Shopify is a top eCommerce platform that has transformed over 500000 businesses successfully into an online set-up. If you’re an eCommerce shop owner, chances are that you already know about Shopify. Shopify’s robust and responsive solutions enable eCommerce stores to achieve growth on different business stages.
However, eCommerce merchants often think of scaling their business operations. Shopify may not always be the best choice for business expansion. That’s exactly why you have a great alternative in the form of Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus has been specifically designed for the limitless growth of eCommerce stores.
Are you confused between Shopify and Shopify Plus? Don’t worry! We have prepared a detailed analysis of Shopify vs. Shopify Plus to help you get started.
So, let’s begin!
#1 Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus: Integrations
Shopify offers a long list of API integration options to the eCommerce merchants. For years, eCommerce stores have been adding numerous innovative features by leveraging these APIs. However, in the case of Shopify, there are certain API call limits. Hence, if you’re all set to scale your store, these call limits can easily become a roadblock for you.
At an advanced stage, eCommerce stores look for unlimited API integration and that’s exactly why Shopify Plus is a better option. When we’re discussing Shopify vs. Shopify Plus, it’s imperative to consider the integration differences.
Let’s take the example of Storefront API. This API plays an integral role in adding creative touches to your eCommerce store. It helps you improve the buying experiences of your Shopify store’s customers. This API follows a time-based limit when it comes to the rate-limit method. If you’re using Shopify, you’ll get a standard call limit of 60s per user IP. However, by switching to Shopify Plus, you can double this limit to 120s per user IP.
#2 Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus: Design Flexibility
Both Shopify and Shopify Plus offer 70+ themes to create a compelling eCommerce store. However, when you’re thinking about design flexibility, there’re some variations to consider in the Shopify Plus vs. Shopify discussion.
Shopify Themes
You can change your Shopify store themes with an open-source template language called Liquid. If you have a fundamental understanding of Liquid coding, designing an eCommerce store will come naturally to you. In fact, there are country-specific themes on Shopify and you can select one based on the location of your target audiences. Creating a native language website can engage your visitors for a longer time in the store.
Shopify Plus Themes
Alternatively, for Shopify Plus, the launch manager is responsible for writing the custom codes. That means you don’t need any coding expertise to set up and expand your online store with Shopify Plus. In fact, you can save a lot of your valuable time earlier spent on writing codes. Furthermore, Shopify Plus lets you utilize the Script Editor to create customized checkout pages.
Shopify Script can generate three different types of scripts namely Shipping scripts, Line item scripts, and Payment scripts. This helps you do the following:
- Change product-specific discounts
- Execute successful promotions
- Adjust pricing, shipping, reorder options based on your requirements
So, clearly, Shopify Plus adds much more value to your store as compared to Shopify.
#3 Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus: Ecommerce Features
Since we use Shopify or Shopify Plus to build an eCommerce store, you must know about the eCommerce features. In fact, these eCommerce features can actually be the deal-breaker in the Shopify Plus vs. Shopify analysis.
1. Sales Features
Shopify
- Shopify lets you access a world-class marketplace so that you can sell your products to different platforms like Amazon, eBay, etc. as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
- Shopify sends automated cart recovery emails to the customers to follow-up and re-engage them to the store. This is a great Shopify advantage that can help you recover up to 25% of sales.
- Shopify accepts multi-currency payments. Hence, if you’re aiming to accept international payments, using Shopify can offer you support with currencies like USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, and so on.
Shopify Plus
- Shopify Plus comes with an in-built Script Editor that plays an integral role in personalizing customers’ in-store experience. It gives you complete control over your eCommerce store and helps you make minor to major edits for a customized experience.
- Another innovative tool that you’ll find on Shopify Plus is Shopify Flow. It creates a personalized first impression for the customers and lets you get an in-depth overview of how customers are navigating within the store.
2. Store Analytics
eCommerce merchants require real-time reports to make data-driven decisions for their online stores. These reports can provide an in-depth overview of the customers’ demands, the store improvement areas, and so on. However, Shopify and Shopify Plus have some clear differences when it comes to store analytics reports.
