Shopify Plus

What is Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is the enterprise-level ecommerce platform from Shopify, designed for large and high-growth businesses. Its core purpose is to provide a scalable, customizable, and robust solution for merchants with high sales volume and complex operational needs. Unlike the standard Shopify plans, Shopify Plus offers advanced features, greater customization capabilities, dedicated support, and infrastructure that can handle massive traffic spikes, such as during flash sales. Shopify was founded in 2006 by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and has grown to become a leading global commerce company.

Shopify Plus Features

Shopify Plus provides a suite of powerful features tailored for enterprise-level demands:

• Scalable Infrastructure: Built to handle high traffic with over 10,000 checkouts per minute, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited product SKUs. This ensures your store remains fast and reliable during peak sales periods.
• Advanced Customization: Offers greater control over your store's look and feel. You can customize your checkout experience and use tools like Shopify Functions to build custom backend logic for discounts, shipping, and payments.
• Headless Commerce: Provides powerful APIs (REST and GraphQL) that allow businesses to build completely custom storefronts using their preferred technology stack, while still using Shopify's powerful backend for checkout and management.
• Omnichannel Solutions: Unify your online and offline sales channels. Shopify Plus integrates seamlessly with Shopify POS Pro to manage inventory, sales, and customer data across all locations.
• Global Commerce Tools: Sell internationally with ease. Features include support for multiple stores, currencies, and languages, managed from a single dashboard. Shopify Markets helps you localize the shopping experience for different regions.
• B2B on Shopify: A dedicated suite of features for wholesale operations. Create a password-protected storefront for B2B customers with custom price lists, net payment terms, and self-service portals.
• Shopify Flow: An automation tool that lets you build custom workflows to automate repetitive tasks across your store and apps, such as fraud detection, inventory management, and customer segmentation.
• Launchpad: A scheduling tool for automating and planning major events like sales campaigns, product drops, and flash sales. You can schedule theme changes, product visibility, and discounts in advance.
• Dedicated Support: Shopify Plus members receive premium support, including a dedicated Launch Engineer for migration and setup, and a Merchant Success Manager for ongoing strategic guidance.

Shopify Plus Pricing Plans

Shopify Plus pricing is designed for enterprise clients and is not offered in fixed public tiers. The cost is variable and tailored to the merchant's business size and sales volume. The pricing structure typically starts with a base monthly platform fee. As the business's sales grow, the fee may transition to a small percentage of the monthly revenue. This model ensures that the cost scales with the success of the business. The plan includes all the advanced features, unlimited staff accounts, and dedicated support resources. It is intended for businesses with high revenue, typically starting from $1 million USD annually.

Shopify Plus Free Plan

Shopify Plus does not offer a free plan or a standard free trial. It is an enterprise-level solution that requires a consultation with the Shopify Plus sales team to get started. Prospective clients can request a demo to see the platform in action and discuss their specific business needs. For businesses not yet at the enterprise level, standard Shopify plans offer a free trial, which allows them to build a store and explore the core Shopify ecosystem before considering an upgrade to Shopify Plus as they grow.

How to use Shopify Plus

Getting started with Shopify Plus is a guided process:

1. Contact Sales: The first step is to contact the Shopify Plus sales team to discuss your business requirements, sales volume, and technical needs.
2. Migration and Setup: Once you sign up, a dedicated Launch Engineer will assist you with migrating your existing store or setting up a new one. This includes data migration, domain setup, and technical guidance.
3. Store Configuration: Customize your storefront using advanced theme editing or build a custom headless experience. Upload your products, configure payment gateways, and set up shipping rules.
4. Leverage Advanced Tools: Set up automations with Shopify Flow to streamline business processes. If you sell wholesale, configure your B2B on Shopify store with custom pricing and terms.
5. Integrate Your Systems: Connect your existing ERP, CRM, and other third-party systems using the Shopify App Store or custom API integrations.
6. Launch and Grow: Schedule your store launch or a major sales event with Launchpad. After launch, your Merchant Success Manager will provide ongoing support and strategic advice to help you grow your business.

