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A full guide for choosing the best Shopify Plus Agency to grow your business.
It’s inevitable for an ecommerce business to seek third party assistance after establishing a successful business. It’s unrealistic to get everything done internally, and with the time required for hiring staff and to actually do the work, it may even be less cost effective too.
It’s not uncommon for a Shopify Plus Agency to unlock a triple digit percentile growth for your business in a relatively short period of time, provided you’ve taken the time to do your research and chosen the partner that’s best for you and your business.
In this blog, we want to look at everything you need to know when finding the best Shopify Plus agency for your business, what you should look for, and what information you need to make the best decision.
Shopify Plus is Shopify’s top tier plan for ecommerce businesses. Whilst Shopify heavily markets itself as the platform for entrepreneurs, enterprise level businesses such as Gymshark and Kylie Cosmetics are powered by Shopify’s Plus plan.
The plus plan differs from Shopify’s other three plans in several ways. Ideal for high traffic and high revenue stores, Shopify Plus offers more flexibility and takes a smaller percentage of payments, but is significantly more expensive than the other plans. (However, due to the plan taking less per transaction, for some businesses, it works out more affordable).
A Shopify Plus Agency, is a web development agency that specialises in complex Shopify website builds. A Shopify Plus agency is typically well versed in marketing and design best practice too, and have demonstrable expertise in all things ecommerce. Similarly, whilst they may not offer work on competitive platforms as a service, Shopify Plus Agencies are typically extremely well versed in other ecommerce platforms such as Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), Wordpress, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and more, and will be able to help businesses migrate from those platforms to Shopify or Shopify Plus.
A Shopify Plus Partner and Shopify Plus Agency are two very similar things in the world of ecommerce, with some minor differences.
A Shopify Plus Partner is a formal title given to businesses that specialise in working with ecommerce businesses. Nearly every Shopify Plus Partner is a Shopify Plus Agency, or at least offers Shopify services to their clients. One notable exception is UK Shopify Platinum Partner (More on that in a second), Vervaunt, who do not offer Shopify development services but instead champion Shopify as a platform to the brands they work with.
In order to get the formal “Shopify Plus Partner” title, the business must first go through a rigorous vetting process and meet certain criteria laid out by Shopify themselves - it’s an exclusive club.
Working with a Shopify Plus Agency gives you direct access to the knowledge and expertise of those at the cutting edge of ecommerce. A complete agency team will know how to handle a website that’s best suited to the high volume, fast-growing businesses that are best poised for the Shopify Plus platform.
A Shopify Plus Agency can offer tailored solutions, advanced integrations, and an ongoing level of support and commitment to scaling your business online.
If your goal is to scale your ecommerce business, need advanced customisations, or you're struggling to manage high volumes of traffic, partnering with a Shopify Plus Agency can be a game changer in helping you reach your goals.
What does your business need from working with a Shopify Plus Agency?
The first step in choosing the right Shopify Plus Agency for your business is to outline exactly what it is that you want to get out of the partnership. It’s all well and good choosing an agency off the back of a cool project or case study you’ve seen, but if the challenges tackled in that case study don’t line up with your goals, then that agency might not be the best choice.
Once you’ve outlined exactly what you want your partnership to achieve, you’ll be able to start making a more informed decision.
In December of 2024, Shopify changed the structure of the Plus partner program. Instead of simply having the single “Shopify Plus Partner” label for all Plus partners, Shopify expanded the partner program into 4 distinct tiers.
These are partners who have demonstrated expertise with small and medium sized businesses.
These are partners who have demonstrated expertise with medium and large sized businesses.
This is an exclusive tier for high-performing partners, who have demonstrated expertise with medium, large, and enterprise level businesses.
This is the top tier of Shopify partners, who are reserved for global enterprise level businesses and receive global recognition. As of February 2025, there are only 18 businesses recognised as platinum partners globally.
It’s important to note that due to the recency of this change, many partners find themselves miscategorised as Plus Partners when their proficiency with the Shopify platform implies that they should be Premier or Platinum partners.
The tier of partner should not be a major driver for you making your decision, as it does not foretell whether a partner will be the best fit for your business. For example, if you are a medium sized business, a platinum partner may be outside of your price range. Equally, an enterprise level business would not be best positioned to partner with a Shopify Select Partner, as their goals are unlikely to be met.
When initially researching your options when it comes to Shopify Plus Agencies there are some major things to keep in mind.
To even become a recognised Shopify Plus Agency, the business must have demonstrated a particular level of experience and expertise, having completed a number of projects with Shopify Plus, so regardless of who you choose you will be getting an experienced and knowledgeable partner to scale your ecommerce business. However, you need to consider what experience and expertise is right for you.
If you’re looking for a business that can handle migrating tons of customer data or build you custom integrations, it’s probably best to find a Shopify Plus Agency that has demonstrated proficiency in that specific area.
Or if you’re looking to make the move to Shopify Plus from an alternative ecommerce platform, look for an agency that has demonstrated they can help make the move from many different platforms in the past.
Whilst we’d like to make out that everything else here is more important, pricing is going to be a major deciding factor in which Shopify Plus Agency you eventually choose.
