Shopify Vs Shopify Plus: Pros & Cons and 5 Key Differences

Shopify is a popular name in the e-commerce market. The Canadian-based multinational company offers an online platform to those who wish to establish online stores and sell products.

In the internet-driven world, it offers small-scale businesses an opportunity to perform and excel. The e-commerce company also offers Shopify Plus, which is an updated version of the former. It provides customizable solutions to businesses along with exclusive features and support.

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus have pros and cons. However, the question is which one is better and more suitable for your business? To get the answer, let us deep dive into the debate of Shopify vs Shopify Plus.

Shopify vs Shopify Plus: 5 Key Differences

To start with, let us first understand what are the main differences between basic Shopify and Shopify plus. 

1. Target Audience and Price

Shopify is more suitable for small and medium-scale businesses. However, Shopify Plus is meant for enterprise-level business. This is directly related to price.

The cost of the basic Shopify plan is $29 USD per month, which is affordable. However, the plan for Shopify Plus can be subjective, depending on the needs of the business. To fix the price, businesses can directly contact the e-commerce company. A basic plan of Shopify Plus is around $2,000 per month. 

2. Features and Support

Shopify Plus users get rights to a bunch of exclusive features, like unlimited staff account, control over checkouts, access to Shopify apps, integration with existing platforms, and more.

This is not all, these users are also invited to join the Shopify Facebook community, partners directory, and beta programs, and get Shopify Plus Academy guides

Apart from this, a dedicated support team is also offered to the Plus users, which provided assistance 24*7 via phone, email, and live chat.

Customers can also hire Shopify Expert to ease down the process and learn how to use all the features to get the best results. Shopify users do not get access to expert support but 24*7 support care is available for them.

3. Shopify API integrations and Theme Customization

Application Programming Interface (API) permits users to customize their shops and features without making software complex.  It basically makes it possible for two applications to communicate. This gives users the power to make the most of Shopify Plus and third-party apps.

While evaluating Shopify vs Shopify Plus another important thing to note is that Shopify Plus users get access to Liquid. It is the Shopify theme language and with it, customers can shape and mold theme backend code. A Shopify user can only use the editor to customize theme templates.

4. Wholesale Channels

The UBS of Shopify is that users get an easily accessible storefront. On the other hand, the USB of Shopify Plus is that users also get an option for wholesale channels. Enterprise-level businesses usually deal in wholesale and Shopify Plus provides the perfect option for this. 

Through this channel, users can offer products for wholesale purchase at a separate price. A facility to provide prize lists and discounts is also available under this.

To do so, users only need to create an individual password-protected storefront at the online store. Merchants can issue invoices, collect data, track orders, manage B2B and B2C, etc from a single place via this. This feature is not available under basic Shopify yet. 

5. Unified Dashboard and Extensive Analysis

Only under Shopify Plus users are offered a fused dashboard for multiple stores. From this dashboard, one can manage all their stores, accounts, automation tools, analytics, etc.

This makes business easy and users get to see the bigger picture of their business progression. However, under Shopify, users can only have one store. 

These are the key differences between Shopify and Shopify Plus. However, these are not all. A detailed analysis of Shopify vs Shopify Plus features, with all the differences and common features, is shown in the table below. 

Parameters	Shopify	Shopify Plus
Minimum Price	$29 USD per month	$2,000 per month
Support	✔(24*7)	✔(24*7 + Expert View)
Locations	✔(max. 8)	✔(max. 20)
Staff Accounts Permit	✔(max. 15)	✔ (unlimited)
Shopify POS Pro	✔(not free)	✔(free)
Standalone Store Option	✔	✔
Unlimited bandwidth, products, and transactions	✔	✔
Drop Shipping	✔	✔
Theme Customisation	✔	✔
Multi-Currency	✔	✔
Multilingual Selling	✔	✔
Dropshipping Tools	✔	✔
Discount and Free SSL Certificate	✔	✔
Cart Recovery	✔	✔
Facility for Gift Card	✔	✔
Dedicated Account Manager	X	✔
Additional Stores	X	✔(max. 10)
Access Liquid	X	✔
Access to Shopify Apps	X	✔
Customization of Checkout	X	✔
Additional API Integrations	X	✔
Integrations with existing platforms	X	✔
Option for Wholesale Channels and B2B	X	✔
Facility for Shopify Flow	X	✔
The facility of the Merchant Success Program	X	✔
Access to Shopify Plus Facebook Community	X	✔
Partners Directory Facility	X	✔
Access to Exclusive Beta Programs	X	✔
Unified Dashboard for Multiple Stores	X	✔
Deep End Analytical Report	X	✔
Automated Promotions	X	✔

Pros and Cons of Shopify with Features

Pros of Shopify

The best part is that Shopify provides a free trial facility, along with an initial setup guide. By using these, a user can access if Shopify is the best platform for them or not. This makes it especially beneficial for small and medium businesses which are not keen on investing a huge amount initially. 

The features provided by Shopify help these small and medium companies to boost their business, increase reach, connect better with customers, and capture the online market. 

