Shopify development & ecommerce support pricing
Playceholdr’s ongoing ecommerce retainers start at A$2,400 per month, with monthly options for businesses that need consistent access to development, design and ecommerce consultancy.
We publish our managed-service pricing because this type of work can be priced clearly.
For larger redesigns, migrations, B2B implementations and bespoke ecommerce builds, the requirements vary too much for a standard package. Those projects are scoped separately.
For ongoing work, the numbers are below.
Pricing current September 2026. All prices shown in AUD.
The Essential and Growth retainers provide guaranteed monthly resource allocation across development, design and ecommerce consultancy.
The Unlimited Development Retainer is structured differently, with unlimited Shopify development alongside defined monthly design and consultancy allowances.
Monthly ecommerce retainers
Essential Monthly Retainer
A$2,400/ month- 20 hours per month
- A$120 effective hourly rate
- No minimum commitment
For businesses that need reliable access to ecommerce development, design and consultancy without a large continuous workload.
Your 20-hour monthly allocation can be used across the areas required that month.
Typical work might include development tasks, UX or design improvements, technical investigation, ecommerce consultancy, campaign requirements or improvements to an existing store.
Hours are allocated monthly and used on demand, with guaranteed monthly resource allocation.
Growth Monthly Retainer
A$3,300/ month- 30 hours per month
- A$110 effective hourly rate
- No minimum commitment
For ecommerce teams with a more consistent roadmap of development, design and improvement work.
The 30-hour monthly allocation can be used across development, ecommerce consultancy and design.
Hours are allocated monthly and used on demand. The larger allocation also reduces the effective hourly rate to A$110 per hour and reserves more capacity for the business each month.
This tends to suit teams with a continuous ecommerce backlog rather than occasional one-off requests.
Unlimited Development Retainer
A$4,999/ month · 3-month minimum- Unlimited Shopify development
- Up to 20 design hours / month
- Up to 20 consultancy hours / month
For businesses with continuous Shopify development requirements and an ongoing need for broader ecommerce design and consultancy.
It is intended for businesses where development demand is continuous enough that tracking every Shopify development task against a monthly hourly allocation becomes unnecessarily restrictive.
Full workflow, service levels and operating terms are provided before engagement.
Compare our ecommerce support retainers
Shopify development
Ongoing Shopify work can include theme development, new sections and templates, custom functionality, bug fixes, app-related development, integrations, campaign development, product and collection functionality, performance improvements and technical maintenance.
The objective is to give the business consistent development capacity rather than creating a separate quote every time something needs to change.
For larger or more defined development projects, see our Shopify Development service.
Ecommerce design
Design support can include ecommerce UX and UI, new page designs, new sections and components, customer journey improvements, product and collection experiences, campaign requirements and improvements to an existing design system.
Larger redesigns are normally better handled as a dedicated Ecommerce Website Design project rather than consumed through monthly support — we cover the case for that in why invest in a new ecommerce website.
Ecommerce consultancy
Consultancy time can be used for prioritising an ecommerce backlog, technical requirements, platform and app decisions, ecommerce strategy, integration decisions, conversion and UX issues, scoping potential functionality and working through what is actually worth building.
Sometimes the most useful outcome is deciding that a proposed development task is not necessary.
Which retainer is right for you?
Choosing a planChoose Essential when
You need ongoing ecommerce capability but the workload is relatively contained. Twenty hours gives the business a predictable monthly allocation without requiring a longer commitment.
Choose Growth when
There is a consistent roadmap across development, design and ecommerce improvement. Thirty hours provides more capacity and a lower effective hourly rate while remaining month-to-month.
Choose Unlimited Development when
Shopify development is continuous rather than occasional. If the business regularly has development work waiting to be completed, an unlimited development structure may make more sense than managing every request against a fixed hourly allocation. The additional design and consultancy allowances mean the engagement can also support the decisions and design work surrounding development.
Retainer or ecommerce project?
