The eCommerce industry is growing rapidly, making it essential for business owners to select the right platform. One of the leading platforms in the market today is Shopify. This article provides an overview and comparison of Shopify plans: Basic vs. Lite vs. Advanced vs. Plus Pricing.
For small businesses or those just starting out, understanding pricing options can be a difficult task due to the complexity of features offered by different providers. With its robust selection of features and services, Shopify offers multiple plans for businesses at various stages of growth that allow them to choose what works best for their needs and budget.
This article will discuss each plan in detail, highlighting key differences so that readers can gain insight into which may be most suitable for their particular situation. It will also provide links to further resources so that readers are able to make informed decisions about their eCommerce offerings on Shopify’s platform.
Overview Of Plans
Shopify offers four pricing plans that vary in features and cost. The Basic plan is their most affordable option which provides a variety of tools to help manage an online store, including payment processing, shipping options, and product listing capabilities. The Lite plan adds additional features such as the ability to sell on social media channels or through physical retail outlets. The Advanced plan includes more sophisticated features for running larger stores with multiple sales channels. Finally, the Plus plan provides access to advanced reporting and analytics tools as well as priority support from Shopify staff members. Each of these plans has its own advantages depending on the size and scope of a business’s operations.
Benefits Of Different Plans
Building an ecommerce business is a major commitment. Choosing the right Shopify plan to invest in can help ensure success and maximize profits. There are four different plans available, each with their own unique benefits: Basic, Lite, Advanced and Plus.
The Basic Plan offers basic features at an affordable price of $29 per month. This plan includes access to manual order creation, staff accounts, 24/7 customer support and fraud analysis tools. Additionally, it provides up to two staff accounts for managing orders and discounts as well as accepting payments from Visa Checkout and Apple Pay.
The Lite Plan costs $9 per month and allows merchants to sell products on existing websites or Facebook pages in addition to building an online store with Shopify’s web-based software. It also supports abandoned cart recovery, discount codes and professional reporting capabilities which can be used for analyzing customers’ purchase habits.
The Advanced Plan is priced at $299 per month and gives businesses access to more advanced features such as priority support, gift cards sales options, real-time shipping rates calculators, third-party calculated taxes and much more.
Finally, the Plus Plan is ideal for larger companies who require even more features than those offered by the Advanced plan. The cost of this plan starts at $2000 per month but comes with unlimited storage space, report builder tool and custom pricing rules among other perks that make running a business easier.
Overall these plans offer varying levels of flexibility depending on the needs of individual businesses while providing additional resources like customer service support that enable entrepreneurs to focus on growing their ventures without worrying about technical issues related to setting up shop online. A comprehensive comparison between all four plans will allow users to decide what works best for them based on budget constraints and desired features.
Features Included In Each Plan
Shopify’s Basic plan includes a wide variety of features. Customers can access up to two staff accounts, accept credit card payments along with other payment methods such as Apple Pay and PayPal, set up an online store on their own domain name, customize the look of their store with themes and apps, use built-in SEO tools to optimize website visibility and manage inventory. The Lite plan is ideal for entrepreneurs who want to add an extra selling channel by using Buy Button or POS hardware. In addition to all the features from the Basic plan, users have access to advanced reporting insights and Shopify’s 24/7 customer support team.
The Advanced Shopify plan provides even more features than its counterparts. For example, customers receive professional reports that provide insight into sales performance over time and gain access to gift cards so they can reward loyal customers. They also get additional shipping discounts through Shopify Shipping rates and are able to offer five premium staff accounts for managing the ecommerce platform effectively. Finally, Plus Plan subscribers benefit from exclusive marketing services including abandoned cart recovery emails and unlimited bandwidth storage which allows them to increase product offerings without worrying about hosting costs associated with large file sizes.
Payment Processing Fees
When considering the different plans, it is important to consider payment processing fees. The Basic plan does not charge any extra for this service, and Paypal payments are available as an option with no additional fees. Lite and Advanced Plans have a 2% fee for credit card transactions, while Plus has a 1% fee. All four plans allow you to accept PayPal payments without any added cost.
