It takes more than a great product or well-designed website to make a Shopify store successful. Whether you are just starting with your online store or have been in business for some time, your selection of a plan that suits your Shopify subscription can greatly affect how effectively you can handle your tasks, business, and expansion. When faced with a variety of plans to choose from, each of which includes a different set of features to add to your store, the choice of the plan may be rather important for a Shopify store.
1. Considerations When Choosing a Plan
a) Sales Volume and Growth Analysis:
The exact number of users that your business has and how quickly you’re predicting that number to grow is one of the largest factors determining your subscription plan. Shopify App Development Services appropriate integrations, such as subscription management, will be required for a larger number of orders, as will more detailed analytics, better shipping rates, and lower per-transaction fees, which are available to users of paid tiers.
- If you’re just getting your business off the ground or have a limited supply to start, the Shopify Starter or the Basic Shopify plan might be the best for you.
- Subsidiaries with more volume, or more sales per period, would be better served by the Shopify or the Advanced Shopify plans that contain core implemented analytics, better shipping, and lower fees.
- Businesses should opt for Shopify Plus as it is built for enterprise-level companies whereby it provides numerous features like customization options, and automation for many business operations, and more importantly.
b) Transaction Fees:
The first one is that merchants are subjected to transaction fees by Shopify. Benevolence to the plan level means that the scale of the transaction fees is inversely proportional to the plan level for buyers or sellers who perform a large number of transactions.
c) Number of Staff Accounts:
Whenever you are adopting the plan, it is highly recommended to ensure that the plan provides adequate staff accounts needed in a team. The Basic Shopify plan only provides two staff accounts while on the other side, Shopify Plus can accommodate up to 15 staff accounts. Account creation can be a powerful tool for structuring your business because too many or too few accounts can hinder the effectiveness of teamwork in managing your store.
d) Inventory Management:
While the Easy Shopify plan presents basic features that are rather sufficient for most online stores, Advanced Shopify contains additional tools for handling rather big inventory. This can be very useful in terms of expanding your business and ensuring that multiple stores have access to the type of reporting and updated inventory tracking that can be so important for making the right decisions.
e) Global Expansion:
With Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus, you have the features of selling products in more than one currency and in different languages in case you are planning to go international. For reaching international markets, Shopify Plus seems to have the best tools such as the multi-location and localized storefronts.
2. Breaking Down the Plans:
Shopify Starter:
This plan costs $249 per month but is most suitable for those who do not want to create a professional store, but sell through social media or applications such as WhatsApp. It makes the most sense for ventures that have not fully committed to online marketing and perhaps are looking for low-risk and low-reward strategies.
Shopify Advanced:
This plan costs $499/month and includes the above-stated features alongside advanced features such as professional reporting, better discounts on shipping, and more staff accounts. It is beneficial for companies that are already up and running and want to expand their operations.
Shopify Growth:
Priced for $999.month this plan is ideal for high tax sales turnover or complicated needs including enhanced characterization, and international selling. It also gives the best shipping discounts.
Shopify Ultimate Plus:
With prices starting at $1999 per month, Shopify Plus is a fully customizable plan that caters to companies of large sizes. It has additional superior functionalities, convenient automation, and adjustable options, making it suitable for enterprises that require flexibility and additional help to control immense sales amounts.
3. What’s Right for Your Business?
To come up with the best decision, it is important to determine your company’s position regarding the growth stage, the number of SKUs, and the amount of operational loose couplings that are required.
New businesses should start with the Shopify Starter or Basic Shopify plans because businesses don’t have to pay for additional services they may not require.
Small businesses that require increased sales and features that are not available in the Basic Shopify Plan should consider embracing the Shopify Plan.
For larger established companies with higher and more specific requirements, this is an opportunity to consider Advanced Shopify and its features.
Enterprise businesses should define them as the most appropriate for them since the solutions provided by Shopify Plus will be more bespoke, involving numerous automation, with priority support.
4. Additional Costs to Consider:
When choosing a subscription plan, don’t forget to account for other costs such as:
Apps: Some of these can be available as built-in features with others requiring business owners to install third-party apps to achieve the desired features.
Themes: Premium and free themes are available on Shopify. Although it is possible to try using free themes, it will be wiser to pay for a theme to give a website a more professional appearance.
Marketing tools: Some plans include marketing tools that you can use but there are likely to be extra services such as email marketing.
Conclusion
Selecting an appropriate Shopify subscription plan is one of the key strategic steps in the further development of your company. With the help of the above criteria, that is, evaluating your current sales velocity, expected growth, requirements for your business, and budget. you can choose the best plan that will provide you with the necessary tools and options to expand your store.
