What are the main benefits of Shopify Plus?

Are you considering upgrading to Shopify Plus? But you are unsure if your business is the right fit. Are you fed up with a slow ecommerce website that crashes when your traffic surges? Perhaps you'd like to automate more tasks, freeing up your time to focus on strategy and building a bigger, scalable brand.

Read on to discover the Shopify Plus advantages and why it makes sense for growing brands like yours. By the end, you'll see why many brands are switching and how you can upgrade to Shopify Plus.

What is Shopify Plus? 

Shopify Plus is the go-to option for high-volume businesses that require the highest level of customisation, performance, agility and scalability.

Shopify launched the Shopify Plus platform in 2014 to attract bigger ecommerce businesses as an alternative to enterprise ecommerce platforms, like Magento 2, BigCommerce for enterprises, Adobe Commerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

Shopify Plus Key Features

1. Scalability and Performance

Shopify Plus offers exceptional scalability benefits, making it an ideal platform for rapidly growing businesses. It can handle thousands of transactions per minute, has unlimited product listings, and has no restrictions on bandwidth or storage. Shopify Plus ensures your site remains fast and reliable even during peak traffic.

This scalability allows larger businesses to expand their operations seamlessly, accommodating increasing sales volumes and global reach without compromising performance or user experience.

With the latest updates during the Shopify edition summer 24’, Shopify Plus is consolidated as a unified platform for omnichannel growth. Shopify Plus can scale your business to operate your D2C, B2B, retail and global markets from one commerce operating system.

2. Lower Transaction Fees

One of the benefits of Shopify Plus is lower card rates compared with other Shopify plans. Shopify Plus card fees offer competitive rates as your volume of transactions increases.

If you use Shopify Payments as your primary payment gateway, you pay Shopify all online and in-person card fees, with the lowest rates of any plan.

However, if you use a third-party processor as your primary payment gateway, you pay your processor fees plus 0.20% per transaction to Shopify for security and compliance costs.

Here is a breakdown of the transaction fees using Shopify payments or third-party payments gateways:

Shopify Plus + Shopify Payments:

• Transaction Fees: 0%
• Card Rates: the lowest rates of any plan*

*Competitive rates for high-volume merchants

Shopify Plus + third-party payment provider:

• Transaction fees: 0.20% per transaction.
• Card Rates: 1.75% + 30¢ per transaction*

*Fees vary depending on the provider.

3. Checkout Extensibility 

In August 2024, Checkout Extensibility replaced checkout.liquid as the exclusive method for Shopify Plus merchants to customise their checkout experience.

Checkout extensibility is a powerful feature available only to Shopify Plus merchants. It allows you to customise and enhance the checkout experience in ways impossible on standard Shopify plans.

Checkout extensibility offers a suite of tools for fast, secure, and upgrade-safe app-based customisations. With over 400 extensibility-powered checkout apps with a wide range of capabilities to personalise your checkout, thank you, and order status pages to build a unique checkout experience tailored to your business needs.

Here are the main advantages of checkout extensibility for Shopify Plus brands:

Advanced Branding

With the branding API, you can match the look and feel of your checkout to the rest of your online store and make advanced customisations to its appearance.

Enhanced Payment Flexibility

Customise payment methods available at checkout based on customer location, cart value, or other criteria.

Loyalty customisations

Offer VIP discounts to your best customers or allow buyers to redeem loyalty points for a discount code at checkout.

Post-purchase checkout extensions

After the order is confirmed, personalised your post-purchase page with some of these options:

• Upsell offers: Prompt customers to add more products to their initial order after completing payment.
• Loyalty sign-ups: Ask a customer to join a rewards or points program.
• Survey requests: Ask a customer to complete a survey after checkout.

Need help customising your checkout experience? Let’s Talk

4. Advanced Ecommerce Automation

If you'd like to automate more tasks, Shopify Functions, launchpad and Shopify Flow are automation tools that can give you the freedom to automate processes across your entire business, whether it is in your ecommerce operations, B2B, international markets or retail. Free up your time to focus on strategy and building a bigger, scalable brand.

4.1. Shopify Functions 

Shopify Functions are a powerful new way to customise and extend the functionality of your Shopify store without needing to rely heavily on third-party apps or complex code.

Before, you needed to use the Shopify scripts editor to do some of these advanced customisations. The Shopify Scripts editor required coding knowledge and was limited to customising only the checkout.

Shopify functions let you extend the functionality of your entire Shopify store, not just the checkout.

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

• Custom Discounts: Offer automatic discounts based on cart contents, customer loyalty status, or purchase history.
• Dynamic Shipping Rates: Calculate shipping costs based on complex rules, such as weight, destination, and delivery speed preferences.
• Payment Method Controls: You can display or hide certain payment options based on order value, customer location, or other criteria.
• Product Bundling: Automatically create and manage product bundles with special pricing and conditions.

