Shopify Plus is a powerful e-commerce platform designed for large businesses with high sales volume and rapidly growing businesses. As an enhanced version of the standard platform, known simply as Shopify, it offers a set of advanced features and capabilities to support complex, large-scale online operations.
In essence, Shopify is ideal for those starting out or growing, while Shopify Plus is for businesses that need scalability, deep customization, and automation tools to handle complex operations.
In this article, we'll delve deeper into the full potential of Shopify Plus, helping you decide whether or not to upgrade your online store.
Let's start!
First, the key points of this post:
- Shopify Plus can process over 10,000 transactions per minute without compromising performance.
- Steady revenue streams with 99.99% uptime.
- Up to 50% more conversions, 50% lower customer acquisition costs, and 20% higher average order value.
- Access to a Merchant Success Manager (MSM) and 24/7 priority support.
- Access to exclusive partners and services.
- Advanced features for B2B and DTC (Direct to Consumer).
- It costs from $2,300 per month (on a 3-year contract).
- Ideal for large companies or growing businesses with complex needs and high sales volumes.
What is Shopify Plus?
It's an enterprise-grade e-commerce platform tailored for high-growth, high-volume businesses worldwide. Since its launch in 2014, it has hosted more than 47,000 stores, 20.5% of which sell clothing products.
Shopify Plus offers advanced features, a 99.99% uptime, greater customization, and improved scalability compared to standard Shopify plans. This makes it a popular choice for established brands looking to expand their digital presence.
With powerful tools for automation, multi-channel selling, and cross-border commerce, along with access to a dedicated support team and exclusive APIs, Shopify Plus is the ideal choice for businesses that need advanced functionality to manage complex operations and large-scale sales.
Key features of Shopify Plus
The platform offers a wide range of advanced features designed to meet the needs of large enterprises and high-volume businesses, from customizable checkouts to merchant success programs.
Customizable checkout page with the Checkout Blocks app
Shopify Plus merchants can leverage Checkout Blocks® to create a highly personalized checkout experience without touching any code. This app lets you add dynamic content, custom discounts, and targeted fields to your checkout process.
You can even create accordions, buttons, images, and text blocks to enhance the customer experience. The app also supports custom fields such as gift messages, delivery dates, and terms and conditions. It also offers address format validation and the ability to hide, rename, and reorder delivery and payment methods.
Unlimited staff accounts
Unlike standard Shopify plans, Shopify Plus offers an unlimited number of staff accounts. This feature is especially beneficial for large businesses, chain stores, and companies with multiple teams or locations.
It allows you to grant access to as many team members as you need, with the ability to set specific permission levels for each user. This ensures that everyone in your organization has the appropriate level of access to manage their responsibilities effectively, without compromising security.
Advanced Shopify Reports
With custom reports, you can modify default reports and create new ones using Shopify's filter and editing features. This allows you to display exactly the data you need, tailoring your reports to your specific business requirements. These custom reports can be saved for later use and provide valuable insights into your store's performance, helping you make data-driven decisions.
Shopify Plus B2B Features
Shopify Plus offers a robust set of B2B features designed to streamline wholesale operations. These include the ability to create multiple business profiles with unique payment terms and user permissions, custom price lists assigned to specific buyers or locations, and conditional rules for products and variants.
You can also set customer-specific prices, automate payment terms, and add custom data fields for companies and locations. These features allow you to offer a personalized shopping experience to your B2B customers, streamline your ordering process, and gain deeper insights into your customers' needs.
Dedicated Shopify Plus Support Manager
When you upgrade to Shopify Plus, you gain access to a dedicated support manager. This personal point of contact can provide you with tailored assistance and help you navigate the platform more effectively.
Your support manager can provide guidance on store setup, migration, and ongoing management, ensuring you get the most out of Shopify Plus's advanced features. This personalized support is particularly valuable for larger businesses with complex needs.
Merchant Success Program
The Merchant Success Program is a feature exclusive to Shopify Plus users. It provides access to a team of merchant success managers (MSMs) who are available to help you optimize your Shopify Plus experience.
These MSMs can help you with various aspects of your business, including store optimization, marketing strategies, and technical support. The program also includes access to the Shopify Plus Academy, an educational resource center filled with advanced courses and webinars to help you improve your store's design, marketing, and operations.
Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: Key Differences
Both are powerful e-commerce platforms, but their features and support are designed for different audiences.
A look at Shopify vs. Shopify Plus
Both are suitable for companies of different sizes and needs:
- Shopify: Ideal for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and startups looking for an easy-to-use and cost-effective e-commerce solution.
- Shopify Plus: The best option for large enterprises, high-volume businesses, and rapidly growing brands with complex needs and significant revenues (typically over $1 million in annual sales).
One of the most significant differences between both platforms is their scalability and performance. While Shopify can handle moderate traffic and transaction volume, Shopify Plus is designed to process over 10,000 transactions per minute without compromising performance. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses expecting a high volume of traffic or planning for accelerated growth.
Personalization is another area where Shopify Plus excels. While Shopify offers limited checkout customization, Shopify Plus provides full access to checkout customization and Liquid code for extensive theme modifications. This allows businesses to create a unique and brand-consistent experience throughout the customer's purchase process.
How much does Shopify Plus cost?
Pricing is one of the most important differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus.
Shopify offers three main plans:
- Basic Shopify: from $19 per month
- Shopify: from $49 per month
- Advanced Shopify: from $299 per month
In contrast, Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month with a 3-year contract, which includes a monthly discount and lower variable online platform fees.
Transaction fees are also different. Shopify charges 1% per transaction, while Shopify Plus offers lower fees starting at 0.2%. For sellers with a high sales volume, this difference can mean considerable savings.
| Feature | Shopify | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | Starting from $19 to $299/month | Starting from $2,300/month |
| Personalization | Limited checkout customisation | Fully customisable checkout |
| Staff Accounts | Up to 15 | Unlimited |
| API Limits | Standard | Higher limits |
| POS | POS Lite included, POS Pro +$89/month/location | POS Pro included at no extra cost |
| Apps | Access to over 6,000 apps | Access to 6,000+ apps plus 96 additional Shopify Plus app partners |
| Dedicated Support | General support | Dedicated account manager |
| Automation Tools | Basic | Advanced |
| Multi-Store Management | Limited | Up to 10 stores (expandable) |
| B2B Features | Basic | Advanced |
| Transaction Fees | 0.6% to 2% | 0.2% (negotiable) |
Custom scripts
Shopify Plus provides access to the Shopify Script Editor, a powerful tool for creating personalized customer experiences. With custom scripts, businesses can:
- Create automatic discounts without the need for coupon codes.
- Establish tiered pricing for loyalty programs.
- Customize the purchasing process based on customer information.
This level of customization allows Shopify Plus merchants to tailor the shopping experience to their specific business needs and customer preferences.
NOTE: Shopify has announced that support for Shopify Scripts and the Script Editor will be discontinued on August 28, 2025, and will be replaced by Shopify Functions.
Advanced analytics
While both Shopify and Shopify Plus offer analytics tools, Shopify Plus provides more comprehensive reporting capabilities:
- Advanced report builder for generating custom reports.
- Integration with industry-leading analytics companies to gain expert insights.
- Access to Shopify Audiences for improved customer segmentation.
These advanced analytics features allow Shopify Plus merchants to gain deeper insights into their business performance and make data-driven decisions.
Greater scalability
Shopify Plus is designed to handle high sales volumes and traffic spikes, making it ideal for rapidly growing businesses.
Key scalability features include:
- Capacity to handle more than 10,000 transactions per minute.
- Dedicated infrastructure to ensure optimal performance during peak periods.
- Support for multiple stores (up to 10) under a single account.
This improved scalability ensures that Shopify Plus stores can maintain performance and reliability even when experiencing significant growth or sudden increases in traffic.
Upgrade to Shopify Plus with Orienteed.
Take your business to the next level with Shopify Plus and Orienteed. With a deep level of e-commerce expertise, we offer digital solutions to maximize your business, from setting up your store and optimizing its design to selecting and integrating the perfect apps.
Contact us today to talk about your business and we'll begin analyzing your needs, developing your roadmap, and executing a customized action plan.
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Digital Marketing Manager at Orienteed.
I lead the planning and execution of Orienteed's digital marketing strategy with a fantastic team, making sure it aligns with our strategic goals and drives business growth. I'm really into inbound marketing, web design, and creating content that matters.
I wrote the book: "How to Create a Profitable Blog Today."
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