Migration playbook · from Shopify Plus

Migrating from Shopify Plus to multiflow — the 10-day playbook

Shopify Plus stores typically run $10-100M GMV. At that scale, 0.5% is not noise — it's a board-level line item. Shopify Payments' Plus rate card barely improves with volume, and the 0.2% alt-processor penalty still applies to any non-certified gateway. multiflow is a Shopify Plus Certified Payment Gateway: zero penalty, IC+ pricing that compounds at scale, and true multi-brand orchestration for Plus enterprises running multiple store-fronts off a single acquirer relationship.

Timeline10 business days
DowntimeZero — Certified Gateway status preserves Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Data portabilityFull — Shopify releases all customer, order, subscription, and vault data
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Before & after
what actually changes day 1.

On Shopify Plus today

  • Flat 2.3-2.5% rate cap on Plus even at $100M+ GMV — no meaningful volume improvement
  • 0.2% alt-processor penalty on every non-Shopify Payments transaction — $200k/yr per $100M in GMV
  • Single currency / single entity per Plus organization — multi-brand portfolios run separate Plus organizations at additional cost
  • Limited acquirer choice — Shopify Payments runs on Stripe Issuing; no BIN-level routing to optimize interchange

On multiflow after migration

  • +IC + 0.35% + 10¢ typical Plus-tier pricing — 0.5-0.8% lower than Shopify Payments
  • +Zero alt-processor penalty (Certified Gateway)
  • +Multi-brand orchestration across all Plus store-fronts + non-Shopify properties in one ledger
  • +BIN-aware routing through multiple acquirers captures 0.2-0.4% additional interchange savings

Side-by-side
rate & capability comparison.

What you pay forShopify Plusmultiflow
Plus online rate2.25-2.5% + 30¢IC + 0.35% + 10¢
Plus in-person rate2.4% + 10¢IC + 0.25% + 10¢
Alt-processor penalty0.2%0% (Certified)
International card+1.0-1.5%+0.60%
Currency conversion+1.5%+0.40%
Multi-entity billingSeparate Plus org per entityNative sub-account structure
Acquirer routingSingle (Stripe rail)Multi-acquirer BIN routing
Monthly platform feeCovered by $2k+ PlusNo platform fee
Plus online rate
Shopify Plus 2.25-2.5% + 30¢
multiflow IC + 0.35% + 10¢
Plus in-person rate
Shopify Plus 2.4% + 10¢
multiflow IC + 0.25% + 10¢
Alt-processor penalty
Shopify Plus 0.2%
multiflow 0% (Certified)
International card
Shopify Plus +1.0-1.5%
multiflow +0.60%
Currency conversion
Shopify Plus +1.5%
multiflow +0.40%
Multi-entity billing
Shopify Plus Separate Plus org per entity
multiflow Native sub-account structure
Acquirer routing
Shopify Plus Single (Stripe rail)
multiflow Multi-acquirer BIN routing
Monthly platform fee
Shopify Plus Covered by $2k+ Plus
multiflow No platform fee
Key takeaway

Flat-rate processors optimise for onboarding friction, not P&L. Every line above that reads "flat" on the left and "IC +" or "tiered" on the right is a line where multiflow returns margin that was previously opaque to you.


The 7-step migration
from kickoff to full cutover.

What this buys you

Seven days, one operator ceremony per day, zero weekend overtime. Each step is reversible through day 30 — you do not fly one-way until the Shopify Plus drain window closes.


Day-1 data export checklist
pull these before you sign anything.

Everything below is yours under Shopify Plus's ToS. Export now, before underwriting opens — it's faster while you're still a customer in good standing.

Why you pull first

Once you submit notice-of-migration, some processors throttle export API limits. You want these files in your S3 bucket before anyone at Shopify Plus knows you're leaving.


Gotchas operators hit
learn from their scars.

Operator-reported pitfalls

Multi-store-front Plus orgs. Each store-front migrates independently. You pick the order (highest-risk first, or lowest-volume pilot first — both strategies are valid). Don't try to cut all stores in one night.

Shopify Functions on checkout. Any Function that references payment_gateway fields needs a source-map update. Typically 1-2 Functions per Plus store. Budget 30 min each on day 8.

Shopify POS Pro. Preserves with multiflow-compatible card readers. Existing Shopify POS Go devices are tied to Shopify Payments — swap to Clover or PAX loaners.

Shopify Audiences + Collabs. Data-sharing programs depend on Shopify Payments. Migrating off removes access; most Plus operators already don't use Audiences heavily.

B2B catalog pricing. Plus B2B features (custom catalogs, price lists, net-30 terms) work with any Certified Gateway. Net-30 invoicing actually improves because multiflow has better B2B invoice tooling than Shopify Payments.

Shopify Capital eligibility. Enterprise Plus operators rarely use Shopify Capital — not the motivator to stay.


Rollback plan
if something goes sideways.

30-day reversibility window

Rollback on a Plus migration is store-by-store. If cohort 1 (the pilot store) underperforms, you can flip that single store back to Shopify Payments within 48 hours without affecting other store-fronts. Once 3+ stores are on multiflow, rollback requires coordinating multiple gateway flips — feasible for 5-7 days post-cutover, expensive after that.

The real lock-in after day 10 is the multi-brand consolidated ledger. Once your CFO has seen consolidated reporting across 4 Plus stores, returning to 4 separate Shopify Payments accounts feels like a regression they won't accept.


The math at Shopify Plus scale

Consider a Plus operator at $50M annual GMV blended across 4 store-fronts. Shopify Payments Plus rate: 2.3% effective. multiflow IC+ effective rate: 1.6%. Difference: 0.7% of GMV = $350k/yr in processing costs. Add back the 0.2% alt-processor penalty elimination: +$100k/yr. Total savings: ~$450k/yr. Migration cost: zero (covered under standard underwriting). Payback: day 1. This math compounds linearly with GMV — a $100M Plus operator saves ~$900k/yr.

This math compounds linearly with GMV — a $100M Plus operator saves ~$900k/yr.

From the Shopify Plus migration field notes

Multi-brand operators — the real unlock

Shopify Plus doesn't elegantly handle multiple distinct brand-owned entities. Either you run one Plus org with multiple store-fronts (shared entity, shared banking, can't run separate brand DBAs cleanly) or multiple Plus orgs at $2k+ per month each (separate entities, but no consolidated reporting). multiflow solves this at the orchestration layer: single contract, one consolidated ledger, per-brand descriptors and sub-accounts, each with its own risk and reserve independently managed. This is the specific pattern multiflow was built for.


FAQ

Questions operators ask
before they sign.

01 Does Shop Pay Express still work?
Yes — Certified Gateway status preserves it, along with Apple Pay and Google Pay.
02 What about our Shopify POS hardware at retail locations?
Swap to multiflow-compatible readers (Clover Flex, PAX A920). Loaner program at zero cost under 12-month agreement.
03 Can we migrate one Plus store at a time?
Yes. This is the recommended approach — pilot on one store, then roll remaining stores over days 5-7.
04 What happens to Shopify Functions on checkout?
Continue working. Any Function referencing payment_gateway-specific fields gets a 30-min source update.
05 Is our Shopify Plus Merchant Success Manager aware?
They're notified when Certified Gateway activation starts (day 1). They've seen this migration many times.
06 Does this impact Shopify Audiences or Shop Campaigns?
Audiences requires Shopify Payments. Most Plus operators don't use it actively. If you do, we'll discuss trade-offs.

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