Some of the best ways to generate money online are through ecommerce websites. However, you’ll need to invest in a professional ecommerce website design, web hosting, and other services to get one up and running.
How much would an ecommerce site cost?
An ecommerce website with 100 to 1000 products will cost between $5000 and $55,000, including design, development, and any additional upfront fees. In comparison, the average cost of maintaining an ecommerce website with 100 to 1000 products is $15,000 to $30,000 per year.
But why does the price of an ecommerce website vary so much? Not all ecommerce websites are created equal. It will be less expensive than a world-class website if you want one with minimal functionality.
Your cost breakdown for an ecommerce website
Check out the table below for a breakdown of ecommerce website costs, including design, development, and upkeep. Continue reading for a more detailed explanation of these expenditures to establish and operate an ecommerce website.
| ECOMMERCE COST FACTOR | AVERAGE PRICE |
| Number of pages | $1000 – $2000 / 10 pages |
| Web design | |
| Website builder | $0 – $300 |
| Freelance web designer | $500 – $5000 |
| Web design agency | $3000 – $100,000 |
| Responsive design | $3000 – $25,000 |
| Ecommerce functionality | $2000 – $25,000 |
| Interactive multimedia | $250 – $10,000 |
| Database integration | $2000 – $25,000 |
| Content management system (CMS) | $2000 – $25,000 |
| Website copy | $50 – $500 / page |
| Ecommerce search engine optimization (SEO) | $750 – $5000 / month |
| Domain name | $0.95 – $12 / year |
| Hosting | $75 – $10,000 / year |
| Website maintenance | $15,000 – $30,000 / year |
What determines ecommerce website prices?
Let’s take a closer look at each ecommerce website pricing component now that we’ve looked at the entire cost of building and maintaining an ecommerce website.
- The number of pages on your ecommerce website will cost between $1000 and $2000 for ten pages.
- The amount of pages you desire on your site is the first key pricing element. The answer is nearly always 250+ for ecommerce websites.
That means your page cost will be far greater than websites that produce business leads from only a few pages. However, depending on how many things you sell, each page will quickly pay for itself.
With all that in mind, it’s a good idea to have a separate page for each of your products on your ecommerce site. Once your firm starts to catch up and expand, you will be able to get even more.
- To display all of your products, you’ll also require category pages. Customers who create accounts may even be given bespoke profile pages.
This means a larger initial investment and greater ecommerce website design costs, but with a higher long-term revenue potential.
Pricing for ecommerce web design
Costs range from $0 to $100,000.
The general design of your website is another significant cost of launching an ecommerce site, but it’s also an essential aspect in its success. Your website’s design is the first impression that new visitors get of you. If your design looks sloppy or outdated, potential customers will think that your company is the same way.
You’ll be losing consumers left and right as a result of this. To avoid this, you’ll need a web design style that complements your brand.
Simple, Moderately Stylised, High End, and World Class are four common categories for web design styles.
- Simple websites are pleasing to the eye and perform as expected. There aren’t many surprises here, but it’s a strong foundation for a website.
- Moderately styled sites take a few more risks with their design and make better use of the space they have. This could include additional graphics, a more vibrant colour palette, or other design features.
- A professional and distinguished appearance distinguishes high-end websites. They’re simple, with high-resolution graphics and colour palettes that appeal to the website’s target audience.
- Finally, there are websites that are world-class. These websites are built to stand out from the crowd by using interactive components, high-resolution photos, videos, and a variety of user-friendly features. A world-class website not only provides an excellent shopping experience for users, but it also wins honours.
In other words, if you want to be the next Amazon, you need a world-class website. However, expect to pay more for ecommerce website design. On the other hand, if all you want to do is serve your customers, a simple or moderately stylised website would suffice.
Copywriting for ecommerce websites
Price range: $50 to $500 per page
Copywriting is crucial for any website, including ecommerce sites. Fortunately, unlike other websites, ecommerce sites do not require as many text-only pages.
Terms and conditions, privacy policies, and other technicalities are the essential pages to be concerned about. You can also construct pages that allow you to target specific segments of your market if you desire. If you intended to increase visitors from Seattle, for example, you could develop a page named « Buying [your items] in Seattle » or something similar.
The cost of copywriting is determined on what you want on your pages and how much you want to include.
Short pages with a few hundred words and no photos will not set you back a lot of money. A 3000-word page, on the other hand, with interactive elements, subsections, JavaScript inserts, and special programming will cost more to create.
Nonetheless, the money you invest is well spent. Shorter pages are ideal for quickly delivering information, whereas larger pages perform better in search engines.
Using a strategic combination of both pages can help your ecommerce site gain a lot of new visitors – and new customers.
Ecommerce SEO
Cost: $750 to $5000 / month.
The process of optimising your website so that it appears higher in Google search results is known as ecommerce search engine optimisation (SEO).
It’s also a crucial role in the long-term success of your ecommerce business. You must be able to attract clients who utilise search engines if you want to increase your revenue.
You won’t be able to survive unless you have a consistent supply of new and regular consumers.
Ecommerce SEO, on the other hand, will necessitate a monthly payment. To avoid being pushed out of Google results by your competition, ranking well in search engines necessitates a lot of continual work. That implies that SEO isn’t a one-time project. You must do so on a regular basis and work on your website to attract new clients.
Pricing for ecommerce responsive website design
Price range: $3000 to $25,000
Responsive design is becoming a need for any ecommerce website. You’ll have customers browsing at your site from their phones, tablets, and even watches, no matter what you sell.
