💷 Pricing Breakdown — UK Market Rates 2025
R&D Tax Credits: Most qualifying software projects can claim up to 27% of development spend back via HMRC R&D Tax Credits. A £50,000 project could effectively cost £36,500 after relief. ClickMasters documents qualifying activities as standard. See /rd-tax-credits-software-development/
| Service / Scope | What's Included | Timeline | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Starter (theme only) | Shopify theme customisation, basic branding | 1–3 wks | £3,500–£8,000 |
| Shopify Plus Custom | Custom theme, app development, integrations | 4–12 wks | £8,000–£25,000 |
| WooCommerce Development | Custom WooCommerce, performance optimisation, GDPR | 4–10 wks | £5,000–£18,000 |
| Headless Commerce | Next.js frontend, headless CMS, Shopify/custom backend | 8–20 wks | £25,000–£80,000 |
| Custom eCommerce Platform | Bespoke platform, B2B workflow, complex pricing | 12–28 wks | £40,000–£150,000 |
| Custom Marketplace | Two-sided marketplace, payment escrow, seller onboarding | 16–36 wks | £60,000–£150,000+ |
What Drives Cost — Key Variables
Platform choice: Shopify/WooCommerce: lower upfront, ongoing licence costs. Custom: higher build, zero platform fees. Break-even typically at £100K+ annual platform fees.
Integration complexity: Payment gateway (Stripe) = 2–3 days. ERP integration (SAP, NetSuite) = 4–8 weeks. Complex supplier EDI integration = 6–12 weeks.
UK compliance requirements: UK GDPR cookie consent, Consumer Rights Act cancellation flow, PCI-DSS scope management via hosted payment forms. Built in to all ClickMasters builds.
Performance engineering: Standard performance optimisation included. Black Friday load testing (k6, 10x traffic simulation): £3,500–£8,000 additional. CDN configuration included.