High-Scale Retailers & Enterprise Companies are Using Shopify Plus as Their E-commerce Platform from Dubai

Shopify is specifically designed to meet the needs of growing businesses, and this is true of most businesses and even those that are considered to be of an enterprise level and are utilising a Shopify Plus business solution.

For Dubai based brands, it’s considered to be a leading hub in the world in terms of global business and trade, and is a place that is known to have a rapidly changing and dynamic retail environment, it is essential that businesses in this area are able to utilise an e-commerce solution that is able to meet their growing business needs and help them succeed in their respective marketplace.

In this article, we will outline how Shopify Plus helps high-growth businesses in Dubai, what to look for when recruiting Shopify Plus experts, and how partnering with a leading Shopify Plus partner can help accelerate a company’s growth through customised Shopify Plus development services.

The Dubai Retail Market

The Dubai Retail Market is made up of a very diverse customer base, which includes customers with high mobile and digital adoption; cross-border commerce; and, in addition to that, a lot of the volume is seasonally related to events or festivals.

Therefore, high-growth retailers require an e-commerce platform that is designed to support performance, localisation and connect to various systems and products, which ultimately allows for the delivery of an excellent customer experience.

Shopify Plus for Enterprises in Dubai provides the e-commerce retailer with enterprise-level capabilities and functions (i.e. robust system feature sets) but keeps the same level of agility as an enterprise e-commerce platform built on a SaaS-based solution. Hence giving the retailer a chance to innovate rapidly and enter new markets without having to bear the usual high cost overheads which normally go with a traditional e-commerce platform.

Shopify Plus Suited for Rapidly Growing Brands in Dubai

Scalability With No Downtime

Shopify Plus has one of the greatest advantages in its ability to handle a large volume of orders and instant spikes in traffic, whether it be due to launching a new product during the Dubai Shopping Festival or expanding into neighbouring GCC territories. Shopify Plus is capable of handling peak volume quickly and with high reliability, which is critical for protecting revenue and a brand’s reputation.

Built-in Performance And Infrastructure

There will be no more need to manage servers or CDNs and deal with the complexity of caching with Shopify Plus. The platform’s CDN and optimised checkout will provide fast page loads throughout Dubai and internationally. Fast page load times also mean improved customer experience, as well as improved conversion rates for enterprises that place significant emphasis on speed and conversion.

Omni-channel Readiness And Multi-channel Commerce

Top brands that sell throughout Dubai have online stores, marketplaces, social commerce and physical retail locations. The Shopify Plus platform offers native support for headless implementations, spent point-of-sale systems, and allows businesses to create unified customer experiences across all channels.

Localisation & Internationalisation of eCommerce 

Additionally, with locations in Dubai, merchants encounter a multitude of currencies, languages, tax regulations, and fulfilment partners. Conversely, with Shopify Plus’ support of multi-currency and multi-store functionality, brands can serve UAE-based customers through a single setup, and/or launch one or more stores across the region.

Security & Compliance

As enterprises face more scrutiny around data security than ever before, security is a given when utilising Shopify Plus for enterprise merchant solutions. Brands that use Shopify Plus have access to a highly secure and PCI DSS compliant infrastructure with access controls in place, thus taking away the burden of compliance for the owner of the platform.

Enterprise-Level Features that Matter for Shopify Plus

Advanced Customisation Options at Checkout from Extensibility and Scripts.  Helpful automations powered by Shopify Flow to streamline habitual tasks and integrate commerce processes with ERP.  The Launchpad function provides a handy way for merchants to schedule campaigns and automate product launches and promotions during Dubai’s Huge Shopping Events.

 Access to a dedicated Merchant Success Manager and Launch Engineers to support large-scale migrations and the development of growth strategies.  Headless Commerce capabilities for brands that need complete control of the customer-facing interface and speed-of-service for an outstanding, modern customer experience.

How to Select the Best Shopify Plus Expert

The selection of the proper partner is as significant as the selection of the platform. A Shopify Plus Expert will provide you with strategy and guidance, as well as relevant technology and knowledge of your local marketplace. When assessing potential partners or a Shopify Plus Partner in Dubai, please consider the following:

• Experience with enterprise migrations and high-volume retailers
• Localisation experience for the UAE and GCC
• Ability to deliver full omnichannel integrations (including marketplaces, POS, and ERP)
• Knowledge of headless commerce, performance optimisation, and custom app development
• Post-launch support, optimisation and growth solutions

When working with a qualified team of Shopify Plus Experts, you can turn your goals into a strong implementation plan that provides you with consistent performance and measurable improvements in conversion rates and average order value.

Shopify Plus Development Services Provided by Premier Agencies

A reputable Shopify Plus development company should offer a full spectrum of specialised services aimed at helping enterprise businesses grow and prosper:

• Strategy and Roadmap for your Platform: Establishing a commerce strategy to facilitate future growth and find opportunities to enter new geographical markets.
• Custom Storefront Design and Headless Implementations: Providing conversion-driven, brand-specific storefront experiences.
• Integrations & Middleware: Connecting technology (ERP, CRM, WMS, tax engines and custom logistics providers in Dubai) to the customer’s current ecosystem.
• Custom App Development: Building custom applications with features that can’t be bought off-the-shelf.
• Migration Services: Moving existing catalogues, customers and order histories from legacy systems.
• Performance Optimisation: Adjusting the front end and back end of websites to improve speed and reliability.
• Ongoing Maintenance and Support of Growth: Maintaining a continued working relationship with our customers for continued improvements to the system and helping them plan for future growth.

