Shopify Website Design Cost and Pricing Guide

You’ve made the decision that Shopify is the best platform for your eCommerce store. Now you want to know how much your Shopify website will cost.

Shopify has a lot of affordable and premade templates. But does this mean that they will be able to give your store the best chance of success? Is it better to hire an eCommerce web designer agency?

Shopify is so popular that you don’t want to be like the rest.

Shopify offers a variety of premade templates that can be used to help you get started. A custom Shopify website design will be required for established Shopify stores that want to improve their performance and look more “on-brand”.

Shopify Design Your Site?

Shopify doesn’t offer custom web design services. You can choose from templates from their store or purchase one from a third party. Or you can hire a professional website design agency to create a theme for your Shopify store.

There are some good premade themes available on Shopify, but most Shopify stores that are established rely on custom-designed themes. These themes are designed with the brand’s aesthetics in mind and their online goals. To get an idea of the cost of an eCommerce website, you can read our article on eCommerce website development and pricing.

Shopify Website Design Pricing

Shopify basic web design services start at $500- $1,000. This includes basic templates and graphics. You may find a new agency that can design your Shopify store for $500-$2,000, but you only get what you pay. Shopify agencies are known for charging between $5,000 and $20,000 for custom-designed Shopify websites.

OuterBox’s Shopify website design projects average between $10,000 and $20,000, with some larger projects exceeding $100,000.

Shopify website designs can be customized to use a variety unique page templates. Shopify eCommerce stores need different pages for product pages, category pages and blog pages. Shopify store owners might create one product page for all products, or they may need custom-designed product pages to cover more important pages. Shopify stores are expensive because of the complexity of the pages and the custom functionality required beyond Shopify’s standard features ( integrations to a custom ERP, CRM, etc.).

Shopify Website Marketing and Ranking on Google

Building your Shopify website is only half the battle. Driving traffic to your website, however, is key. A staggering 43% eCommerce website sales are generated by Google or other search engines. It is therefore vital to rank at the top of search results for the most searched keywords. An SEO company should help you develop a complete keyword list and a search engine marketing strategy.

Here’s an example of a Shopify client that we have helped with SEO. Our experts can help you get to the top on Google.

Quick facts: What does it cost to develop and design a Shopify website?

Costs associated with creating a Shopify site include:

• Monthly Shopify Subscriptions: Starting at $29.99/mo. For “Basic”, to $299.99/mo. For “Advanced Shopify”
• Shopify provides a variety of templates and themes that are free or very affordable. Shopify currently has 72 templates, eight of them free, in its theme store.
• Shopify Custom Website Design: A custom Shopify website design can be a professional option. Prices vary depending on how complex the project is and how many page types are required.
• Additional development requirements: Shopify can quickly increase the cost of your Shopify website design project if you need additional functionality or additional development work. But, planning ahead can help you save thousands in the long-term.
• Shopify Digital Marketing: You need to promote your Shopify store to get customers to it. To retain digital marketing services such as SEO, expect to pay several thousand dollars per monthly to an established agency. We offer full-service web design and development as well as digital marketing services.

General Shopify Pricing Info

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that uses a monthly subscription model. This is in contrast to purchasing a website once and then cancelling it. Shopify has three membership levels: Basic Shopify ($29.99/mo. Shopify ($79.99/mo) and Advanced Shopify ($299/mo. For more information on Shopify’s pricing page and the features that come with each level, visit Shopify’s official Pricing Page .

What is the cost of designing a Shopify site?

Your design preferences will influence the cost of designing your Shopify website. A Shopify designer with experience can build a basic store in days. However, a more complex theme may take over a month.

What is the average time it takes to create a Shopify site?

Shopify allows you to quickly set up your store by purchasing a plan and choosing a template. To get your website ready for launch, you’ll need to create banners and write content.

Shopify Website Builder Cost

Entrepreneurs continue to strive despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic’s restrictions thanks to the help of eCommerce. More entrepreneurs are signing up on Shopify where they can easily set up and put their ideas into action.

In the 2nd quarter of 2020, Shopify reported that their gross profit grew by 87% and their subscription solutions revenue grew by 48% as compared to last year. Amy Shapero, Shopify’s CFO said that Shopify’s “tremendous third-quarter results reflect the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of our merchants”.

If you are considering putting up a Shopify store yourself, we will elaborate on how much it costs to build your website on Shopify so let’s dive right in.

Why Choose Shopify?

