What is Shopify?

Back to basics: Shopify is an eCommerce platform, powering online sellers to create and manage their own eCommerce website. Trusted by more than 800,000 businesses worldwide, Shopify is hugely popular thanks to its customisable themes, low pricing and extensive Shopify app store.

What is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is Shopify’s big sister, offering all the great features of Shopify, plus additional functionality. Powering just over 5,300 businesses, it’s very powerful but not for your average everyday seller.

Who is Shopify Plus for?

So who is Shopify Plus for then? Shopify Plus boasts some big brands names and is specifically aimed at high-volume and enterprise stores, or those planning on scaling very quickly.

How much is Shopify Plus?

With big features, come big prices. Shopify Plus cost from $2,000 per month upwards, depending on your business’ needs. For this, sellers receive additional functionality as well as reduced Shopify transaction fees (0.15%). In comparison, the standard Shopify plans cost $29/mo basic, $79/mo standard and £299/mo advanced – as well as Shopify’s merchant fees.

The differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus

Is the big price tag worth it? Shopify Plus’ key benefits include:

Customisation

You can fully customise your checkout experience – allowing you to create a seamless customer journey that builds trust and brand recognition. You can also implement certain conversion-boosting checkout features such as special discounts.

Internationalisation

Shopify Plus also comes with up to nine store clones. You can use these to grow your business internationally, tailoring each site depending on the country you’re selling in – again increasing your chances of converting.

Wholesale and B2B functionality

Online businesses using Shopify Plus can create a separate wholesale channel, allowing buyers to access a password-protected B2B store. Additional features can then be added such as bulk discounts, shipping rules, custom pricing and wholesale only products.

Capacity

Uptime and capacity matter, which is why Shopify Plus guarantees 99.9% uptime and the ability to handle more than 10,000 transactions per minute. Not only does this provide a better shopping experience for your customers (especially on high-volume days such as Black Friday), but it also eliminates cart abandonment caused by website crashes.

Support

Shopify Plus users also receive superior support. Technical issues are fast-tracked, an assigned launch engineer is responsible for getting you up and running, and a merchant success manager helps you to maximise your sales and grow your business. You spend less time figuring things out and more time taking meaningful actions to excel your business.

Multiple channels

For the multi-channel sellers out there, Shopify Plus comes with the ability to sell on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest) as standard and Shopify Plus apps such as Expandly allow you to sell on other sales channel(s) such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy.

Automation

Users have exclusive access to Shopify Flow and Shopify Launchpad. Shopify Flow automates certain tasks (e.g. creating a support ticket upon receiving a negative review), and Shopify Launchpad schedules product visibility, scripts, themes, discounts and more for special sales, events and holidays.

Which one to choose

Deciding between Shopify Plus and Shopify comes down to how big your business is and how quickly you plan to grow. Smaller eCommerce businesses may find it difficult to make an ROI from Shopify Plus, whereas enterprise-level eCommerce businesses can potentially save money from Shopify Plus’ lower transaction fees. When deciding, take into account:

– Your turnover

– How much Shopify Plus can save you in transaction fees and time

– Your plans on global expansion

– Your plans for growth

And never forget, that if you’re not ready for it now, you can always upgrade in the future.

 

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