The question of Shopify pricing is important, as there are several different levels and plans available.
While the core of Shopify is free, its App Store covers about 20% of what you will need.
While Shopify Plus is best suited for big businesses, Shopify Lite is perfect for small businesses and individuals selling products.
Read on to find out more about Shopify’s various plans. You can use the platform for free if you’re just starting out, or you can upgrade or downgrade as you see fit.
Shopify’s core covers about 80% of what you’ll need
While Shopify is the most popular ecommerce platform, you might want to consider third-party apps.
While the core covers about 80% of what you’ll need, there are plenty of plugins and integrations to further customize your store.
You don’t need to hire a programmer, since the company offers third-party apps for nearly everything.
There are fees associated with premium themes, and apps, as well as individual transaction processing fees, which may vary based on your volume.
Shopify’s free plan is designed for beginners, but as your business grows, you’ll naturally need to upgrade your plan.
Although Shopify’s basic plan covers about 80% of what you’ll need, it’s best to begin with a paid plan if you’re not a beginner. During your free trial, you’ll unlock all of the paid features but don’t worry – there’s no obligation to upgrade.
The Shopify team is staffed by people who are experts in their field. Toby Shannan, whose role has changed over the last few years, is the Chief Technology Officer.
Before joining Shopify, he served as a Director of Human Resources at Atlassian and as Chief Architect of Rational Team Concert at IBM. He’s authored several software packages and has filed two U.S. patents on software configuration management.
Another great feature of Shopify’s advanced report builder is the ability to view sales data by product, channel, and payment method. You can even customize your reports to track any metric, including sales tax. This advanced report builder also allows you to change your payment provider. Shopify also offers the option to accept payments from customers offline through its Point of Sale. This feature is great for brick-and-mortar stores that don’t want to use a third-party app.
The Shopify API also supports custom storefronts in any language. And thanks to its single-integratedintegrated back-end, merchants can easily manage their buyers and their business. This powerful platform offers a dashboard that lets you manage product inventory, order fulfillment, and marketing. The platform even has a mobile-optimized checkout system. So if you’re looking for an ecommerce platform to power your business, this is one of the best options.
Shopify’s App Store covers the remaining 20%
The new business model applies to all stores separately, but Shopify’s App Store covers 80% of the rest. App developers will still receive a percentage of sales as long as they meet the $1 million revenue threshold for the Shopify App Store. The new model also applies to registered developers whose account details can be found in the partner dashboard. Though this new business model could mean less revenue for the company, Shopify hopes this change will spur innovation in the app store space.
The app ecosystem is growing. Not only did Shopify launch an ad feature for developers, but it is also building a community around third-party developers. While the business model isn’t entirely new, Shopify has made a significant investment in this area and is making it easier for developers to make money from their work. Other companies, including Google and Facebook, have similar ecosystems. However, Shopify’s approach is unique.
Revenue-sharing with app developers has also been a major source of income for Shopify. Its app partners earned $230 million last year, its highest-ever single-year earnings. And the company is predicting $2.9 billion in revenue by 2020. While it’s still early, analysts believe that the company will have more than two million merchants in its App Store by 2020. This is much higher than the combined total of the two biggest competitors, Magento and BigCommerce.
Shopify Plus is suited for large businesses
Large businesses may have a number of unique needs and Shopify Plus can accommodate them. The omni-channel platform supports up to 100 product variants and high sales volumes. Known for its customer service capabilities, JB Hi-Fi is an example of a business that benefited from the switch. They have lowered their turnaround time and improved their customer service after going from 14 hours to an hour. The company was also concerned about cyberware attacks, which increased their risk and demand for the new platform.
One of the biggest differences between Shopify Plus and the core service is the price. While the former is aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, the latter caters to high-volume stores. Those with multiple-million dollar sales might want a platform and service built for high-volume businesses. Those with limited time offers and high-traffic pages may want to consider Shopify Plus as an option.
As a fully-hosted platform, Shopify Plus eliminates the need for expensive servers and associated overhead. It is also capable of accepting credit cards and third-party payment gateways. In addition, Shopify Plus is constantly upgrading to deal with the latest threats and protect credit card information. Businesses can expand internationally without having to worry about the security and maintenance of their own servers. Shopify Plus allows businesses to sell internationally and to more than one language at a time, allowing them to scale as they grow.
Shopify Plus also has a number of advantages for large businesses. The platform is future-proof. Its payment system supports new features as best practices, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. A traditional platform could take months to implement such features, whereas Shopify Plus offers a flexible solution that can evolve with the needs of a business as it grows. The platform is also able to handle high volumes of traffic.
Many digital marketing experts can help a business launch an online store. These experts have experience in web development and design. They can help the business improve their website. Shopify launch engineers can help migrate to the new platform. Other ecommerce platforms require technical staff to handle daily operations. In addition, they can be expensive to maintain. Many merchants opt for Shopify Plus because they enjoy the ease of use and low monthly maintenance costs.
Shopify Lite is the cheapest option for you to sell products
If you’re just starting out in the online business world, Shopify Lite might be a good choice. This plan includes all the standard features of Shopify, but is ideal for small businesses. It offers a Finances report, which shows financial details, such as total sales for a period. You can also view individual transactions, such as payments and refunds. This report also gives a comprehensive overview of all financial transactions.
You’re a new business or have an existing website, but don’t want to start a brand new site from scratch. Shopify Lite can help you sell products on Facebook and allows you to communicate with your customers through Messenger. If you want to sell products through Facebook, Shopify Lite is a great choice, as it lets you publish your products directly to your Facebook page.
The cheapest plan for you to sell products on the Shopify platform is the Lite version, which lets you sell products in person. In addition to that, this plan includes Shopify Admin, which lets you manage your storefront, send gift cards, and split bills. The Lite plan also has a 2% monthly payment processing fee for using third-party payment gateways. However, this fee is lower than that for Shopify’s branded payment gateways, so this plan is a great choice if you’re just starting out.
Takeaway
You can try out the Shopify Lite plan before you purchase the full plan. The free trial will give you a chance to evaluate whether this plan is right for your business.
You can choose between a monthly, biannual, or annual payment plan based on your budget.
There are several other costs associated with setting up a Shopify website, such as purchasing branded domain names, themes, and apps.
This plan is best suited for small businesses. It includes chat, phone, and email support. Phone support is provided for both online and offline transactions.
You can set simple rules for shipping products based on weight and price.
Additionally, it offers real-time shipping rates based on distance, weight, and number of boxes. You can even set a discount for your customers.