12 Reasons Why Brands Migrate to Shopify Plus (2024)

Shopify Plus is one of the best platforms out there if you want to do e-commerce. More than 61000 stores use it worldwide, and it is becoming popular among established brands really fast. But why are store owners migrating to Shopify Plus despite the high price?

We’ll explore key reasons to migrate to Shopify Plus and how it can benefit your online business.

What is Shopify Plus?

For those who don’t exactly have an idea about Shopify Plus, It’s the highest tier of the Shopify plan you can possibly get. It’s designed for high-volume merchants and enterprises needing advanced features and support. 

Popular brand names you might know and shop at, such as Kylie Cosmetics, Netflix, Tesla, and Heinz, are on Shopify Plus.

Why Migrate to Shopify Plus?

Listed below are 12 notable reasons why Shopify Plus is a great choice for your business growth:

1. Intuitive User Interface

Shopify Plus focuses on simplicity and consistency, ensuring that users can quickly understand and use the interface without extensive training. The Organization section lets you access and manage parts of your organization, such as users and stores, in one place. 

As your business grows, your data needs get more complex, and your dashboard is evolving with you. For Shopify Plus users, the dashboard now includes extra features like aggregate organization-level analytics and advanced user permissions for larger teams.

(Aggregate organization-level data insight for Shopify Plus users, Source: Shopify)

Using the organization overview dashboard, you can see all store performance across your organization at a glance. This gives you a better idea of how things are going across your company and helps you make smart, impactful decisions faster.

2. Sell everywhere. Manage everything in one place

Shopify Plus supports selling across multiple channels, including online stores, physical stores (POS), 100+ social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat), and 80+ marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. 

The native omnichannel retailing integrates customer interactions across all touchpoints, ensuring a unified experience regardless of the channel used. You can manage inventory, orders, and customer data from a single central location.

This approach can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and long-term business success. According to Aberdeen Group Inc., businesses with strong omnichannel engagement retain 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for those without (via digitalcommerce360).

3. Automate Workflows for Faster Operations

Automating repetitive tasks allows businesses to do more in less time. With a few clicks, you can automate marketing campaigns and processes using Shopify Script, Flow, and Launchpad.

Custom workflows can automate day-to-day operations, such as sending abandoned cart emails, generating labels, and updating inventory. Using Launchpad, you can also schedule sales events like Black Friday in advance to change themes, apply discounts, and adjust product visibility automatically. 

(Automate and schedule sales campaigns using Launchpad, source: Shopify)

These automation help improve efficiency and free up valuable human resources, leading to cost savings for your business.

4. Craft a Unique Brand Experience With Advanced Theme Control

Shopify Plus lets you build a store that represents your brand’s unique identity. You can Upload and manage up to 100 themes. Additionally, It gives full access to theme code Liquid, which means merchants can modify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to achieve the desired look and functionality for their online stores.

5. Personalized Checkout Experiences

Shopify Plus gives you extensive customization options for checkout pages through the checkout.liquid file. You get full control over the layout, branding, and order flow. Additionally, users can leverage advanced API integrations like Shopify GiftCard, Shopify Multipass, and Shopify User to further enhance the checkout. 

Shopify introduced Checkout Extensibility exclusively for Shopify Plus users. It lets merchants add upsell offers, streamline pixel tracking, and other advanced features to their checkout, so it’s faster and converts better. With this special feature, Shopify Plus merchants can do endless modifications to their checkout without checkout.liquid file while remaining upgrade-safe.

6. Advanced Customization Options with Custom Scripts and APIs

Shopify Plus offers enhanced customization capabilities through the use of custom scripts and APIs. The Script Editor allows merchants to create unique functionalities without relying solely on pre-built apps. 

You can write custom code to implement special promotions, control shipping options, and customize payment methods at checkout. Additionally, Shopify Plus’ script editor includes a simulation tool so you can test scripts safely without affecting actual customers.

Shopify Functions

Shopify Functions provides an alternative to Shopify Scripts. They help merchants extend Shopify’s backend logic with custom code to customize specific parts of the buyer experience. Developers write these mini-programs, but you don’t need to be a coder to use them.

Functions operate exclusively on the server side and are designed to execute quickly, with a performance limit of 5ms, making them 100x faster than Scripts. This ensures that customizations do not degrade performance, providing a smooth and efficient shopping experience for customers.

Here are some examples of what you can do with Shopify Functions:

• Create new discount types for users.
• Hide specific payment options at checkout.
• Show a special message to customers on their birthday.
• Automatically translate your product descriptions into different languages.

Headless Commerce Capabilities

In Shopify Plus, you can go headless, which gives you ultimate control over the front-end presentation layer. You can decouple the front end (user interface) from the back end (e-commerce engine). This allows businesses to use any frontend framework of their choice to create a bespoke customer experience.

Read more: Shopify Headless Cost Breakdown and Estimate Build Time

7. High Performance and Scalability

Shopify Plus offers superior performance and scalability. It is designed to handle high-volume transactions and traffic spikes easily. 

• Unlimited bandwidth and sales.
• No limit on the number of SKUs, but variants per product are limited to 100, extendable with customizable options and third-party apps.
• Handles high traffic, processing over 80,000 requests per second.
• Fast checkout process, capable of over 10,000 checkouts per minute.
• Manages over 8,000 orders per minute, ideal for high-volume businesses.
• Allows unlimited staff users for easy team management.