Shopify
- A clear dashboard overview report
- Finance reports
- Product-based analytics report
Shopify Plus
- A clear dashboard overview report
- Finance reports
- Product-based analytics report
- Live overview report
- Acquisition report
- Customer behavior report
- Sales and marketing reports
- Customer reports
- Custom reports
Clearly, the scope of making a more informed decision is higher with Shopify Plus, given the comprehensive reports it can provide to your eCommerce store.
3. Language
As far as language is concerned, Shopify doesn’t offer any language support apart from English. If you want to build a multi-lingual eCommerce store, you have to add a third-party language translation app. In that case, too, you can translate your store into a maximum of five languages. Alternatively, Shopify Plus helps you translate your store to as many as 20 languages. That’s one of the major Shopify Plus benefits over Shopify.
4. Customer Support
eCommerce merchants need excellent support from platforms like Shopify. They don’t prefer getting stuck somewhere without any help and assistance. Shopify helps you with active assistance through 24/7 live chat and email.
Alternatively, Shopify Plus offers personalized customer support to the eCommerce store owners. First, you’re assigned a launch manager who helps you integrate your store with different channels and APIs. Later you can interact with a merchant success manager, who’ll guide you to make your store a successful one throughout.
Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus: Pricing
Both Shopify and Shopify Plus follow a value-based pricing framework. Evidently, Shopify Plus offers much more features and benefits to the eCommerce store owners. As a result, the pricing of Shopify Plus is higher than Shopify. To be more specific, Shopify charges you $29/month whereas Shopify Plus charges $299/month. That means Shopify Plus will cost you 10X more than Shopify. Both offer a 14-day free trial.
If you’re a beginner, Shopify is definitely the right option for you. However, if your eCommerce business is in the growth phase, investing in Shopify Plus is definitely worth a shot!
Pros and Cons of Shopify and Shopify Plus
Both Shopify and Shopify Plus have their own set of pros and cons. Here we’re discussing a few:
Shopify
Pros
- You have the freedom to sell your products across different channels including big eCommerce giants like Amazon and social media platforms
- Shopify is a feature-rich eCommerce builder where developing an eCommerce store is pretty easy
- Affordable for eCommerce startups
Cons
- Shopify lacks advanced integration options
- To avoid excess transaction fees, you’ve to use Shopify Payments only
- Switching themes is tedious on Shopify. With each switch, you need to reformat the content of your store
Shopify Plus
Pros
- Unlimited integration options to create a powerful eCommerce store
- It can support more than 10000 transactions from your eCommerce store per minute
- Shopify Plus offers you personalized support access to grow your store from scratch
Cons
- Pricey for beginners. Only enterprise-grade businesses can afford it
A Shopify App you should Know about – ShippingChimp
Since we’re talking about Shopify vs. Shopify Plus, we thought you’d be interested in one of the best Shopify apps called ShippingChimp which you can easily integrate with both Shopify and Shopify Plus. eCommerce stores often have a tough time figuring out how to simplify the delivery experience for their customers. ShippingChimp helps you create a seamless and personalized delivery experience for your store in the following ways:
- Real-time shipment tracking page
- Prompt delivery notifications
- A personalized tracking page
- A responsive return center
Are you interested to know more? Click here to start free trial.
FAQs: Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus
There are many eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, 3D Cart, Big Commerce, etc. However, the best platform in our opinion is Shopify. It offers unmatched benefits and user experiences that other platforms lack to some extent.
There’s no one correct answer to this question. If you’re looking for expansion and money is not a bar for you, you should definitely go for Shopify Plus. However, if you’re only starting out, Shopify is a great choice.
Yes, Shopify Plus surely is worth it given the advanced features it offers. However, if the budgets are tight, you can get started with Shopify.
Shopify Plus offers some cutting-edge benefits to the customers. Its features are unique and sufficient to transform your eCommerce store. That’s majorly why Shopify Plus is so expensive.
If you’re at a growing phase of your business and financially ready to take the next step, you’re ready to use Shopify Plus.
For Shopify Plus fee, Shopify can negotiate with businesses. However, other than that, there are hardly any negotiation opportunities with Shopify or Shopify Plus.
Shopify and Shopify Plus both are well equipped to handle massive traffic. More specifically, Shopify Plus can handle up to 6000 checkouts per minute.
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