Upgrade to Shopify Plus: Shopify providers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the best chance to make money with an e-commerce site. Shopify makes it easy to get started while eliminating the need for a substantial upfront investment.
But what happens when small businesses and large-scale brands outgrow the features of Shopify’s standard plans?
In this situation, brands need to find an alternative that can handle high traffic and sales volume without compromising speed and user experience.
Enter Shopify Plus.
In this article, we will explore how Shopify Plus is the best alternative for large-scale businesses. Particularly, we will discuss why your online shop needs Shopify Plus, when you should upgrade, and how you should do it.
So, let’s get down to business!
Shopify Plus is Shopify’s premium platform. Its main focus is serving large brands that handle significant traffic and sales volumes. As a result, these e-commerce sites require robust features to handle massive customer interaction adequately.
For instance, Shopify Plus serves e-commerce sites that get thousands of customer visits per minute or execute hundreds of purchases per hour.
Compared to a regular Shopify plan, Shopify Plus comes with a whole host of additional features and perks (though they are certainly included in the $2,000/month starting price for Shopify Plus. Advantages of upgrading include:
Shopify offers a great deal of customization. Shopify themes make it easy for you to customize your shop. You can use color schemes, high-quality images (free stock photos from Shopify Burst), and logos.
Large-scale brands may require additional customizations such as specialized branding features, animations, custom checkouts, product displays, or integration with third-party platforms. Shopify Plus is much better suited to providing these features and customizations.
Shopify boasts great customer support. Various channels such as chat, email, and phone are available. Nevertheless, response times and support depend largely on current demand. While you get support, you may need to be patient at times. This limitation can prove frustrating to some users, especially in emergencies.
Shopify Plus assigns a dedicated customer support specialist. As a result, Shopify Plus users can get immediate support whenever they need it. This difference allows enterprise-level e-commerce sites a seamless Shopify Plus upgrade experience.
Along with dedicated customer support, Shopify Plus offers developer assistance. Shopify assigns a launch engineer to support your site’s creation until launch. Then, the launch engineer monitors site performance to ensure it’s running fine.
When Shopify Plus users require additional support, coders, programmers, developers, graphic designers, and marketing specialists are available through Shopify’s partner program. Shopify calls this program its Shopify Agents network. Shopify Agents are third-party contractors specialized in Shopify’s various functions.
Shopify Plus can handle any type of customer traffic or transaction volume. While standard Shopify plans give your site access to the same servers as Shopify Plus, Shopify Plus focuses on delivering the best possible performance.
In contrast, standard Shopify plans seek to optimize resource allocation based on your site’s intended use. This approach helps Shopify maximize performance across the various tiers it offers. Shopify Plus is the solution if you find your site’s performance lagging due to high customer demand. As such, upgrading to Shopify Plus allows you to optimize your site’s resources, so no customers slip through the cracks.
On the whole, the decision to upgrade to Shopify Plus largely depends on your business’s scale. The most common path is, to begin with, Shopify Basic and upgrade from plan to plan. As your site eventually migrates to Shopify Plus, you’ll see how effective each plan’s features are for your site’s specific needs.
If you’re wondering, should I upgrade to Shopify Plus, the key metric you need to consider is your monthly sales revenue. Shopify recommends that you consider upgrading to Shopify Plus when your monthly sales gross $800,000.
Does this mean that you can’t upgrade unless you hit this sales mark?
Not at all.
You may consider upgrading to Shopify Plus when your transaction volume and customer traffic grow significantly. For example, you should upgrade to Shopify Plus when you get more than 100 customer visits and transactions per minute.
There are other elements to consider:
In these scenarios, Shopify Advanced may underwhelm your expectations. Thus, upgrading to Shopify Plus may be the most effective option, particularly when considering cost, time, and effort.
Upgrading between standard Shopify plans is easy. All you need to do is update your account information, and you’re ready to go.
Here’s how to upgrade to Shopify Plus. First, you’ll need to contact the Shopify Plus customer support team. A specialized Shopify Plus consultant will get in touch with you to assess your needs.