Additionally, all of Shopify’s plans offer support for Stripe and other third-party payment gateways such as Amazon Payments, Apple Pay and Alipay. Some third-parties may require subscription fees that vary depending on which gateway is used; these costs should be taken into account when choosing a pricing plan. It is also worth noting that in some countries taxes may be applied to sales made through Shopify’s platform – however this varies depending on local laws and regulations so customers should check their country’s specific requirements prior to signing up for a plan.
Transaction Fees
Shopify provides four different plans: Basic, Lite, Advanced and Plus. This section will discuss the transaction fees associated with each plan.
| Plan | Transaction Fee | Additional Fees |
| Basic | 2.9% + 30¢ | Manual Payments – 3% + 0.30¢; American Express – 2.49 % + $0.30 |
| Lite | 2.0% | N/A |
| Advanced | 1.6% + 30¢ | Manual Payments – 2% + 0.30¢; American Express-1.99%-$0.30 |
| Plus | 0.5%-2.15%+ 30¢ | Manual Payments -Same as Advanced ;
American Express- Same as Advanced |
The Shopify Basic plan has a standard transaction fee of 2.9%, plus an additional charge of 30 cents per transaction for all credit cards (Visa, Mastercard etc.). However, there is an extra cost to process payments manually or through American Express which stands at 3% and $0.30 respectively in this plan option only . The Shopify Lite plan carries no transactional fee but customers are limited in terms of what they can do with the store such as not being able to accept payments online and sell via Facebook shop page etc..
The Shopify Advanced plan includes a slightly lower transaction rate than the basic at 1.6%, plus an additional charge of 30 cents per order for all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard etc.), however like the basic plan it also has extra charges when using manual payment methods or American Express at 2% and $0.30 respectively .
Finally, the most costly but comprehensive Shopify Plus package offers merchants a reduced transaction rate ranging from 0.5%-2%. An added benefit here is that it does not incur any extra processing costs for manual payments or use of American Express card transactions . In summary, depending on their needs, merchants have multiple options available to them when deciding which Shopify package best suits their business requirements and budget considerations when considering these transactional fees associated with each one accordingly
Cost Comparison
Having considered the transaction fees associated with Shopify plans, it is important to consider cost comparison between various plans. The Basic plan has an $80 monthly fee and a 2.9% + 30¢ per online credit card rate as well as a 0.5% discount for using manual payment methods such as cash or check. The Lite plan offers lower transaction rates of 2.4% +30¢ but does not include access to the point-of-sale app or physical POS hardware; however, its monthly charge of just $10 makes this plan particularly attractive for those who are starting out on their ecommerce journey.
The Advanced Plan comes with a higher price tag at $299 per month and provides users with 3rd party calculated shipping costs, professional reports, abandoned checkout recovery, gift cards and discounts, along with additional staff accounts. This plan also offers all the features included in the Plus Plan, which charges $2000 each month and adds more advanced reporting options combined with international selling capabilities plus premium customer support services such as VIP phone support lines. All these factors need to be taken into consideration when selecting from among the different Shopify pricing plans available.
Conclusion
The Shopify platform offers a wide range of plans that offer different features and benefits depending on the needs of users. The basic, lite, advanced, and plus plans all differ in terms of the features they provide as well as their associated payment processing fees and transaction fees. It is important to consider each plan’s features carefully when making a decision about which one is most suitable for an individual or business.
In addition to considering the features offered by each plan, it is also necessary to compare pricing structures across the various plans in order to determine which one best meets budget requirements. Although some plans may have higher monthly costs than others, these can be offset by lower payment processing fees or other savings over time due to access to certain features only available with those more expensive plans.
Overall, there are numerous factors to take into account when selecting a Shopify plan including cost comparison between different plans, understanding the relevant payment processing fees and transaction fees associated with each option, and evaluating the list of features included in each level of service. It is essential that individuals or businesses assess their own unique needs before deciding which Shopify plan will suit them best so that they can maximize efficiency while still staying within budget constraints.
