Shopify Solutions

The honest answer to “how much does a Shopify store cost?” has three parts: what you pay Shopify, what you pay along the way, and what you pay someone to build it. Here is each part, so you can budget properly before you start. Part 1: Shopify’s Monthly Plans Shopify prices its plans in US dollars. Based on its 2026 pricing, the main plans are: Plan Billed monthly Billed annually (per month) Starter $5 – Basic $39 $29 Grow $105 $79 Advanced $399 $299 Plus From $2,300 – Paying annually saves roughly 25% on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Because prices are in dollars, your naira cost moves with the exchange rate, so budget with some room. Shopify changes pricing from time to time, so confirm current figures on its pricing page before you commit. Most new Nigerian stores start on Basic. Starter is built mainly for selling through social media and messaging rather than running a full online store. Part 2: The Costs Along the Way Payment gateway fees — Paystack or Flutterwave charge their own processing fee on each sale. Shopify’s third-party transaction fee — because Shopify Payments is not available in Nigeria, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. On ₦1,000,000 in monthly sales through Paystack on Basic, that is ₦20,000 before Paystack’s own fee. A domain name — paid yearly. A theme — there are good free themes, and paid themes if you want a specific look. Apps — many charge monthly. Keep only the ones that earn their cost, because they also affect store speed. Product photography and content — often the most valuable spend of all. Part 3: What a Shopify Developer Costs There is no standard price, because stores differ so much. The cost depends on: How many products you are launching with Whether you want a customised design or a lightly styled theme Payment integration (Paystack, Flutterwave) and shipping rules Extra features such as WhatsApp ordering, bundles or subscriptions Training, content setup and support after launch Ask for a written quote that lists exactly what is included, rather than comparing a single headline figure. How to Hire the Right Shopify Developer in Nigeria Ask for live stores they have built, ideally ones that accept naira payments. Check they understand Nigerian payments and delivery, including Paystack setup and shipping rules. Make sure you own the store. You should be the account owner, with the developer given staff or collaborator access. Agree scope and timeline in writing, including what happens if you need changes. Ask about support after launch, because stores need ongoing fixes and updates. Frequently Asked Questions Can I start small and upgrade later? Yes. Many stores begin on a lower plan and move up as their sales grow and the lower transaction fees on higher plans start to pay off. Are there hidden costs on Shopify? Nothing hidden, but costs add up: apps, payment gateway fees, Shopify’s third-party transaction fee and your domain. Budget for these in addition to the plan price. Do I need a developer, or can I build it myself? You can build a simple store yourself. A developer is worth it when you need payments set up correctly for Nigeria, a custom design, faster performance or a smooth launch without trial and error. Why does a higher plan sometimes make sense? Higher plans cut Shopify’s third-party transaction fee. At higher monthly sales, the saving can outweigh the higher subscription. Get a clear written quote for your Shopify store. See our Shopify developer services or book a consultation.

In Nigerian e-commerce, delivery is often where a sale is won or lost. Customers want to know what delivery will cost and when it will arrive before they pay, and many still want the option to pay on delivery. Shopify can handle this well, if you set it up deliberately. Start With Your Delivery Reality Before you touch settings, decide how you will actually deliver: your own riders for local orders, a courier partner for other cities, or a mix. Your shipping rates must cover the real cost to you, including packaging, or every sale quietly loses money. Setting Up Shipping Rates in Shopify Flat rates — one price per order or per delivery area. Simple and easy for customers to understand. Weight-based rates — useful if your products vary a lot in weight. Price-based rates — such as free delivery above a set order value, which can lift your average order size. Local delivery or pickup — for customers who live near you and prefer to collect. Delivery prices that differ by city or state are common in Nigeria. How finely you can split rates depends on your Shopify settings and plan, so if you need state-by-state pricing, a developer can configure it or connect a shipping rates app. Offering Cash on Delivery Shopify lets you add manual payment methods, including cash on delivery and bank deposit, alongside your online payment provider. Many Nigerian shoppers like the reassurance of paying when the goods arrive. Cash on delivery also carries risk: customers who are not available, refuse delivery or cannot pay on arrival cost you the delivery and the time. Ways to reduce this: Confirm every cash on delivery order by phone or WhatsApp before dispatching. Limit cash on delivery to areas you can serve reliably. Ask for a small upfront payment on high-value orders. Offer a discount or priority dispatch for customers who pay online. Be Clear About Delivery on Your Store Show delivery costs and estimated times on product pages or in the cart, not only at the last step. Publish a clear delivery and returns policy page. Send customers tracking details or a dispatch message on WhatsApp. Common Mistakes Setting delivery rates too low to cover real costs. Hiding delivery fees until the final checkout step. Offering cash on delivery everywhere with no confirmation step. No stated delivery timeline, which causes repeat “where is my order” messages. Frequently Asked Questions Can Shopify show different delivery prices for different locations? Yes, Shopify supports different shipping rates for different delivery zones. How finely you can split them depends on your settings, and a developer can set up more detailed pricing for you. Can I offer cash on delivery on Shopify? Yes. Shopify supports manual payment methods such as cash on delivery, which you can offer next to your online payment provider. Should I offer free delivery? Free delivery above a minimum order value is a popular way to increase order size, as long as your product margins can absorb the cost. How do I reduce failed cash on delivery orders? Confirm each order with the customer before dispatch, restrict the option to reliable delivery areas, and consider a small upfront payment on larger orders. Need shipping and checkout set up the right way for Nigeria? See our Shopify developer services or book a consultation.

