What to choose for online store: Unique design or template?

Unique design is the design and creation of style of the online store, which fully takes into account all the features of the business and maximally reflects the uniqueness of the brand. This is a deep dive into business processes and analytics, technology selection for development, etc. This option is the most expensive, and each design studio estimates the cost of the work in its own way.

Pros:

Any design solution can be implemented because there is no attachment to any template;

Ability to emphasize your reputation. Considers all the features of the business;

There are no restrictions on functionality.

Cons:

It takes a lot of time compared to the template solution;

Requires more resources for implementation and technical support.

Individual design is suitable for large companies, top e-commerce projects, niche leaders.

This option is suitable for those who have a clear understanding of their processes, prospects for 5 years and has sufficient resources not only to create, but to launch such a project.

The spread of market prices to create an online store with a unique design is great and it is difficult to get an objective average market value.

One studio calls the price for individual design from $ 3 thousand and the other from $ 8 thousand. And the store owner opts for the first option, often without thinking about what he actually pays for.

To make the right choice, you need to delve into the studio's approach and work processes, look for a partner, not a contractor.

The studio with experience already knows how to avoid mistakes, will tell the right vector of project development. The probability of a successful launch with such a partner is several times higher.

With the right approach, the focus is on analytics: studying the niche and target audience, evaluating the performance of the old site. In this case, the process of drawing the site takes 30% of the time, and 70% goes to think about what the full picture should look like. After all, every step of an experienced UX / UI designer should be based on numbers.

A template (ready-made solution, standard theme) is an already developed online store structure with a set of standard pages that can be customized for your business. All you have to do is stylize it for your business by selecting colors, fonts, adding icons, etc.

Pros:

Creating styling takes less time than individual design;

Save budget on functional development, because the structure of all standard pages is already thought out;

Minimizing risks. We use solutions that are standard, and therefore proven effective in specific niches.

Cons:

The design solution is limited to the template framework;

Difficulties may arise when necessary to add new functionality in the future;

There is a likelihood of meeting a similar site structure in the market or among competitors;

It does not take into account all the features of business and UTP.

Business site templates can be used by business owners who:

no complex functionality is required, the sales scheme is already set up, and the site is needed to make it more accessible to consumers;

simple design is needed, without unnecessary elements, as the primary task is to promote what is and later improve the quality of the resource.

According to market research, the average cost of an online store based on a template will average $ 2000 on the market.

The author's ready solution as a compromise

The studio's ready-made studio solution is a trade-off between the unique design of the online store and the template design of the site. This is no longer a pipeline standard theme, but the result of your own design studio work.