How Much Does it Cost to Run a Store on Shopify?

What are the costs of running a store on Shopify?

It’s an extremely catchy topic, which we have covered more than once in our publications. You can find quite a lot of information about Shopify pricing on the web, and in our Shopify Pricing Calculator, you can check the exact price range that will be suitable for your store.

However, what are the real costs of creating such a store? What else do you need to consider when starting work with a Shopify agency? Today we wanted to answer these questions from a slightly different side – a more illustrative one. 

At the stage of the client’s first conversations with the agency, the sales department also gets questions about the potential cost of the project, the time of implementation, waiting for the launch, or the scope of work. This is perfectly understandable because every client wants to know how much they will pay for a given service. Since there are often no clear answers to these questions, we would like to address the doubts and present four potential scenarios that happen most often among our clients.

Shopify lift off

Assuming that you want to create a new store (based on an existing site, or a completely new concept) using Shopify 2.0 technology, on a template with custom elements, there are several things we need to consider. 

The first is to conduct a Discovery workshop, which will allow the team to better understand your products and business, and plan the best solutions. After that comes the project implementation, which takes about 8-10 weeks. In this option, we also assume up to 3 custom sections in the store, which will be made by developers according to predetermined guidelines. The cost of such a project starts at €10 000. 

Shopify individual

This variant includes a slightly broader scope of work. Assuming that we are creating a store for your business and the template is entirely customized, in addition to the Discovery workshop, it will also be necessary to focus on the interface – the functional and visual layer of the store. It will also be essential to optimize for SEO and performance, as well as implement custom integrations and tools so that the platform works flawlessly, and is functional as well as user-friendly. The turnaround time for such a project is 10-12 weeks, with costs starting at €18,000. 

Shopify enterprise

If the above versions are not enough for you, this is a solution for definitely more demanding businesses. In this option, we take into account the solutions from the previous point, so full customization of the platform, support in optimization for SEO and performance, plus migration of data from the current platform, implementation of Shopify Markets (worldwide sales), and adding a platform for B2B sales. Such a comprehensive solution takes the team between 12 and 16 weeks of implementation. The cost of such a project starts at €28,000. 

Team Augmentation & support

What if you don’t need a new store because your business has been doing great on Shopify for a long time, but you know you need to make some changes, updates, and optimization? An excellent solution in this case will be the so-called team augmentation, or maintenance, which you can read about in detail here. The cost of such an external team varies, depending on your needs, but we can talk about €65/hour. 

Costs of a Shopify store – summary

No e-commerce project is the same. They differ in concept, customer needs, product selection, and technology solutions. As a result, it is often difficult to answer the question “How much will it cost?”. However, we are confident that the above summary sheds some light on the enigmatic “it depends” and is a start to moving forward.

Do you want to talk about it? Write to us!