We will help you see more clearly
and give you the keys to build the development budget for your Shopify mobile
application. Without further ado, here is the summary of this complete
guide.
We will help you see more clearly
and give you the keys to build the development budget for your Shopify mobile
application. Without further ado, here is the summary of this complete
guide.
Summary table of the cost
of a Shopify
mobile application
To give you a first idea of the cost of a
Shopify mobile application, here are the main ranges to know according to the
size and complexity of your app. We will detail the content of this table
in a moment and I also invite you to discover at the end of the article our
second table comparing the cost of the project according to the type of Shopify
mobile application.
|
|
Basic Shopify mobile application |
Average Shopify mobile application |
Complex Shopify mobile application |
|
Characteristics |
●
Core feature set ●
1 platform |
●
More features and a more
complex design ●
1-2 platforms |
●
Complex design,
development and support ●
2 platforms |
|
Total cost |
40 to 70,000
€ |
~ € 85,000 |
~ € 200,000 |
|
Chronology |
3 to 5 months |
6 to 9 months |
9 months and
over |
Application development
cost: benchmarks
The vast majority of the population uses various Shopify mobile applications in the course of their daily activities. However, what is the cost of implementing a mobile app these days?
The most reliable studies in the mobile app
industry have provided the following figures for app development costs:
●
The median cost of application development is
approximately € 150,000 (at a rate of € 130 / hour), which represents 1153
hours of development. The total price of the application could even reach
620,000 € in the case of an implementation of complex functionalities ( Clutch
Survey , 2015).
●
The average minimum application development
project is between € 3,500 and € 8,500. The typical cost of creating an
app is likely much higher ( Clutch Survey , 2017).
●
The cost of developing enterprise Shopify mobile
applications is on average € 120,000 (VDC Research, 2017).
●
The available application cost calculators
indicate a price range of € 227,000 to € 306,000 for complex and
multifunctional Shopify mobile applications.
●
Regarding the application development schedule:
more than 80% of Shopify mobile applications take more than 3 months to
develop; 40% of applications are built in 6 months or more
( Outsystems Survey , 2018-19).
Basically, your idea of an application, along
with business and functional necessities, influence the cost of developing the
application. The most influential factors that determine the final cost of
building an application are:
●
Vendor type and location
●
Complexity and number of features of the
application
●
Back-end infrastructure and API
●
Complexity of UX / UI design
●
Inclusion of additional branding visuals
●
Development approach (native, mobile web,
hybrid, etc.)
●
Number of platforms to develop (iOS, Android,
web, etc.)
Cost of developing a
Shopify mobile application
|
|
Basic Shopify mobile application |
Average Shopify mobile application |
Complex Shopify mobile application |
|
Characteristics |
●
Core feature set ●
1 platform |
●
More features and a more
complex design ●
1-2 platforms |
●
Complex design,
development and support ●
2 platforms |
|
Total cost |
40 to 70,000
€ |
~ € 85,000 |
~ € 200,000 |
|
Chronology |
3 to 5 months |
6 to 9 months |
9 months and
over |
How much does it cost to create a mobile
app? The main findings suggest that the cost of developing an application
ranges from just $ 3,500 to $ 425,000. Mlsdev has also created a detailed
app building cost survey that lists estimates based on widely used app
features, design complexity, and development stages. An app with a basic
feature set costs over $ 35,000, while the cost of developing a complex mobile
app starts from $ 200,000.
How are application
development costs estimated?
How can you accurately estimate the cost of developing Shopify mobile
applications?
The main indicator of the cost of the application is the functionality of the application, a feature is a special activity or task that the application should run and give the expected result. It could be a sign up button on a screen or something more complex like video streaming integration. The number of features and the complexity of their implementation are directly related to the cost of building an application. The formula used to calculate the cost of developing an application is as follows:
Before starting application development,
reliable companies usually provide you with a rough estimate of the costs of
developing an application. The quote is based on your project description,
business and technical requirements. This information is combined and
concluded in a preliminary list of features. A product backlog is a list
of features, changes to existing features, bug fixes, infrastructure changes,
or other activities that a team can provide in order to achieve a specific
outcome. Typically, customers are billed for application development
services based on the following options:
●
Fixed Fee - a payment that involves the cost charged
for a specific timeline. It can work well for small projects, especially
those with a clear and well-defined scope of work. The advantage of this
option is that the cost of developing the application is confirmed with the
customer before development begins.
