With the growing online business in the UK, choosing the right platform is very important. As the brand grows, retailers might realize that their existing platform no longer meets their needs. To reduce this issue, businesses need an advanced platform.
That’s where Shopify Plus can help. Shopify Plus is a Shopify enterprise platform geared for massive traffic and sales, coupled with rich features and complex customizations.
Based on recent research, “Around 50,000 websites use Shopify Plus for their business”. But now the question is, when exactly should retailers migrate their existing stores?
In this article, we will provide you with a complete guide to effectively upgrading your current store to Shopify Plus. We will help outline the benefits offered by Shopify Plus and elaborate on a step-by-step process to accomplish the migration process.
When to Shift to Shopify Plus
Before choosing Shopify Plus it’s essential to understand when it’s needed to shift in this platform. Let’s find out the core reasons below:
Rapid Business Growth
Migrating to Shopify Plus is a good move for any expanding organisation. As you encounter more traffic, sales, and client enquiries, your current platform may struggle to keep up.
Shopify Plus is specifically intended to handle big volumes while maintaining stability and performance even during peak hours. This powerful solution can support your brand’s expansion while allowing you to retain seamless operations despite rising demand.
Regular Outages and Problems with Performance
It’s time to upgrade the eCommerce system if it’s performing poorly or having regular outages. Downtime costs one sale and a poor customer experience. Shopify Plus provides robust infrastructure and hosting, ensuring that your store stays live and performs optimally.
Complex Customization Needs
You will most likely find a need for even more advanced customizations as your business grows and its needs become even more unique. Shopify Plus is much more flexible and allows much more control over your store’s design and functionality.
You can get deep access to Liquid, Shopify’s templating language, and hundreds of APIs to customize your shopping experience to the most intricate details.
Global Expansion
Shopify Plus will give you the tools and features you need to succeed in international markets, whether you want to expand your business or manage it globally, with multi-currency support, custom storefronts, and robust integrations that help you scale and manage easily.
Advanced Automation Requirements
The majority of companies search for advanced solutions before launching an online store. These solutions are associated with better automation to boost production and streamline operations.
Tools like Shopify Flow, let you automate a lot of time-consuming processes. This means you’ll have more time and resources for strategic work to ensure a simplified process.
How to Properly Shift to Shopify Plus
Let’s find a step-by-step guide to shift to Shopify Plus.
Plan Your Migration
Making a thorough plan for the transfer is the first step in moving to Shopify Plus. It ought to contain a schedule, the migration project’s major checkpoints, and the tasks that must be completed. Among the things to consider is integration with third-party apps and services for customising the design and data.
Check Out Your Present Store
Ensure that you audit your existing store before moving to Shopify Plus. Do regular checking to ensure your store is growing with excellence. Make an outline of the functions or customisations you prefer to keep and the areas that need upgrading.
Prepare Your Data
Data migration is the other critical component of your transition. You should make every effort to ensure that all the data needed for your product, customer information, and your order history, among others, are properly backed up and prepared.
Shopify Plus equips you with tools and resources to make data migration as hassle-free as possible.
Design and Customize Your Store
Use Shopify Plus’ sophisticated customisation tools to create a store which matches your brand identity. Collaboration with a competent designer or developer will allow you to create a unique and fascinating purchasing experience for your clients. Think about things like aesthetic visual appeal, accessibility on mobile devices, and user interface.
Include apps and services from third parties
Numerous external apps and services are integrated with Shopify Plus. Assess which products and services are essential to your business’s success and make sure they are properly linked with your new store; these could include tools for advertising, third-party financial gateways, and delivery options.
Test Your Store Thoroughly
Test thoroughly before going live. Test all functionalities, including the checkout, payment gateways, and all integrations using third parties. Identify bugs and start resolving any issues that might be created during the launch.
Train Your Team
Ensure that your team is well-equipped with the new configuration and what is available at Shopify Plus. Provide them with adequate training and give them enough resources so that they may operate the Shopify Plus system proficiently to benefit to the maximum. This will result in minimal impact on your business following this transition.