Note: Shopify functions are replacing Shopify Scripts, which will be fully deprecated by August 28, 2025.

Need help migrating your existing Scripts to Shopify Functions? Let’s Talk 

4.2. Launchpad: Schedule Campaigns

Launchpad is an ecommerce automation tool exclusive to Shopify Plus that lets you schedule, monitor and manage events such as sales campaigns, product releases, or flash sales. With Launchpad, you can schedule:

• Release products and update inventory across channels
• Apply discounts to specific products or entire collections
• Design campaign themes and update them automatically
• Revert your changes when the event ends

Launchpad lets you drive conversions with a smoother customer experience during busy periods like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Christmas Day. As an event progresses, you can track its success by viewing the app's real-time analytic dashboard.

4.3. Shopify Flow 

Shopify Flow is an automation tool that helps streamline various business processes, such as order management, customer segmentation, and marketing workflows.

Here are some examples of processes you can automate with Shopify Flow:

Automate Inventory Alerts

If the inventory for a popular item drops below 10 units, Shopify Flow can notify your team to reorder the product, ensuring you don’t run out of stock.

Customer Segmentation for Marketing Campaigns

Create a flow that tags customers who spend over $200 in a single order as "VIP" and then automatically adds them to a VIP email marketing list for exclusive offers.

Post-Purchase Customer Engagement

After a customer buys a specific product, Shopify Flow can automatically send a follow-up email after 7 days with tips on using the product, along with a discount code for their next purchase.

Loyalty Program Automation

Set up a flow that automatically awards loyalty points to customers who make a purchase over a certain amount, refer a friend, or leave a review, helping to incentivise repeat business and customer engagement.

5. Omnichannel power: Shopify POS Pro

If you're a Shopify Plus retail brand with complex retail operations across Australia, Shopify POS Pro provides advanced POS features for up to 200 retail locations included in your Plus plan at no extra cost. Additionally, you can expand to up to 1000 brick-and-mortar stores with a paid add-on for Pro features for each extra location.

Shopify POS Pro capabilities let you seamlessly blend your in-store and online experiences, whether your customers browse and shop in-store or visit your retail store and check out online. Shopify POS helps you have your point-of-sale and ecommerce systems under one umbrella, viewing customers as one customer, whether they shop online or in-store.

What are the advantages of Shopify POS Pro?

Unify your sales, data and customer experience

You can manage your orders, products, inventory, and customer data in one place, so you're always up to date. Shopify's unified analytics also allow you to adapt to growing business trends and have a blueprint of all your operations.

Multi-store management

You can manage up to 1,000 stores from a central location and boost efficiency with shared workflows.

Fully synced customer profiles

Quickly access notes, lifetime spending, and past orders from any location to help sales representatives make personalised recommendations and engage with your customers more meaningfully.

Integrated loyalty programs

If a customer walks into your store and has accumulated loyalty points from previous online purchases, your sales representative can instantly see the customer's loyalty status and point balance and encourage them to redeem these points in-store.

Hassle-free returns and exchanges

Let's say a customer who purchased an item online wants to return or exchange it in-store. With Shopify POS, you can immediately verify the purchase, process the return or exchange, and suggest alternative products, ensuring a smooth transaction and potentially retaining the sale.

Delivery and in-store pickup

Offer click-and-collect and give your customers flexible fulfilment options, such as local delivery, in-store pickup, and shipping to the customer.

Advanced inventory management

Sync and transfer inventory across locations, channels, and warehouses, and purchase inventory based on forecast and performance reports.

Australian Shopify Plus retailers taking advantage of Shopify POS Pro

Some Australian brands that streamline their online and in-store operations with Shopify Plus and Shopify POS Pro include Mister Zimi, Maap, Elite Eleven, Bared Footwear and The Sheet Society:

 

“Using Shopify Plus and Shopify POS gives us trust and peace of mind that everything just works. Integration was done in two clicks. Now we use it for our customer database, click and collect across multiple locations, returns management, and discounting codes.”

Hayley Worley — Founder, The Sheet Society

 

Need help to unify your Shopify operations and retail? Let’s talk

 

6. B2B Ecommerce: Custom Wholesale Experiences

Are you operating or planning a high-volume B2B wholesale channel? B2B on Shopify lets you build and run your B2B business with tools personalised for wholesale buyers. Shopify Plus gives you all the tools to reduce the need for multiple stores and simplify workflows by having unified analytics, product catalogues, and order management.

Shopify Plus has recently incorporated new and improved B2B functionality here are the key highlights:

Company profiles

Create wholesale company profiles with multiple locations and associated buyers.

