How Much Does It Cost To Build An eCommerce Website?

Ecommerce stores have now become one of the best ways to improve the ROI of any business, but at the same time, it is not that easy to build a successful online store for your business. For having a successful online store, it is necessary to invest in website design done by professionals with products that can attract more customers to your store. If you are one of the business owners who want to build a successful online store for your business but do not know where to start, then read this article to know how much it costs to build an eCommerce website.

Cost To Build An eCommerce Site

To know the cost of building an online store, you need to know the number of factors involved in making an eCommerce site for any business. As a business owner, you need to know the actual cost of building an online store as it helps calculate your overall budget to start your new online business idea. Suppose you do not have an action plan. In that case, our eCommerce web design professionals at Ayatas Technologies are always there to help you and show you how to avoid overspending.

Software Costs For Your Website

Every eCommerce site has similar components like products, inventory management, checkout pages, carts, and other functionalities. Building an eCommerce site requires skill, experience, and time for designing. At this point, most businesses rely on independent eCommerce development sites like WordPress and other developers. Here are the costs involved based on the size of business

1. Small And Medium Business

For small and medium business sites, eCommerce development platforms charge around $20-$30 based on the plans you have opted for and the volume and functionalities used for the online store.

• If you are using WIX, the basic plan of $13 per month (billed annually) will be activated, including a hosting plan and a free SSL certificate. An additional cost is incurred while there is a need for extra plugins, customized reports, and additional support.
• In Shopify, the minimum cost is $29, which includes a free SSL certificate but does not includes additional features like support for additional currencies.
• For BigCommerce, the basic plan cost is $29.95 per month, which is to be paid annually. The plan includes hosting and a free SSL certificate. If your store has sales over $50K, then you need to take a $79.95 plan per month.

2. Enterprise Business

For enterprise businesses, the number of products would be more, and the web design cost would also become higher. Enterprise business websites are designed using Magento, which requires special skills in coding and development. In the case of WordPress or WooCommerce, the store can be developed as DIY, but in Magento, it is not possible to develop as DIY because there is a need for coding and an in-depth understanding of coding.

Factors That Determine the Cost of Building eCommerce Store

Here are some of the important factors that affect the cost of building an online store for your business

1. Cost of Domain($8 per year)

Before even starting the design, it is important to decide on the name for your eCommerce store and check if your domain name is available with the name you chose. There are many domain registers available in the market, and you can approach anyone to get your domain registered.

2. Hosting Plan

Hosting helps keep your website live; if you do not have a hosting plan, your customers cannot access your online store. In hosting, three popular plans are available.

• Shared Hosting: In this, you share the allotted space with another website with numerous restrictions and limitations. There are many security concerns in shared hosting.
• Dedicated Hosting: In this, you get fully controlled space, but there is a requirement for a system administrator to make the work easier for you. To have a seamless experience, you need to hire a qualified and expert system administrator.
• Cloud Hosting: Runs on a group of servers with many features and spectacular reliability.

3. Number Of Pages ($1000 – $2000 per 10 pages)

The number of pages of any site affects the price of website development, and the minimum number of pages for any online store is about 250+. That means your page cost will be significantly higher than websites that generate business leads from a handful of pages. To get the amount you have invested on each page, you need unique products and categories to show off all your products. Even though the business owner chooses several pages, it is better to have many pages for potential revenue in the long run.

4. eCommerce Web Design Pricing ($0 to $100000)

For any eCommerce site, the overall design is important in attracting customers. If your design looks outdated or sloppy, customers will not be willing to visit your online store, and you lose customers immediately. For eCommerce stores, the designs are divided into categories, simple, stylized, high-end, and world-class. In simple designs, there are no surprises, and it is best for a solid start in the eCommerce industry. In moderately stylized design, the developers take more liberty in adding more graphics with additional elements and beautiful color schemes.

High-end professional eCommerce websites with more features and a distinguished appearance. The images are clean-cut with high resolution, and the color schemes are chosen per the website’s demographic.