Go Live and Monitor Performance
After verifying and configuring everything, it’s time to go live. Keep a close eye on the new store’s functioning at all times, and make any necessary corrections. Keep an eye on how your clients respond and keep improving your business to enhance their buying experience.
Use Post-Migration Support
Shopify Plus will provide you with all-around post-launch migration support so that whatever problem you are facing, they will sort it out for you. Hence, utilize the support to the fullest so that your store is not hindered and goes on smoothly and efficiently.
Benefits of Shopify Plus
Scalability
Shopify Plus is designed to scale with your business. Whether you have a few thousand orders or millions, the platform can handle them. With unlimited bandwidth and a strong infrastructure, you can grow your business without a care in the world about running into technical bottlenecks.
Dedicated Support
One of the most prominent features of Shopify Plus is that you receive proper support. Shopify Plus will get you connected to a dedicated merchant success manager who will work with you to optimize your store and achieve your business objectives. Shopify Plus also provides priority support 24/7. This means that whenever you have an issue with your store, help will be right there for you.
Custom Checkout
Shopify Plus will let you customize the checkout. It allows your customers to have a smooth and branded experience. According to research, “Shopify’s One Page Checkout reduces cart abandonment by 35%”. You can add custom fields, unique discount structures, third-party payment gateways, and so much more in creating the checkout process specific to your needs.
Advanced Security
Security is always an issue for any eCommerce business. Shopify Plus comes with a more sophisticated safety measures, such as SSL certificates, fraudulent evaluation, and PCI DSS Level 1 certification, which make your data more secure and your online business safer for customers.
Analytics
Brands use precise analytics to make up-to-date data-driven decisions. Shopify Plus has provided firms with refined reporting and analytics tools, allowing them to stay informed about trends, critical measures, and make smart decisions for their continued success.
With these, businesses can achieve accomplishment and build adequate plans to optimise future improvements. It enables you to keep tabs on trends, track important indicators, and make wise choices that may result in expansion.
Success Stories
Huel
Huel (Human Fuel) has become one of the UK’s most noteworthy success story for shopify. Huel started off by providing nutritious meals for the customers for leading a healthy life. This rapid rise demonstrates their market strength and adaptability.
It uses the Shopify platform to efficiently supply nutrient-dense products to a growing number of markets. Shopify’s scalability and ability to handle high volumes of orders without trouble have been critical to Huel’s success.
As one of the most successful Shopify stores, Huel has a minimalist aesthetic that appeals to its customers. The smooth integration with Shopify has played a vital role in Huel’s ongoing expansion.
Gymshark
Gymshark, a UK-based workout gear manufacturer, has risen to become one of the world’s largest Shopify stores in the previous decade, with a current valuation of $1.4 billion. Gymshark switched from Magento to Shopify Plus to optimise its operations, and the decision transformed its business. This change greatly improved their scalability and added comprehensive functionality to the table.
Gymshark’s switch to Shopify Plus enabled it to easily manage rising demand while keeping a high-quality site. Furthermore, they adopted a headless eCommerce architecture by combining Shopify with the Contentful CMS, resulting in a more adaptable and dynamic business. Gymshark’s success story highlights Shopify Plus’ transformative power, which drives eCommerce growth and innovation.
Conclusion
Any eCommerce company can benefit greatly from Shopify Plus’s scalability, sophisticated features, and committed resource support. The full potential of Shopify Plus may be unlocked by making the appropriate move and adhering to a rigorous migration process, which offers a more robust and adaptable eCommerce solution.
Accept the shift and take use of the extensive capabilities to grow your business. This change will allow you to fully utilise Shopify Plus’s features, guaranteeing a great expansion of your brands and ensuring success.
A recent survey indicated that “Shopify Plus has over two million active users daily, making it the largest Online shopping platform.” For better understanding, it’s essential to connect with Shopify development partners to ensure a successful outcome.
