What is Shopify Plus? Should I upgrade to Shopify Plus? Should I start my new business on Shopify Plus? These are some of the most commonly asked questions when contemplating a Shopify build. Instead of jumping into Shopify and not knowing where to start, we put together a list of items that dictate when and why you should make the move to Shopify Plus. If you can check these seven reasons off, upgrading is something you should definitely take into consideration. 

1. A baseline of $1 million in revenue
2. Access to enterprise automation tools
3. Developer access in checkout page
4. International business tools
5. Unlimited staff accounts
6. Dedicated enterprise account manager
7. Wholesale shop support

Listen to the Ecommerce Disruptors podcast on this topic. 

Baseline $1 million in revenue

The #1 biggest reason a business should be using Shopify Plus - make sure you’re bringing in at least $1 million in revenue. There is no flat fee to use Shopify Plus; instead, it takes .25% of your sales. The majority of Shopify Plus users fall into the category of spending $2,000-$2,500 a month for Plus. $1 million is a good baseline indicator to know if you're ready or not, so you need to make sure your business can afford it. 

Automation Tools

If you require extra help to cut down on deficiencies and ease some of the stress that comes with running a business, you might want Shopify Plus to take advantage of the premium automation tools. Here are two strong automation tools that can support you and your store. 

Launchpad: This is more of a scheduling tool where you can schedule any promotions, sales, or price-changes coming up to a certain day or time. Once you schedule the change for a certain time, it will automatically apply those changes so you can focus on other tasks. This assists you in planning things out in advance so you’re not scrambling on the day the sale is going live. 

Shopify Flow: This is another automation tool where you can set up workflows, such as assigning notifications about customer reviews to certain employees so they can respond in a timely manner and not leave the customers feeling ignored. This powerful tool connects multiple different software, such as Asana, Google Sheets, Stamped Reviews, Trello, Yotpo, and many others. 

Customize Checkout

If you’ve been wondering how to add more personalized features to your checkout page, Shopify Plus grants you this power. Any theme edits to the checkout page are locked on any Shopify plan other than Shopify Plus. And for good reason – Shopify has perfected the checkout experience and there shouldn’t be much need to adjust it. But if you want to customize the shopping experience from entry to conversion, you’ll need to open up the checkout theme with Shopify Plus.

Opening up the theme allows you to further customize your company logo, colors and fonts within checkout. You can also upload a background image for the banner, and any other developer edits that are typically locked in a lower Shopify plan. Keep in mind, it’s best practice to keep the design simple. Your customers enter personal information into these fields, so you don't want to distract them with information that makes the checkout process more difficult. 

International Business

If you’re selling internationally, Shopify Plus will offer great support for your business. You will be better equipped to cater to the different markets that you support. Shopify Plus allows you to have up to 20 locations for your inventory, and up to 9 clone stores which allow you to offer different images, language, and currency to be culturally relevant. 

Shopify Plus members can sell in multiple currencies and get paid in their own local currency. This means customers will also see your products as their own local prices based on their location. Product prices are automatically converted based on daily foreign exchange rates, so that you get the most accurate price. 

Staff Accounts

If you are planning on setting up your 16th staff account – yay, you’re growing! And it’s time to upgrade. A Shopify store can only have one store owner, and yes, it is possible to transfer store ownership. The store owner can grant different staff members full permissions or select specific permissions for required staff members’ responsibilities. You get an unlimited number of staff members with Shopify Plus, as opposed to being limited by the more basic versions of Shopify. 

Account Manager

With every Shopify Plus store comes a dedicated account manager, which can be helpful when you’re new to the platform, lack a specialist on your team, or are just looking for new opportunities with the platform. 

The account manager will also be a big help when initially migrating to Shopify from another platform, and recommend the best tools and integrations for your business. 

Wholesale Support

This may not be for every single industry, but if you are selling wholesale, you are probably ready to upgrade. This sales channel, exclusive to Shopify Plus, allows you to separate your audience so that your wholesale audience can log in and see their specific pricing while maintaining your standard consumer facing audience can see their regular prices. You can customize the pricing that you offer for your wholesale customers by the following:

• Set percentage based discounts across your entire store or across collections
• Set fixed prices for products and variants in price lists
• Provide different prices to different wholesale customers
• Set volume based pricing rules for products and variants

Where do you see your business going in the next year? Two years? Shopify Plus may be in your near future, or a valid option right now. These are just seven factors to keep in mind if you are contemplating upgrading to Plus. 

Get a free quote from a Shopify Plus Agency.

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