How much does it cost to run a Shopify store?

February 15, 2024

Shopify has become the go-to platform for online retailers to establish and scale their businesses. And as a certified Shopify partner ourselves, we’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for a trustworthy foundation for your ecommerce website. 

But before you dive into a new site build or migration right away, it’s important to know the costs involved in running a Shopify store. As you can probably imagine, we get a lot of questions from clients about pricing, and part of our job as a Shopify development agency is to ensure that the platform fits not only their business needs, but their budget as well.

Thankfully, Shopify is an affordable option for most retailers. But how much can you expect to pay to set up your store and keep it running? We break down all of the important costs specific to running a Shopify store in this blog post.

The cost of setting up a Shopify store

Shopify subscription:

The first thing you need to do is sign up for a Shopify account. Once you have done so, you’ll be granted a two week free trial so you can decide whether the platform is right for you. If you decide to keep your subscription, you’ll need to decide which pricing plan is the most suitable for your needs. There are three available, and naturally the more features available, the higher the monthly fee. You can also save money by paying annually. 

• Basic Shopify: £25 per month (£19 if paid annually)
• Shopify: £65 per month (£49 if paid annually)
• Advanced Shopify: £344 per month (£259 if paid annually)

This monthly fee is in addition to transaction and credit card fees, which we’ll get into later.

Website domain:

Purchasing a domain name for your Shopify store is essential for building a professional brand identity. Domain prices typically range from £10 to £30 per year, depending on the  registrar and extension (.com, .co.uk, etc). You’ll have to do this regardless of which ecommerce platform you’re using, but if you do opt for Shopify then you can purchase your domain directly from them by heading to the “Domains” section of your dashboard. 

Hosting:

This is where Shopify can actually save you a lot of money. Hosting generally costs up to £200 per month depending on the hosting plan and provider, but as Shopify is a fully hosted platform, you don’t need to pay any additional costs for this.

The cost of building a Shopify store

If you’re new to Shopify then you’ll need to build and design your online store from scratch. The cost to do this can vary depending on a few factors:

• The complexity of your website and whether you require bespoke functionality
• Whether you’re going to build the site yourself or hire a professional developer
• Whether you opt for a custom or pre-built theme

Shopify comes with powerful features as standard, meaning you can access an array of beautiful themes and innovative integrations out-of-the-box, but this may not be the best option for everyone. More established businesses will likely find that they need a more bespoke approach, but if you’re a smaller business with a more modest budget, you can certainly achieve a nice looking store with minimal spend.

Themes:

Pre-built themes range in cost, from £0 to over £300.There are currently 12 free themes available in the Shopify Theme Store, but the majority sit in the £200-£300 range. If you opt for custom design and development services from a professional, you’re looking at anywhere between £2000 and £20,000 depending on the complexity, features and functionality needed. It’s worth noting that choosing the right theme is important – it’s about a lot more than the aesthetic of your site (although this is important too). Your theme will dictate how your homepage, product pages, collection pages etc will look to your potential customers. 

The cost of running a Shopify store

Credit card rates

The exact cost of credit card rates and fees varies between pricing plans.

Basic Shopify: 2% + 25p GBP online / 1.7% + 0p GBP in person

Shopify: 1.7% + 25p GBP online / 1.6% + 0p GBP in person

Shopify Advanced: 1.5% + 25p GBP online / 1.5% + 0p GBP in person

Payment gateway fees

Payment gateways refers to PayPal, Stripe etc. Most payment gateways will charge a fee, but the amount varies depending on the provider. Offering your customers’ preferred payment methods means they are more likely to complete a transaction. 

Apps

The Shopify App Store offers thousands of integrations for all aspects of your ecommerce store. They can be really useful for streamlining or automating internal processes, inventory management, marketing activity and increasing website functionality. Shopify Apps vary in cost – many of them are free to install, others come with a monthly subscription fee. In the case of the latter, you’ll usually have a free trial period so you can see whether the cost is going to be worth it before you commit.

Further considerations

Of course, there are various other costs to consider when making a Shopify store successful. We haven’t touched on things like marketing, shipping or staff, as these are not necessarily specific to the Shopify platform, but should still be considered when evaluating affordability and budgets. It’s worth noting however that Shopify offers features that can make all of these a lot easier to manage, which can in turn increase profitability.

Overall, we think that Shopify suits a range of budgets due to its tiered pricing structure, plus a wide range of affordable themes and integrations. You save money on hosting, and the ease of set up and administration makes the platform well worth it, leaving you time to focus on growing and running your business. 

Thinking about making the move to Shopify? We can help you decide whether the platform is right for you. Send us a message and we’ll be in touch.