Ecommerce Website Design Packages: UK Costs Explained
An ecommerce website design package is a bundled price for the shop layout, product pages, basket, checkout and the first payment and shipping setup. In the UK a straightforward one-off build for a small catalogue commonly costs £3,000 to £12,000; custom options or stock-system links cost more. If you cannot fund that up front, a pay-monthly plan with a setup fee spreads the cost and can include hosting and updates so you are not left running the technical side.
What a package should actually contain
The label covers a wide range of work. A usable small shop needs more than a homepage. Any serious package should include a product list with search or filters, product pages that show price, stock status and variants such as size or colour, a basket that survives a page refresh, checkout with a guest option, and at least Stripe or PayPal connected. You also need SSL, a cookie banner that can be refused, and a privacy page that names who holds the order data.
You should be able to add a product, change a price and mark an item out of stock without opening a support ticket. If that admin access is missing, you are buying a brochure with a buy button, not a shop you can run.
Items that regularly sit outside the quoted figure include extra variants beyond a set number, a second payment gateway, live stock feeds from a warehouse or till, click and collect logic, and gift cards. Get those written as optional line items so two quotes cover the same scope.
Realistic UK prices by route
Platform DIY plans such as Shopify Basic sit around £25 to £40 a month, with higher tiers to £80 or more, plus card processing and sometimes an extra transaction percentage if you do not use the platform’s own payments. Squarespace Commerce is in a similar monthly band. You still do the product entry, photos and most design choices. That is software rental, not a design package.
A freelancer or small studio customising a WooCommerce or Shopify theme for 20 to 50 products typically quotes £2,500 to £8,000 as a one-off. That should cover theme work, checkout configuration, basic shipping rules and training you to add products. Budget £8,000 to £18,000 when you need custom fields, wholesale pricing, or a connection to Xero, a stock system or a marketplace.
Full custom or agency builds start around £15,000 and climb past £40,000 once you add headless storefronts, complex discounts or multi-warehouse shipping. Most small UK firms do not need that.
Managed monthly packages usually charge a setup fee then £50 to £250 a month. The monthly sum often includes hosting, core software updates and a small allowance of product or content changes. Over three years a £150 monthly plan is £5,400 plus setup, which can beat or lose to a one-off depending on how much support you would have bought anyway.
| Route | Typical UK cost | You do the work? | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify or Squarespace DIY | £25 to £80 a month plus fees | Yes, most of it | App costs and transaction extras add up |
| Theme customisation, one-off | £2,500 to £8,000 | Products and photos | You handle hosting and updates later unless you buy care |
| Heavier custom one-off | £8,000 to £20,000 | Day to day products | Large cash outlay before the first sale |
| Managed monthly | Setup plus £50 to £250 a month | Little, if the plan is hands-off | Check ownership and exit terms before you start |
One-off payment or monthly
Cashflow decides this more than technology. A one-off build means you pay for the design and build, then you pay hosting separately, often £10 to £40 a month on decent UK WordPress hosting, or you stay on Shopify’s hosting if that was the platform. Updates, security and small changes become extra unless you buy a maintenance retainer.
A pay-monthly website plan is built for firms that cannot or will not drop several thousand pounds before launch. I offer both a one-off website build and a pay-monthly plan with a setup fee; the monthly price includes hosting, updates and ongoing management so the shop is genuinely hands-off. Current figures for both routes are on arlowebstudio.com. Monthly suits you if you would rather treat the website as an operating cost. Read what happens to the site, the domain and the product data if you stop paying. Some providers keep the site; others hand over files for a fee. Get that in writing.
Fees that never appear in the design quote
- Card processing: Stripe in the UK is commonly around 1.5% plus 20p for standard UK cards, higher for premium and international cards. Shopify Payments is in the same region, with extra percentages if you use a third-party gateway on some plans.
- Domain name: £8 to £15 a year for .co.uk or .uk.
- Product photography: a half day with a local photographer often £200 to £400; per-item rates £25 to £70 if you need a lot of cut-outs.
- Apps and plugins: email capture, reviews, advanced filters or subscriptions often £10 to £50 each per month.
