What You Should Know About Shopify Plus

Once you hit over $1M in annual revenue, businesses switch from Shopify to Shopify Plus.

Over 3.76 million websites use Shopify and the platform helped brought in record-breaking revenue in 2021. Shopify Plus offers all the same features and more, allowing larger merchants to handle bigger order volumes, manage several accounts and get better insights and support.

Nike, Kylie Cosmetics, and Gymshark – all use Shopify Plus.

There are plenty of reasons to join them, but as with any major business decision, it’s important to weigh up the potential downsides too.

Need some help to guide your decision? Read up on the key features, pros and cons of Shopify Plus below in our quick guide.

Shopify Plus benefits

Shopify Plus is a robust software-as-a-service eCommerce platform that appeals to enterprise-grade businesses for several reasons:

• Incredibly reliable uptime: Shopify Plus supports four million hits per second and 99.99 percent uptime. This means the website can handle high traffic volume when you wish to launch a product.
• Better customisation: Compared to Standard Shopify, you’ll get more options over look and feel of your website
• A dedicated support manager: You’ll be assisted by a real person 24/7.
• Exclusive mobile store builder: this allows you to create iOS and Android apps even if you have zero technical aptitude.
• Unlimited users (and more staff permissions)
• 10 extra stores – unlike the standard Shopify, Shopify Plus these extra stores can be used to create more selling opportunities, for internationalization purposes, or to cater for stores with different physical locations.
• Easy integrations: Great news: Shopify Plus boasts a wealth of third-party apps and clear guidance for developers too.

Shopify Plus gives you a lot more flexibility, more support options, and more access to your store’s underlying code.

Shopify Plus limitations

One potential drawback of Shopify Plus is the inability to customise the core platform, which Shopify owns and looks after itself. Although you won’t have the freedom to access and edit the code behind your online shop, the benefits are improved site security, all the while reducing your ownership costs and support needs.

Shopify Plus doesn’t offer quite as many out-of-the-box features as some eCommerce platforms either, such as filter and checkout customisations. That’s not to say these can’t be added, with plug-ins making this readily available at an additional cost.

Is Shopify Plus worth the investment?

Ultimately, it comes down to what you want from your eCommerce platform. Chris Rutledge, Head of Technical Solutions at ecommerce agency Statement, explains:

“Shopify Plus is often considered by enterprise organisations looking to move from platforms like Magento and Hybris to something more agile. For the expense, Shopify Plus is cheaper than other enterprise solutions.

“As well as the exclusive apps it offers, it’s important to understand that a merchant gets up to 10 full, separate stores as part of their Shopify Plus investment. These stores can be used for anything, such as international sites better tailored to the target territories or to market specific products, brands or sub-brands.”

In short, you don’t pay extra for Shopify Plus and get nothing in return.

The core Shopify platform could well be enough for your needs, but it’s important to research all your options before committing.

For enterprise-level businesses looking for an easy, future-proof, and flexible platform to help them grow, Shopify could be your ticket.