March 13, 2023
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Thinking about costs can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to website development. eCommerce website cost is never light on the pocket and that’s the reason so many businesses have still not moved online.
But before this blog post overwhelms you with all the cost-related details, I would like to take a few minutes to explain why everyone’s talking about creating an online store.
When marketplaces like Amazon allow you to sell your products easily, do you still need your own online store? Absolutely yes! There are many limitations to selling on marketplaces that you can overcome by selling via your own online store.
More often than not, customers buy your products on Amazon because they trust Amazon. They might not even be aware of your brand name when they hit the buy button.
However, through your eCommerce website, you can build a customer base who buys from YOUR brand. Moreover, you can directly market your products to them via email or personalized recommendations.
So launching your eCommerce website increases your chances of building a loyal customer base through effective branding and direct marketing.
Having your own eCommerce website presents you with an opportunity to learn more about your customers. Using data analytics, you can get to know:
Such data is invaluable for the growth of your business and really, the eCommerce website cost doesn’t even matter if you can scale your business by understanding your customers better.
There are hardly any chances of differentiating your products on huge marketplaces like Amazon. But when it’s your own online store, you have full liberty to choose:
In a nutshell, yes, the cost of building an eCommerce website is definitely worth the investment. It gives you massive opportunities to build your brand and scale your business.
Once you have decided that you do want to build an eCommerce website, you have two choices:
Let’s evaluate both options to help you make the right choice.
The options for customization are very limited. That is why it’s difficult to distinguish your eCommerce website from other websites built using the same platform.
In addition to paying the license fee for using the platform, you also have to pay for any add-ons that you want to integrate with your online store. In fact, you will have to pay developers for even installing or deploying your eCommerce website.
You may come across many compatibility issues while using the pre-built plug-ins in your eCommerce store.
Because the platforms are open-source, there are always security risks associated with the platform, and therefore, with your eCommerce website too.
You will need expert guidance on which platform will be suitable for your unique business needs. Choosing the wrong platform may hurt your brand, website’s functionality, and ultimately, your conversion rates.
As you can see, the cons of custom eCommerce web development are fewer than using open-source platforms. Nothing compares to the performance of custom-built software and these websites are more secure too.
Building your online store using an open-source platform is not bad too. However, it does limit your scope of business and makes it difficult to build a strong, distinctive brand. If your budget is tight and a limited feature set works for you, go for it.
But if you really want your business to become a strong brand and offer extensive features to your users, custom eCommerce website development is your best option.
The cost of building an eCommerce website varies greatly depending on whether you build a custom solution or use an open-source platform. Open-source platforms generally offer standard pricing options which are easy to find on the respective platform.
In this blog, we will majorly discuss the eCommerce website cost of online stores custom built from scratch.
The major factor impacting the cost of your eCommerce website is its scale. In simple words, the bigger the website, the higher the costs.
How big your website should be depends on a lot of factors. To better understand the right scale for your eCommerce business, ask yourself these questions:
If you are a SaaS startup like Trello, your major offering is only one. And hence, you won’t need many product and pricing pages.
However, if you sell multiple products in multiple categories, it’s ideal that you create one page for each product. Additionally, each category needs a dedicated page too.
The average eCommerce website cost for 10 pages is $1000-$2000. Depending on the number of products, categories, and blog pages you will need, you can estimate the cost of your eCommerce website in terms of its scale.
As you might already know, the major contributing factor in eCommerce website cost is the list of features you want to implement on your online store. Even at the very basic level, your online store should have the following features:
If you only opt for these basic features, your eCommerce website cost estimate will roughly be $30,000-$60,000.
If you want to opt for more custom features, the cost can reach up to $80,000 for a medium-scale, modern eCommerce website.
The design of your eCommerce website is your only chance to create an awesome first impression on your users. If the design is mediocre and outdated, your website visitors will think your company is the same. If your web design is vibrant and modern, it gives off a positive impression of your brand to the user.
However, apart from the aesthetics, a vital consideration is the user-friendliness of your eCommerce website design. You need an expert design and development team to ensure the optimum user experience of your eCommerce website.
Your eCommerce website cost for designing depends on whether your design is:
World-class web design for eCommerce websites is suitable for global businesses. Not everyone needs to invest that kind of money into their web design.
If you are a small to medium-sized business, a moderately stylized UI/UX design is ideal for you.
The entire cost of eCommerce website design may start from $2000 and can extend up to $90,000 based on what kind of design you need.
The content files of your online store need a host where they can be stored. If you fail to choose the right hosting platform for your eCommerce website, you may:
You would have understood now how important choosing the right host is for your eCommerce website. Let’s evaluate the different types of hosting you can opt for:
Shared hosting refers to a system when one single server provides for the hosting needs of multiple websites. The hosting provider will allocate a certain number of resources to each website on their server.
Blue Host and A2 Hosting are some of the prominent names in the shared hosting landscape.
It is similar to shared hosting in the sense that there are multiple users on the same server. However, it’s different from shared hosting in terms of the usage of resources.
Here, all the users get their own machine on a server, albeit in a virtual form. Each website owner has all the fundamental rights to control their dedicated server spaces and there is no scope for any security breaches.
Hostinger and LiquidWeb are the two best examples of VPS hosting providers.
The cost of shared or VPS/VDS hosting can range from $2 to $100 a month. I recommend VPS/VDS is the best hosting option considering the eCommerce website cost for your business.
There is also an option for self-hosting but that’s too expensive and requires a lot of in-house technical expertise to ensure the smooth functioning of your website.
Building an eCommerce website has become a necessity in the post-pandemic world. Even if you are already selling on marketplaces like Amazon, building your own store gives you direct access to your customers. You can analyze your website data and get to know what attracts and what repels your buyers.
There are two options for you to choose from – use an open-source eCommerce platform like Shopify or build a custom eCommerce website from scratch. The former is cheaper but much less effective than the latter.
When it comes to custom eCommerce website cost, factors that influence it are store design, store features, hosting, and other miscellaneous expenses like domain registration and website maintenance.
We at Space Stem are on a mission to create a safer world in the post–pandemic era. We want to help businesses go digital so they don’t stop growing and the customers can engage with their business safely. We would love to hear your project idea and guide you on whether to go for an open-source eCommerce platform or a custom website.
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