Product publishing and pricing

Offer a personalised buying experience with curated product selections and price lists. This includes flexible purchasing rules, percentage-based pricing, and discounts, all assigned to a specific buyer or location.

Flexible payment options

To streamline the order process, create automated net payment terms, draft orders, and use vaulted credit cards and invoicing.

B2B checkout

Show wholesale pricing during accelerated checkout based on company profiles.

Customer accounts

Authenticate buyers before they can access wholesale products and pricing and view and manage account information and order history.

Custom B2B buyer experiences

You can personalise B2B storefronts for different markets, each with its own unique catalogues and content. You can choose from B2B themes like Trade, an out-of-the-box theme designed for repeat and bulk purchasing.

Headless B2B storefronts

You can now build headless B2B storefronts using the Storefront API and Customer Account API.

Darche Grows Wholesale Business via B2B on Shopify

Darche is the Australian leader in outdoor and camping products. It sells DT2 and B2B products, with most of its revenue coming from its B2B business. In 2023, Darche migrated from OroCommerce to Shopify Plus, which made wholesale ordering easier for stockists by offering self-checkout functionality.

"Shopify has completely changed the way we do business. Previously, our B2B orders were mainly processed manually. Retailers would email or call to place orders, and our customer service team would assist them. Now, retailers feel comfortable placing orders online via the Shopify B2B function. This provides them with an easier, more seamless sales experience, and helps build trust with our brand. We're now a more modern business."

Darche
Finn Christensen — Digital Marketing Coordinator

Need help migrating your B2B store to Shopify Plus? Let's talk

7. Cross-border Expansion

Are you a global brand operating in international markets or planning to expand to cross-border markets soon? Shopify Plus can help you access up to 50 international markets included in the Plus plan in search of new customers and revenue.

Shopify Plus simplifies cross-border sales, allowing you to manage regional storefronts from a single store and tailor high-converting shopping experiences for each market with custom payment and shipping options.

Here are the most important features you can expect when selling globally using Shopify markets in the Plus plan:

Localised global selling

Create separate stores for the U.S., Europe, and Asia, each with localised content, pricing, and payment options, ensuring a tailored shopping experience for customers in different regions.

Product Pricing by Market

Set specific prices for products or product variants in each market to gain greater control over your international pricing strategy.

Currency conversion

Automatically convert prices into your customer’s local currency to drive conversion in each market using Shopify Payments.

Language Translation

Enable multiple languages on your storefront to reach a global customer base. Includes two free automated translations and flexible integrations with third-party translation services.

Global Payment Gateways

Set local payment methods to appear for customers who check out in specific markets. For example, in Europe, you might offer options like Sofort or iDEAL, while in Asia, you could integrate Alipay or WeChat Pay, catering to local payment preferences and reducing cart abandonment rates.

Advanced Shipping Customisation

Shopify Plus allows you to tailor shipping options to different regions or countries and set specific shipping rates, methods, and conditions for each market.

Automated Duties and import taxes

When customers from different countries shop at your store, they may be subject to duties and import taxes based on the value of the goods and the destination country's regulations.

Shopify Plus offers automated calculation and collection of duties and import taxes at checkout, providing customers with a clear understanding of the total cost, including shipping. It reduces the risk of cart abandonment due to unexpected fees.

When to upgrade to Shopify Plus?

 

When considering an upgrade to Shopify Plus, you should carefully evaluate several key factors to ensure the platform aligns with your business's needs and goals.

To scale your growing business into a global brand or enterprise, you'll need to sell thousands of products daily, making or nearing $1M USD in annual sales, with consistent growth.

Consider if your business has outgrown its current e-commerce platform or lacks the latest ecommerce functionality. Large ecommerce stores must have a fast, reliable website that won't crash under a spike in traffic.

You will also want to automate as much as possible and minimise the time and money spent on maintenance and transaction fees.

By doing this, you can turn your attention to creative, strategic tasks that will help you grow your brand and your bottom line.

Are you ready to scale and expand operations to different countries? Would you like to develop a unique, highly-customised store? How about delivering a memorable, branded shopping experience that keeps your customers returning for more?

Recommended reading: Redesign on Magento 2 or re-platform to Shopify Plus?
 

Conclusion

As commerce moves fast, Shopify Plus evolves with your brand to help you scale your DTC, high-volume B2B wholesale, complex retail operations and cross-border expansion.

If you are looking for a platform that is constantly evolving and updating with the latest commerce demands and that can actively support and contribute to your business growth - Shopify Plus might be for you!

Want to see some examples? Check out these 16 stand-out Shopify Plus stores that took their game to the next level with Shopify Plus and get inspired!

Are you ready to upgrade to Shopify Plus? Let's talk