Not every piece of ecommerce work should be delivered through ongoing support. A retainer generally makes sense when there is a continuous stream of work. A separately scoped project — and our note on how long a Shopify project really takes — makes more sense when there is a clearly defined outcome that needs its own discovery, requirements, timeline and delivery plan.
If something raised through ongoing support is large enough to require its own project structure, we will tell you before consuming significant retained capacity against it.
What is not priced on this page?
We deliberately do not publish one generic price for every ecommerce project. Projects such as complete Shopify builds, Shopify Plus implementations, ecommerce redesigns, Magento, WooCommerce or BigCommerce migrations, B2B ecommerce implementations, ERP integrations and complex custom development can vary materially depending on what the business needs.
Those engagements are scoped separately. Our other service pages explain the work in more detail.
Shopify Development
Custom Shopify development and bespoke storefront implementation.
Shopify Plus Development
More complex Shopify implementations involving B2B, integrations and wider operational requirements.
Ecommerce Website Design
UX, UI, information architecture and ecommerce design.
Shopify Migration Services
Replatforming from Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and other ecommerce systems.
B2B Ecommerce
Trade and wholesale ecommerce across Shopify and BigCommerce.
Ecommerce Strategy & Consulting
Audits, platform decisions, requirements and ecommerce roadmaps.
For broader information about what a new ecommerce website should cost, we publish separate pricing guides rather than mixing market-cost information into our own service pricing.
Where a price can be clear, we would rather make it clear.
Why we publish our ecommerce pricing
Agency pricing is often difficult to find. There are valid reasons for that when a project is bespoke. A B2B implementation connected to an ERP cannot responsibly be priced from the same package as a straightforward Shopify storefront.
Ongoing support is different. Our managed-service structure is clear enough that we can publish the prices, hours and commitment before you speak with us.
That means you can decide whether the commercial model is broadly aligned before spending time on a sales process.
Common questions about our Shopify and ecommerce retainers
How much does ongoing Shopify development with Playceholdr cost?
Playceholdr’s managed ecommerce retainers currently start at A$2,400 per month.
The Essential plan provides 20 hours per month, the Growth plan provides 30 hours, and the Unlimited Development Retainer costs A$4,999 per month.
What is Playceholdr’s hourly development rate?
The Essential Monthly Retainer has an effective rate of A$120 per hour across its 20-hour allocation. The Growth Monthly Retainer has an effective rate of A$110 per hour across its 30-hour allocation.
The Unlimited Development Retainer is not structured around an hourly Shopify development allowance.
Does Playceholdr offer an unlimited Shopify development retainer?
Yes. The Unlimited Development Retainer is A$4,999 per month and includes unlimited Shopify development, up to 20 design hours per month and up to 20 consultancy hours per month. It has a three-month minimum commitment.
Full workflow and service-level terms are provided before engagement.
Do your Shopify support retainers have a minimum commitment?
The Essential and Growth retainers have no minimum commitment. The Unlimited Development Retainer has a three-month minimum.
Can the Essential and Growth hours be used for both development and design?
Yes. The monthly allocation can be used across development, ecommerce consultancy and design depending on what the business needs.
Can you take over a Shopify store another agency built?
Yes. Ongoing support does not require the store to have originally been built by Playceholdr.
Where necessary, we first review the existing theme, custom functionality, applications and integrations so we understand the environment before making significant changes.
Do you also take on one-off Shopify projects?
Yes. Defined projects such as new Shopify builds, redesigns, migrations, B2B implementations and larger integrations are usually scoped separately rather than delivered through a monthly retainer. For indicative project figures see what a Shopify website costs in New Zealand.
Are these prices in Australian dollars?
Yes. All prices shown on this page are in AUD.
Need ongoing Shopify or ecommerce support?
Tell us about your requirementsIf you already have a backlog, send us your current store and a short summary of what you need help with.
We can tell you whether Essential, Growth, Unlimited Development or a separately scoped project is the better fit.