The Advantages of Shopify Plus: Why and When to Make the Switch

By Kristina Rigina

If you have been using Shopify for some time, you inevitably have considered whether to upgrade to Shopify Plus for your store. We answer this question in detail and review the benefits and features you may enjoy when switching to the premium Shopify version.

Why Shopify Plus

Shopify claims that stores commonly upgrade to Shopify Plus when their monthly sales reach roughly $80,000. However, some merchants find it helpful to switch earlier for a number of reasons based on Shopify Plus advantages. 

• The switch allows merchants to spend less on each transaction.

• It has developer tools for complex store automation and customization.

• With Shopify Plus, you can scale your business without limits.

• You get more tools for international selling managed from one place.

• You have more opportunities for omnichannel and in-store sales.

• Shopify Plus opens more opportunities to promote your products.

• You get access to dedicated priority support.

This list is solid. However, note that you would need Shopify Plus website development services from a certified Shopify Plus Partner to unlock its full potential. To understand why, let’s look closer at these benefits of Shopify Plus.

Shopify Plus features and their benefits

You can upgrade to Shopify Plus by sending a request to Shopify’s support team or by contacting their sales representatives. Within 24 hours after signing up, your store will be upgraded. What features can you access once this has happened?

Lower transaction fees

While other Shopify plans charge between 0,5% to 2% per transaction, Shopify Plus allows to cut these expenses with a 0.15% transaction fee. However, final transaction fees and credit card rates depend on your region and payment provider. So, you negotiate your store's terms and fees before switching with Shopify sales representatives.

At the same time, Shopify Plus subscription costs start at $2,300 per month, which is much higher than Shopify Basic's $24 per month subscription. That’s for a reason since Shopify Plus has extensive exclusive features. 

Checkout extensibility

Checkout is one of the most essential parts of the customer journey. That’s why Shopify offers Checkout extensibility features for flexible Checkout and Thank You page customization. You can change branding and styles through the Checkout editor. There is also an opportunity to extend functionality by adding Shopify Checkout apps and track customer activity with customer events.

Shopify Functions

This feature is intended to customize your store's backend logic. It allows you to extend your current functionality as well as create your own apps for additional features tailored to your business needs. For example, with Shopify Functions, you can create customized bundles to sell multiple products as a single unit. That’s where developers' help is a must.

Managed Markets

If you’re planning for international expansion, you should consider the Managed Markets tool. Its main advantage is that you get access to the Merchant of Record feature, which allows you to delegate managing all the international selling complexities, such as registering and remitting local taxes, managing duties, and import taxes to a third party – Global-e. With a Shopify Plus account, you can create up to 50 Markets for international sales. 

Shopify POS Pro

Shopify POS tools allow for in-person selling from multiple brick-and-mortar stores while managing inventory and orders in a unified manner. There are two tiers: Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro. The latter offers more features for enterprise businesses, such as unlimited staff access, staff roles and permissions, inventory management, omnichannel selling, and retail reports. You get 20 POS Pro locations included in your Shopify Plus plan.

Scalability tools

Shopify Plus is all about scaling your business once it starts growing big. For this reason, you get multiple tools to succeed without hassle.

Unlimited development stores

You can create as many development stores as you wish to experiment with different functions and designs for final implementation in your live stores.

Multiple themes

You can add up to 100 themes to your Shopify account to try out new designs and features or test changes to a copy of your published theme. 

Additional APIs

You have an increased limit of API calls to integrate with custom apps and third-party services for enhanced functionality and rich project infrastructure. 

Unlimited staff

Shopify doesn’t limit you to staff accounts, understanding that your growth requires more people involved. In addition, for more control over your project, you have additional permission settings to manage actions your staff can take in the Shopify admin.

More locations

With Shopify Plus, you can add up to 200 physical locations, such as retail stores, warehouses, dropshippers, or any other place where you manage or stock inventory. 

Shopify Audiences

This feature allows you to increase conversions and cut customer acquisition costs by just installing a Shopify Audiences app. Its ad algorithms automatically create relevant audience lists and segments based on your store’s data for further ad campaign creation and launch on ad networks, such as Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Criteo.

If you want to get the maximum out of these Shopify Plus capabilities, click here for expert developers' guidance.

To sum up

What are the significant benefits of switching to Shopify Plus?

• Lower transaction fees

• Flexibility in store development

• Improved customization options

• Unique international selling tools

• More features for in-person selling

• Enhanced scalability opportunities

• Better marketing features

Switching to Shopify Plus offers a powerful suite of tools and features to elevate your store’s growth, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences.

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