Shopify Plus Explained

Shopify Plus is often perceived as “Shopify for big brands,” but in a modern tech stack, that’s not exactly the right way to interpret it. In reality, Plus isn’t a status symbol; it is a functional unlock for businesses where standard Shopify limitations have begun to create “friction costs” – the invisible expenses of manual workarounds and lost conversion opportunities.

For the right merchant, Shopify Plus is a catalyst for scale, and for others, it’s just an unnecessary overhead. Here is the definitive breakdown of how to decide if you need an upgrade to Shopify Plus in 2026.

The Technical Unlocks: Beyond the Basics

While the core “engine” remains consistent across plans, Plus removes the “governors” that limit high-growth enterprises.

Checkout Extensibility & Shopify Functions

On standard plans, the checkout is a “black box”, so the options to customise it are either limited, or nonexistent. On Plus, you gain access to Checkout Extensibility. This allows an agency to build bespoke logic directly into the checkout flow using Shopify Functions.

• The Impact: You can create custom discount logic (e.g., “Buy X, Get Y” that respects complex B2B rules), custom shipping options based on real-time data, or bespoke validation rules that prevent shipping to specific postcodes for certain products.

Up to 10 Alternate Stores

Plus allows you to operate up to 10 stores under one licensing fee.

• Our agency perspective: This is vital for internationalisation, which also makes it vital for growth. Rather than a messy “one-store-fits-all” approach, you can have dedicated, localised storefronts for the UK, US, and EU, each with unique inventories and localized SEO strategies – all managed under one organizational umbrella.

Advanced API Limits

Standard Shopify plans have strict “rate limits” on data flow. Plus doubles these limits.

• Our agency perspective: If you have a complex ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or a high-frequency CRM, standard Shopify might “throttle” your data syncs. Plus ensures your stock levels and order data stay accurate in real-time, even during peak traffic like Black Friday.

Comparison: Shopify Advanced vs. Shopify Plus (2026)

*Pricing for Plus is typically billed in USD ($2,300); GBP figures are approximate based on 2026 exchange rates.

The B2B Revolution

The biggest differentiator in 2026 is Shopify B2B. Previously, brands had to run a separate “wholesale” store. Plus integrates B2B directly into the core admin, allowing you to:

• Assign bespoke price lists to specific companies.
• Offer Net-30 payment terms at checkout.
• Allow customers to use Company Profiles with multiple locations and buyers.

The “Hidden” ROI: Efficiency and Automation

A specialist agency doesn’t just look at how the monthly fee will apply to your business, they look at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), which gives you a much clearer idea of the balance between the subscription fee, and the potential savings/improvements that will aid your site’s performance. Sometimes, the answer is that you simply won’t gain enough to make the investment worthwhile, and if you’re working with a responsible agency, they’ll tell you just that.

• Launchpad: Allows you to pre-schedule theme changes, discounts, and navigation updates for major sales so your team isn’t working at midnight.
• Reduced App Spend: Many Plus features (B2B, advanced loyalty, custom discounts) replace third-party apps that can cost £200 – £500/month on standard plans.
• Lower Transaction Fees: The 0.15% fee for third-party gateways (compared to 0.5% on Advanced) can save a business turning over £5M/year roughly £17,500 annually in fees alone.

When is it Actually Worth It?

The “Revenue Rule” (usually cited as £1M+ ARR) is only half the story. When evaluating the recommendation (or not) for a move to Shopify Plus, we base it on three triggers:

1. Checkout Conversion Arithmetic: If your store does £5M a year and a bespoke checkout widget improves conversion by just 0.5%, that’s £25,000 in found revenue. If the upgrade pays for itself, it’s an easy recommendation for us to make, but we’ll always look at the numbers first.
2. Operational Complexity: If your team spends 20 hours a week on manual data entry or “workaround” apps to handle B2B or multi-currency, the efficiency gain of Plus is immediate.
3. International Ambition: If you are moving into 3 or more global markets, the “Expansion Store” model provides a level of SEO and UX control that standard Shopify “Markets” cannot match.

The Agency’s Role: Strategist, Not Just Developer

Choosing the wrong agency means they’ll tell you to upgrade because it’s easier for them. A specialist agency will treat the upgrade as a commercial business case. When working with a client, we identify which apps can be deleted, design custom logic that reduces friction, and help transition manual wholesale spreadsheets into a self-service digital portal.

The Bottom Line: Shopify Plus is not a “better” version of Shopify – it is a more programmable version, though. If your business has reached the stage where “out of the box” feels like it’s constricting your business growth, get in touch with us to talk about moving to Plus.