IS SHOPIFY PLUS REALLY WORTH IT?

Shopify Plus is one of the best ways we’ve seen to take your business to the next level.

Here at Coura, our ethos is inextricably linked with collaborating with founders to create the genuinely iconic business of their dreams. We’ve worked on over 300 Shopify Projects, so if you came here looking for answers about Shopify Plus, we’ve got them for you. 

I’ve got you covered when it comes to knowing: 

• How to know if Shopify Plus is worth the Investment
• When is the right time to move to Shopify Plus
• What you have to gain from its benefits and how will it be integral in scaling and growing your business
• How to effectively utilize all functions of Shopify Plus to maximize your investment

How can I be sure Shopify Plus is worth the investment?

As a business owner, I am cost-efficient, like really cost-efficient. Every week, I reconcile our expenses, see where we can cut costs, and determine where to invest to help my business grow. From conversations with my clients, this is also a top priority for them and something I take very seriously, especially when considering where to invest in technology so that they know it will be an objectively sound financial choice. Here at Coura, we work with many founders who are intrigued by Shopify Plus but struggling to decide whether it’ll be worth the cost and, just as importantly, if it’s worth the cost right now.

It’s easy to cast doubt on the necessity of the Shopify Plus plan, justifying the platform’s multiple tiers, which run from $29 per month for the basic plan to $299 per month for the advanced plan, hold enough benefits to make the jump to Plus which is the priciest option at $2,300 a month unnecessary. While it’s important to note that although success in your business is not wholly contingent on the highest tier subscription, the benefits of Shopify Plus are substantial and often justify the investment. So, how do you know if Shopify Plus is the right move? It’s hard to see those answers when you don’t have experience with the platform, and the cost-benefit ratio is a distraction that comes with lots of money signs.

How do you know it’s time to upgrade to Shopify Plus? 

It’s a simple question with a seemingly elusive answer. A quick search gives you as many possible indicators as there are results, adding to the increasingly heavy psychic pull of trying to manage scaling a business up. If you want to scale and increase sales, and your business is already making $800,000 in revenue, it’s time to consider the upgrade. The Shopify website won’t totally agree with me on this one. Their site suggests $80,000 monthly in online sales, with a qualifier that “individual needs may vary,” leaving plenty of room for interpretation. But here’s what I know from working with clients: we’ve helped create significant success for businesses who approached us making $600,000 in revenue per year but with the $800,000 mark in sight. With the proper plan and team in place, you’ll see a return on your investment within six months. Look at that; turns out it’s a simple question with a simple answer.

What do you get with Shopify Plus?

Still with me? Great. Scaling requires you to make and execute a plan that will involve expanding products, personnel, and tech to support an increase in site traffic and sales flawlessly. It’s a Sisyphean task for almost everyone, but this is precisely where Shopify Plus really gets to show off. When I talk to my clients about migrating, I like to tell them Shopify Plus is not just an upgraded version of Shopify – it’s Shopify on steroids. There’s so much we created a little Cheat Sheet of what Shopify Plus users also get:

Shopify Plus Benefits – Cheat Sheet

• Checkout Extensibility: This includes custom fields, loyalty program integrations, and unique discount applications that can personalize the checkout process, improving conversion rates and average order value aka you can tailor almost every detail of your checkout to encourage and increase conversion
  
• B2B on Shopify: You can now efficiently manage complex B2B relationships with custom pricing tiers and streamlined sales processes to grow your wholesale channels alongside direct-to-consumer business.
  
• Shopify Audiences: This uses customer data to retarget visitors and create better marketing campaigns. What that means is this can improve marketing efficiency and boost sales, for example, by retargeting users who abandoned their carts with reminders of the items they were interested in.
  