- VAT on the design work if the designer is VAT registered, and VAT on your sales once you are over the threshold.
Add those up for year one before you compare two packages. A cheap design quote plus £80 a month in apps is not cheap.
Questions that separate a real package from a thin one
- How many products and variants are in the build price, and what is the rate after that?
- Which payment gateways are configured, and do you take any extra cut on sales? The answer to the second part should be no.
- Who owns the theme, the custom code and the product database if I move?
- Is hosting, SSL and software updates included after launch, and for how long?
- How are shipping zones, free-shipping thresholds and click and collect handled?
- What is the go-live window? Four to eight weeks is normal for a small catalogue with content ready. Faster usually means a barely changed template.
- How many change requests per month are included after launch, and what is the hourly rate after that?
Platform choice in plain terms
Shopify is hosted for you, with a large app store and a checkout most customers already trust. You pay monthly plus processing, and many useful features are extra apps. Moving off Shopify later is possible but messy because the checkout and some apps do not travel.
WooCommerce sits on WordPress. Hosting is separate. You get more control over data and fees, and a one-off designer can leave you with a site you can move. You also inherit WordPress update and security work unless that is in a managed plan. For a small UK shop with under a few hundred products, either platform can work. Pick based on who will maintain it, not on a feature list you will never use.
Avoid building a shop on a site that cannot take real payments or stock levels. A contact form that says email us to order is not ecommerce, however nice the layout looks.
How to brief the work so quotes match
Write a single page that lists: number of products at launch and in 12 months, variants (size, colour, weight), whether prices include VAT, shipping rules for UK mainland, Highlands, Northern Ireland and the EU if you sell there, payment methods you already use, photos you already have, and any need to import from a spreadsheet or till system. Attach three competitor shops you respect and one you dislike, with a sentence on why. That document lets two designers quote the same job. Without it, you will get packages that are not comparable.
If your catalogue is under 30 simple products and you can write the descriptions, you do not need an agency-scale package. If you sell configurable items, subscriptions or need the till and the website to share stock, budget for the higher custom band and a proper discovery call, not a fixed starter-shop flyer.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I budget for an ecommerce website design package in the UK?
For a small catalogue, plan £2,500 to £8,000 for a one-off theme customisation, or £8,000 to £18,000 if you need custom options or stock links. DIY platforms are £25 to £80 a month plus card fees, but you do most of the work. Managed monthly plans are a setup fee then typically £50 to £250 a month. Add photography, apps and processing fees on top of whichever route you pick.
Is Shopify cheaper than paying a designer for WooCommerce?
Shopify looks cheaper in month one because hosting is bundled. Over a few years, app subscriptions and extra transaction percentages can close the gap. WooCommerce often has a higher design bill up front and separate hosting at £10 to £40 a month, but you keep more control of fees and data. The cheaper option is the one you will actually keep updated, not the lower headline number.
What do I own if I pay monthly for the shop?
It depends on the contract. Some monthly plans are a service: you stop paying and the site goes offline. Others will hand over files or a WordPress export for a fee. Domain names should be in your name. Ask in writing who owns the theme, custom code and product database, and what the exit process costs, before you pay a setup fee.
How long does a small ecommerce site take to launch?
Four to eight weeks is realistic once you have product data and photos ready. That covers theme or template work, payment and shipping setup, and testing checkout on a phone. Two-week offers usually mean a barely changed template and you still doing the product entry. Custom stock or till links add time. Content delays on your side are the usual reason a job slips.
Are card fees included in ecommerce design packages?
Almost never. Designers quote for building and connecting checkout. Stripe, PayPal and Shopify Payments then charge you per sale, commonly around 1.5% plus 20p for standard UK cards, more for international. No honest package should take an extra cut of your sales on top of those processor fees.
Can I start monthly and buy the site out later?
Some providers allow a buy-out; many do not, or they charge a large fee because the monthly price was subsidising the original build. If a later buy-out matters to you, get the price and the file format (WordPress export, Shopify transfer, or neither) written into the agreement at the start. Do not assume it is an option.