Building an ecommerce website in 2023 is an extensive project. It involves thorough planning, choosing the right ecommerce development company, finalizing the technology stack, testing the site, and much more.
As every other business is trying to develop an ecommerce platform for its business, the industry is expected to be worth USD 8.1 trillion by 2026.
Hence, it’s natural that you also want to develop an ecommerce website for your business.
But the pressing question is—how much does it cost to build an ecommerce site in 2023?
Don’t worry. That’s what we are talking about in this blog.
Let’s start.
Things to Consider When Calculating Ecommerce Website Development Cost
Calculating the cost of developing an ecommerce website is a lengthy process. But very important, nonetheless. Consider the following factors to get an accurate overview of the total ecommerce web development cost.
Features and functionality of the site.
The cost of development is directly proportional to the number of features and functionalities of your website. More features mean more development time. And that will shoot the overall cost up.
A few examples of the advanced features that can cost you a lot are:
- Advanced search
- Product customization
- Inventory management
- Listing management
- User reviews
- Site design and user experience
A user-friendly ecommerce site is essential for your business success. It needs to attract the users and enable them to shop easily.
However, ensuring such an experience can be done with custom designs and intuitive UX. And that will make the cost of ecommerce development high.
The choice of ecommerce platform.
The platform you choose for your site development is another cost element. You can use open-source platforms like WooCommerce without any licensing fee. Alternatively, others, like Shopify, with added functionalities, come with subscription and transaction fees.
Third-party service integration.
Integrating your website with other applications is another head of cost you need to consider. These services help you improve the functionality of your site or the overall user experience.
A few examples of third-party services are:
- Payment gateways
- Shipping carriers
- Analytics tools
- CRM tools
Mobile optimization.
An important factor that decides whether users access your site on mobile phones is its mobile responsiveness. This is crucial for user experience as different mobile phones have diverse screen sizes, browser capabilities, etc. While it’s a cost, it is integral to reach a wide audience.
Size of product database.
A higher number of products and categories require you to have an extensive database. You will require more backend services and computing power to operate the database. The result is an increased cost of development.
Security and other compliances.
As an ecommerce website, you will collect customer data, payment information, etc., to offer better services and user experience. You must protect the data with advanced security capabilities and systems. This is another expense that will make the overall development cost higher.
Content management
Investing in the right Content Management System is integral to the success of your ecommerce website. You need to manage and optimize the content effectively for better user experience and performance.
And this also will add to your overall experience, as you need to invest in various systems and resources.
Related Article: content management system features
Maintenance and support
It is essential to maintain the ecommerce site after the development for continued performance. For this, you may need to invest in systems, tools, and teams.
An Annual Maintenance Contract will also be required for the following:
- Customer support
- Regular updates
- Bug fixes
- Security
How to Calculate the Cost of E-commerce Website Development
Now that you understand the factors affecting the overall cost of ecommerce web development, this section discusses calculating the same.
The following will help you calculate the cost for the entire project.
Define your requirements and goals.
Before calculating the cost, define your site requirements and business goals.
Consider the following elements:
- The number of product categories.
- The design you want to go with.
- Functionalities you need.
- Advanced filters.
- Advanced search.
- User reviews.
- Product comparisons.
Considering all these elements while looking for ecommerce development services.
Estimate the costs of design.
The creativity and complexity of your website’s diverse elements, such as the logo, banners, icons, and overall aesthetics, affect the cost of design.
Check with an experienced ecommerce development company to create the best design for your site.
Here is the formula you can use.
Estimated cost of design = Hourly design rate x the number of hours required.
Let’s take an example of a fictional company, ABC Tech, that wants to sell electronic gadgets.
- Rate: USD 60/Hour
- Hours: 100
The design cost will be:
- USD 60 x 100 = USD 6,000
Calculate development costs.
In development costs, the following heads are usually included:
- Front development costs.
- Backend development costs.
- Payment integration costs.
The complexity of these functionalities will also affect the overall cost of ecommerce website development.
You can use the following formula.
Estimated cost of development = Hourly development rate x the number of hours required.
Let’s take the same example of ABC Tech.
- Rate: USD 90/Hour
- Hours: 100
The design cost will be:
- USD 90 x 100 = USD 9,000
Include functionality costs.
You may want to add a few additional functionalities to the website in addition to standard ecommerce site functionalities. These include product comparison, smart recommendations, social media integration, etc.
Adding these functionalities is going to cost you extra, as well
For example, if ABC Tech wants to integrate a personalized product recommendation system into the site, that’s going to cost about USD 2,500.
Account for marketing costs
To grow your website’s traffic, investing in marketing is essential. It could be paid marketing like online ads or organic methods like SEO. No matter what your approach, you need to set aside adequate money for the same.
Let’s say that ABC Tech allocates about USD 15,000 for the initial marketing and SEO activities.
Keep the maintenance costs in mind.
It is not enough to just develop and launch a website. It needs timely maintenance and updates to keep delivering the best results for everyone. Therefore, set aside enough money for monthly maintenance.
Many businesses offer Annual Maintenance Contracts. Consider getting one. The standard AMC costs about USD 200 – USD 400 per month.
