Comparison: Shopify vs Shopify Plus

Are you struggling to manage your sales and customer orders across multiple channels? This is when the Shopify vs Shopify Plus discussion arises, exposing the nuanced differences in managing your business’s scalability. Shopify has been regarded as one of the best ecommerce platforms of 2024 by Forbes offering tailored solutions to businesses. It has become a household name in ecommerce and offers an easy-to-use interface, customizable options, and top-notch customer support.  

While the standard Shopify features serve small and medium businesses adequately, scaling demands upgrading to advanced versions. This is where Shopify Plus takes the lead, positioning itself as an “omnichannel enterprise” level platform.  

• In the first quarter of 2023, Shopify’s net income amounted to about 68 million U.S. dollars, as reported by Statista.  
• According to another Statista report, the market value of Shopify has increased substantially over the years. In 2015, it was valued at 2.05 billion U.S. dollars, but by 2024, it had skyrocketed to 96.35 billion U.S. dollars. 

E-commerce websites are multifaceted platforms operating as online storefronts, payment processors, order fulfillment domains, and marketing platforms. These interesting facts and figures state that Shopify is catering to businesses with these cloud-based software solutions effectively.  

But the dilemma is whether to choose Shopify or Shopify Plus and when. In this article, we will delve into the key differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus, analyzing their features and functionalities. This will give you a better understanding of both the versions.  

Shopify vs Shopify Plus – Are They Fundamentally Different? 

Shopify and Shopify Plus are not fundamentally different at their core. They are both built on the same platform, offering a user-friendly interface and advanced functionalities. However, Shopify Plus is designed as an enhanced version packed with additional features and customizable capabilities. Shopify Plus, introduced in 2014, offers business owners enhanced control over their online storefronts as an adaptable enterprise solution. 

The basic point of difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus is Shopify is great for launching your business. However, for long-term growth, Shopify Plus unlocks powerful features to help you thrive.  

Let us discuss some unique Shopify Plus features. 

1. Organization Admin: Manages commerce efficiently from one central hub for a high-level overview and consolidated administration.
2. Advanced Apps: Shopify Plus merchants have exclusive access to advanced apps tailored for high-growth businesses. These include B2B, Wholesale channel, Launchpad, ShopifyQL Notebooks, and unlimited custom Level 2 PII apps.
3. Integrations: Only Shopify Plus users have access to integrations like “Tax services with Avalara AvaTax.”
4. API Resources: Shopify Plus offers extra API calls for custom apps. Shopify Plus members can access resources like REST, GiftCard, Multipass, User, and GraphQL. You can boost your API rate limits by contacting support.
5. Customizable Checkout Options: Shopify Plus offers a customized checkout experience tailored to your brand and customer needs, potentially increasing conversion rates. But it is important to note that Checkout.liquid file, used for customizing store will be removed on August 13, 2024. Shopify Plus users can use checkout extensibility to customize their pages.
6. Themes & Designs: You can get access to exclusive themes and greater control over store design to create a truly unique brand experience. With Shopify Plus, you can add up to 100 Shopify themes to your account, allowing for seasonal variations and long-term use.
7. Staff Accounts & Permissions: Shopify Plus offers unlimited staff accounts, enhancing usability for larger organizations and scalability. Additionally, it provides superior configurations for greater control over staff actions in the store’s backend.
8. Locations: With Shopify Plus, you can keep track of your products and deliver orders from as many as 200 different places.
9. Store Expansion: Shopify Plus allows you to create nine additional stores globally for scaling your business and managing different locations. Besides, it also supports infinite numbers of department stores.
10. Markets: The Shopify Plus plan offers the flexibility to add up to 50 Markets whenever needed.
11. Shopify Plus Partner Program: You can connect with a network of certified experts who specialize in curating advanced solutions for accelerating your business.
12. Shopify Plus POS: Shopify Plus includes Shopify POS Pro for all store locations, allowing seamless in-store transactions without additional costs. This facilitates effective synchronization between your online and physical store.
13. Superior User Management: Shopify Plus provides advanced security and customized user management capabilities. This includes features like 

• SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) for unified login credentials  
• SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management) for simplified access rights management across applications. 

