How enterprise companies solve e-commerce challenges with Shopify Plus

Large companies face special challenges in e-commerce, which the selected store system must master. Many enterprise solutions are cost-intensive, cumbersome to use and have to be hosted by the company itself. We therefore present Shopify Plus as an alternative. Contrary to many assumptions, Shopify is not only suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. With Shopify Plus, the platform offers a simple and comparatively inexpensive enterprise solution for large e-commerce companies with thousands of orders per month.

In this article, we look at the e-commerce challenges enterprise merchants face and what solutions Shopify Plus has in store:

1. Variety of products and customers

Challenge

As the size of the company grows, so does the product range and the number of customers, and thus the administrative workload in the store. An enterprise online store must be able to handle a large number of products and their variations as well as have interfaces or tools that ensure smooth synchronization of all inventories.

Solution

Shopify's enterprise solution already includes tools to automate, manage, and import data without requiring you to invest in additional software.

With the automation capabilities of Shopify Plus, products or customers with certain characteristics can be automatically assigned tags. For example, if you want to assign customers who regularly buy large quantities (e.g. worth at least 300€ per month) as VIP customers, you don't have to do it manually. You simply create a rule for this and the store system automatically assigns your customers.

If you need to import a lot of product and customer data in one go when moving to Shopify Plus or for a big launch, this is also no problem. Without additional tools, you can import information with csv files, for example.

2. Protection of numerous customer and business data

Challenge

The store system of a large company must ensure the security of all business and customer data. This applies not only to the storage of data but also to its management and transmission, for example, during payment. In this respect, an online store must comply with various legal requirements in order to protect the data of its customers.

Solution

For payment transactions, Shopify Plus ensures PCI Level 1 compliance in checkout. Shopify customers therefore do not need to invest in additional security systems for credit and debit card payments.

Shopify also offers additional functions for managing customer data. For example, if a forum is part of an online store, each of which requires its own access, customers can link their account within both components and thus only need one login.

3. Traffic peaks

Challenge

The online stores of large companies are permanently visited by more people and are also characterized by strong traffic peaks during special events. When a new product is launched or a big sale takes place, for example on Black Friday, the rush is great. Everyone wants to get the new product or a bargain before the desired item is out of stock. An enterprise store must be able to withstand this sudden amount of traffic so that the launch or Black Friday does not turn into a flop.

Solution

While other software solutions require adding server capacity manually, Shopify comes with a freely scalable cloud environment. Shopify Plus customers don't have to announce large streams of visitors to keep the site stable. Capacities are automatically expanded so that no user despairs of an endless loading screen. The store system offers a 99.9 percent guarantee of online store accessibility. As a result, Shopify Plus is able to process up to 8,000 orders per minute.

4. Marketing measures on a grand scale

Challenge

The marketing of an enterprise retailer addresses a large clientele. This partly consists of different target groups, which are addressed in different ways. The challenge is to retain a large number of existing customers while attracting new ones. The web presence must therefore be constantly improved to meet changing requirements.

Solution

Shopify Plus provides various marketing tools for this purpose. This allows strengths and weaknesses in sales performance to be precisely analyzed and adjusted. Customer behavior during a sales event is monitored via the Launchpad and can be used to improve future events. An individual customer approach is solved via the automation tools.

5. Various sales channels

Challenge

Large companies not only use an online store, but also other sales channels such as Amazon, Facebook or Instagram. It must be ensured that inventories are always up-to-date and connected to all channels. A special role is played by the connection to the retail trade, provided that sales are also made offline.

Solution

Shopify not only provides interfaces for a variety of sales channels, but also brings a POS system for retail. Multichannel sales support also includes inventory synchronization for all channels.

6. International sales

Challenge

Many large companies operate nationally and internationally. Customers expect at least an English version of the website to be available, in the best case with different currencies and payment options.

Solution

If you use Shopify Plus, up to 10 stores are included in your plan. More can be added for a fee. This is an optimal basis for international companies that want to customize their store to the countries addressed. In addition, Shopify offers a variety of currencies with the Payments platform - and without the need for additional apps or interfaces.

7. Sales to wholesalers

Challenge

Not only B2C or D2C sales play a role for large companies, sales to other companies can also be either additional or exclusive. In B2B business, large sales volumes, certain minimum order quantities and customer-specific discounts are the order of the day. In addition, if possible, no B2C customer should be able to access a B2B site. If a company sells to both private customers and wholesalers, both groups must be processed separately.

Solution

Shopify Plus offers special B2B tools, such as the B2B dashboard, to keep track of all operations in the business customer area. In addition, access to the B2B store area can be password protected or created as an additional store. Shopify Plus B2B tools also include features to meet the specific needs of wholesalers, such as the application of customized discounts.

Shopify Plus as an enterprise e-commerce solution

Shopify is much more than just a store solution for small and medium businesses. Enterprise merchants can also save money, time and nerves with Shopify Plus. It delivers numerous possibilities of automation, many, already integrated tools and is easy to use..

Since the platform does not have to be self-hosted, neither external hosters nor extra servers are necessary. The store system offers a complete package that is permanently monitored and improved without the need for manual intervention. If problems do arise, Shopify Plus customers are entitled to 24/7 premium support and a direct contact in the form of their personal Merchant Success Manager.

All new Enterprise customers who want to migrate to Shopify Plus have a second point of contact in the form of the Launch Manager. During migration, it is possible to switch from Shopify to Shopify Plus as well as from other store systems. With numerous migration tools, the move is made as uncomplicated as possible.