In the case of ABC Tech, the expected AMC is USD 300 per month.
Add other essential costs.
Essential charges like the cost of domain, hosting, SSL, content development, tools for analytics and customer service, etc., also need investments.
Hence, consider those elements as well.
In the case of ABC Tech, the estimated initial costs are USD 800.
Calculate the total cost.
Now, let’s calculate the overall cost of developing a robust and feature-rich ecommerce website for ABC Tech.
Add all the expenses we have calculated above for ABC Tech.
Total Development Cost = Cost of Design + Cost of Development + Cost of Functionalities + Marketing Costs + Maintenance Costs + Other Essential Costs
Total Cost for ABC Tech = 6,000+9,000+2,500+15,000+300+800= 33,600
Developing a website for ABC Tech with all the functionalities and features as mentioned above costs USD 33600.
Looking to Hire E-commerce Developers for Building a Bespoke Online Shopping Solution?
Breakdown of Ecommerce Website Development Cost in 2023
In this section, let’s try to understand the expenses of developing an ecommerce site for businesses of different sizes.
For easy understanding, we are looking at the following types of businesses.
- Small businesses.
- Medium-size businesses.
- Large businesses.
These costs are indicative and not standard in any industry. Depending on your ecommerce development requirements, goals, and features, the cost can change.
Hence, take this as an estimation of the costs.
Why Choose AddWeb Solution for Ecommerce Web Development?
After getting an estimation of the cost of ecommerce development, the next step is to find a suitable ecommerce development company.
Hire an agency that has already worked on similar projects and has a great portfolio of work. And if you need a web development company that also offers affordable services, hiring AddWeb Solution is the best option.
In addition, the following service qualities also make us a reliable name.
Team of experienced web developers.
Our ecommerce web developers are experienced and trained. They also have adequate qualifications to work on any type of ecommerce development project.
At AddWeb Solution, we have developers skilled in various ecommerce development technologies and platforms, such as:
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- Magento
Advanced technology infrastructure.
Like we have explained above, we are adept at working with numerous technologies as per the needs of our clients. We use different front-end and back-end technologies, payment gateways, and ecommerce platforms.
The tech stack we rely on are:
- Magento
- Shopify
- Django
- TYPO3
- ReactJS
- Vue Storefront
Agile project management method.
Quality is paramount to us. That’s why we use the agile project management method with every assignment we undertake. The iterative development and quality assessment enable us to always exceed the client’s expectations.
Affordable website development.
Although we offer the best ecommerce development services, they are affordable. Small and large businesses can hire our services.
In fact, we offer ecommerce development in custom packages as required by the client. This ensures that everyone gets maximum value for their investments.
Professional customer service.
Address all your concerns with the help of trained customer service professionals at AddWeb Solution. The dedicated account management team is available to answer your questions and address issues as quickly as possible.
Timely project delivery.
Time is of great importance to us at AddWeb Solution. Hence, we also respect your time. Therefore, we never miss the deadlines agreed upon.
We have top-notch project management tools, systems, and processes to manage the project and its resources.
Our commitment to time ensures the timely completion of all your projects.
Conclusion
The ecommerce web development cost is crucial while creating a robust website that delivers an impeccable user experience. Investing your hard-earned money for development must be done with great care and diligence. Choosing the right technology, design philosophy, features, servers, etc., is crucial. However, the most critical factor is the ecommerce web development company you work with.
Ensure the best service experience from the ecommerce development services you are paying for. AddWeb Solution has over a decade of experience in delivering top-notch, customer ecommerce development services to small and large businesses alike.
With an experienced team of developers, strong technical infrastructure, and diverse plans that suit the development and design needs of clients, we develop intelligent ecommerce solutions that deliver excellent user experience.
Talk to our client service team and learn how we can work together to develop your ecommerce website.
Speak to us now.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is possible to build your own ecommerce website if you have a very small business to run. However, it is impossible to build a larger ecommerce site all on your own. As you need to take care of diverse aspects from frontend and backend development, integrations, plugins, content management, product listing, etc., the best option is to hire an expert ecommerce development company.
The cost of the structure of developing an ecommerce website depends on the size and functionalities of the site developed. However, the cost usually can be divided into three heads—initial costs, development costs, and marketing and marketing costs.
The cost of maintaining an ecommerce website depends on the type of site you have, the platform you use, and the features and traffic. Usually, the maintenance charges can start anywhere from USD 300 per month. You can get better value for money if you enter an Annual Maintenance Contract for a year.
Calculating the overall cost of ecommerce development is straightforward. Ascertain the cost of first setting up the domain, hosting, SSL, etc. Then, understand the design, development, marketing, and functionality cost. After the same, consider all other essential charges and maintenance costs. Then, add all these charges to arrive at the final cost.
It depends on the functionalities and features you want. The cost of the CMS is also a concern. If price is a concern, you can use WooCommerce and Magento, which are open-source platforms that do not have a licensing fee. However, if you need more control and functionalities, better options would be Shopify, Magento, etc. Ultimately, the choice of the CMS platform depends on what you want from the system and the features you need.