Based on this conversation, the consultant will recommend you make the switch. Otherwise, the consultant may recommend you stay with Shopify Advanced.
From there, your dedicated customer support agent and launch engineer will get in touch with you. They’ll meet with you to map out your transition plan. If you’re building a site, or multiple sites, from scratch, the launch engineer will help you design a plan to get your site up and running as soon as possible.
If you require help from Shopify Agents, your dedicated customer support agent will help you get in touch with the right agents you need. Your team will work together to help you create your site until it’s ready to launch, and even beyond.
So, you made the jump… Now what?
Newcomers to the Shopify Plus platform have the opportunity to take the “Jumpstart” webinar. This webinar aims to provide a good, old-fashioned orientation into all things Shopify Plus. This free webinar goes over all the basics related to starting with Shopify Plus.
The Jumpstart webinar is a live session conducted by Merchant Success Managers, and bookings are required. It is offered multiple times a day to accommodate users across various time zones. While of course optional, there are a lot of benefits to the Jumpstart webinar and it’s well worth your time.
Shopify Plus offers two powerful exclusive advanced tools unavailable to standard Shopify users:
Launchpad is an exclusive Shopify Plus tool you can use to automate your processes. This tool allows you to set up strategies on “autopilot.” Afterward, Launchpad lets you analyze your results through its reporting system. This system helps you compare strategies’ effectiveness. You can then determine which strategies worked out best for you.
For example, Launchpad saves you time and effort by creating a sales campaign once. Then, you can run similar campaigns again at the touch of a button. There is no need to set up the same plan again. You do it once, and you can forget about it. Later on, you can revisit the strategy to tweak it.
Launchpad is a fantastic tool you can use to pre-plan everything. Launchpad enables you to set up strategies and let them work on their own, from special sales to discount events!
Another powerful Shopify Plus tool is Shopify Flow. This tool lets you automate several back-office processes such as customer service, fraud prevention, development requests, merchandising, design, communications, advertising, and marketing tasks.
Shopify Flow’s automation works based on the “if this happens, then do that” principle. Therefore, you must pre-set the parameters by which Shopify Flow acts. For example, Shopify Flow automatically sends a free gift voucher to customers who purchase over a certain amount. You can use Shopify Flow to “tag” best customers, unlock discounts and gifts after a specific number of orders, or send specialized messages in particular situations (cart abandonment, browse, new visitor).
On the whole, Shopify Flow allows you to cut down on the time needed to carry out back-end tasks. This approach enables you to free up time to dedicate to other crucial tasks.
The Jumpstart webinar is only the tip of the iceberg. Shopify Plus users have access to the Shopify Plus Academy. The Shopify Plus Academy is a repository of resources Shopify Plus users can access to learn about Shopify Plus’s features.
You can find out more about:
Overall, there are over 100 self-guided training courses you can take. These courses focus on marketing, business optimization, customization, tutorials, and Q&As.
These materials are all self-paced. It’s extremely important for you to check out these resources as soon as you get the chance.
You may still be on the ropes about transitioning into Shopify Plus. After all, it seems like a significant commitment. Please note that Shopify Plus support managers help you assess your business’s needs before taking the plunge. From there, you can make an informed decision about the best option for your business.
You get the same fantastic features from your standard Shopify plan when you upgrade to Shopify Plus. Additionally, you get more robust features like Launchpad and Shopify Flow. However, these two great tools are just the beginning. You must check out the Shopify Plus Academy to uncover the vast array of features Shopify Plus has to offer.
Once you upgrade to Shopify Plus, you’ll feel more confident about making one of the most significant business decisions ever!
If you’re looking for more Shopify tips and recommendations, check out the PickyStory blog.
Good Luck!
PickyStory is the e-commerce conversion platform. It enables merchants to uplift their revenue in store. PickyStory offers a variety of deals like Bundle Products, Combo Products, Bundle Builder, Kits, Looks, and coupons.
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