The platform’s infrastructure uses a cluster of Shopify’s own servers, along with a few AWS feature-based augmentations. With this setup, you get 99.99% uptime and can handle thousands of transactions per minute without slowing down.

The platform’s self-scaling architecture can easily manage Black Friday-level traffic year-round, ensuring that businesses can scale up their operations seamlessly.

8. High-Security Standards

With Shopify Plus, you get industry-leading security practices that protect your store and your customers’ data. Here are the key security standards provided by Shopify Plus:

• Fully PCI DSS Level 1 compliant for secure credit card transactions.
• SSL, TLS, and AES-256 encryption protocols prevent unauthorized access to data in transit and at rest.
• MFA requires multiple forms of identification for admin panel access.
• SAML authentication allows integration with identity providers, enhancing security.
• SCIM simplifies user provisioning and management across systems.
• Advanced fraud tools identify and block fraudulent transactions.
• Bot protection.
• Regular updates and active monitoring.
• Customizable roles and permissions.
• Automated backups.
• Helps businesses comply with GDPR for data protection.

9. Global Selling with Expansion Stores

With Shopify Plus, the world is your marketplace. You can build a global brand presence in up to 50 markets, set up and manage up to 10 expansion stores, and have each store have a dedicated storefront for different regions or countries tailored to specific market needs.

For example, a US-based sporting goods company on Shopify Plus could create an expansion store for the UK market. This store would showcase products popular in the UK (like cricket bats) alongside relevant content and promotions.

Additionally, Shopify Plus offers enhanced capabilities for internationalization, including extensive support for local languages, integrated local currencies, and complete localized customizations to optimize global sales. That means getting new customers, increasing sales, and putting yourself on the map.

10. Specialized tools for B2B commerce and D2C

Shopify Plus includes built-in features for everything wholesale, such as customer profile management, payment term automation, and draft orders. It also offers advanced order management features, including reviewing and approving purchases before finalizing them. Additionally, the platform provides comprehensive order tracking and history features.

For businesses that manage both B2B and D2C sales channels, it can be challenging to do so effectively. Shopify Plus eliminates this complexity by providing a unified platform that seamlessly integrates both models. Here’s how:

• Option to create either a single online store for both DTC and wholesale (with B2B checkout and authentication) or a dedicated B2B store
• Create company profiles with multiple customers and locations

Read more: Shopify vs Shopify Plus: Detailed Feature & Pricing Comparison (link)

11. Dedicated Support & Expert Resources

You get a higher level of service if you’re a Shopify Plus member, including dedicated support and resources to ensure your business can operate smoothly and efficiently. Here are the key offerings:

Dedicated Account Management

Businesses get a dedicated account manager, also called a Launch Manager or a Merchant Success Manager, with Shopify Plus. They’ll guide and support you through the whole setup process. They understand your business and your specific needs, so they’ll be able to make recommendations and offer customized solutions.

Shopify Plus Partner Program

Merchants on Shopify Plus have access to a curated list of vetted partners specializing in services such as marketing, maintainence, Shopify Plus store design, and advanced Shopify Plus development. 

These partners work closely with merchants to understand the high demands of Shopify Plus stores and can provide expert services to enhance the platform’s capabilities.

Shopify Plus Academy

To help businesses make the most of Shopify Plus, you get access to courses, tutorials, and webinars from the Shopify Plus Academy. Businesses can use these resources to build expertise, explore advanced features, and maximize the platform.

24/7 Priority Technical Support

Shopify Plus offers 24/7 priority technical support. It’s important for businesses that need immediate and specialized help to address any issues or emergencies. This level of support is crucial for businesses that need to solve any problems quickly.

12. Lower Total Cost of Ownership Than Competition

Migrating to Shopify Plus can significantly reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to competing platforms. Here’s how:

Transparent Fee Structure

Unlike some competitors with hidden fees or complex pricing models, Shopify Plus offers a clear and predictable fee structure:

• Monthly Base Fee: 
  • 1-Year Plan: Starts at $2,500 per month
  • 3-Year Plan: Starts at $2,300 per month

Once your monthly sales reach $800,000, additional fees apply:

• Monthly Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) Fee: Typically 0.25%-0.4% of monthly GMV. (Please contact Shopify directly to figure out exactly what this variable fee may be)
• Transaction Fees: Using Shopify Payments can save you money. You will be charged a 0.2% transaction fee if you use third-party payment providers.
• App and Add-On Fees: The cost of apps and add-ons varies depending on the number and type of extensions you use.

To know how much Shopify Plus really costs, read our comprehensive guide on Shopify Plus Pricing. (link)

Lower TCO Across Key Areas

A study by a leading independent consulting firm compared Shopify Plus to its competitor platforms across various TCO categories. Here’s a summary of the findings:

• Shopify Plus has a 23% advantage in platform fees compared to competitors.
• 19% reduction in operational costs due to built-in automation tools.
• 33% lower implementation and setup costs.

Beyond costs, Shopify Plus helps minimize lost sales due to slow loading times or a clunky checkout experience. This translates to potentially higher conversion rates for your business.

Overall, upgrading to Shopify Plus offers compelling benefits. With its organization-level features, customization options, powerful infrastructure, dedicated support, and clear cost structure, Shopify Plus positions your business for long-term success.

Ready to upgrade to Shopify Plus?

Contact Aureate Labs for advice and discuss your migration needs for a smooth switch to Shopify Plus.

Your next read is ready: Is Shopify Plus Worth Investing? (link)