15. Data Interaction: With Shopify Plus, you get access to ShopifyQL Notebooks, which is an exclusive tool for accessing your business data. It can help you make informed decisions by exploring, analyzing, and visualizing your growth through custom reports.  

Shopify vs Shopify Plus Features 

When discussing Shopify vs Shopify Plus features, it’s important to note that they share the same technology and core functionalities. However, Shopify Plus is tailored for high-growth businesses, offering exclusive management tools and advanced apps.  

Let’s explore the significant differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus from various perspectives. 

1. Pricing

We will discuss the breakdown of Shopify vs Shopify Plus pricing and the way it impacts your business.  

Shopify Pricing: 

Shopify works on a subscription-based model with three standard plans. These plans include web hosting, SSL certificates, data security, and many more features. The plans are,  

• Basic Shopify: $29/month 
• Shopify: $79/month 
• Advanced Shopify: $299/month 

You get the option to test any of the plans for free with a three-day trial. This trial period will help you to decide which one serves your business purposes better.  

These standard Shopify plans are a great starting point for businesses, especially those with a minimum product range. These plans are cost-effective for store owners and can be implemented easily. The plans ensure security measures, allowing you to sell confidently. It offers basic inventory management tools to monitor your products and customer data. Moreover, the plans offer user-friendly built-in sales and marketing tools to effectively promote your products. 

 Shopify Plus Pricing: 

• For standard configurations and integrations, every business will have to pay a minimum of $2,500 per month. 
• Once your monthly sales reach $800,000, Shopify Plus changes to a revenue-based model. 
• The revenue-based approach has a monthly maximum of $40,000. 

Unlike the standard Shopify plans with fixed monthly costs, Shopify Plus offers a custom fee structure based on your sales volume. This implies that you will pay as you grow and can focus on scalability more. The variable pricing options allow you to invest more in marketing and sales efforts without worrying about fixed costs.  

Ultimately, the comparison of Shopify vs Shopify Plus pricing highlights the parameters of growth. You can begin with the basic Shopify plans when starting your business. Then consider switching to Shopify Plus plans as depending on growth. It is an investment that grows with your success, but you must consider the potential costs involved in switching.  

2. Customizable checkout options 

Shopify 

Shopify offers basic customization options like changing colors and text, along with some app integrations to enhance the checkout experience. You can add only a few custom fields to gather additional customer details. You can also install apps for features like abandoned cart recovery or express checkout. However, because you have limited access to pre-built checkout choices, you cannot fully control checkout procedures. You must rely on a few checkout options provided by Shopify.  

As a result, checkout customization options are more limited with Shopify compared to Shopify Plus.  

Shopify Plus 

Shopify Plus users have the flexibility to personalize their checkout pages in a better way. This is very important to improve conversion rates and eliminate cart abandonment. This also helps to reduce friction that buyers may encounter during the checkout process. They can achieve this effectively by incorporating custom fields, scripts, tailored validation, personalized pricing options, multilingual checkout choices and many more. 

• Checkout extensibility: The checkout experience can be personalized using checkout extensibility that empowers your store’s branding. You can efficiently customize Shopify Checkout using the drag-and-drop editor and apps. This option also allows you to deliver unique experiences to customers with custom apps. 
• Custom fields: With Shopify Plus, you can add any field for securing detailed customer data. You can add fields like text fields, checkboxes, etc., during checkout. Based on customer reactions, you can issue vouchers, coupons, gift cards, and many more.  
• Customized scripts: This option enables you to add special tools to the checkout page using custom scripts. These tools can act as valuable marketing strategies making buying journeys more enjoyable for your customers. This can be done by adding special discounts, adding live chat options, offering shipping charges based on the customers’ location, etc. 
• Custom Validation: Shopify Plus enables you to get rid of the one-size-fits-all validation rules by creating a unique checkout experience. This ensures customers provide the exact information you need. Custom validation catches errors right at the beginning, ensuring smooth order processing. It helps to collect essential information and strengthens validation rules for sensitive fields containing financial details.  