These Shopify Plus development services can help increase time to market and decrease the associated risks involved in investing in large scale e-commerce solutions.

Shopify Plus Migration What To Expect

Moving away from a self-hosted solution or from a single solution architecture to Shopify Plus will take a detailed planning strategy. Most migrations will have the following phases: 

• Discovery Requirements gathering; Mapping business processes; Data migration; Integration testing; Phased cutover. Use a Shopify Plus Partner located in Dubai or an experienced Shopify Plus Development Company to assist in your migration:
• Auditing your existing commerce ecosystem, prioritising these integrations based upon their criticality, and ensuring you understand the path of the customer so you do not lose any of the converting power of the customer as they move through this new system
• Building a staging environment to enable sufficient testing/QA prior to launch. Completing your migration in phases to minimise interruptions to your ongoing operations
• A successful migration process requires that you maintain data integrity, preserve your current SEO and ensure continuity in your customers’ experience; all of which will add significant value for you via the assistance of experienced Shopify Plus experts.

Integration & Ecosystem considerations

Fast-growing brands have a very sophisticated ecosystem consisting of many different services (ERP systems, Third-Party Logistics, Tax & Invoicing Engines, Marketing Automation, Fraud Detection & Analytics Tools). Shopify Plus will support those robust API-driven integration options and is usually integrating with Middleware solutions for real-time, reliable data transfer.

For an enterprise located in Dubai, the key integrations would likely include:

•  Local payment gateways, as well as cross-border payment providers
•  Tax and compliance systems that have been developed for the UAE VAT and regional tax models
•  Logistics and fulfilment partners with regional reach or capabilities for crossing borders
•  Marketing and personalisation platforms that have been optimised for a multi-lingual audience

Many fast-growing businesses leverage a headless architecture to optimise frontend performance, create innovative user interfaces (UI) and experiences (UX) and rapidly experiment. Shopify Plus provides an API-first infrastructure that allows businesses to separate their view layer from their commerce logic, resulting in the ability to innovate rapidly, without sacrificing reliability.

For example, you may wish to use a modern-day JavaScript-based framework for your storefront, but use Shopify Plus for handling cart, checkout, inventory, and order management. This type of application is particularly useful in a place like Dubai, where there is a high level of performance and aesthetic attributes associated with a shopping experience, whether online or offline.

How to Select a Shopify Plus Partner in Dubai? 

• Check the evidence of enterprise-level experience(s) within the partner organisation
• Knowledge of the local market and regulations that affect business
• Full service capabilities: design, development, integrate and support
• Strong governance over projects, including regular reporting on progress, budget and schedule
• Continuity of optimisation and growth support

Questions to Pose to Potential Shopify Plus Experts

• Did you successfully migrate enterprise-wide websites as a group? If yes, could you provide some insight into how those sites performed with regards to increases in revenue and/or traffic?
• How do you conduct the localisation and multi-currency capabilities for the GCC region?
• How do you achieve high availability of your online store while optimising for the highest possible levels of performance when your business is particularly busy?
• Provide examples (evidence) or proof of successful custom applications and/or functional integrations that you have developed with other (complex) fulfilment or Enterprise Resource Planning systems.
• What kind of services and agreements do you offer after we launch our site?

We offer services and agreements after launching a site.

Shopify Plus Development Service Costs

The cost of Shopify Plus Development Services can be vary based on the unique project needs. It depends on how complicated, customised the project is and how many things need to be integrated. For better understanding discuss with the experts and get a project specific pricing quote.

Factors That Affect Shopify Plus Project Costs

• Building a custom storefront
• The number and complexity of third-party integrations like ERP, logistics, tax and so on
• Custom App Development and Private Apps for unique processes
• Data Migration including moving all orders and customer data
• The retainer for optimisation, monitoring and support

One way to reduce costs is to work with your Shopify Plus Development Company to create a plan. This plan should match your immediate business needs with your longer-term growth goals.

Implementation Roadmap Overview: From Strategy to Growth

1. Strategy & Discovery

We identify business objectives, define target markets and determine limitations.

2. Architecture and Design

We determine the approach for your project that suits you the best and based on that the design will be done. 

3. Development

We build the storefront, applications and middleware based on the unique project needs. 

4. Launch

We validate all 3rd party integrations, checkout flows, and performance under load.

5. Post-Launch Optimisation

After the launch we continuously try to improve your performance by monitoring and iterating on conversion and experience based on the collected data to deliver glitch free experience.

Key Performance Indicators and Success Metrics to Monitor

If you want to verify that you are receiving value from your Shopify Plus investment, track performance indicators such as:

• by-specific channel conversion rates
• average order value
• percentage of abandoned carts
• page load speeds and core web vitals
• error rates in order processing and the checkout process
• amount of time needed to introduce new markets or campaigns

A reliable Shopify Plus Development Partner in Dubai can help you define benchmarking metrics.

Get Your Sales on Track

If you have been experiencing growth within Dubai’s marketplace then you will want to find a solution like Shopify Plus. To identify a Shopify Plus Partner enlist certified Shopify Plus Experts.

Are you interested in starting your business transformation? Schedule a discovery session with either an expert or partner for Shopify Plus located in Dubai.