Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: Choose the best for your business!

Overview

With the prevalence of online shopping in the tech-dominated eCommerce world, every business owner is accelerating their search for the perfect eCommerce platform. And this has become a universal trend post the pandemic. Customer satisfaction is at the center stage, and only a powerful platform can support the load of fulfilling constantly-changing customer needs.

Considering the top eCommerce platforms, Shopify and Shopify Plus are widely popular among small and mid-level businesses and even large enterprises. However, not everyone arrives at a radical conclusion regarding choosing the best eCommerce platform for their business.

To be honest, this blog is not about Shopify vs. Shopify Plus. It is more about a comprehensive understanding of which one aligns best with your business objectives. Both the highly functional eCommerce platforms work more or less in the same way. But there are specific parameters where Shopify Plus stands out as a more cost-effective digital commerce platform for high-growth enterprises. It can handle more than 10.149 transactions every minute. Now that is a promising number for a business aiming at a scalable infrastructure.

We are sure, after reading this, you will get a fair idea of what exactly you want, or at least in which direction to proceed to build a successful digital business.

Let us see what the textbook says about Shopify and Shopify Plus.

What are Shopify and Shopify Plus?

Shopify has been one of the front runners in the digital market since 2006. This all-in-one solution has gained popularity because of its best-in-breed eCommerce features, well-designed, customizable themes, and seamless support. 1.75 million businesses are currently using Shopify to sell their products and services, and over 1.59 million websites are live on the platform.

On the other hand, Shopify Plus was first launched in 2014, showcasing Shopify’s all up-to-date features but with added scalability, effectiveness, and enhanced support to meet the niche demands of large corporates and enterprises. Shopify Plus features are, in a way, an inheritance from Shopify, combined with a generational advancement. However, the significant difference between the two platforms is consequential to the target customers they aim at.

So, let us dig a little deeper into the features of both platforms based on their functionalities.

Design Flexibility

Shopify is being used worldwide from local vendors to international marketplaces. You can certainly benefit from the stunning storefront you can design without breaking a sweat.

Themes:

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus offer more than 100 customizable themes for you to use, ranging from free to premium. Professional designers have created all these themes keeping in mind the importance of flawless CX. You can choose the perfect one that imprints your brand on the minds of the visitors.

Templates:

You can check out the free templates available on both platforms. Otherwise, the premium ones are within the affordable range, which is a fortune considering it is a one-time investment.

Language Support:

Both the Shopify platforms support a wide range of languages, enabling you to sell across the globe. But here is where Shopify Plus stands out a bit. In Shopify you can translate your store into 5 different languages, whereas Shopify Plus lets you choose from 20. Look at the dynamics. You can sell locally with improved personalization and boost customer engagement.

Customization:

With Shopify Plus, you can customize way more than Shopify. For instance, you can use the script editor to customize your Shopify Plus cart and checkout, which is not possible while your store is on one of the basic Shopify plans.

eCommerce Features

eCommerce features are the essential part of this comparison. After all, we are all a part of this digital commerce fraternity. Our cumulative goal is to render a superior digital commerce experience to the customers.

Multi-Currency:

You can sell your products in multiple locations in more than 130 currencies with Shopify Payment from Shopify and Shopify Plus. The conversion price for each transaction is calculated automatically depending on the real-time foreign exchange rate. Your customers can purchase from anywhere in the world, which ultimately results in a revenue boost. But, here, Shopify Plus goes one step ahead by automatically converting the currencies by detecting the customer’s IP address. Also, it helps you customize the rounding-off rules as per your requirements, allowing you to control how the prices will look even in other currencies.

Product and Store Features:

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus have powerful store management features to power your online store in terms of customer management, order management, multiple shipping options, managing fulfillment centers, and returns and refunds. You can also enhance your product pages by leveraging video, 3D support, inventory management, multiple images and variations support, and seamless SEO support. Apart from all these features that Shopify provides, Shopify Plus will give you access to exclusive apps, including Shopify Flow, Script Editor, and Bulk Account Inviter, all helping you create better shopping experiences.

eCommerce Marketing:

Shopify and Shopify Plus are equally sufficient to help you promote and market your online store and increase your brand presence leveraging digital marketing services. You can seamlessly integrate social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, offer gift cards and discounts, add reviews and social proof to your products page, and more with both these platforms.

Analytics:

The best part of any eCommerce website is to better it with time using actionable insights. Shopify analytics lets you review your online store and marketing campaigns and work your way up to success. It gives you your overview dashboard to illustrate comprehensive data minute-by-minute. However, Shopify Plus takes the analytics to a new level with its in-depth reports.

Omnichannel:

One of the exclusive Shopify Plus features, omnichannel commerce plays a crucial role in enhancing customer experience across multiple channels, websites, social media accounts, brick-and-mortar stores, etc. You can leverage Shopify Plus to build a solid and long-lasting relationship with your customers by diversifying your storefronts accordingly.

