Planning to build an e-commerce website? Before you decide which platform to use, you’ll want to consider the cost. Many people are surprised by how much Shopify costs in 2022, but it can be well worth it!
Your Shopify website cost will depend on what type of website you’re making and can range from $100 to $10,000 or more per month.
A Shopify website cost in 2022 largely depends upon the following factors:
- The Shopify Plan You Opt for
- Themes You Choose
- Developer Charges
- Level of Customization
Let’s explore these factors in detail:
#1. Shopify Starter Plan – $5 per month
Shopify Starter Plan is perfect for newcomers who want to sell to their clients on social media sites or messages. This Starter plan lets you create links to your products, which you can share on your social media or messages. All you need to do is get started immediately, and you can share product information in a few simple taps.
Features:
- Analytics page
- Finances reports
- Product analytics
- Live view
- Acquisition reports
- Inventory reports
- Behaviour reports
- Marketing reports
- Cross-border management tool
#2. Shopify Basic – $29 per month
The Shopify basic plan lets you start a store with no monthly fees or transaction costs and only charges a $29 one-time setup fee. While this is the cheapest option, it does not include access to any of the advanced features that other plans offer, such as essential ecommerce tools, analytics, and marketing automation.
Features:
- Online store
- Built-in theme editor
- Built-in blogging engine
- Two staff accounts
- SSL certificates
- Multiple resorts
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Discount shipping rates
- Discount code creation
- 24/7 support
- Cross-border management tool
- POS features
#3. Shopify Plan – $79 per month
The Shopify plan caters to your growing business and offers the same features as the Basic Shopify plan. The Shopify plan allows you to view powerful reports, giving you vital data about sales and helpful insights about your customers. You can use the Customer Reports tab to collect valuable data on how your customers are using your store and who is purchasing your products.
Additional Features:
- Supports five staff accounts
- Multiple more number of reports
#4. Advanced Shopify – $299 per month
The Advanced Shopify plan is ideal for small businesses on the rise and includes analytic tools that help entrepreneurs identify growth avenues. The Advanced Shopify plan has all the critical features of the Basic Shopify plan and the Shopify plan, with the lowest credit card rates and transaction fees.
Additional Features:
- Supports 15 staff accounts
- Advanced report building
- Real-time carrier shipping quotations
- Significantly lower credit card rates
#5. Shopify Plus – up to $2000 per month
In addition, you can also consider the ‘Shopify Plus’ plan. Unlike the Shopify plans discussed above, this is designed for business owners with bigger budgets. The Shopify Plus plan is an enterprise-grade solution that, in addition to the advanced features found in the Advanced Shopify plan, also offers security, automation, multi-currency selling, APIs, and fulfilment capabilities.
Additional Features:
- Organization admin
- Customizable checkout
- Launch team support
- Merchant success program
- Unlimited staff accounts
- User role & permission creation
- Shopify Plus Partner Program
- Shopify Plus Community on Facebook
Premium Themes & Plugins Cost
As you start planning your budget for a Shopify website, remember that you’ll need to factor in the cost of premium themes and plugins. While plenty of free options are available, the premium options offer more features and customization options. On average, you can expect to pay $60-$200 for a theme and $30-$100 per plugin.
You can also choose a theme compatible with WooCommerce, so if you want to sell physical products, this will be an essential feature. Plugins like Wishlist or Checkout Redirect might also be necessary for checkout flow or cart optimization. Also, spend about $10/month for Google Analytics Premium and at least $50/year for Google Adwords Express (unless you have a lot of money to spend).
Some of the essential aspects to keep in mind while choosing a Shopify theme include the following:
- Mobile responsiveness
- The number of page templates
- The layout of the templates
- The number of fonts
- Other elements such as layouts for blog posts, menus, and product pages
- Whether or not the theme offers custom CSS support
- Is the template customizable?
- Can you add store-specific branding?
You also need to analyze whether you want a blog integrated into your site; if so, make sure any premium themes that interest you include blog functionality!
Developer Charges
You can build a Shopify store without learning any coding. To form a greater level of personalization, you need the services of developers. One developer charges $25-$50 per hour and varies depending on your needs, location, skill-set, etc. You can hire multiple developers who will work simultaneously on various aspects of your project and charge accordingly based on the number of hours they spend.
The developer’s cost largely depends upon the outsourcing nation. For example, you can hire dedicated Shopify developers in India, with hourly rates ranging from $15 to $15 per hour. In contrast, hiring Shopify developers is double the cost. So, it boils down to affordability and the requirement of task completion.
Before hiring a Shopify developer, continually analyze the following questions:
- What does my budget allow?
- What’s my deadline?
- Can I do any part of this myself?
- What are your credentials?
- What kind of support will I get from you throughout the process?
Level of Customization
The cost of a Shopify website depends on the level of customization you need. If you’re starting, you can get by with a basic template and some simple plugins. But as a growing business grows, businessmen are likely to invest in customized solutions.
Here’s a breakdown of investment expectations to pay for different levels of customization to a Shopify website development company in India:
- Logo Creation – $20 to $100
- Page Layout/Template Design – Free if using premade templates or up to $150 for custom design
- Product Listing Page Customization – Free if using premade templates or up to $150 for custom design
- Shipping Options Integration – Free if using premade templates or up to $50 for custom design
- Inventory Management System Integration- Free if using premade templates or up to $400 per month
- Customer Support Ticket Automation – Basic automation from $10-$30; premium service from $500+
- Payment Processing Integration – Basic integration from free to over $300; premium service from free to over $1000
- Promotional Emails Set Up- Free for basic set up; Premium service starts at over $100
Read Also: A Complete Guide to Hybrid App Development [2022]
Wrapping Up
Apart from website development, you also need to pay other additional costs, including pay per transaction. Shopify charges $0.0049 per transaction plus 2.9% of the order total (with a minimum charge of $0.30). So if your total sale is $100, your cost would be $3.18 (plus any credit card processing fees).
Always weigh these cost aspects while choosing a compatible Shopify plan as it varies with each business, and there are no set price tags for these elements. For example, you may not need all the features that come with one package but would require those of another.
Or you may have less traffic than others and thus can get away with paying for fewer features that would otherwise incur unnecessary expense. The final thing to remember is that Shopify offers 14-day free trials, so it’s possible to determine whether or not a given package meets your needs before committing to purchase anything.
