Before a business even thinks about hopping on one of those platforms, how much should they earn in annual revenue online?
If your eCommerce store is now starting to generate between one to $2 million in revenue annually, consider moving to either BigCommerce Enterprise or Shopify Plus. Shopify Plus costs around $2,000 a month. Or work out a variable pricing base. That’s typical for high-volume sites. With BigCommerce Enterprise, it will range based on your revenue, or again, your volume.
Before you make this position, determine if you are scalable. Do you foresee your store continuously growing or are you capped out? A business should start considering moving to an enterprise-level platform like Shopify Plus or a BigCommerce Enterprise when they start generating one to $2 million annually in revenue and can grow comfortably.
When looking at the cost associated with those platforms is Shopify Plus, you’re looking at $2,000 a month or variable pricing based on what you can negotiate. With BigCommerce Enterprise, it’s going to vary based on your annual revenue or the amount of volume. You would have to contact BigCommerce to find out what the costs will be for your particular business on a monthly basis.
Why You Should Migrate To A Premium eCommerce Platform
Is the cost worth it? Absolutely; you’re generating one to $2 million a year, but you are stuck because your storefront’s technology isn’t built for scalability. The current platform that they’re on isn’t allowing their business to scale. If that’s the case, you definitely need to move over to BigCommerce Enterprise or Shopify Plus.
What can these enterprise-level platforms do that your standard version of BigCommerce or Shopify can’t?
They can provide support. With these enterprise-level platforms, you’re going to get enterprise-level support. You have on-call dedicated customer service to solve problems or make changes. That is extremely important, especially when you’re trying to break that one to two million while scaling.
Optimizing Payment Processing And Inventory
What issues can enterprise platform support handle?
They can handle site issues. This includes if their site goes down for whatever reason, customers are having an issue at checkout or process issues. You can’t afford to have those issues; support removes them and the liability.
In addition, you receive more access to the platform’s code for your storefront. For example, Shopify Plus now gives you the ability to edit or optimize your checkout page. On the other versions of Shopify, you don’t have that capability. Checkout optimization allows you to manipulate your page to possibly increase your conversion rate. Then you can implement different conversion optimization tactics on your site to convert more of the incoming traffic.
How about unlimited API calls?
API calls help with inventory management. Suppose you’re earning two million USD annual revenue and you’re trying to scale. This means scaling applies not just to the forward-facing end, but also to the backend of your operation. The backend includes inventory management systems.
Do you have SKUVault or Skubana in place to track your inventory? If not, the lack of a system is a concern. Especially if you’re selling across multiple marketplaces, you want to synchronize inventory data to prevent overselling.
Having the ability to have unlimited API calls, regardless of the volume at which you’re selling, is essential. You’ll always be able to maintain the proper inventory count on your site. In addition, you won’t get limited out on API calls. That’s extremely important as well.
Paying additional for BigCommerce Enterprise or Shopify Plus is not an expense, you’re investing back into your business because you’re now investing in a platform that’s going to allow you to continue to scale and grow.
Migration For Enterprise Solutions
What does the migration process from BigCommerce or Shopify to the enterprise-level platform involve?
If you’re on a standard BigCommerce or Shopify plan — also called a non-enterprise level plan– and you want to upgrade to an enterprise version, it’s a pretty seamless process. BigCommerce and Shopify will help you move that forward. They can assist with upgrades and migrations.
However, if you’re on a Magento or Volusion and looking for a hosted enterprise-level solution, you need an expert on eCommerce migrations. We know that there are tons of details that need to be looked at meticulously when it comes to eCommerce migration. If one little facet gets left out, your entire operation could potentially crumble.
BigCommerce Enterprise and Shopify Plus are worth the investment if you’re ready to scale your business to one to $2 million a year in annual revenue to five to 10. If you’re coming from a different platform and you’re looking at BigCommerce Enterprise or Shopify Plus, we’re more than happy to help. Reach out and we can give you an eCommerce migration checklist.
Looking to upgrade to Shopify Plus or BigCommerce Enterprise?
