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Shopify Plus development
Most Plus stores use a fraction of what they pay for. The checkout is still the default, discounts run through an app doing a Function's job, and B2B is a second store nobody wanted. I build on the parts of Plus that earn their keep, and tell you which ones to leave alone.
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The upgrade to Plus usually happens because of a sales threshold or one feature someone needed, and the store carries on being built the way it was before. Shopify documents Plus as a list of features. Knowing how they fit together into a better store is where a developer earns their keep.
Brew Tea Co is a good example. I rebuilt their store on Plus so subscriptions, their Brew Coins loyalty programme and the customer account work as one, connected through Recharge's and LoyaltyLion's APIs. In its first year, net sales rose 28% and average order value 16%, from Brew Tea Co's own Shopify analytics.
What Plus development covers
Checkout. Plus stores can add fields, validation, content and branding to checkout through extensions: delivery instructions, gift messages, address checks, and upsells inside the checkout. It's the area most stores haven't touched, and the one closest to conversion.
Shopify Functions. Discount, shipping and payment logic that used to be a Script or an app now runs as a Function: tiered pricing, bundle discounts, hiding a payment method for a customer group, free delivery rules that depend on more than the cart total. Written once, running inside checkout, with no app fee. If your Scripts stopped working this summer, the Scripts migration has its own page.
B2B. Company accounts, price lists, payment terms and quantity rules on the same store as your consumer catalogue. Many brands that moved to Plus for B2B still run it the old way, because the tools arrived after they upgraded. B2B and wholesale has its own page.
Markets. One store selling in several currencies, languages and domains, with prices and catalogue set per market. If you run a store per country, consolidating them is a job in its own right.
Flow and Launchpad. Automation for the jobs your team does by hand: tagging orders for review, holding fulfilment on a fraud signal, starting and ending a sale without anyone being awake for it. Unglamorous, and used by almost nobody.
The theme. All of this sits behind a storefront, and on Plus it's usually custom. Building one that gives your marketing team what they need without a developer, and stays fast, is most of the front-end work.
What being a Plus Partner means
Plus Partner status means Shopify has reviewed my work on Plus and lists me as a partner for merchants on the plan, with a route into Shopify when a platform issue needs escalating.
At a large Plus agency, the person who sells the project and the person who builds it are rarely the same. Here, I'm both.
How I work
I write the code on every project. Specialists in design, CRO and content come in when a project needs them, and you meet them directly.
The work happens in your Shopify and GitHub accounts, so you can see everything. Anything that touches checkout is built and tested on a development store or a staging theme first.
Estimates are for the whole job. If something turns out harder than expected, we talk about scope before anything changes on the invoice.
When you don't need Plus
Worth saying, because it comes up. Plus pays for itself when one of its features is doing real work: a customised checkout, B2B alongside consumer, Markets at scale, or enough volume that the pricing tips in its favour. If none of those apply, the standard plan with a well-built theme is usually the better answer, and it's the one I'll recommend.
Who it's for
Brands already on Plus who suspect they're not using it. Brands on the standard plan, or another platform, weighing the move. And agencies that need Plus-level development on a project, which has its own page.
The quickest way to see what Plus is doing for you is the Shopify Plus audit, or book a call.
“Richard has been supporting us behind the scenes for years and we find him exceptionally reliable. Designs are brought to life as intended but with the added benefit that Richard will always recommend a better or simpler way of achieving a goal, something we find very valuable. The support is quick, the documentation is great and his approach is flexible to our requirements. He works really well with our team and others working on our site. The ground up build was complex with a lot of interesting features - all delivered exactly as planned. Thanks Richard, we look forward to continuing to grow with Graftstudio.”
Phil KirbyCo-founder, Brew Tea CoTea brand acquired by Luxmi Group with 10,000+ active monthly subscribersHow it works
The work, step by step.
- 01
See what Plus is doing for you
A pass over the store: which Plus features are in use, which are paid for and idle, and what the checkout, discounts and B2B setup look like underneath.
- 02
Agree the shape of the work
A defined build, a retainer or a fractional arrangement, depending on whether the gap is a project or a lack of development time.
- 03
Build in your accounts
Your Shopify, your GitHub, your Slack. Development stores and staging themes for anything touching checkout, so nothing is tested on the live store.
- 04
Hand over properly
Documentation written as the work is built, and a walkthrough with the team who'll use it. Nothing depends on me to keep running.
Related work
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