Pricing is why many American ecommerce businesses will partner with UK or Australian based agencies, as the highest priced UK and Australian Shopify Plus Agencies tend to be around the mid-price point of their American counterparts. This greatly benefits the US-based businesses looking to maximise their ROI as they get access to top-tier ecommerce solutions at a fraction of the cost of choosing an agency closer to home.
How agencies price their services will differ from business to business. Typically the agency’s size and reputation will be a major determinant, but other factors such as their perceived complexity of the project, the scope of the service, and their desire to work with your business if you’re a big name will impact the price too.
Few Shopify Plus Agencies solely offer Shopify Plus services. Many have it as a notch in their belt to support their other offerings, which can include marketing, design, and even financial guidance.
If you’re only looking for development services, this may not be as much of a consideration. But, if you’re interested in more than just a new site or site migration, looking at an agency’s additional services should influence your decision as well.
Most commonly, you’ll see Shopify Plus Agencies offer design as an added service, as development and digital design services often go hand-in-hand. Beyond this, many will be experienced in SEO and Meta Ads, and some will be full service marketing agencies - skilled at loyalty marketing, email, and more. Additionally, beyond just web development services, Shopify Plus Agencies may be proficient in App development too, for example, Cake Agency also develops mobile apps.
These services will also affect how an agency prices. For example, if you’ve already worked with an agency on a web project, they may offer a discounted rate for marketing services afterwards.
Most Shopify Plus Agencies will have a development or working methodology that they make a primary aspect of their business model. For example, American Shopify Plus Agency, The Vaan Group, builds sites with a “Brand Conversion Design” methodology, whereas UK-based agency Cake Agency builds sites with a 360° customer-first methodology. Through previous case studies, social posts, or their portfolio of work on the Shopify Partners Directory, you’ll be able to get a sense for “how” an agency builds a site.
Similarly, with the additional services offered, you’ll get a sense for how an agency supports businesses. Do they also help them with design work? Marketing after a new site has finished? Building an app? And are those services appropriate to helping you meet your goals?
Once you’ve vetted your options and whittled it down to the few best suited for your project, it’s time to evaluate your options. Actually choosing what Shopify Plus Agency is best for you is going to depend on a number of factors, and you’ll have to consider whether these more “surface-level” factors are more important than those that will actually drive growth for your business.
Effective communication and transparency is what any working relationship should be built off of. Clear communication will ensure that all things are understood by both parties, that hurdles can be anticipated, and that, when surprises do come up, both teams are aware. When initially reaching out to your choices of Shopify Plus Agencies, pay attention to how forthcoming they are about their processes beyond what’s just on their website. Do they ask relevant questions about your business? Do they even use tools that give you a level of insight into a project’s status?
The culture and ways of working of the Shopify Plus Agency is going to have a major influence on your decision too. You likely want your day to day communications, meetings, and more to be enjoyable and that you know your project will be taken seriously.
ecommerce, especially on the direct to consumer side, has never been a super corporate industry. But if you find that the agency’s representative hasn’t been warm to your needs, or you can’t see yourself working with them long term, then moving on to another option may be best.
It may seem like a minor point, especially in our remote-working-friendly world, but the location of your Shopify Plus Agency, can be a major factor in your final decision. This will depend on the frequency of communications you want. We mentioned before that some American businesses will partner with UK or Australian-based Shopify plus Agencies due to their competitive pricing, but this has a trade-off on the quality of communications due to the time difference. If communication is majorly important to you, then choosing an agency in the same time zone is key. Similarly, if you plan on having a close-knit working relationship, then choosing a Shopify Plus Agency close to you will be key too. In the UK, most Shopify Plus Agencies are based in major cities, and will often work with the businesses in those cities too. For example, the Birmingham-based Cake Agency works with fashion brand P&Co, local tourist guide, Independent Birmingham, and jewellery brand Mitchel & Co, all of which are based in Birmingham too.
There is no 100% best Shopify Plus Agency, only the agency that’s best for your business and its goals.
That being said - and feel free to call us biased - The best Shopify Plus Agency in the UK is Cake Agency Shopify Plus Partner. Cake Agency is more than a Shopify Plus Agency, it’s an ecommerce empowerment agency that allows ecommerce businesses of any shape or size to thrive online no matter their needs. This is due to Cake Agency’s diverse service offering that spans across marketing, development, design, and ecommerce consultancy.
We’ve succeeded with a range of brands, helping them migrate platforms to Shopify Plus, build custom integrations and functionalities, and more.
If you’re looking to work with a Shopify Plus Agency to scale your business, you’ll first need to know what you want to achieve by working in partnership with one. Once your goals are clear, look through the Shopify Plus Partner Directory to find an agency, or list of agencies, that offer the services you need. With your options in place, assess them based on whether the agency will be a good fit for you, whether you can afford to work with them, and if you can tell the agency will be able to communicate with you effectively.
Working with a Shopify Plus Agency is certain to unlock new growth opportunities for your business almost regardless of who you choose to work with. However, in order to get the outcome you want, in a way that suits your business’s needs, making the right choice is key.
If you’d like to learn more about how Cake Agency can help you grow your business, contact us, we’d love to hear from you.