Pros and Cons of Shopify Plus

Pros

• High Scalability: The platform is built to handle enormous traffic and transaction volumes without performance issues.
• Reliability and Security: Fully hosted solution with 99.99% uptime, PCI DSS compliance, and robust security features.
• Extensive Customization: Offers deep customization of the checkout and backend logic, plus headless commerce options for full creative control.
• Dedicated Support: Access to a team of experts, including a Launch Engineer and a Merchant Success Manager, provides valuable strategic support.
• Large Ecosystem: A vast ecosystem of apps and certified partners helps extend the platform's functionality to meet any business need.
• Unified Commerce: Manages B2C, B2B, online, and retail sales from a single, centralized platform.

Cons

• High Cost: The pricing is significantly higher than standard Shopify plans, making it accessible only to large, high-revenue businesses.
• Transaction Fees: If you don't use Shopify Payments, you will incur transaction fees on every sale, in addition to the platform fee.
• Requires Developer Skills for Deep Customization: While highly customizable, unlocking its full potential often requires skilled developers, which can add to the overall cost.
• Less Backend Control: As a SaaS platform, you do not have server-level access, which can be a limitation for businesses that require full control over their hosting environment.

Shopify Plus Integrations

Shopify Plus integrates with thousands of applications through its robust App Store and APIs, allowing businesses to create a connected technology stack. Integrations are available for nearly every business function.

• ERP Integration: Connect with systems like NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Acumatica to sync inventory, orders, and customer data.
• CRM Integration: Integrate with platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Klaviyo to manage customer relationships and marketing campaigns.
• Marketing Automation: Works seamlessly with tools like Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Omnisend for email and SMS marketing.
• Logistics and Shipping: Connects with ShipStation, Shippo, and various 3PL providers for streamlined fulfillment.
• Customer Support: Integrates with helpdesks like Gorgias and Zendesk to manage customer service directly from the Shopify dashboard.

Integrations are typically managed by installing an app from the Shopify App Store or through custom development using Shopify's APIs.

Shopify Plus Alternatives

• BigCommerce Enterprise: A strong competitor that also offers a SaaS solution for large businesses. It is known for having many built-in features and no platform transaction fees, which can be a key differentiator.
• Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento): An open-source platform that provides maximum flexibility and control. It is ideal for businesses with unique requirements and the developer resources to manage a complex, self-hosted environment.
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud: A powerful, AI-driven platform aimed at very large enterprises. It offers advanced personalization and merchandising tools but typically comes with a higher total cost of ownership.
• WooCommerce: An open-source plugin for WordPress. When paired with high-performance hosting, it can be a flexible and cost-effective alternative, but it requires more hands-on management of security, hosting, and updates.

Shopify Plus API

Yes, Shopify Plus provides extensive and well-documented APIs, including a REST API and a GraphQL API. These APIs allow developers to read and write data to a Shopify store, enabling custom integrations, private apps, and headless commerce builds.

To get an API key, developers can create a free Shopify Partner account. Within the Partner Dashboard, you can create an unlimited number of development stores. For each development store, you can create a custom app and generate API credentials (API key and secret key) with specific access scopes.

Here is a basic example of how to connect to the Admin API using cURL to fetch a list of products:

curl -X GET "https://your-store-name.myshopify.com/admin/api/2023-10/products.json" \
-H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: your-admin-api-access-token"

Replace your-store-name.myshopify.com with your development store's URL and your-admin-api-access-token with the token generated from your custom app. You can find comprehensive documentation on the Shopify Developers website.

Shopify Plus Affiliate program

Shopify has a comprehensive Shopify Affiliate Program that is open to content creators, influencers, and educators who want to monetize their audience. While the program is for all of Shopify, referrals to Shopify Plus are highly valued. Affiliates earn a commission for each new merchant they refer who signs up for a paid Shopify plan. The commission is typically a fixed bounty, and the amount can be substantial for each referral.

To join, you must apply through the Shopify Affiliate Program website. The application requires details about your website, audience, and how you plan to promote Shopify. Once approved, you gain access to a partner dashboard with tracking links, creative assets, and performance reports. Payments are made regularly, typically when your commission balance reaches a certain threshold. For specific partnerships related to Shopify Plus, it is also advisable to contact their partner team directly to discuss potential collaborations.