A slow Shopify store costs you sales twice: visitors leave before the page loads, and Google rewards faster sites in search. For Nigerian shoppers browsing on mobile data, speed matters even more. The good news is that most slow stores are slow for the same few reasons, and each has a fix. First, Measure It Test your store with Google PageSpeed Insights on mobile, and check Shopify’s own online store speed report. Test your homepage, a collection page and a product page, because they often perform very differently. 8 Fixes That Make a Shopify Store Faster 1. Remove apps you do not use Every app can add scripts that load on your storefront. Uninstalling an app does not always remove its code from your theme, so ask a developer to clean up leftover snippets as well. 2. Compress and resize images Oversized product photos are the most common cause of slow pages. Resize images to the size they are displayed at before uploading, and avoid huge banner images. Shopify’s content delivery network helps by serving optimised formats, but it cannot fix a photo that is far larger than it needs to be. 3. Choose a lightweight theme Heavy themes full of animations, sliders and features you never use slow every page. A modern, lean theme such as Shopify’s free Dawn theme is a strong starting point. 4. Limit sliders, autoplay video and popups Homepage carousels and background videos add weight and rarely improve sales. Keep the homepage focused on one clear message and your best products. 5. Cut third-party scripts Chat widgets, tracking pixels, review widgets and social feeds each add requests. Keep the ones that earn their place and remove the rest. 6. Trim collection pages Showing too many products per page forces the browser to load too many images at once. Use sensible page sizes and let customers load more. 7. Limit custom fonts Each extra font file adds load time. Stick to one or two fonts and load only the weights you use. 8. Keep your theme code tidy Years of edits, app leftovers and duplicated code build up. A developer can audit your theme, remove dead code and fix issues PageSpeed flags. How to Know It Worked Re-test the same three pages on mobile after each change, and compare your results. Make one change at a time so you can see which fix made the difference. Frequently Asked Questions Does store speed really affect sales? Yes. Shoppers who wait for a page to load are more likely to leave, and slow mobile pages are especially costly when many customers browse on phones. Is Shopify slow by default? No. Shopify’s platform is fast. Stores usually become slow because of heavy themes, too many apps and large images added on top. Will deleting an app remove its code? Not always. Some apps leave snippets in your theme after you uninstall them, which is why a theme clean-up is worth doing. Can a developer speed up my store without changing its design? In most cases, yes. Image optimisation, app clean-up and script reduction improve speed while keeping the design you have. Want your Shopify store audited and sped up? See our Shopify developer services or book a consultation.