• Customized Pricing Options: With this, you can set up personalized pricing rules. These rules depend on factors like the customer’s location, cart items, contents. For instance, you can charge a small shipping fee for remote deliveries. Also, reward bulk purchases with discounts. 
• Multilingual checkout: Shopify Plus offers built-in multilingual checkout editor and app integrations for a wider range of languages. It is essential for scaling your online store globally.  

3. Improved Scalability 

Shopify 

Shopify is a convenient platform for launching your ecommerce business, but obstacles may arise as business grows. The platform can handle a moderate amount of traffic, offering a highly competitive edge to its customers. However, a sudden surge can result in slow page loading, glitches or even crashes. While offering core functionalities like product management and order processing, Shopify may lack the advanced tools required for high-volume businesses. 

Shopify Plus 

Shopify Plus has been designed to manage high-volume enterprise level businesses offering extensive resources and tools to leverage growth. It includes all the basic Shopify features along with additional tools for automation, customizing workflows and managing multiple stores. Shopify Plus features enable you to access advanced apps and management tools to accommodate high growth.  

4. Enhanced customer support 

Shopify 

Shopify offers customer support in the following ways,  

• Live chat, phone and email: Shopify offers 24/7 live chat support to customers for answering their queries. Besides, phone and email support are also provided during business hours.  
• Resources for self-service: Provides a knowledge base with articles, tutorials, and FAQs to help you troubleshoot common issues. 
• Community forums: You can also get access to a community forum where you can connect with other users and get peer support. 

Shopify Plus 

Shopify Plus offers more advanced customer support along with the support options available on standard Shopify plans,   

•  24/7 Live Chat and Phone Support: Priority support is given to users with faster responses for prompt solutions, no matter what the time is. 
• Dedicated account manager: You can enjoy personalized assistance for your store and growth strategies with a dedicated point of contact. It is like having your own personalized Shopify manager.  
• Merchant Sucess Program: With Shopify Plus you can have access to a wider range of support resources tailored to high-volume business needs. The success program also includes workshops, personalized assistance and resources for platform optimization and strategic guidance. 

5. Multistore management 

Shopify 

• All the Stores require a separate subscription and management systems.  
• To manage inventory, customer data, or promotions across stores, you must use third-party apps or manual workarounds. 
• No centralized dashboard is available to control multiple stores. You will have to log in and manage each store separately. 

Shopify Plus 

• Built to manage multiple stores with a single unified dashboard. You can add, edit, and handle all your stores from a centralized dashboard, saving you time and effort. 
• You can seamlessly share inventory and product data across stores, ensuring consistency and avoiding overselling.  
• You can utilize customer data insights from multiple stores to improve target marketing and deliver personalized experiences. 
• Shopify Plus creates distinct branding and themes for each store, catering to different audiences or regional markets. 
• You can gain insights from combined or individual store data to make informed decisions.  

Shopify vs Shopify Plus: Which one to choose for your business? 

Choosing between standard Shopify and Shopify Plus depends on your business goals. To help you make an informed decision, we have some insights. 

Shopify offers a user-friendly interface suitable for various ecommerce businesses, from small startups to large enterprises. However, as businesses grow, switching to Shopify Plus becomes crucial and requires careful consideration. Shopify Plus provides extensive customization options, advanced automation features, and dedicated support. This makes it ideal for businesses seeking flexibility, growth and enhanced user experiences. Overall, Shopify Plus provides comprehensive solutions for businesses seeking expansion, while standard Shopify has limitations in scalability. 

Upgrading to Shopify Plus 

Upgrading your eCommerce platform is not an easy choice to make. However, staying on a platform that doesn’t accommodate growth can be costly for your business. Hence, it is worth considering an upgrade to a superior version of the platform. Especially if you are investing in significant resources in the platform, you are currently using. This is exactly when you should consider upgrading to Shopify Plus from the standard Shopify plans.  