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that lets merchants set up their stores and sell products online but also supports offline selling through Shopify POS. The platform was made to build and run online stores. It has features and tools that make it a good choice for both small and large businesses. From the perspective of a beginner, its interface is user-friendly and overall has a nice look. The tools also allow merchants to keep customers engaged and lets you sell an unlimited number of products. All these features make it the leading commerce platform designed for businesses of all sizes.

If you are thinking of moving to Shopify, one great reason to move is that it is hosted for you. The possibilities of your website crashing or slowing down during peak seasons are the least of your worries. Plus, it is very secure for both you and your customers. Their interface is also easier to use making inventory management convenient and the customer support is great. 

Benefits of Using Shopify

• No server costs
• Discounts are available for annual plans
• Shopify App Store
• Security and reliability
• Has free themes but also lets you create your own
• Easy to use
• Provides 24/7 customer support 
• Learn from Shopify Academy
• Great SEO capabilities

Shopify provides merchants with all the tools they need and even big brands such as Tesla, Kylie Cosmetics, and GymShark are on this platform. But, how much does it cost? Let’s break it down.

Components of a Shopify Store

Apart from Shopify’s pricing plans, there are many factors that can affect your overall costing. Your website will need to go through some testing which will involve a lot of trial and error, plus you’ll need a team of designers and developers if you don’t have knowledge in it or do not have time to learn it. There are a lot of things that you will need to launch a fully functional website aside from a Shopify account. We’re here to help you. 

Here are some items you’ll need for your Shopify store:

• Shopify base plan
• Domain name registration;
• SSL certificate (for strong encryption);
• Reliable hosting;
• Transactional fees (PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, etc.)
• Development and documentation;
• UX and visual design selection and setting;
• Testing;
• Copywriting and imagery;
• Product shipping options;
• Continued web store maintenance

Let’s start with the Shopify plans. A Basic Shopify plan starts at $29 per month and this already provides you with everything you need if you’re just starting out. If Shopify is your very first platform there is a learning curve so it will take some time to learn everything but it helps that the platform provides you with 24/7 Customer Support so you don’t have to worry. You also get access to Shopify’s forums where other merchants and Shopify exports can help you out. 

Shopify offers the following plans:

• Shopify Basic – $29 (Suitable for new businesses)
• Shopify – $79
• Shopify Advanced – $299

To summarize, here is where they all differ:

• Number of staff accounts
• Locations
• Professional reports (Advanced and Shopify only)
• Advanced report builder (advanced only)
• Online credit card rates
• In-person credit card rates
• Third-party Payment Processors
• Shipping discount
• Third-party calculated shipping rates
• Able to integrate with your own shipping accounts (Advanced only)

Let’s go through the plans just to see what exactly you’ll be getting.

BASIC SHOPIFY PLAN ($29 per month + additional fees)

This is best for when you are just starting out as it already provides you with the basics, as per its name. You will be able to launch a website and sell products even with just this plan.

Here is what’s included in the basic shopify plan:

1. Unlimited product uploads: Upload as many products as you want!
2. Shipping discount: Get competitive shipping rates from USPS, UPS, and DHL Express. Discounts can go up to 64%.
3. Shopify POS Lite: Lets you accept in-person payments.
4. 4 locations: Lets you assign inventory to up to 4 specific retail stores or warehouses
5. Sales channels: Lets you integrate your store with other eCommerce channels and social media
6. Staff accounts: You get up to 2 staff accounts to access your admin account and POS.

Features for BASIC SHOPIFY plan include:

• 24/7 support
• Manual order creation
• Discount codes
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certification
• Automatic abandoned cart recovery emails
• Customized gift cards
• Printing shipping labels

Additional Fees:

For transaction fees, you will pay 2.9% + 30 cents for every transaction with an online credit card and 2.7% for every transaction with an in-person credit card. If you use a third party payment provider, you may pay up to 2.0% of the sale in fees. We’ll expand more on this later.

SHOPIFY PLAN ($79 per month + additional fees)

This is the middle-tier plan and is best when your business is starting to grow and you’re looking to expand both the business and your services. You get a few more features on top of what’s included in the basic plan.

Here are what’s included in the Shopify Plan:

1. 5 Locations: You can now assign inventory to up to 5 different retail stores or warehouses.
2. Staff account:You get 5 staff accounts
3. Shipping discount: Get competitive shipping rates from top shipping companies, up to 72%.
4. Professional reports: You can not get professional reports which can provide you with valuable information to help analyze customers’ shopping behaviors and track product sales.

