Shopify website design
Shopify is a good home for most growing online shops. What makes the difference is how it's set up: the theme, the apps you don't install, and whether your old addresses still work on launch day.
Branding
£499 no build fee
→The short answer
Shopify website design is setting up a Shopify store so it looks like your brand, loads fast and sells: the right plan, a theme made your own, only the apps you need, and redirects from any old shop. We build Shopify stores in our e-commerce partnership: £499 branding, no build fee, and you see the store before you pay.
(01)Shopify's costs
Shopify's own UK prices.
What Shopify costs in the UK
| Plan | Monthly, billed yearly | Monthly, billed monthly | Online card fee with Shopify Payments | Extra fee if you use another payment provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £19 | £25 | 2% + 25p | 2% |
| Grow | £49 | £65 | 1.7% + 25p | 1% |
| Advanced | £259 | £344 | 1.5% + 25p | 0.6% |
From Shopify's UK pricing page1. Prices and fees change; check the page before you choose. Themes and apps can add their own costs on top.
For most new shops, Basic is enough to start, and moving up a plan is a few clicks when the lower card fees start to outweigh the higher subscription. On Basic, a £40 order paid by card through Shopify Payments costs £1.05 in fees.
Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds Shopify's own extra fee on every order1, so we use Shopify Payments unless there's a good reason not to.
(02)Theme or custom
A theme made your own, or a custom design?
| A well-built theme, customised | A fully custom theme | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to launch | Quick | Much longer |
| Cost | Lower | Much higher, and higher to change later |
| Updates and fixes | From the theme's developer | Yours to pay for |
| Looks like your brand | Yes, with your fonts, colours, photos and layout | Yes, down to the last detail |
| Best for | Most shops, most of the time | Large catalogues or unusual buying journeys |
We start from a fast, well-supported theme and design it around your brand. Custom code only goes in where the theme genuinely can't do something you need, because every custom line is something to maintain.
(03)Moving to Shopify
Keep the customers, and the search traffic, you already have.
Moving to Shopify from Etsy, Wix or WooCommerce
From Wix or WooCommerceYour own domain
Your old pages have addresses that Google knows. Shopify uses its own fixed patterns, such as /products/ and /collections/, so most addresses change. We list every old address that gets visits or links and set a redirect from each to its new page in Shopify2, following Google's guidance for moving a site3.
From EtsyEtsy's domain
Your Etsy listings live on Etsy's site, so they can't be redirected. Moving is about bringing customers with you: keep the Etsy shop running while the new one grows, and tell your Etsy buyers where else to find you, within Etsy's rules.
Products, customers and orders
Products move with their descriptions, prices, variants and photos. Customer accounts and order history can usually be imported; customers set a new password the first time they log in.
Launch day
We test the old addresses after launch, not just before. Shopify only redirects addresses that no longer have a page2, so a forgotten old page can quietly block a redirect.
Before you switch the domain over
(04)Apps we avoid
Every app is a monthly bill and a little more code.
The apps we avoid, and why
Countdown timers and "only 2 left" badges
Falsely saying an offer or product is only available for a very limited time is banned outright under UK consumer law4. Real deadlines are fine; fake ones aren't.
Review importers
Apps that copy reviews from other sites or suppliers onto your product pages risk showing reviews that aren't about your shop. The UK's fake review rules apply to how you present reviews, too5.
Apps that do what the theme already does
Sliders, pop-ups and menus that the theme handles natively. Each extra app adds scripts that slow every page.
Apps with no clean exit
Some leave code in your theme after you uninstall them. We check before installing, and clean up properly if something has to go.
The apps worth paying for usually do something Shopify can't: subscriptions, bundles, specialist delivery options, or genuine reviews collected from your own customers after they buy.
(05)How we charge
Shopify stores in our e-commerce partnership
We build Shopify stores as part of our e-commerce partnership: £499 for your branding, no build fee, then 5% of the sales your store processes. The written agreement says who pays Shopify's subscription and any apps, before we start. You see the store working before you pay anything.
Questions
(06)Questions
For most shops that plan to grow, yes: it handles payments, stock, delivery rates and selling on social media in one place, and it's well supported. For a handful of products alongside a brand site, a simpler builder can be enough.
Shopify's Basic plan is £19 a month billed yearly, or £25 monthly, plus card fees on each order and any paid apps or theme. Most small shops start on Basic.
You can bring your products, photos and descriptions across. Etsy's own pages can't be redirected, so keep the Etsy shop open while the new store builds its own customers and search traffic.
Not if every old address that matters redirects to its new page and the content stays as good or better. Rankings can wobble for a few weeks while Google catches up; missing redirects are what cause lasting losses.
Sources
(07)Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked on the date shown.
- 1Shopify pricing (UK), Shopify. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 2URL redirects, Shopify Help Center. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 3Site moves with URL changes, Google Search Central. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 4Unfair commercial practices (CMA207), Competition and Markets Authority. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 5Fake reviews: guidance on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (CMA208), Competition and Markets Authority. Checked 26 October 2026.
(08)Start a project
Let's build your
free preview.
Tell us about your business. We'll come back with a plan and start on your preview. You pay nothing until you give it the nod.