Shopify is an E-Commerce platform that provides an ecosystem designed to retailers and consumers with a seamless and user-friendly shopping experience. To be precise, its underlying technology is easy to use and highly flexible giving online merchants the freedom to design and create beautiful and user-friendly stores that are not only easy to maintain, but also to manage from a content admin point of view. The fundamental interfaces of the platforms facilitate for effortless navigation, user-friendly storefronts, and tools that simplify the entire buying process for the users from shopping all the way to check out – a thing both consumers and merchants enjoy.
These fundamental attributes are shared by both Shopify and Shopify Plus. However, these two are still different platforms and come with major distinctions all designed to cater to different types of businesses. We will explore these differences and also what the variations mean from a merchant perspective.
Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: Differences in features
The main differences are, that merchants get more features with Shopify Plus which allow merchants to upscale their businesses without limits. If a merchant already has a thriving online business and would like to compete with the big names, Shopify Plus is the route to take.
Though these two platforms are highly customizable, Shopify Plus comes with a lot to be desired. With the plan, we as an agency can customize payment processing features (e.g. checkout page), set automation flows, customer segmentations as well as discount scripts (buy one get one, etc). Further, Shopify Plus provides merchants with the freedom of a total of 10 websites under one account. Additional website features are faster API’s, unlimited bandwidth as well as a Wholesale channel to run your B2B business professionally.
If merchants have bigger teams of administrators with over 15 members, Shopify Plus is the choice for them. With the plan, an unlimited number of administrators can be logged on at the same time.
As all merchants are after expanding their businesses within the GCC or even globally or looking for a platform that can take care of their orders, so they can concentrate on refining their respective brand and marketing, look no further. This way, merchants get enough time to concentrate their efforts on brand image.
The variance in features carries along in the variance in pricing between these plans. With the Shopify standard plans, merchants only have to pay either 29 USD, 79 USD or 299 USD a month. The Shopify Plus plan begins from 2000 USD a month – but this varies depending on merchants needs, preferences, and sales. If a merchant’s store and brand are big enough and can benefit from the economies of scale, Shopify Plus is the most viable option.
If merchants wish to expand their businesses Shopify Plus provides them with the freedom of 9 additional free mirror stores on top of their store. This means, merchants can localize their websites ultimately very seamlessly for the GCC and Middle Eastern countries with respective localized currencies and contents under one account. This is not available on the Shopify standard plans.
Another benefit for Shopify Plus is the transaction fees charged. On this platform, the charges can be as low as 0.25%. This compares with Shopify’s 0.5% to 2% transaction fee. Making the Plus plan better of more so when merchants have a bigger volume of transactions.
If a merchant requires a higher level of customer support, Shopify Plus comes with a dedicated merchant success manager. This includes most importantly a priority 24/7 customer care support.
When to shift to Shopify Plus in the UAE/GCC
Considering its scalability and cost, this plan is ideal for wholesalers, big ventures, and enterprise level E-Commerce stores. The ease of localizing a merchant’s business globally through mirror stores under one account is essential.
The Shopify standard plans are perfect for small and medium businesses. No matter how a merchant decides, the highly scalable and powerful nature of Shopify and Shopify Plus are super intuitive to work on.
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At Creative971, we keep our Shopify knowledge and training up-to-date in order to offer our clients quick, beautiful and user-friendly e-commerce sites. To discover how optimized your Shopify store is, or to get started on a shiny new site today, get in touch.
Have you ever looked for online Shopify Trainings or E-Commerce Blueprints for the UAE? Look no further. As the leading Middle Eastern Shopify expert agency, we have gathered all there is to know.
This training is not a tutorial on how to set up your Shopify store, but a mentorship with first hand agency insights what you need in order to understand and run your E-Commerce business on Shopify successfully.
Creative971 hosts multiple events, Shopify meetups and conferences all around E-Commerce on Shopify in Dubai and the Middle Eastern region.
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Stay up to date around Shopify E-Commerce in Dubai and the Middle East.
Have you ever looked for online Shopify Trainings or E-Commerce Blueprints for the UAE? Look no further. As the leading Middle Eastern Shopify expert agency, we have gathered all there is to know.
This training is not a tutorial on how to set up your Shopify store, but a mentorship with first hand agency insights what you need in order to understand and run your E-Commerce business on Shopify successfully.