●
Time and Material - a pricing structure
that is determined by the time and materials required for a project and is
therefore usually calculated based on an hourly rate. This approach
provides flexibility during the application development process and adapts to
more complex projects.
It is necessary to understand the advantages of
applying the time and material option, although you may be worried at
first. Since this option has both an initial estimate of the project and
the ability to change it during the process, it helps control the app's budget
and with that flexibility, creates a product that people will love.
Why aren't initial estimates for mobile app development costs always
met?
Basically, there are two reasons why the
estimated cost of app development doesn't match reality:
●
1. Application quotes are sometimes provided by
a low quality service company. Some companies don't pay enough attention
to preparing a good faith quote or are dishonest and just want to sign the
contract.
●
2. Increased scope of development due to changes
along the way.
If your budget is limited for the first version
of the app, you have three options:
●
Agree on specific features - define them up
front and stick to the plan. If you follow this rule, you will keep the
same scope of work and the application development costs will also remain the
same.
●
Pay extra costs - with extra features, be
prepared to deal with the increased cost of building the app.
●
Remove features - together with your development
team, you can prioritize the features of the app. In this case, you can
rearrange the scope of work so that it contains the necessary functionality and
meets the budget constraints.
Cost of creating an
application depending on the development stages
In most cases, the Shopify mobile application
development process consists of these five steps:
●
Pre-development (also called discovery or
research)
●
UX / UI design
●
Application development
●
Testing and deploying applications
●
Ongoing support and maintenance
The majority of application developers (~ 70%)
start a project with the pre-research / discovery stage (Source: Clutch.co,
2017). This step allows the team to clarify all the ins and outs of the
application from a technical and business perspective. A common
understanding and trust is formed with the client and the performer in
meetings. The discovery stage offers the following advantages:
●
saving time and money
●
Validation of requirements
●
Goal-based design solution
●
Risk coverage
●
Client synchronization with the team
●
Prioritization of project tasks
The big benefit you receive after the discovery
phase is an exact answer to the question: "How much does it cost to build
an app for your business?" An accurate development budget and
delivery date are calculated based on user stories presented in the product
backlog. Once the discovery phase has started, a team is assigned to the
project. The team can be made up of a business analyst, software architect,
designers, etc. Other possible deliverables of the discovery stage
include:
●
Finalized project concept
●
UX / UI design
●
Product backlog
●
Project architecture plan
● Market and competitor analysis (optional)
The average cost of the discovery stage varies from
€ 8,500 to € 13,000 with a delay of 2 to 4 weeks. These costs and
deadlines relate to a total average project lasting 3 to 5 months. The
application development stages use the deliverables from the discovery
stage. Depending on the project, the team can proceed directly to the
application coding phase or finalize the application design. It is
necessary to have a visual representation of the application before coding the
actual application. Surveys summarize that the app design costs around $
4,200. So the price of the design correlates the complexity of the design
and the use of any kind of custom visual elements. Likewise, the number of
features and their complexity, as well as the concept and type of
application influence the cost during the development phase. Regular
features like user login / logout, push notifications, in-app search by entity
type, and basic chat cost less. The functionality related to the content
management system (administration panel), video and audio streaming, is complex
and therefore more expensive. The application test step guarantees the
correct functioning and quality of the application. Logically, the cost of
the test is directly related to the functionality of the application. In
practice, application testing represents around 30% of the cost spent on
client-side (front-end) implementation. The front-end part of an admin
panel costs less; around 10%. The following graphics,MLSdev,
illustrate the average cost of developing applications at each stage based on data
collected from 102 companies. Each stage of development represents the
total cost of the Shopify mobile application.
This great article is written and published by
the marketing team of Starlinks digital marketing agency Auckland
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