You must accommodate them, especially because they now account for about half of all Internet traffic.
Responsive design accomplishes this. Your ecommerce website will automatically fit and conform to whatever device a customer is using to shop using responsive design. So, if someone visits your site on a smartphone, they’ll have a terrific purchasing experience, thanks to huge buttons, a well-designed layout, and full functioning. If someone shops on your site using a laptop, they’ll have a fantastic buying experience tailored to their needs.
Responsive design is a win-win that the Internet — particularly ecommerce sites — has always needed. You could lose up to half of your prospective customers if you don’t have a responsive website.
That’s a significant loss for any company, and it makes it even more difficult to grow your site, which is why responsive design is an ecommerce website development cost that cannot be avoided.
Ecommerce database integration prices
Integration costs between $20000 and $25,000
A website’s database integration is usually optional, but it’s required for ecommerce sites.
Database integration allows your business to keep track of all of its products, staff, and customers in one place. So, if you want your entire company to have access to a shared hard drive that houses corporate data, database connectivity is required.
Customers, on the other hand, require database integration. Customers may create profiles, select preferences, and have a more personalised experience on your site thanks to a database.
Database integration can also be used to save credit card numbers so clients don’t have to re-enter them.
You may even use it to store your clients’ usernames and passwords if you don’t want to bark up that tree.
Database connection is an ecommerce website development cost to include in your budget, whether you wish to streamline business communication or make your consumers’ buying experience easier.
Pricing for ecommerce functionality
Price range: $2000 to $25,000
Because you’re building an ecommerce website, you’ll need all of the functionality that comes with it. Shopping carts, checkout processes, consumer identity protection, and personalisation are all examples of this capability.
You may also wish to include various photographs of the same product, as well as videos that illustrate how to utilise specific products. Specification sheets, MSDS sheets, and other material may be included with some items, which are required by law to be included with the product listing.
It’s preferable to consult a web designer or developer for the best method to go for your specific website because determining all of that can take some time. However, it’s still a good idea to consider these options ahead of time. It takes a lot of effort to create an ecommerce site that is simple for your customers to use.
Pricing for Ecommerce CMS
Ranges from $2000 to $25,000
A content management system (CMS) is a user-friendly interface that allows you to make changes to your website without having to touch the code directly.
Drupal and Magento, for example, are both free CMS solutions. Others may cost a small amount each year, while still others may be prohibitively expensive. However, while price is important, it should not be your primary consideration. The first important element to consider is the type of functionality you require for your ecommerce site. Because you’ll be adding new categories and product pages, you’ll want them all to appear the same. This allows you to strengthen your brand and give your users a comfortable, familiar experience.
With that in mind, selecting a CMS is a critical decision that should be carefully considered. Examine what each company has to offer, think about your future objectives, and choose the choice that makes the most sense – even if it costs a bit more.
How to determine your ecommerce website costs: 11 questions to ask
Because every business is different, there is no way to calculate exact ecommerce website pricing. However, you’ll be able to identify a basic ballpark range if you think about your firm, your goals, and what you want to accomplish.
Take another look at the items we mentioned above after you’ve answered the questions below. Determine how each one can assist you in achieving your company’s goals.
Better yet, calculate how much of each thing you’ll require as your site grows. Because when you’re working in ecommerce, your objective shouldn’t just be to succeed – it should be to outperform your competitors.
These are some of the most typical concerns that new ecommerce website owners have.
There’s no need to panic if you don’t know the answers to these ecommerce website pricing issues right now; the essential thing is that you figure them out before you invest a lot of money on an ecommerce website. The answers to these questions might help you estimate the cost of an ecommerce website up front.
1. Will I require hosting assistance?
If so, find a reasonably priced host.
If not, take a look at some of the free hosting options available.
2. What should my content management system (CMS) do?
Choose the greatest in the industry if you require a lot of variety and utility.
If you only need to add a product every now and again, keep it simple.
3. To what extent do I wish to give my users control?
Go for maximal functionality and database integration if you want to give a lot of control over customising.
If you want to give minimal control, only store usernames and passwords.
4. What type of website design do I require?
If you want to set yourself apart from the competition, invest in world-class design.
If all you want to do is sell and compete, go with something less expensive.
5. Do I have a lot of product pages?
Prepare to buy a lot of pages if you need a lot.
If you just require a few, downgrade as necessary.
6. Do I require a certain number of text-only pages?
You’ll need a lot of text-only pages if you want to target a lot of distinct niches in your consumer base.
You don’t need many text-only pages if you’re simply interested in your current consumer base.
7. What should the length of my text-only pages be?
Your pages should include thousands of words if you want them to rank in search engines.
Your pages can be much shorter if you want the website to answer enquiries rapidly.
8. What kind of SEO services do I require?
You’ll need a lot of SEO help if you want to beat out all of your competition.
Basic SEO may be sufficient if you only want to compete.
9. Is it truly necessary for me to use Flash?
Flash is required if you wish to have interactive or distinctive components on your website.
Use no Flash if you want your site to be completely searchable by Google and other search engines.
10. Is database integration necessary for the site?
Database integration is required if you wish to store any information about your clients.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many options here; your ecommerce site will require some level of connectivity.
11. Do I actually require website upkeep?
Website maintenance is critical if you want to keep making money and providing a pleasant user experience to your consumers.
It’s basically an insurance policy against every possible problem.
