Building Brands with Shopify

Shopify Themes are good for startups who are happy to sacrifice brand equity and user experience in order to get to market with a value proposition quickly and cheaply. Think of it as if we've rented a popup shop in a mall - fast, cheap and does the job... But not very focused on your brand.

Pros
‍Cost effective, Short turnaround to go live, Simple user experience, Native to Shopify
‍Cons
‍Limited to existing themes, Brand presentation and design won't be unique or distinctive, User experience will be generic, not specific to your brand and customers, Limited and generic admin and content management capability, Existing themes are built for novice users, so can often include additional unnecessary code, which slows down load times for customers, You are essentially outsourcing the development of your store to a third party who have hundreds (or thousands) of other customers

Good for situations where the design, functional and administrative requirements of a brand are relatively simple, thus customisation is minimal. Think of this as if we've leased a space in a mall for the long-term - we can decorate and put up POS material, but larger changes are more difficult and can be prohibitively expensive.

‍Pros
‍An improved brand and customer experience when compared to an OOTB Theme, An improved administrative experience when compared to an OOTB theme, Faster turnaround time than a Bespoke Theme, More cost effective than a Bespoke Theme
‍Cons
‍Working with another developers' code inherently slows down development efforts, By the same token, customising an OOTB theme can lead to excess code which slows down page load speeds for your customers, As the theme will have been heavily customised, updates from the original OOTB theme developer cannot be rolled out easily, Depending on the amount of customisation, may not be as cost effective as a Bespoke build over the long term

If you want to create the best brand and customer experience possible in order to maximise conversions and revenue, whilst also creating the most intuitive administrative experience, this is the approach to take. Think of this like working with an architect and a contractor who will design and build the store that best serves your brand, your customers and your staff.

‍Pros
‍A best practice approach to creating a distinct brand and user experience, designed and built specifically for your brand and your customers, An administrative setup that is tailored as much as possible to suit your workflow, Fastest possible page load speeds for customers, as everything is purpose built, Most likely more cost effective over time as the needs of the business evolve
‍Cons
‍More up front costs than other approaches, Delivery can take longer, depending on requirements

For us to develop a website with an off the shelf theme, prices start at £7,000. For a customised Shopify theme £15,000, and for a custom Shopify theme, £30,000

A common headache we find many “non-technical” merchants have is that the Shopify ecosystem - with its multitude of easily installed themes and apps - can sometimes leave them with a store that feels slow to load, which is not only frustrating for potential customers, but also ultimately leads to less money in the bank in the long run.

A faster site means a better conversion rate, better search engine rankings, and happier customers, which are all things that put more money in your bank account right? And that’s not just our opinion, this is empirically proven!

Contact us for our guide with 8 actionable tips to improve the page speed of your Shopify Website

You'll be in good company on Shopify - just check out some of these leading brands already benefitting from the Shopify Ecosystem;

Glossier
Spoke London
Hiut Denim
Paynter Jackets
Finisterre
Victoria Beckham