Additional Fees:

For transaction fees, you will pay 2.6% + 30 cents for online credit card purchases and 2.5% for in-person credit card purchases. You get an additional 1% fee for third party payments.

Advanced Shopify Plan ($299 per month + additional fees)

This is the best plan for businesses who are scaling as it provides more advanced features that can compliment your growth. 

This plan gives you all the features from the Shopify Basic and Shopify plan, with more additional and advanced features:

1. 8 locations: You can now assign your inventory to more warehouses or retail stores.
2. 15 Staff accounts: A booming staff requires more staff. Give more staff access to your Shopify admin and Shopify POS to help you out.
3. Advanced report builder: This lets you create custom reports to help you track your customer’s purchasing behavior and patterns.
4. Third-party calculated rates: This lets your customers see up-to-date shipping rates when they check out.

Additional Fees:

For transaction fees, you will be paying 2.4% + 30 cents for each transaction with a credit card online, and a 2.4% fee for in-person credit card charges. For 3rd party payments, you will get charged a 0.5% fee.

You can check the complete details here. Shopify does offer a 14-day FREE trial so you can try it out first to figure out which one will work best for you.

In a year this is how much your plans will cost (not counting in the free trial):

Plan	Price (base price x 12 months)
Basic	$377
Shopify	$948
Advanced	$3,588

Domains

Having your own domain helps establish your brand. It helps customers know that this is a legitimate, professional business. It makes the brand seem very confident as it is able to invest in its own website and domain. It helps your Shopify store appear and rank higher in Google search results. It also helps customers remember your website URL faster and easier.

You can actually buy a domain thru Shopify or other websites like GoDaddy. Prices start at $11 per year. 

Plan	Price (base price x 12 months) + domain fees
Basic	$388
Shopify	$959
Advanced	$3,599

Transaction fees

As mentioned earlier, apart from your base Shopify fee, there are transaction fees whether you use third-party payment gateways or even if you use Shopify Payments. Of course, to provide convenience for your buyers, it would be best to install the most widely used options. Shopify supports many of these third party payments however, charges differ per payment gateway.

Here is how transaction fees will get charged if you opt for Shopify Payments:

• Shopify Basic: 2.9% of your transaction + 30 cents.
• Shopify: 2.6% of your transaction + 30 cents.
• Shopify Advanced: 2.4% of your transaction + 30 cents.

If you choose to implement other payment gateways, you will have to pay for a few more things such as set up, monthly cost and transaction fees.

• Set-up cost: $0 – $250
• Monthly cost: $10 – $50.
• Transaction fees: Can go from $0.00 – $0.25 + 1% – 5% per transaction. You will still have to pay both the fixed fee and the percentage of the transaction.

Themes

Shopify does have some great free themes and some paid themes at the Shopify marketplace. You can also opt to get a customized one from a reputable Shopify Expert to really make your brand stand out. It is only a matter of your budget and needs. 

If your Shopify store is new and perhaps you’re just getting started with eCommerce, a free theme can be enough. Shopify provides themes that can match most niches from clothing, cosmetics to tech. 

Free themes have limited capabilities so you might want to get a paid theme from Shopify Marketplace. These cost $180 per theme and offer more features. However, these are still a bit limited in terms of branding and design, so if your brand is going global or scaling, you might want to get an agency to customize one for you. Prices can go from $100-$5,000 for custom themes. It all depends on what you and of course, you get what you pay for.

If you’re going to shell out $180 for a paid theme, you might as well get a customized one that’s made just for your brand from a reputable digital agency.

So in your first year, this is the estimate including themes, base plan and domain:

Plan	Price (base price x 12 months)	With Paid Theme ($180)	With Custom Theme ($100-5,000)
Basic	$388	$568	$488-$5,388
Shopify	$959	$1,139	$1,059-$5959
Advanced	$3,599	$3,779	$3,699-$8,599

Our team here at Webinopoly has worked with over 200 happy and satisfied clients including big brands like Fashion Nova, Rihanna x Fenty, and Colgate. So, don’t hesitate to contact us if you need a Shopify design or need team to develop a new Shopify website for you.

Shopify apps

These are optional and like the themes, there are free apps available and there are those that come in a subscription based payment. These are helpful for most Shopify stores as it can give you more features that can maximize your website. It also gives you an added boost in marketing, shipping, payments and inventory management. 

When you’re starting out your first store, you don’t really need to get paid apps. You can try out some of the free apps and get a feel of how they work. If they help improve your workload and your business, then you can keep using that app or upgrade to one that has more features. But definitely, you can find free apps that do the job just as well.