If you’re one of the 1.75 million+ merchants who use Shopify, you’ll know it’s the best platform for ecommerce. But what if you want to grow your business and start selling at scale?
Shopify is a great solution for startups and small businesses. Its unparalleled features help you engage with customers and fulfil expectations. But after a while, you might start to feel limited by your Shopify plan.
That’s when you need to consider upgrading to Shopify Plus, their premier platform.
We’ve taken a closer look at Shopify Plus to help you make an informed choice when weighing up the cost of upgrading.
What is Shopify Plus?
If you’re a high growth seller, Shopify Plus could be for you. Utilised by some of the biggest brands in the world, it’s packed with unique features to help you deliver that next-level customer experience.
The next level ecommerce platform comes packed with the tools you need to start selling at scale. But at $2,000 (or around £1,600) a month, are the extra features worth it for your fast-growing brand?
Should my Business Upgrade to Shopify Plus?
There are obvious benefits to upgrading to Shopify Plus. Here’s what makes the difference between Shopify Plus and Shopify’s standard plans:
Script Editor
Script Editor is a unique feature that lets you write your own scripts and create a personalised customer experience.
In effect, you can run your own custom code without having to rely on third-party apps for the features you want.
If you’ve had difficulty finding custom functionality for your Shopify store, such as manually editing pricing on all products for a sale, this could be the solution for you. It’s easy to set up your own bespoke solutions, including:
- Special promotions and pricing for loyal customers
- Special discounts including free shipping and BOGO offers
- Offers on product bundles
- Payment gateways for streamlined reordering
If you’ve been frustrated by other off the peg solutions, this feature alone could be worth the upgrade.
Personalised Checkouts
Another great customisation feature is checkout personalisation. You’ll have the opportunity to A/B test various layout designs to determine what works best for your customers.
The checkout experience is critical in converting browsers to paying customers. Get the personalisation right and conversions and revenue should increase as a result.
Multi-Platform Selling
Shopify Plus comes with full integration for countless ecommerce platforms. So you can sell across channels like Pinterest, eBay and Etsy while seamlessly managing everything from the back-end.
The result? You can target prospects across multiple channels, boosting your reach by maximising marketing workflows and sales.
Unlimited Bandwidth
The bigger your store. The more bandwidth you’ll need. Customers aren’t impressed if your site can’t handle business during peak traffic flows like Black Friday.
Fortunately, Shopify Plus offers unlimited bandwidth. So your business will be capable of handling up to 6,000 checkouts and half a million hits per minute.
Lower Transaction Fees
If sellers have one criticism of the Shopify platform, it’s transaction fees. These can range between 2.2-2.9% per transaction. In addition, you’ll be charged 30 cents per transaction.
Upgrade to Shopify Plus, and there are no transaction fees. It’s a feature that can help you reinvest and grow your business.
We have done the maths with some of our clients and if the turnover on your Shopify store exceeds £1.4 million, you’ll actually be saving on transaction fees by upgrading to Shopify Plus.
Customer Service and Support 24/7
Upgrading can seem daunting. But the Shopify Plus customer support team is available 24/7 to ensure a seamless migration.
You’ll be assigned a launch partner to help you get your Shopify Plus store off the ground, and a merchant success manager to handle all your questions throughout the process.
For businesses that are looking to go that extra mile with Shopify Plus, Shopify makes sure you get the most out of migrating to your new plan.
Critical Factors to Consider before a Shopify Plus Upgrade
1. Is your annual revenue over £1.4m?
Has your ecommerce business cleared £1.4 million turnover? Shopify Plus is designed with effortless scalability in mind, so your store can continue to grow.
And again, when it comes to annual costs, Shopify Plus is better value for million-dollar businesses because monthly fees are around the 1% mark. If you’re looking for excellent RoI and quick scalability, then the cost of upgrading is justified.
2. Are you looking for a customised checkout solution?
As we’ve already mentioned, Shopify Plus has several features that let you personalise the customer checkout process. As a critical part of the customer journey, getting it right can have a real impact on your revenue.
If you need to update your checkout process, try Shopify Plus. The checkout.liquid file gives you complete control over layout, shipping and payment methods, order processing and much more. You’ll have full control of the functionality you want, allowing you to enhance your brand and create new conversions.
It also allows your brand to appear more unique – with so many merchants using the generic Shopify checkout, differentiating your business is never a bad thing.
3. Do you need more customer support?
Even the most successful ecommerce businesses start small, and learn as they grow. But there comes a point in your journey when doing everything on your own becomes too demanding on your time and knowledge. That’s when you need expert help to scale up and meet your ecommerce goals.
Upgrading to Shopify Plus gives you access to expert help and support at every step of the journey. In addition, you’ll get access to the exclusive Shopify Plus Academy where you’ll learn to run your store more efficiently through training videos and live workshop sessions.
Another bonus of upgrading to Shopify Plus is the chance to be part of the Facebook community. There you can trade knowledge and know-how with other entrepreneurs who’ve already successfully scaled their ecommerce business.
4. Are repetitive tasks preventing you from exploiting new growth opportunities?
Running a growing business is challenging, and you may find you have less free time to focus on new opportunities. In addition, repetitive tasks like shipping and order management can really pull your attention away from growing your business.
That’s where upgrading to Shopify Plus scores big. By providing tools that automate those repetitive tasks, you’re free to get on with exploiting new opportunities. Here’s our pick of what’s on offer:
Shopify Flow: This automation tool lets you use workflows to automate tasks like order management, promotions and even buyer experience.
Flow has a template library, or you can use the visual builder for task automation. This tool saves you time and money while boosting your productivity.
Launchpad: If you’re looking to automate marketing campaigns, product launches and other front end processes, try Launchpad.
This tool is an invaluable timesaver when you’re preparing for promotional events. For example, you can automate the following tasks:
- Choosing your sales discounts and when they come into effect
- Selecting the specific products you want to go on sale
- Add a theme to give your promotions a branded look and feel
If you’re not ready to upgrade to Shopify Plus just yet, you can still make use of automation in your Shopify store. Look out for solutions that let you automate everything from customer experience to logistics.
5. Is your team outgrowing your staff accounts?
As your business grows, the larger your team becomes. Advanced Shopify Core lets you host a maximum of fifteen staff accounts, which meets the needs of most new businesses.
But if your staff is rapidly outgrowing that number, Shopify Plus gives you unlimited staff accounts. That’s good news if you’re trying to manage your growing platform and don’t want to have to worry about the growth in team size.
Final thoughts: Is a Shopify Plus upgrade right for you?
If you’re looking to rapidly scale your existing business or you’ve outgrown the features of standard Shopify, Shopify Plus is the ideal platform to take you to the next level.
However, before you make the decision to upgrade, make sure you discuss your next move with your existing team.
Other factors that could play into your decision to migrate to the Shopify Plus platform include business goals and annual revenue.
If you’re already a million+ store, this platform will help you sustain and promote growth.
However, if you’re a startup, you’re probably better to focus on learning the ropes with the standard Shopify features before thinking of moving to the Shopify Plus platform.
There’s still plenty of functionality and integrations to choose from, which should help you get your store in a position to make the upgrade.
If you need advice on whether to upgrade to Shopify Plus, or want development support with your project, please get in touch with Search Hog today, we are Shopify SEO and web design specialists.
