Shopify and Shopify Plus: A Comparative Analysis

Shopify is a comprehensively built eCommerce platform that has helped merchants generate a combined total of USD 1 trillion in revenue^[i].

Designed to meet diverse business needs, Shopify provides tailored plans to accommodate businesses of various sizes and growth stages.

For small to medium-sized enterprises, Shopify provides three core plans—Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify, each catering to increasing levels of complexity. For large and enterprise-level businesses, Shopify Plus is specifically designed to deliver advanced functionalities and exclusive features that surpass the capabilities of standard plans.     

In this blog post, we’ll outline the key distinctions between Shopify and Shopify Plus to help you identify the plan that best suits your business needs and growth objectives.

Shopify and Shopify Plus: A Complete Overview

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Shopify vs Shopify Plus – Choose the Right Fit for Your Business

1. Apps and Integrations

Shopify provides access to over 8,000 apps through its App Store, covering essential areas like marketing, order management, store design, and customer support. Standard Shopify plans enable merchants to leverage free and paid Shopify apps to streamline tasks such as enhancing customer service and automating order workflows. These integrations empower businesses to manage their Shopify stores effectively while improving customer experiences.

Shopify Plus, on the other hand, provides advanced capabilities tailored for scaling enterprise-level businesses. It goes beyond the standard offerings by enabling merchants to connect with existing ERP or CRM systems—features unavailable on standard Shopify plans. Additionally, Shopify Plus includes exclusive API solutions like Multipass for unified customer logins across platforms and advanced API resources for custom app integrations. Not just this, merchants can use additional REST and GraphQL APIs to create personalized offers, manage wholesale channels, and customize checkout experiences with the script editor. 

Related Read: Supercharge Your Sales With Shopify POS

2. Themes and Customization

Standard Shopify plans provide merchants with up to 20 Shopify themes, enabling them to create and manage an attractive online store. These plans provide essential tools for customizing store designs and making updates, ensuring businesses can maintain a professional look while managing their operations effectively.

Shopify Plus, however, takes customization to the next level with robust features tailored for growing businesses. It facilitates the storage of up to 100 Shopify themes, enabling businesses to save seasonal designs, test new layouts, and adjust published themes without affecting the live Shopify site. Additionally, Shopify Plus provides advanced checkout customization options, including branded elements like logos, colors, background images, and fonts. With these capabilities, businesses can craft a storefront experience that aligns seamlessly with their brand identity.

3. Staff Accounts and Permissions

With Shopify Plus, businesses can create unlimited staff accounts, making it ideal for large teams that require collaborative access to the store’s backend. This flexibility is valuable for enterprises that need multiple team members to manage various aspects of the business, from customer service to inventory to marketing. Shopify Plus’s unlimited accounts help streamline workflows and enable seamless collaboration on tools like order management or customer support platforms such as Gorgias.

In contrast, standard Shopify limits staff accounts based on the plan. For example, the Starter plan allows only two staff accounts, while higher tiers range from 2 to 15 staff accounts. This setup is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses with fewer team members. However, for larger organizations with extensive staffing needs, Shopify Plus’s unlimited accounts, combined with granular permissions for different team roles provide a scalable solution that enhances productivity and maintains secure access.

4. eCommerce and Multi-Channel Selling

– Global Expansion: Shopify Plus provides seamless support for global selling, enabling merchants to create multiple Shopify stores to cater to different international markets. Businesses can manage up to 10 stores to handle various languages, currencies, and regional tax setups. This feature is useful for scaling eCommerce operations across borders without multiple platforms.

– Omnichannel Selling: Shopify Plus excels in omnichannel selling by integrating with various sales channels such as Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and physical stores. This enables businesses to unify product listings, inventory, and customer data across all platforms for a cohesive shopping experience. Whether it’s selling online, in-person, or via social media, Shopify Plus helps businesses reach customers wherever they are.

– Shopify B2B Capabilities: Shopify Plus is also designed to support B2B sales, with features like the Wholesale Channel that lets businesses set up a separate, private store for wholesale customers. It empowers businesses to cater to B2C and B2B needs within the same platform. Additionally, Shopify Plus integrates well with ERP and CRM systems, providing an ideal solution for businesses managing large-scale, high-volume transactions.

On the other hand, basic Shopify plans support global selling, omnichannel integration, and B2B to a limited extent, providing features like multi-currency, basic reporting, and integration with sales channels. However, they lack advanced customization options and scalability seen in Shopify Plus.

Related Read: Redefine Enterprise Retail With Shopify Commerce Components

5. Customer Support 

Both Shopify and Shopify Plus provide strong customer support options, yet they differ significantly in personalization and the level of assistance.

All basic Shopify plan users have access to 24/7 customer support through phone, email, and live chat. This general support is geared toward troubleshooting common issues, answering questions, and guiding users through platform features. Additionally, Shopify’s customer service team provides helpful resources for setup and general queries, making it well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses with standard needs.

On the other hand, Shopify Plus provides users with personalized support through a dedicated Account Manager. This representative assists with high-level strategy, platform utilization, and growth optimization. Shopify Plus also provides a Launch Manager to guide new users through the initial setup, store migration, and ongoing management. This includes tailored advice on best practices for store configuration and platform capabilities, ensuring a smoother onboarding process. Not just this, Shopify Plus customers can benefit from an added layer of support resources, like specialized support teams and access to priority technical support. These are ideal for enterprise-level businesses with complex needs or custom requirements.

6. Price

Shopify provides plans tailored to businesses at every stage of growth. The Starter plan is ideal for selling via social media without needing a full online store, while the Shopify Basic plan provides essential features for small businesses. For growing businesses, the Shopify plan includes reduced fees for online transactions, while the Advanced plan caters to scaling operations with advanced reporting, increased checkout capacity, and additional staff accounts.

For enterprise-level needs, Shopify Plus delivers exclusive features like ERP/CRM integration, advanced APIs, and customization tools, making it ideal for high-volume merchants.

In addition, the Basic plan provides decreased card rate percentages starting at 2% for third-party payment providers, the Shopify plan at 1%, and the Advanced plan at 0.6%. The Advanced plan also includes 10x the standard checkout capacity, 15 staff accounts, and custom reports and analytics to support scaling businesses. Shopify Plus enhances these benefits with 40x checkout capacity, competitive card rates for high-volume transactions, and tailored features for enterprise-grade operations.

Here are the different Shopify plans and pricing:

To purchase Shopify Plus, simply contact Shopify for a quote. The Shopify Plus pricing generally starts at USD $2,300 per month. The quote depends on a number of factors such as your business model, sales volume, and marketing requirements.

Related Read: Why Shopify Plus is the Best Fit for Your Business

Our Verdict

When deciding between Shopify and Shopify Plus, consider the scale and complexity of your business. Choose Shopify if you’re a small to medium-sized business seeking a cost-effective, user-friendly platform with all the essential features to start and grow your online store. However, opt for Shopify Plus if you’re a large enterprise or rapidly scaling business that requires advanced customization, higher scalability, dedicated support, and enterprise-level features to meet complex operational needs. 

Wish to Supercharge Your eCommerce Store? Let’s Talk! 

Reference: 

[i] Shopify