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How Much Should You Budget for Shopify Website Development?

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Author

Ranjeet Kumar
4 min read 26th November, 2024
Shopify Website Development Services

Building a Shopify store is perhaps the best action towards building a remarkable online visibility for an eCommerce business, besides, generating revenue in that sector. 

In addition, although Shopify offers an easy to use and a growing platform, it takes much more than that to run a successful shop. A few of these include the basic expenses incurred when using Shopify, custom building, mobile apps, online advertisement and maintenance over time.

To make sure that your store not only works but also excels in the highly competitive market, it is necessary to know all the costs involved in Shopify website development and how to budget for it. This ultimate guide goes into all details of the problem and focuses on the expenses of developing a Shopify website.

Decoding Shopify Website Development Cost from A to Z

Shopify offers the building of stores from simple to complex structures. Ease of use and a robust app network enhanced by endless scalability are key components that appeal to businesses venturing into the online selling space.

Nevertheless, Opening a Shopify store is just the beginning of the process. You should also understand the costs that will be needed to build an appealing, usable and selling shop. 

It is about the subscription charges and the design expenditure and the marketing budgets on top of other costs like updates proposed. In this piece of writing, you will know what other costs might be incurred and how to manage them.

1. Basic Shopify Costs

When estimating your budget for a Shopify store, the initial element you should incorporate is the operational costs of their service.

Shopify Subscription Plans

In estimating business expenses on shopify, it provides three main pricing levels, which are three stages/steps of a business:

  • Basic Shop plan 29$/month: Best for a small or a start e-commerce business, this provides an unlimited number of products, 2 staff accounts, few reports and options to make infrequent sales in person.
  • Shopify Plan 79$ per month: This is only possible to growing companies achieving steady sales. It offers custom reporting, up to 5 staff accounts and a more premium level of shipping services.
  • Advanced Shopify Plan 299$ a month: This plan is unfortunately not available for Walmart or similar retailers. It comes with an extended 15 staff accounts, enhanced reporting capabilities and integration of other carriers rates interfaces during checkout.

You should choose a plan based on the present demand of the business and the future possible requirements. There are no complaints about the don’t go a step lower product as its affordable but a scale up a woman co-management may deem the policy advanced cheaper in the years thanks to many benefits.

Transaction Fees

Within the integrated payment gateways, there is the platform's own payment processor called Shop Pay which does not allow you to incur transaction fees. In other case, in the event that you decide to use an external payment processor, transaction fees will be charged by Shopify depending on your licence :  

  • Basic Shopify: 2.9% + 30 cents ‘charge per sale.
  • Shopify: 2.6% + 30 cents ‘charge per sale.
  • Advanced Shopify: 2.4% + 30c per sale.

 In the case where transactions involve movement of goods to retail and wholesale outlets demands would usually accumulate, such transaction evasive measures must be factored and properly aligned in the appropriate budget section.

Domain

Choosing a domain is extremely important for your brand and credibility. A domain name bought on Shopify costs usually $14 per year, but you may also use other companies such as GoDaddy or Namecheap, in which case you will pay between $10 and $15 per year.

2. Design and Development Costs

The way a store looks and functions, as well as the experience of the users, is determined by the design and development of that particular store.

Themes

Shopify offers numerous themes ranging from free ones to those that can be purchased.

  • Free Themes: These are budget-friendly and fit a basic need but allow limited randomization on the site.
  • Paid Themes ($140-$180): The main features of the premium themes include more capability and better design which include customization which helps make the store more professional than the standard theme. You can also reach out to the best shopify website development company, for customising the theme. 

Custom Design

With custom design, one can afford their shop to have a different signature look with the highly branded identity design. The prices range if you hire freelance specialists or design agencies:

  • Freelancers: $500 to $5,000 depending on the skills and experience of the designer and the complexity of the design.
  • Design Companies: $5,000 to 30,000 and more for all-inclusive design packages.

Custom designs are capable of enhancing the aesthetic elements as well as the usability of an online store which helps in retaining customers and driving sales.

Development

In cases where a deeper functionality is required custom development is usually needed. The average cost reduced to the development is also wide ranging depending on the features desired:

  • Freelancers: 50 to 150 dollars per hour.
  • Development Agencies: 5,000 to 20,000 and more for broad projects.

Some of the illustrations of tasks that require custom development include integrating different payment platforms, incorporating specific search filter options, and creating custom checkout processes, etc.

3. Apps and Plugins

To add more features to your store, you can browse through the tools available on the Shopify App Store. These apps meet demands in various areas, such as:

Payments, Social Media and CRM, and Outsourcing (to mention but a few)

Below is a summary of the average app types and their pricing:

  • Applications for SEO – ranges from $20 to $50 monthly.
  • Applications for Marketing and Selling – ranges from $10 to $50 monthly.
  • Applications for Customer Care – ranges from $15 to $50 monthly.
  • Applications for Managing Inventory – ranges from $20 to $60 monthly.