• Free Expansion Stores: With nine complementary stores, each in a different language, expanding your store to new markets and reaching more customers globally is now effortless.
• ShopifyQL Notebooks: This analyzes your store’s data in Shopify to identify trends and insights. In doing so, discovering top-performing product categories based on region and demographics and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly is a breeze.
• Bot Protection: With advanced security features, you can now protect your online store against bot attacks and fraud. Plus’s bot protection option automatically slows down bots to increase conversions from real people, so legitimate customers stay happy while minimizing revenue loss from fraudulent activity and ensuring accurate data afterward.
• Exclusive API access and endpoints: Integrating your Shopify store with existing business systems can unlock even more functionalities, streamlining back-office operations by connecting your store to inventory management or CRM software.
• Feature Test Drives: This feature minimizes disruption to your storefront by experimenting with new features before they roll out publicly. This will help you make informed decisions about adopting new features and their potential impact on your business.
  
• Launchpad: Simplify app installation and management from a central location to save time and ensure compatibility with your store’s setup. This function behaves similarly to a scheduled email because at your disposal is the ability to:
  • Change the product pricing at the start and end of an event 
  • Make selected products available to your sales channels to release them at a chosen time and date
  • Increase inventory levels at the start of an event
  • Schedule creative and theme customization
  • Schedule line items and shipping scripts to change prices and grant discounts at checkout Password protect your online store for a set duration of time before the start of an event
  • Gather data about the success of the event
    
• Custom App Builds with Shopify Functions: This enables you to customize your app’s functionalities without managing infrastructure, such as creating a tailored loyalty program app that fits your brand and customer base.
• Shopify Organizational Admin: Now you can ensure data security, streamline workflows with granular control over user permissions and access, and manage them for your team members. This is CRITICAL for larger teams!
• Shopify Plus Certified App Partners: Get custom solutions for your Shopify store from a network of vetted app developers and access specialist expertise to address unique business needs.
  
• Shopify Plus Academy: These educational resources keep your team up-to-date with the latest features and best practices, empowering them to improve your online store constantly.
  
• Shop Cash Campaigns: It’s now easier than ever to Increase customer engagement and incentivize purchases with Shop Cash, a loyalty program offered by Shopify. By offering Shop Cashback, you’ll be rewarding (and encouraging!) loyal customers to make repeat purchases.

This is just the tip of the iceberg because Shopify 2.0 also plays a considerable part in this equation. We’ve witnessed that cart abandonment increases dramatically with poor checkout experiences. For this reason, when Shopify 2.0 came out, it focused on site performance and loading speeds, which are significant factors in improving SEO and reducing customer drop-off rates. Faster load times make users happy, encouraging customers to spend more.

But what does all the above mean for you, the user? Well, quite a few things, but for starters, you’ll get time to focus on other things.

Can I migrate my business and manage all this by myself?

Feasibly yes, you can, but your priority as a business owner should be developing products and drawing awareness. Using Shopify is meant to be user-friendly, but unlocking Plus’s full incredible potential takes valuable time away from you and your employees who should be focused on other things, especially when teams like us here at Coura are experts at creating a bespoke shopping experience for our clients.

It’s our mission to help founders and companies manifest the business of their dreams, and we’re some of the best in the market. Even though we’ve only been around for a few years, we’ve already successfully completed over 300 Shopify projects. Our success is driven by our team which collectively shares a comprehensive understanding of Shopify Plus, all the way down to its native coding language, Liquid. If you have the product and are ready for the next step, we can ensure your storefront drives conversions, builds audiences through omni-marketing channels, and has automated workflows, all while effortlessly creating a shopping experience as individual as the product you’re selling. 

In our line of business, we’ve seen many people take different approaches to achieving their goals, but time and time again, the companies willing to invest in themselves see a return, and Coura has consistently helped our clients achieve a return on their investment in as little as three to six months. It’s no exaggeration that upgrading to Shopify Plus has the potential to change the face of your business forever. But with us on your team, we have the potential to change the face of your business right now.

Shopify Plus is a big step. Reach out so we can help you navigate your way into your business’s future.