World-class eCommerce stores are designed to go above the competition by using high-resolution images, interactive elements, videos, and a range of intuitive features. The perfect example of a world-class eCommerce store is Amazon.

5. SEO For eCommerce Site ($750 – $5000 per month)

SEO is the process of improving your company’s visibility in Google search results. For any eCommerce website, SEO is crucial as it makes your products visible to potential customers looking for specific types of products. For SEO, there is a need for monthly investment, and the work should be done regularly to earn more customers and stay ahead of competitors.

6. Responsive Web Design ($3000 – $25000)

Most online shopping is completed on mobile phones, so your eCommerce website should be designed to give the same shopping experience. With responsive design, your website will fit itself in the device used by your customer. Without proper design, there is a chance that you will lose customers using smartphones or tablets, or even smartwatches, and these devices are not contributing to half of the internet traffic. Without responsive design, there is a chance of losing potential customers, and your website might also face negative reviews.

7. Database Integration ($20000 to $25000)

For a normal website, database integration might be an option, but for an eCommerce site, it is a must. The database integration can be used to store information like employees’ names, phone numbers, and customer data, and also data related to products can be maintained.

8. Functionalities Used for eCommerce Store ($2000 – $25000)

For an eCommerce store, functionalities are crucial, which include shopping carts, checkout process, personalization, and protection of client identity. Other functionalities include multiple images for a single product, supplemental information, MSDS sheets, and literature that should accompany the product. To know how much it costs to build an eCommerce website with all the required functionalities, you need to contact a professional eCommerce web designer.

9. CMS For eCommerce Site

A Content Management System or CMS is a simple interface that allows you to make changes to your website without changing the code. Some of the CMS programs are free, but for some, you need to pay monthly or yearly. While choosing CMS, think about your plans and choose the best option, even if the cost is slightly higher.

Cost To Build eCommerce Website Based On Team

There are three main choices for eCommerce website development for hiring a developer.

1. On-Site Development

On-site development is the most convenient option for companies as the development team works in the client’s office. As an entrepreneur, you have the chance to interact with developers daily and discuss the issues by having a cup of coffee together. Even though the process looks simple, there are some challenges in this process. The main challenges are

• You need to have an office.
• You need to recruit professional designers, which is costly
• There is a need for special hardware for the people to work on
• You need to find a recruitment channel and pay them to find the required professionals to work on your project

2. Freelance Developers

For someone with enough skills and the ability to manage time, freelancing would be a great career. If you are trying to hire a freelancer to develop your eCommerce store, you must take care of these things.

• Take an interview with a freelancer to assess his skills
• Time zones he or she works
• Tasks and responsibilities he or she is ready to handle
• Take feedback from the previous projects that he or she has worked

The main advantage of hiring freelancers is that you need not pay them when there is no work for them, and at the same time, they might leave you at any time once the tasks are completed. While working with freelancers, you should be prepared to invest more time in team management, and you have the option to hire a project manager to take care of the work. Hiring a project manager is another cost that gets added to the cost of building an eCommerce website for your business.

3. Hiring A Professional eCommerce Development Company

While hiring freelancers or on-site development, you have no time to focus on the other development process of your business. For this reason, outsourcing the designing process is the best option for developing your eCommerce website. When you hire a professional eCommerce web design company for your business, a team of experts is allowed to develop the whole site. At the same time, you can focus on other business-related works. Before hiring a development company, make necessary agreements regarding the work completion and support. Check through previous works and client reviews to know that you have made the right choice.

Want To Take Your eCommerce Site To Another Level?

While developing an eCommerce site for your business, many factors that add to the cost of building an eCommerce store for your business are to be considered. If you are a business person looking to have an online store, then our professional eCommerce Development team is always there to help you. At Ayatas Technologies, we have over 15 years of experience creating some stunning eCommerce stores for many businesses. If you have any questions about eCommerce website design costs, contact us at (916) 836-8099.