Shopify Plus is primarily seen as an omnichannel, enterprise-level version of Shopify, designed for larger companies with sales volume higher than 100,000 and more advanced e-commerce needs.
Some key differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus are that Shopify Plus offers more advanced features such as dedicated account management, handling higher sales volume, and access to more customization options.
Shopify Plus comes with more store functionality and ecommerce features. It also claims to be a more conversion-centric platform that provides more customizations concerning page design, professional reports and analytics, and even multichannel accessibility.
Let’s take a closer look at the differences between Shopify vs Shopify Plus platforms
Some features that Shopify Plus offers that are not available on the basic Shopify plan include:
Shopify Plus users can use scripts to automate specific processes. These are incredibly beneficial for store owners that want to provide promotional codes and offers to particular collections, adjust the pricing, or even apply discounts. Here are some of the most popular use cases for this feature:
“One of the main benefits of Shopify Plus is that it offers a greater level of scalability and customization for merchants, which can help to increase ROI and KPI’s important to the brand. Additionally, Shopify Plus merchants also have access to a set of exclusive features such as Shopify Scripts, which enables to create custom checkout experiences, and Shopify Flow, a powerful automation tool that helps automate repetitive tasks.” - Rachel Saul, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Chelsea & Rachel Co
Shopify provides four types of reports that help analyze different areas of the eCommerce store- sales reports, product reports, customer reports, and marketing reports.
Shopify Plus offers more advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, allowing an ecommerce store to gain deeper insights into their sales and customer behavior.
Shopify's basic plan provides standard reporting options that allow you to view sales based on the product, category, and location. The product reports will enable you to analyze inventory, sales, and profit by product. The customer reports on the basic Shopify plan give insights into the customer demographic, lifetime value, and order history. Discover more on Shopify Customer Accounts
You can access more detailed reports and options on the advanced plan. You can view sales by product, category, and location with more granularity, filter by customer attributes, and even create custom marketing and customer behavior reports to get more detailed insights.
Shopify Plus offers access to more detailed analytics, including data on customer behavior, sales performance, and inventory levels. Shopify Plus also supports customizable dashboards, allowing you to create custom dashboards with the most critical metrics to your Shopify store.
Another benefit of using Shopify Plus is that it gives you access to writing data via API, which allows integration with external data analytics tools.
Shopify Plus users can customize the shopify checkout pages to match the look and feel of their brand and reduce any fiction buyers face during the checkout process. The aim is to reduce abandoned carts and increase conversions:
Learn More: Guide on Multilingual Customer Support Helpdesk
Shopify Plus has better functionality that helps you recover abandoned carts and prompt shoppers to finish their checkout process. Here are some ways in which Shopify Plus helps accomplish this goal:
Shopify Plus can scale to handle high-traffic and high-volume sales, making it a more suitable option for large businesses. Shopify Plus can handle a higher volume of sales and traffic than regular Shopify, making it better suited for large and rapidly growing companies.
Shopify Plus users have access to a dedicated account manager who can provide Shopify and advice on optimizing their e-commerce operations.
Shopify plus also offers other features such as a better integrations with different APIs, access to paid APIs like Shopify Flow and access to Shopify's merchant success program that provides a sense of community for business owners looking to scale their operations.
The best thing about Shopify is that web hosting costs etc., are absorbed by the platform itself. So you do not have to pay for website hosting and development separately. However, if you use a payment gateway, customized themes, or third-party plugins. Here is a breakdown of the different plans available on Shopify:
Shopify Plus has a $2,000 monthly fee in addition to other costs, such as transaction fees, online store development costs, third-party services, and add-ons.
Read Also: Best Ecommerce Tools to Drive Sales & Enhance CX
Shopify is a flexible, user-friendly platform serving different e-commerce companies, from fledgling a small Shopify store to established giant corporations. While many of these companies may eventually need to change their Shopify plans as they grow, switching to Shopify Plus needs careful consideration.
Shopify Plus is considerably more expensive than any ordinary Shopify plan, but it provides much-added functionality to justify these prices. With the ability to customize checkout pages, set up complex promotions and campaigns, and more precise analytics- Shopify Plus is the right choice for any online store looking for more flexibility in design and user experience.
On the other hand, Shopify Plus provides much-needed relief with advanced automation features that can enhance your customer support and marketing endeavors, helping you streamline your customer communication and processes. Learn more on Shopify Helpdesk apps
You can also opt for Shopify plus when you need a dedicated resource to help with your day-to-day operations. For a business looking for more customizations, flexibility, and scalability- Shopify Plus is well worth the money!
Changing your ecommerce platform is not an easy decision to take, yet the risks of sticking with an unsuitable platform are significant enough to consider the move.
Especially if it means spending additional resources on one or multiple factors such as cost, dev time, customer experience, platform stability, etc. by choosing to stay.
Here are some simple suggestions for anyone considering replatforming this year from DTC platform experts:
Darin Lynch is the Founder and CEO of Irish Titan, an ecommerce agency that builds and grows ecommerce channels using strategy, marketing, creative, and engineering. Darin offers over 25 years of digital, marketing, sales, technology and leadership experience ranging from Fortune 100 financial firms to national retailers to start-up and early stage companies.
Chelsea Jones is the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Chelsea & Rachel Co. which is one of only five woman-owned Shopify-Plus Preferred Partners in the world. They were recently awarded the Most Merchant Obsessed Agency from Shopify in 2022. Focusing on consumer food and wellness brands, Chelsea & Rachel, Co is leading the path on UX/UI and custom development for enterprise DTC brands.
1. Consider replatforming if ease of use becomes a hassle for both you and your customers. Or if your existing tech stack is not actively contributing towards customer retention, an increased customer lifetime value or at the very least improved product awareness.
2. Choose a partner and a platform that is best for the growth and vision of your company.
3. I repeat, picking the right partner to help in migration is critical so you don't loose data and vital customer notes. Your partner should understand and align with your priorities and be willing to work with your constraints and not theirs.
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