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Part 1: Definition

What is Shopify?

Shopify is the all-in-one commerce platform designed to start, run, and grow a business. It offers three main plans tailored to various stages of business growth:

1. Basic Shopify ($29/month): Ideal for new, small businesses not yet scaling extensively. Often chosen by Pre-commerce and small Seller category merchants.
2. Shopify ($79/month): Suitable for growing businesses with a developing customer base. Typically used by Sellers and early-stage Established merchants.
3. Advanced Shopify ($299/month): Best for scaling businesses that require advanced reporting and lower credit card rates. Often the choice of larger Established merchants.

What is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is the enterprise-level offering of Shopify, designed for high-volume merchants and big businesses. It's often the platform of choice for Mature merchants who need a robust, scalable solution. Shopify Plus offers enhanced capabilities, greater control, and more customization to cater to the demanding needs of large-scale businesses.

Part 2: Shopify Plus Features

Shopify Plus is packed with features to supercharge growth and efficiency. This blog will explore these features under three main categories: Growth & Scalability, Innovation, and Support.

Growth & Scalability Features

Expandable Stores and B2B on Shopify:

• Expandable Stores: This feature allows merchants to manage multiple storefronts from a single Shopify Plus account. It's incredibly beneficial for businesses looking to expand into different markets or cater to diverse customer segments. For instance, a global brand can create region-specific stores, each with its localized content and product offerings, while maintaining centralized control. It’s handy especially for order routing.
• B2B on Shopify: Shopify Plus enables seamless integration of B2B and direct-to-consumer (DTC) operations within a single platform. This feature is crucial for wholesalers and manufacturers who want to offer personalized experiences to their business clients, such as custom pricing, bulk ordering, and exclusive products, without compromising their consumer retail operations.
• Hydrogen & Oxygen: Hydrogen is a React-based framework for building custom storefronts, available to all Shopify plans, while Oxygen is an exclusive hosting solution for Shopify Plus merchants. Oxygen provides global hosting for Hydrogen storefronts, which is essential for high-volume businesses that demand fast, reliable, and scalable online experiences. This combination is ideal for merchants needing custom storefronts that can handle high traffic volumes and complex operations.
• Checkout UI Extension: Shopify Plus is the only plan that allows full customization of the checkout experience. This feature is a game-changer for merchants looking to create a branded checkout process, implement unique upselling strategies, or provide special checkout options like subscriptions or gift wrapping. It enables businesses to enhance the customer experience and potentially increase average order value.
• Branding API: This allows merchants to customize and streamline the branding across their online store, including checkout and emails. With this API, businesses can ensure brand consistency, which is vital for creating a cohesive customer experience and strengthening brand identity.Higher Limits: Shopify Plus offers significantly higher API rate limits, more staff accounts, and the ability to add up to 50 locations. These elevated limits are essential for large-scale operations, allowing for more frequent data exchanges with external systems, better team management, and expanded physical presence, all crucial for businesses operating at a high volume.

These enhanced Growth & Scalability features in Shopify Plus are designed to support businesses in their expansion and scaling efforts, offering the tools and flexibility needed to manage complex operations, enter new markets, and cater to a diverse customer base effectively.

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Innovation Features

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• Shopify Audiences: This tool helps merchants in identifying and targeting their ideal customer segments. It leverages data analytics to understand customer preferences and behaviors, enabling merchants to create more effective, targeted marketing campaigns. For instance, a business can use Shopify Audiences to identify which products are popular among certain demographics and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly.
• Shopify Launchpad: A scheduling tool that automates and simplifies the execution of sales, product launches, or marketing campaigns. It's particularly useful for managing events like flash sales or holiday promotions, ensuring that everything from pricing adjustments to inventory levels is handled automatically.
• Shopify Flow: This automation platform allows merchants to create custom workflows to streamline business operations. It can automate tasks like order processing, inventory management, and customer engagement, thereby reducing manual workload and improving efficiency.
• ShopifyQL Notebooks: This feature provides advanced analytics capabilities. Merchants can use ShopifyQL Notebooks to analyze large sets of data, gain insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and operational efficiency, and make data-driven decisions to boost their business.
• Shopify Functions: This feature allows merchants to customize and extend the capabilities of their Shopify store. Merchants can tailor specific aspects of their store's functionality, such as checkout processes, promotions, and product options, to better meet their unique business needs.
• Shopify Plus Organization Admin: This is a centralized dashboard for managing multiple Shopify stores and operations. It's ideal for businesses that operate several brands or regional storefronts, providing a unified view and control over all their eCommerce activities.
• Shopify Launchpad: This tool enables automated event planning and execution, allowing merchants to schedule and manage product launches, sales, and promotions with ease. It's beneficial for businesses that frequently run marketing campaigns or special events.

