Shopify Plus, an upgraded platform with robust exclusive tools designed specifically for large enterprise customers aiming for limitless business growth, has become increasingly popular among businesses in Vietnam. The cost of Shopify Plus (Shopify Pricing) is a common concern for every business before they actually adopt this platform.

In this article, Meowcart breaks down all the types of fees that businesses need to consider before using Shopify Plus.

What is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is an eCommerce website platform designed for enterprise customers and built with powerful exclusive tools to help businesses grow rapidly and efficiently.

Reference: What is Shopify Plus? #1 Enterprise commerce platform

Many globally renowned brands are using Shopify Plus, including Allbirds, Gymshark, Kylie Cosmetics, Redbull, Fashion Nova, Fenty Beauty, and more. 

In Vietnam, leading brands such as SONY, Supersports, Crocs, Sulwhasoo, Havaianas, Triumph, Swee Lee, and MyKingdom also use Shopify and Shopify Plus.

Depending on the conditions and business models of each enterprise, you may consider the following criteria to assess whether your business is suitable for the Shopify Plus platform:

• Your business has an annual GMV of $1M or more.
• Your current website platform is unstable and lacks powerful features for scaling up.
• You have plans for exceptional growth and expansion into various markets. 

Shopify Plus Development Costs (Shopify Pricing)

When evaluating the highly effective feature advantages that Shopify Plus offers, the most significant concern for businesses is undoubtedly the cost of developing Shopify Plus (Shopify Plus Pricing).

To implement a Shopify Plus project, you need to prepare for various types of costs:

• Monthly Shopify Plus subscription fee
• Shopify apps usage Fee (Shopify Apps)
• Initial website design agency fee
• Maintenance and upgrade costs

Monthly Shopify Plus Subscription Fee:

According to the announcement, Shopify Plus has a subscription fee starting from $2,000 per month. However, this is just the minimum, and you might have to pay a larger fee if you have a higher transaction volume or revenue.

This fee will depend on the specifics of your business, and you can discuss it with a Shopify Plus expert before starting.

In addition to the subscription fee, you need to pay an extra fee for transactions processed through third-party payment gateways. In the case of using Shop Pay, Shopify's payment gateway, you don't have to pay transaction fees.

Transaction fees will vary by country but include an additional fee of 0.15% on each transaction if you are not using Shop Pay.

If you are not using Shop Pay, you will have to pay an additional 0.15% on top of the current credit card processing fee.

Note: Shop Pay is currently only available in certain countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. If you want to use Shop Pay, you need to register a legal entity in one of these countries. Registering a legal entity in Singapore is relatively easy, with costs ranging from $3,000 - $5,000.

Shopify Apps Usage Fee:

Shopify Apps is the application repository that allows you to install apps developed by Shopify or third parties to facilitate the seamless addition of essential features for your operations and growth.

Some popular apps include:

• Product Reviews
• Loyalty & Rewards
• Email Marketing
• Livechat
• Upsell/Cross-sell
• Product Filter & Search
• Landing Page Builder

Currently, there are over 6,600 apps available for you to choose from on the Shopify App Store. Notably, among them are apps specifically designed for users of Shopify Plus.

Depending on your needs, you may need to budget an average of $500 - $1,000 per month for the installation of apps into your Shopify Plus store.

Certainly, with the investment, you'll reap more benefits from the added functionalities these apps bring to the table.

Initial Website Design Agency Fee:

Like other website platforms, in addition to the subscription and monthly app fees, to develop a Shopify Plus project, you may need to hire an experienced agency specializing in custom design and the initial build of a Shopify Plus store. Choosing and hiring a reputable and experienced agency for Shopify Plus design is crucial for a beautiful interface, smooth customer website experience, fast speed, and support during the project's operation. 

The agency fee might include:

Design and construction consulting for Shopify Plus Store

Design consultation fees vary, with some agencies offering free consultations.

Reference: 3 Shopify Plus Agency tại Việt Nam

Migration

More than half of Shopify Plus development projects involve migrating the website platform from other platforms such as Magento, WooCommerce, Salesforce, etc. to Shopify Plus. 

This entails transferring data from the old website platform to Shopify Plus, including products, orders, customers, images, articles, SEO redirect, etc. SEO redirect needs to be focused on because it will help you maintain good results on Google search pages when switching to the Shopify Plus platform.

The cost of this migration process depends on the complexity and scale of your data.

For cases where you upgrade to Shopify Plus from a regular Shopify subscription, you won't need to go through this migration process.

UX/UI Design

If you want to have a unique and personalized website interface in your brand's style, you'll need a team to design and develop the website interface on the Shopify Plus platform.

This process can last from 1-3 months depending on the project scale.

If you want to save time, you can purchase a theme from the Shopify Theme Store to customize and use, potentially shortening this process to 3-4 weeks.

Shopify Plus Development

This marks the process of building your entire website on the Shopify Plus platform, resulting in a comprehensive website equipped with all the features you require:

• Theme Development: Crafting the website interface.
• Payment: Integrating payment gateways.
• Shipping: Connecting with shipping service providers.
• Website Functionality: Developing website features through configuring and installing third-party apps.

Depending on the complexity, the Shopify Plus development process can span from 1-3 months.

Integrations

A business reaching the level of Shopify Plus usage typically engages with numerous third-party services related to CRM, ERP, CDP, or third-party software.

For enterprise-scale customers, there's a need for integration (connecting and synchronizing) between Shopify Plus and popular ERP platforms like Microsoft AX, Odoo, SAP Hana, or LS Retail for POS software.

Connecting with these third-party software solutions demands experience and involves a highly complex and costly integration process.

The image provides a simple example of integrating Shopify Plus with Odoo ERP, as well as with e-commerce platforms in Vietnam.

Usually, integration is the most complex and challenging part of a Shopify Plus project. In some cases, this aspect constitutes over 50% of the workload and project value.

Projects related to integration require the involvement of various parties, including:

• Project Manager
• Business Analyst (BA)
• Product Owner (PO)
• Solution Provider

Maintenance and Upgrade Costs:

While the Shopify system handles maintenance and upgrades, your business may need a team available 24/7 to address any technical errors or build features for business development.

You can hire an in-house developer for maintenance and upgrades as needed. However, given the complexity of Shopify Plus projects, finding personnel capable of handling Plus tasks might be challenging.

Typically, agencies specializing in Shopify Plus can offer a maintenance service package with costs ranging from $1,500 - $3,000 per month.

Total Shopify Plus Development Costs:

We hope the cost analysis table below provides a clearer understanding of the amount you might need to invest in deploying a Shopify Plus project.

Monthly Costs:

• Plus Subscription Fee: $2,000
• Shopify Apps Subscription Fee: $500 - $1,000
• Maintenance & Development Fee: $1,500
• Total: $4,000

Shopify Plus Build Costs:

• Ranges from $20,000 - $150,000 depending on the project scale

Note: The costs mentioned are estimates and can vary based on specific business requirements.

In conclusion, while the initial investment for deploying Shopify Plus might seem substantial, the long-term benefits, scalability, and powerful features it offers can significantly contribute to the success and growth of your enterprise.