Features of Shopify are as follows:

• Easily open an online store and host an entire website on Shopify.
• Customize your storefront on your own terms.
• Get 70+ themes for the store.
• Full access to the HTML and CSS, allowing customization of the website.
• Get a built-in mobile commerce shopping cart.
• Run your own blog.
• Get a free SSL certificate.
• Shipping rates from major carriers are received automatically.
• There are more than 100 payment gateways.
• Facility to offer free shipping available.
• No hassle of tax.
• More than 50+ languages are available for store checkouts.
• Establishing a drop shipping business is possible.
• Learn about customer behavior.
• Facility for refund, grouping customer, email template available.
• Social media integration is possible.
• Inventory management is easy.
• Shopify is level-1 PCI compliant, hence customer data is secured.
• The mobile app is also available.
• Get an analytical report on the business.
• A full-time support facility is also available.

Cons of Shopify

The disadvantage of Shopify is that it is not beneficial for huge business enterprises. Also, when Shopify vs Shopify Plus is compared it lacks a lot of features that can scale business immensely. 

Pros of Shopify Plus

The con of Shopify is the biggest pro of Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus has more features. Hence making it more suitable for large-scale businesses. 

Shopify Plus features as follows:

• All the features of basic Shopify are available.
• Create up to 10 stores.
• Manage all the stores from a single location with a unified board.
• Use Shopify flow to create automated events.
• Sell products at the wholesale level.
• Create and monitor events with the launchpad feature.
• Use Shopify scripts and the script editor app to customize the code of the store.
• Use Shopify Plus bulk account inviter to invite customers to activate their accounts on your online store.
• Customize checkouts by using Liquid.
• Use API resources like gift cards, multipass, etc.
• Get access to the Merchant Success Program and learn from the experts how to use Shopify Plus to optimal.
• Avail unlimited staff accounts.
• Add up to 100 themes to your account.
• Shopify POS Pro is available for free, in every location.
• Only Shopify Plus merchants can use specific integration like Tax services with Avalara AvaTax.
• Become a part of the Shopify Facebook community and partners directory and build stronger connections.
• Get all Shopify Plus Academy guides.

Is it Worth Upgrading to Shopify Plus?

If you are a Shopify user planning to upgrade to Shopify Plus then the first question you should ask is ‘what extra do I get with Shopify plus?’ The answer to this is hidden in the numerous features that Shopify Plus offers.

If your business can get a boost from these features then Shopify Plus is the way forward. However, if your business is not ready for such complications at this moment, then basic Shopify is the right choice. 

How to Upgrade from Shopify to Shopify Plus?

Users can easily upgrade from Shopify to Shopify Plus. However, there are two important things that they should know: 

• Only the signing authority of an organization can apply for upgradation.
• Your business should meet all the criteria to qualify for Shopify Plus.

How Do You Qualify for Shopify Plus?

On the official website of Shopify, it is mentioned that when a business reaches an online sale of $80,000 USD per month, they may apply for an upgrade. However, it is also mentioned this is not a hard and fast rule. The only prerequisites for your business to qualify for Shopify Plus are as follows:

• The business must have high-growth enterprise merchants.
• It should be considered among leaders in the commerce market and the reputation of the business should be as such.
• It should have technical assistance and market knowledge experts who can use Shopify Plus.
• Your business should be able to provide end-to-end services and must have the resources to solve complex problems.
• The existing portfolio of enterprise merchants must have a proven successful track record.

Shopify Upcoming Features

Shopify is an ever-evolving platform and this is one of the biggest reasons for its success. Recently, Shopify announced that it will be introducing new features to the platform. These new features will be: 

• Storefront content by market: With this, customers will be able to customize storefront content and will be able to connect strongly with customers of various markets.
• Product customizes catalogs by market: This feature will allow customization of product offerings for each market separately.
• Global inventory locations: With the launch of this feature, customers can show the correct inventory to international customers.

You can check more details on the same at the official website of Shopify. 

Conclusion

Concluding the Shopify vs Shopify Plus debate, one can say that both platforms are amazing. While Shopify Plus has more features, it is not suitable for a business that is at an infant stage.

Even for some medium-scale businesses most of the features on Shopify Plus are redundant. However, for huge enterprises, it is a miracle platform. By providing both of these options Shopify has catered to the needs of all types of business. Selecting one depends on the business. 

FAQs

1. How much time does it take for a Shopify account to upgrade to Shopify Plus?

Within 24 hours the dashboard is upgraded to Shopify Plus. The user also gets an email confirming the same, along with an introduction email and the link to join Jumpstart, the merchant onboarding program, and support team details.

2. When should I upgrade to Shopify Plus?

Typically, when the online sale of a brand reaches above $80,000 USD per month they may think of getting Shopify Plus but there is not a mandatory rule.

3. What is the cost of Shopify Plus?

The starting price of Shopify Plus is  $2,000 USD per month. However, users can get the plan customized and fix the rate by talking to Shopify representatives. 

4. Shopify vs Shopify Plus, which is better?

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus have pros and cons. Shopify Plus has more features but is costly, hence, for small and medium-scale businesses basic Shopify is more suitable. However, for large-scale enterprises, Shopify Plus is a better option.