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Support Features

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• High-end Resources: Shopify Plus offers an ecosystem of certified apps and partners, additional technical support resources, and a dedicated community focused on the needs of large merchants. This ecosystem is designed to provide merchants with the tools and support they need to scale their business efficiently.
• 24/7 Priority Support: Shopify Plus merchants receive priority when it comes to customer support, ensuring that any issues are addressed promptly and effectively. This level of support is crucial for businesses that operate around the clock and cannot afford prolonged downtimes.
• Merchant Success Program: This program provides strategic support to help merchants achieve their business goals on Shopify Plus. It includes services like defining merchant goals, recommending support resources, providing strategic data and benchmarking tools, and serving as a point of contact for any Shopify Plus contract inquiries.
• Active Plus Community: Being part of Shopify Plus also means access to a vibrant community of similar-sized merchants. This community is a valuable resource for sharing best practices, learning from others' experiences, and staying updated on the latest eCommerce trends.

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Part 3: Onboarding

Transitioning to a more powerful eCommerce platform is a significant step for any growing business. The onboarding process to Shopify Plus is designed to be as smooth and efficient as possible, ensuring that businesses can quickly leverage the platform's advanced features without major disruptions to their operations. This section of the blog will guide you through the intricacies of the Shopify Plus onboarding process, illustrating the steps involved, the specialized support you'll receive, and the cost considerations. Whether you're upgrading from a smaller Shopify plan, or migrating from a different platform entirely, understanding the onboarding process is crucial for a seamless transition. Let's explore how Shopify Plus makes this critical phase manageable, efficient, and tailored to the unique needs of each business

1. When to Upgrade Your Store to Shopify Plus: While Shopify welcomes all businesses, they recommend Plus for those making at least $1M in online revenue or processing over 80k orders per month. However, businesses seeking scalability, international selling, or advanced features may consider upgrading sooner.
2. Onboarding Time: Shopify Plus offers a 48-hour onboarding process from any platform, including standard Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and others. This rapid transition is ideal for businesses needing immediate scalability like a specialty goods store experiencing sudden growth in demand.
3. Costs: Shopify Plus pricing starts at around $2,000 per month, but the cost can vary based on the specific needs and scale of the business. This fee is structured to reflect the premium features, enhanced capabilities, and dedicated support that come with Shopify Plus, making it a worthwhile investment for businesses at a certain scale and complexity.‍
4. The Onboarding Process and Support Roles:

• Merchant Success Team: Provides tools and guidance for success on Shopify Plus. They might assist a newly onboarded luxury brand in setting strategic goals.
• Success Manager: Offers personalized advice and resources. A high-volume electronics retailer could receive tailored advice on managing complex operations.
• Launch Team: Consult on best practices for re-platforming and store building. A retailer moving from Magento could receive expert advice on data migration and storefront design.
• Engineering Team: Ensures seamless integration of technical components. A company with unique checkout processes could rely on this team for custom solution integration.

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Is Shopify Plus worth it? Our thoughts.

For businesses with a significant growth or that already operate at a high scale, Shopify Plus offers an array of features and dedicated support that can be pivotal in maintaining a competitive edge and driving continuous innovation in the eCommerce arena. Its cost, while substantial, is often justified by the value it brings in terms of scalability, customization, and efficiency.

We do not recommend using Shopify Plus if you do not meet the conditions mentioned above. You should feel comfortable with the price and actually have a need for Plus features.

Shopify has a dedicated topic on their Help Center. Click here to view it [https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/pricing-plans/plans-features/shopify-plus-plan].