Some apps are free, but in addition to taking more time, the premium ones have features that can help you run your store more effectively and make the shopping experience much better. Do not forget to include these types of costs in your budget.

4. Making Content

In terms of content, that is the most important part of an engaging SHOPIFY STORE. Everything from product description to great images; professionally made content will definitely increase user engagement and conversion rates.

Product Photography

Professional images are the most important tools when it comes to displaying your products for the best effect.

  • Cost: $10 to 50 dollars for a picture depending on who the photographer is and the nature of the shoot.

Copywriting

Good content helps in improving the ranking of your store in the SERP and also promotes your business.

  • Cost: $50 to $200 an hour for hiring a copywriter. Content creation costs are dependent on the amount of work, difficulty of work done so proper scheduling is important.

5. Marketing and SEO

Creating traffic and making sales can only be achieved through paying attention to some strategic marketing and SEO approaches.

Digital Marketing

Reaching a certain audience cannot be achieved without impressive and compelling digital marketing strategies. The costs depend on which medium and the size of the target audience.

  • Pay-Per-Click the Advertising service: $0.50 to $5 for one click.
  • Social Media Advertising starts from: $200 to $10,000+ and on a monthly basis.
  • Cost of Email Marketing: $20 to $300 per month excluding content development costs.

SEO Services

Search engine optimization aims at assuring the store of its permanent visibility for years to come.

  • Upwork: Freelancers cost $100 to $250 per hour.
  • SEO: agencies' months cost $500 to $5,000+ depending on the range of services.

The effectiveness of SEO as a form of advertising is that it gradually makes a business less reliant on paid ads.

6. Shipping and Fulfilment

Shipping and fulfilment play an important role in keeping customers happy and loyal.

Shipping Solutions

Shopify is able to connect with many carriers as well as offer better shipping rates than most.

  • Shipping Software: $20 to $150 a month depending on the ease of use and the amount of shipment done.

Fulfilment Services

Third party logistics (3PL) companies provide warehousing, packing and distribution services. The prices differ from:

  • Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA): Prices incurred vary with weight, size, and time in storage.
  • Other 3PL Providers: Between $1 and $5 for each order, in addition to a charge for storage. 

For Shopify website development services, contact Web Panel Solutions. 

7. Maintenance and Support

It involves a lot of work to ensure that your Shopify store is secure, up-to-date, and all its features are functional.

Technical Support

Shopify provides support at any time, however, some customised features may need extra support.

  • For freelancers: expect to pay anything from $30 – $100 per hour.
  • For retainer services with Support Agencies, expect to pay $200 – $1,000+ on a monthly basis.

Regular Updates

There is a dire need of making regular updates practice of themes, apps, and plugins for security and performance:

  • Estimated Cost: Most generally $100 to $500 per year, based on how complex the updates are.

8. The Overall Budget Composition

Below you will find some possible expenses for the development of Shopify website:

  • Shopify Costs: $348 to $3,588 yearly.
  • Design and Development: $500 to $30,000 and above.
  • Apps and Plugins: $120 to over $720 on monthly basis.
  • Content Creation: $50 to $200 every hour.
  • Marketing: $200 to more than $10,000 in a month.
  • Shipping and Fulfilment: To be determined by the provider.
  • Maintenance and Support: $30 to $100 per hour or $200+ in a month.

Conclusion

Having a Shopify site has varied expenses which aid your store in its overall development. From selecting the right plan to spending money on tailored designs, applications, marketing, and upkeep, all components are critical in building a store that functions and makes money too.

If you assess your company’s requirements and decide on a budget, then you will be able to create a Shopify store that gives you a measure of success and more importantly value for a long period. 

It does not matter if you have limited resources or if you have expandable provisions, a properly managed and designed shopify website will be an asset in your online commercial undertakings.

If you’re any questions regarding Shopify, reach out to our team. We’re the best shopify website development company.

Faq

Shopify's minimum budget starts at $29 per month with the Basic plan, which includes essential ecommerce features such as a website, blog, unlimited products, and 24/7 support. 

While Shopify can seem expensive compared to free platforms, its pricing is justified by its robust features, ease of use, and scalability. It handles hosting, security, and technical updates, saving time and effort for business owners. 

The main drawback of Shopify is its dependency on apps for advanced features, which can significantly increase costs. Additionally, Shopify charges transaction fees (ranging from 0.5% to 2%) if you use payment gateways other than Shopify Payments. Its platform also offers limited customizations compared to open-source alternatives.

Shopify's biggest competitor is WooCommerce, a WordPress-based ecommerce platform. WooCommerce is highly customizable and offers a lower upfront cost since it's free to use. Other strong competitors include BigCommerce, Wix eCommerce, and Magento, depending on the business needs and scale.

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