Shopify retainers
Senior Shopify expertise at a fixed monthly price
We run three Shopify retainers for founder-led Shopify and Shopify Plus brands. Essentials keeps a stable store running for £1,000 a month, ex VAT. Growth adds custom development for £2,500 a month, ex VAT. Partner gives you an embedded senior team for £5,000 a month, ex VAT. Every retainer rolls monthly, with one month’s notice and no minimum term.
Each month starts with a priority list we agree with you, so the work goes where it matters most. You can upgrade or downgrade from the next billing month. Not sure which tier fits? Ask us which retainer suits your store.
The three retainers
Essentials: reliable upkeep
For a stable store that needs a dependable team behind it. Essentials costs £1,000 a month, ex VAT, plus £500 for one-off onboarding. You get a shared support inbox and a standard response within two business days.
£1,000/month ex VAT
+ £500 one-off onboarding
- Standard response
- Two business days
What’s included:
- Technical maintenance, bug fixes and app updates
- Content updates: banners, campaign pages, menus and product pages
- Small changes within your existing theme
- App set-up and configuration
- Upkeep of existing Klaviyo flows and campaigns
- GA4 and conversion tracking upkeep
- A monthly snapshot report
Not included: custom code beyond small Liquid changes, Shopify Functions and integrations, and strategy sessions. See the Essentials retainer in detail.
Growth: custom development
For brands on Shopify Plus or heading there. Growth costs £2,500 a month, ex VAT, with onboarding included. You get a named lead and a standard response within one business day.
Most popular
£2,500/month ex VAT
- Standard response
- One business day
Everything in Essentials, plus:
- Custom theme sections and features
- Shopify Functions for discounts, delivery and payments
- Markets for countries you already sell to
- Upkeep of existing ERP, PIM and 3PL integrations
- Shopify Flow automation
- Klaviyo strategy and new flows
- A quarterly CRO review and a quarterly AI and search readiness check
- A monthly report and a quarterly business review
Not included: new integrations and custom apps, migrations and B2B portals. See the Growth retainer in detail.
Partner: an embedded senior team
For multi-market and B2B brands. Partner costs £5,000 a month, ex VAT, with onboarding included. You get a named lead, a weekly call and a standard response on the same business day.
£5,000/month ex VAT
- Standard response
- Same business day
Everything in Growth, plus:
- Unlimited requests, worked one at a time
- Custom app development within the request queue
- Multi-market and multi-store operations, including the Nordics
- A monthly CRO review and A/B testing
- AI coaching for your team
- A weekly priorities call and a quarterly workshop
Not included: migrations and headless builds, and requests over about 10 days of work, which we quote as projects. See the Partner retainer in detail.
Compare the retainers
Essentials keeps a store running. Growth changes it. Partner works through a queue of whatever your brand needs next. All prices in these tables exclude VAT.
Price, service and reporting
| What you get | Essentials | Growth | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,000 a month | £2,500 a month | £5,000 a month |
| Onboarding: store audit and a 90-day plan in the first two weeks | £500, one-off | Included | Included |
| Notice period, no minimum term | One month | One month | One month |
| Standard response (acknowledging and starting, not resolution) | 2 business days | 1 business day | Same business day |
| Critical issue response (checkout or site down) | 2 business hours | 1 business hour | 1 business hour |
| Contact | Shared support inbox | Named lead | Named lead and weekly call |
| Reporting | Monthly snapshot | Monthly report and quarterly review | Monthly report, quarterly review and weekly priorities |
Store and theme
| What you get | Essentials | Growth | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance, bug fixes and app updates | Included | Included | Included |
| Content updates and small theme changes | Included | Included | Included |
| App set-up and configuration | Included | Included | Included |
| Custom theme sections and features | Not included | Included | Included |
| Shopify Functions for discount, delivery and payment customisations | Not included | Included | Included |
| Custom app development, within the request queue | Not included | Not included | Included |
Markets, data and automation
| What you get | Essentials | Growth | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markets for countries you already sell to | Not included | Included | Included |
| Multi-market and multi-store operations, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Upkeep of existing ERP, PIM and 3PL integrations | Not included | Included | Included |
| Shopify Flow automation | Not included | Included | Included |
| Klaviyo | Upkeep of existing flows | Strategy and new flows | Strategy and new flows |
| GA4 and conversion tracking upkeep | Included | Included | Included |
Optimisation and AI
| What you get | Essentials | Growth | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRO review | Add-on, £900 | Quarterly | Monthly, with A/B testing |
| AI and search readiness check: AI channel eligibility, product data, policies and knowledge base | Add-on, £750 | Quarterly | Quarterly |
| AI coaching for your team | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Quarterly workshop, on-site or remote | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Fixed-price projects | Standard price | 10% off, with priority scheduling | 10% off, with priority scheduling |
How the Partner request queue works
On Partner you can send as many requests as you like. We limit how many are in progress, not how many you send. One request is in progress at a time, and the next starts as soon as it ships.