Shopify Wholesale Channel:

Wholesale commerce can increase your sales and help you expand your business in a short time. And Shopify allows you to sell your products wholesale while opening up functionalities ranging from personalized discounts to franchise stores. Both Shopify and Shopify Plus offer more or less the exact solutions in wholesale. However, in Shopify Plus, you can build a totally different wholesale channel and separate it from your D2C sales. And since the channel is branched from your existing store, you can display the same products at wholesale discounts to wholesale customers. You can even create distinct pages for wholesale FAQs, policies, and terms and conditions. Finally, Shopify Plus allows you to control wholesale orders before invoicing and even automate wholesale customer signups, saving you time and effort on order management.

Headless Commerce:

The buzzword in today’s digital world, headless commerce, enabling rapid growth in the years to come. Keeping up with the latest innovations, the Shopify Plus Headless Commerce platform has numerous features.

High level of customizability
Seamless integration of the store with business and content management systems, including ERPs, PIM, CRM, and CMS
Enhanced quality of store visuals leveraging GraphQL Storefront API
Freedom to choose your tech stack for your webstore
Exclusive support from experienced Shopify Plus Partners

Help and Support

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus promise to cover your business with the best support service in various approaches. But Shopify Plus has its exceptional merits.

Resources:

For business owners who want to keep up with the latest trends and innovations and educate themselves about the platform, Shopify provides hundreds of tutorials at the Help Centre and social media channels.

Community:

If you want to collaborate with others or encourage knowledge-sharing, you can join the Shopify Community with over seven hundred thousand business owners, partners and Shopify developers from across the globe.

24/7 Support:

Needless to say, Shopify is always ready to help and solve your problems. You can contact the experts via phone, email, and live chat for a more personal experience. But for Shopify Plus users, business owners can receive constant support and at priority.

Launch Manager and Merchant Success Manager:

Another exclusive feature if you decide to go with Shopify Plus. You will get dedicated, profound, and personal support from the Launch Manager and Merchant Success Manager provided by Shopify Plus. Their job is to help you, from launching your eCommerce store to scaling and achieving success. You can leverage this exclusive feature to make the most of your eCommerce entrepreneur experience and take advantage of the strategic coaching and predictions ahead of the latest business trends.

Website Performance

According to Shopify, it maintains an overall 99.99% uptime, while the number is 99.98% in Shopify Plus. While Shopify Plus may seem a little slower when compared to Shopify, the storefront in Shopify Plus loads 2.97 faster than any other SaaS platform. In short, both platforms can help you minimize the bounce rate and help boost CX.

Pricing

One of the most critical factors while deciding the best eCommerce platform for your business is pricing. Shopify allows you to choose the plan that fulfills your business objectives while suiting your budget. Who says you cannot create an eCommerce store with a lean pocket? You can build your eCommerce store on Shopify, choosing the plan for Shopify development, costing you as less as a pizza. For Shopify Plus, it is a little on the higher side. However, with a high price, high enterprise power is guaranteed. You can drive your business effortlessly and plan on strategizing rather than managing.

All these plans offer your important features like fraud analysis, multi-currency, abandoned cart recovery, and more. But the universal truth is that the more you play, the more you get. You can choose from Shopify Lite to Shopify Basic, Shopify Advanced, or Shopify Plus, depending on what you need for your online business.

When Should You Upgrade to Shopify Plus?

There is no simple answer to this question. It depends on each enterprise when and how to plan its upgrade to Shopify Plus. However, you can consider certain factors while planning your Shopify migration. The first condition is the company’s annual revenue. As Shopify Plus can cost a fortune, you have to make sure you can afford it. Another critical factor is the number of staff members, as Advanced Shopify allows no more than 15 staff accounts per store. If your business is snowballing, maybe it’s time to upgrade. Finally, if you are stuck with troublesome redundant tasks, then it is a wiser option to prefer focussing on scaling your business rather than allowing petty tasks to be your roadblocks to success. While you are considering upgrading your store or migrating to Shopify Plus, you can always take an extra hand collaborating with a Shopify Plus development agency. With the eCommerce automatic tools coupled with the expertise of Shopify Plus partners, you can build and run your eCommerce business without any of these issues.

Conclusion

We have given you an exhaustive list of similarities and differences in this Shopify vs. Shopify Plus carnival. If you are looking for a basic eCommerce solution with fundamental features for building and monitoring your eCommerce store, Shopify and Shopify Plus can fulfill your needs. But, when it comes to better and stronger control and customization, greater flexibility, and enhanced functionality, Shopify Plus does stand out from the competition.

There is no doubt that Shopify is indeed a wise choice for small to large businesses due to its affordability and efficiency. But, Shopify Plus is best suited for enterprise-level eCommerce businesses to cater to their demand for a high-powered commerce platform.

The final choice is yours. But if you need any help or want to request a demo of what your Shopify-based online business can look like, do contact us.

digital commerceeCommerceEcommerce PlatformShopify vs. Shopify Pluswhy upgrade to shopify plus

Minal Joshi is a content marketer at Krish with a flair for eCommerce and Digital Commerce aspects. She is a MarTech fanatic with a knack of writing with which, she helps brands to curate, create, & commence digital brand positioning. Sharing insights via articles, case studies, eBooks, Infographics, and other forms of content creation is what she lives for. Being an ardent traveler, when not writing, you'll find her sipping coffee into the mountains or petting a stray.

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