Getting a Shopify store live feels like the finish line, then the orders do not come. Before you spend more on ads, find out where customers are dropping off. In most stores that are not selling, the cause is one of a handful of fixable problems. First, Find Where You Are Losing People Look at your store’s analytics as a funnel: visitors, then product views, then add to cart, then checkout, then purchase. The biggest drop tells you what to fix. Few visitors points to a traffic problem. Plenty of visitors but few add to cart points to your product pages. Plenty of carts but few purchases points to checkout, payments or delivery cost. 9 Fixes for a Shopify Store That Is Not Making Sales 1. Offer the payment options Nigerian customers actually use Card-only checkout loses buyers who prefer bank transfer or USSD. Connect Paystack or Flutterwave, and enable the channels your customers use in your payment provider account. 2. Show prices in naira Dollar prices create doubt and failed payments. Price products in naira so the total at checkout is exactly what the customer expects. 3. Make delivery cost and time clear early Surprise shipping fees at the last step are a classic reason people abandon a cart. State delivery costs and timelines on the product page or in the cart, and consider free delivery above a set order value. 4. Make your store fast on a phone Most shoppers browse on mobile, often on variable networks. Heavy images, too many apps and slow pages send them away before they see your products. 5. Upgrade your product pages Use clear photos from several angles, honest descriptions, sizes or specifications, and visible stock status. A buyer who cannot tell what they are getting will not buy. 6. Build trust visibly Add customer reviews, a clear returns and refund policy, a real business address and working contact details. A store with no visible people behind it feels risky to a first-time buyer. 7. Make it easy to ask a question on WhatsApp Many buyers want to confirm a detail before paying. A visible WhatsApp button turns a hesitation into a conversation, and often into a sale. 8. Follow up on abandoned carts Set up abandoned checkout recovery so shoppers who left get a reminder. Many sales come back this way for very little effort. 9. Send the right traffic Even a perfect store cannot sell to the wrong audience. Match your ads and search content to people who are ready to buy what you sell, and test small budgets before scaling. When It Is Worth Getting Help If you have fixed the basics and sales are still flat, a store review usually reveals issues owners cannot see themselves, such as checkout friction, tracking problems or weak product page structure. Frequently Asked Questions How long should a new Shopify store take to get its first sale? There is no fixed timeline. It depends on your product, price, traffic and trust signals. A store with no traffic will not sell, so plan how customers will find you from day one. Should I run ads before fixing my store? Fix the basics first. Paying for traffic to a store with weak product pages or a broken checkout wastes money. How do I know if my checkout is the problem? If many people add to cart but few complete payment, test your checkout yourself on a phone, with each payment method, and check your delivery fees and payment options. Can someone review my store and tell me what to fix? Yes. A store audit looks at payments, speed, product pages, tracking and traffic, and gives you a prioritised list of fixes. Want a Shopify expert to find what is holding your sales back? See our Shopify developer services or book a consultation.

If you are setting up a Shopify store in Nigeria, the first surprise usually comes at checkout. Shopify’s own payment system, Shopify Payments, is not available to stores in Nigeria. That does not mean you cannot sell. It means you connect a third-party payment provider, and how you set it up decides whether customers can actually pay you in naira. The Short Answer: Use Paystack or Flutterwave Paystack is available on Shopify as a third-party payment provider for merchants in Nigeria, and Flutterwave offers a Shopify app too. Many Nigerian merchants start with Paystack for domestic naira payments, and look at Flutterwave when they need wider African coverage or mobile money. How Checkout Works With Paystack When a customer chooses Paystack at checkout, Shopify sends them to Paystack’s secure payment page. They pay there and are returned to your store, and Shopify records the order. The payment options the customer sees, such as card, bank transfer or USSD, are controlled by your Paystack account rather than by Shopify, so make sure the channels you want are switched on in Paystack. Set It Up Step by Step In your Shopify admin, open Settings, then Payments. Choose to add a payment method and search by provider for Paystack (or Flutterwave). Activate it and connect your Paystack account. Set your store currency to naira (NGN) and list your products in naira. Place a test order in Paystack’s test mode before going live. Switch your Paystack account to live mode once the test order works. The Checkout Errors Nigerian Stores Hit Most “Payment provider not available” at checkout This usually means your store’s country setting does not match a country where Paystack is available. Merchants have reported that the Paystack option disappears when the store location is switched away from Nigeria, so check your store’s location first. Customers cannot proceed to pay Your products must be priced in a currency your Paystack account supports. If your Paystack business supports naira but your products are priced in US dollars, customers will not be able to complete payment. Order stays on “Payment pending” This is rare, but it can happen if the redirect from Paystack back to Shopify fails, for example after a network timeout. Check the transaction in your Paystack dashboard, and if the payment was received, mark the order as paid in Shopify. What It Costs When you use a third-party gateway instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top of the gateway’s charges: 2% on the Basic plan, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. On ₦1,000,000 in monthly sales through Paystack on the Basic plan, that is ₦20,000 to Shopify, before Paystack’s own processing fee. Higher plans reduce this surcharge, which matters more as your sales grow. Frequently Asked Questions Can I use Shopify Payments in Nigeria? No. Shopify Payments is not available for stores in Nigeria, so Nigerian stores connect a third-party provider such as Paystack or Flutterwave. Will customers be able to pay by bank transfer or USSD? That depends on the payment channels enabled on your Paystack account. Shopify passes the payment to Paystack, and Paystack decides which options to show. Do I pay Shopify extra when I use Paystack? Yes. Shopify charges a transaction fee on orders paid through third-party gateways, from 2% on Basic down to 0.2% on Plus, in addition to Paystack’s own fee. Can I use more than one payment method? Yes. Shopify lets you offer a primary provider alongside additional gateways and manual methods, and each appears as an option at checkout. Need your Shopify checkout working properly? Lifehampers builds Shopify stores with payments set up the right way for Nigeria. See our Shopify developer services or book a consultation.