We size each request as small (under a day), medium (one to three days) or large (more than three days). Small requests typically ship within one to two business days. We split large work into parts that can ship on their own, and anything over about 10 days of work is quoted as a project. You can reorder the queue whenever you like. If checkout or the site is down, we fix it straight away, and it doesn’t count as your active request. See how the Partner queue works, step by step.
Bigger work at a fixed price
Larger jobs sit outside the retainers as fixed-price projects. Growth and Partner clients get priority scheduling and 10% off those projects. All prices exclude VAT.
| Project | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce to Shopify migration | from £8,000 | Fixed price, agreed up front |
| Nordic market launch in Norway, Sweden or Denmark | from £4,000 per market | Markets, local payments, translation, shipping, and tax and duties set-up |
| New ERP, PIM or 3PL integration | from £5,000 per system | Upkeep then sits in Growth or Partner |
| Custom Shopify app | Quoted | Smaller apps can run through the Partner queue |
| B2B portal or headless build | Quoted | Advice included in Partner |
| CRO audit | £900 | Add-on for Essentials. Included quarterly in Growth and monthly in Partner |
| AI and search readiness audit | £750 | Included quarterly in Growth and Partner |
| Extra capacity | £750 a day | Booked in whole days |
Growth and Partner include Markets work for countries you already sell to, such as prices, currencies and domains. Opening a new country end to end, with local payments, translation, shipping, tax and duties, is our fixed-price Nordic market launch.
See every fixed-price project and add-on, read how a migration to Shopify works, or talk to us about a fixed-price project.
Billing and terms
- Prices exclude VAT and are invoiced monthly in advance, by direct debit or card.
- Every retainer rolls monthly, with one month’s notice and no minimum term.
- You pay third-party costs, such as your Shopify plan, apps and Klaviyo, directly.
- Response times are for acknowledging and starting work, not resolution. They apply during business hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30 UK time.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum term?
No. Every retainer rolls monthly with one month's notice. Essentials has a one-off onboarding fee. Onboarding is included in Growth and Partner.
What happens in onboarding?
In the first two weeks we audit your store and agree a 90-day plan with you, so the first month's work is already prioritised.
How do you decide what gets done each month?
We agree a priority list with you in the first week of each month. If more comes up than fits, we agree with you whether to move it to next month, quote it as a fixed-price project or move up a tier. Unused time doesn't roll over.
What does "unlimited requests" mean on Partner?
You can add as many requests as you like. We work on one at a time and start the next as soon as one ships. Requests over about 10 days of work are quoted as projects. Urgent issues, such as checkout being down, jump the queue.
Can I change tier?
Yes. Upgrades and downgrades take effect from the next billing month.
Are response times resolution times?
No. They are how quickly we acknowledge a request and start on it, during business hours, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30 UK time.
Who pays for Shopify, apps and Klaviyo?
You do. Third-party costs such as your Shopify plan, apps and Klaviyo are billed to you directly.
Find the right retainer for your store
Not sure which tier fits? A short call is enough to agree a tier and your first 90 days. To put a number on what a lift in conversion rate, order value or traffic could be worth first, try our revenue upside calculator. Tell us about your store and we’ll recommend a retainer.