How much does a webshop cost in the UK?

The parts of every webshop bill

Whatever platform you choose, the same building blocks appear. When you compare options, list each one and check whether it is included, extra or your own job.

• Platform or software: a monthly plan on a hosted platform, or free software such as WooCommerce.
• Hosting: the server that keeps your shop online, fast and secure.
• Domain name: your web address, renewed every year.
• Design and set-up: theme, pages, product entry and checkout settings.
• Extensions: apps or plugins for features that are not built in.
• Payments: fees charged by your payment provider on each sale.
• Upkeep: updates, backups, security and fixing things when they break.

One-off costs

Design and build

You can set up a shop yourself with a ready-made theme, pay a freelancer, or hire an agency. Doing it yourself costs time rather than money. Paying someone costs more but gets you live sooner. Ask exactly what is included: number of pages, how many products they will load, and whether training is part of the job.

Product content

Photos and descriptions are easy to underestimate. Every product needs clear images and honest, useful text. If you have a large range, this can be the biggest one-off job of all. Our guide to product photos that sell covers ways to keep it manageable.

Moving from another platform

If you already sell online, budget for moving products, customers and orders, and for redirects so you keep your search rankings.

Running costs

These are the costs that repeat every month or year, and they matter more than the launch price.

Hosted platforms such as Shopify

You pay a monthly plan that rises with each tier. Apps add their own monthly charges, premium themes cost extra and transaction or payment fees apply depending on how you take payment. The total can grow quietly as you add features.

WooCommerce

The software is free. Your main fixed cost is hosting. Some plugins are paid, often yearly, and payment provider fees apply as they would anywhere. The other cost is upkeep: either your own time spent on updates and backups, or a managed host that handles it.

Costs people often forget

• Your own time. Updating software, fixing a broken plugin or restoring a backup takes hours you could spend selling.
• Email and marketing tools. Newsletters and abandoned basket emails usually come from a separate service.
• Legal pages. Terms, a privacy notice and returns information need writing properly. See our UK ecommerce legal checklist.
• Customer service. Answering order questions and handling returns takes time, and good tools make it quicker.
• Growth. A second shop, a trade channel or a new integration can change the picture.

How to compare fairly

Do not compare first-month prices. Instead, write down what you expect to pay over two or three years, including the apps or plugins you will actually need and an honest figure for your own time. Then ask a few questions of every option:

1. Who updates the software and checks the shop afterwards?
2. How often are backups taken, and how quickly can a shop be restored?
3. Can I take my shop and data elsewhere if I want to leave?
4. What happens to the price when I add a shop or a feature?
5. Can I cancel without a long contract?

For a side-by-side view, see our platform comparison.

A realistic small shop budget

For most small retailers and makers, a sensible setup is WooCommerce on managed hosting, a good free or low-cost theme, a handful of well-chosen plugins and a mainstream payment provider. That keeps fixed costs predictable, gives you ownership of the shop and leaves room to grow without changing platform.

Our prices at Retail Web Hosting

We keep pricing simple, billed monthly in euros, cancel any month. Shop Start is €19.95 for one WooCommerce shop with managed hosting, SSL certificate, regular backups and updates done for you. Shop Grow is €49.95 for up to 3 shops, with BonusFlow Ecommerce and priority support. Shop Pro starts from €99 for multiple shops with B2B price lists and customer order lists. See all hosting plans.

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