BlenderBottle’s Journey: From Shakes to Global Success with Shopify Plus 

BlenderBottle has now become a household name with people using their bottles to make juices and soups.  

Lumpy protein shakes are disliked by most people. So, in 2000, Steve Sorensen had a creative idea and made a whisk out of wire at a hardware store. This innovation came out as BlenderBall. Along with his wife Kim, Steve turned their home business into BlenderBottle, a company that now sells its products worldwide. Today, BlenderBottle is a major brand with products in over 100,000 stores across 90 countries. They were early adopters of Shopify Audiences, a tool that efficiently connects brands with potential customers and enhances ads performance. 

Shopify helped BlenderBottle target people who are very likely to be interested in their products. They reached consumers who already bought similar items online. This made their advertising more effective. But as BlenderBottle started growing, exceeding their customers’ expectations, they needed an upgrade. This is why to overcome the challenges of scalability, optimization, and exclusive customization, they decided to upgrade to Shopify Plus.  

With Shopify Plus, BlenderBottle now enjoys 600% return on ad spend performance. They saw outstanding outcomes. Now, they can effortlessly launch lookalike campaigns, improve ad targeting, and enhance overall performance. This helps increase returns on investment while expanding their client base.  

Bottom Line 

When choosing between Shopify and Shopify Plus, consider all factors to find the best fit for your business needs. Also, ensure that the platform aligns with your requirements and goals. If you are starting a business, begin with the basic Shopify plan. Then focus on growth and build a client base. Later, you can upgrade to Shopify Plus as your business expands.  

Confused between Shopify and Shopify Plus? Let us help you maximize the potential of your ecommerce store.   

Get a free consultation today!  

FAQs 

1. What is the difference between Shopify Basic and Shopify Plus

Shopify Basic is ideal to use if you have just started your business or running a small business. It offers limited features and customizations at an affordable cost. Shopify Plus, on the other hand, accommodates high growth businesses. It offers exclusive tools and extensive customization which are favorable for scaling your business. It comes with dedicated support but at a higher price point. 

2. Is it worth upgrading to Shopify Plus?

You should consider upgrading to Shopify Plus if your business is expanding and you need advanced features. Shopify Plus offers customized checkout options, enhanced customer support, dedicated support management, advanced analytics, and many more unique features. It is a great option for scaling and building a strong client base.  

3. What is the benefit of Shopify Plus? 

There are several benefits of Shopify Plus such as, 

1. Extensive Customization: Creates a unique and engaging shopping experience for customers tailored to your brand. Offers exclusive facilities such as customizable checkout, Launch Team, Organization Admin, etc.  
2. High growth Scalability: Manages large sales growth and traffic surges seamlessly, ensuring your store stays updated. 
3. Advanced Features: Offers automation, in-depth analysis, and custom checkout options to optimize and streamline your store’s performance.
4. Multistore Management: Manages multiple stores efficiently from a single unified dashboard platform.
5. Dedicated Management Support: Provides priority support from Shopify experts for quick resolutions and strategic performance.  

4. How do I convert Shopify to Shopify Plus? 

Upgrading to Shopify Plus from standard Shopify is not an easy task. You need to contact the Shopify Sales team or a Shopify Plus partner to discuss your requirements. After that the migration process will begin. They’ will then assist you to transfer data and ensure a smooth transition. The duration of migration from Shopify to Shopify Plus can vary. However, Shopify promises to complete the process within 90 days (about 3 months) or less. 

5. What is Shopify plus price? 

Shopify Plus Pricing can be broken down like this,  

• For standard configurations and integrations, every business will have to pay a minimum of $2,000 per month. 
• Once your monthly sales reach $800,000, Shopify Plus changes to a revenue-based model. 
• The revenue-based approach has a monthly maximum of $40,000. 

Unlike the standard Shopify plans with fixed monthly costs, Shopify Plus offers a custom fee structure based on your sales volume. This implies that you will pay as you grow and can focus on scalability more. The variable pricing options allow you to invest more in marketing and sales efforts without worrying about fixed costs.