Are you wondering HOW MUCH AN E-COMMERCE WEBSITE COST? You have a great business idea and you want to open an online store, but… you are afraid that the costs of setting up e-commerce will skyrocket.
Will your budget reach you? Not sure if you are forgetting something important?
Don’t worry, because in this post we break down everything you need to take into account and we give you approximate prices.
HOW MUCH DOES AN E-COMMERCE WEBSITE COST? In order to know how much it could cost, we have to know the following
#1 Choosing domain and hosting
A. What is a domain and how much does it cost?
Although we will explain it together, domain and hosting are not the same, nor do they have to be purchased from the same provider.
The domain is the unique and exclusive name that identifies your website and the one that users type in the navigation bar to reach your e-commerce.
For example, your domain could be www.mystore.com. In our case, www.marcelodesignx.com.
There are many providers (two of the best known are GoDaddy and Namecheap), but they all work in a similar way and with similar prices.
The domains are acquired for a minimum period of one year (although you can choose an option for a longer time), after which it must be renewed.
To give you an idea, the price is around $10 or €12 a year.
IMPORTANT: forget about free domains and things like that, that is only a source of problems.
B. What is accommodation or hosting and how is it contracted?
Hosting is the space in which a website is hosted to be visible on the Internet.
Here you have detailed the best hostings and their cost for an e-commerce, with all the points that you must take into account to choose yours.
But to keep doing the numbers, calculate that you can find accommodation from €15 per month.
IMPORTANT AGAIN: Avoid offers from free or very cheap providers. A serious project is incompatible with a free hosting.
- It will fall every two by three.
- Your website will not be secure.
- It will load very slow (which is bad for SEO).
On what prices does a hosting oscillate?
If you have just started, you can use a shared hosting (the least powerful), but if you already have more traffic, better choose a VPS server.
For a shared hosting: you have options that range between €6 ($4) and €10 ($8) per month.
For a VPS: we would start from €15 and €25 ($12 and $23).
If you have a lot, a lot of traffic; the best thing is that you look at the option of a managed VPS server (the provider itself manages the performance of the server). Here we already start from about € 50 per month on average.
#2 What is the best CMS platform and how much does it cost?
Luckily, you no longer have to know design or code to create your own store, thanks to CMS platforms.
A CMS (Content Management System) is a software for creating and managing web pages.
In this article we will expand on the most popular CMS, but take note of the main ones (and their prices):
A. WordPress WooCommerce
It really is a free plugin that allows you to install an e-commerce on WordPress.
Zero cost and simple use. A recommended starting option if you handle few products.
B. Shopify
A cloud CMS that is a leader in the US for ease of use, even for non-technical people.
It has several pricing plans, but you can start from €30 per month.
C. Magento
It is the most used by stores with a lot of commercial volume. However, you have to bear in mind that it is a complex CMS (it will also require a hosting that is, at least, VPS).
D. PrestaShop
It’s like the middle ground between Magento and WordPress. It is more complex to use than WordPress, but it is also much more powerful.
You have the PrestaShop Ready option, which includes web hosting for € 19.90 per month (other plans will open later) and a number of other advantages. Take a look here if you are interested.
NOTE: how long will my online store “last” for me?
When you open your e-commerce for the first time, SaaS solutions like Shopify allow you to create it yourself, very quickly and with practically no technical knowledge.
But if your project grows and you have a bigger budget, you will need to use more powerful platforms and tools.
Here the recommendation will be that you simplify; If the technical part is complicated, it is better that you seek outside help and you dedicate yourself to selling.
#3 How much do you have to pay for an e-commerce design?
Now that you have the base of your e-commerce, it is time to flesh it out. So we get fully into the design part, which we already talked about at length in this article that you should not miss.
Questions to consider:
- CMS that they are going to use (we explained it above).
- Template or theme.
- Number of pages to be made.
- Features (be careful because many modules or plugins will be paid, this is an extra that you must have).
The budgets for the design of an online store are usually tailored, so it is very difficult to give you an average.
A job of this type can range from €0 to over €1500, depending on:
- The number of pages to design.
- If it is a 100% custom design or uses a template or theme
- If it includes branding work.
- Etc.
The more complex your e-commerce is, the greater the budget required to create it.
A. What your customers read and makes you sell more: copywriting
The “copy” of your e-commerce is essential because they are texts focused on sales. That is, they are written to improve your conversion rate.
The texts of your website will not be included in the initial budget that the agency or professional gives you, but it is possible that they offer you that added service. If not, you will have to look for a professional to write the texts for you.
Think that in addition to what is the home page or the “About” page (the average price that they write to you for two pages is usually around €450), there are the product files.
And be careful, because this is important. Never put the texts that your provider gives you. Thousands of stores will have the same ones, so Google could penalize you for duplicate content.
The product file is in charge of getting the end customer to buy. You cannot afford to neglect them.
But of course, what to do if you have a lot of products?
In that case, you can try to negotiate with the copywriter for a pack of tokens to make it cheaper. And if they are a lot, plan the work in different months so that you can spread the expenses.
DIY option? Read this post and make the product sheets yourself.
B. Blog management: who writes the posts
As before, you have the option of writing the content yourself. For this, it will be very useful to read these posts:
The “paid” option is to hire a specialized writer. This is like everything, the more experience the copywriter has, the higher the rate from him.
Anyway, as a general rule, be suspicious if it falls below €0.025 / word; at that price, no one can guarantee quality service.
C. The magic of positioning is called SEO
You already know how important web positioning is for any online business. That Google loves you is vital for you to receive qualified traffic on your website or, what is the same, potential customers.
How much does it cost to hire the SEO of an e-commerce? It depends.
Rates are usually estimated according to the hours of work that a project takes and that are in relation to:
- The size of the store: the more categories and products, the more SEO work.
- The market you are targeting: domestic sales are not positioned the same as abroad, for example, or if you focus on a micro-niche.
- The SEO strategy Onpage and Offpage: the laborious task of creating goals, urls, link building …
- Be wary of anyone who gives you a standard price before asking about the peculiarities of your project.
Ask for several quotes specifying what you need and do not choose only by price. For you to have a reference, it does not usually go below € 500 per month, although it will depend on the size of the store.
D. Extra features that you must have
As we told you before, think that you will need to add different functionality to your online store. For example, to add the typical cookie notice, to be able to cross-sell or collect emails on your list.
Features that we recommend to start with:
- Cookies law and the RGPD (only if you have European clients).
- Add payment gateways so that your customers have more options.
- Cross sell options to increase your average ticket.
- Tools to have subscribers. Remember that in addition to creating the forms, you need to have an email marketing provider (MailChimp has a free version).
However, don’t go crazy at first adding modules or plugins. Wait until you are clear about what your business needs are, and then choose.
#4 The important thing is not to sell, but to charge!
We are talking about payment platforms, an essential element in your e-commerce; because without income, there is no future for your business.
Review this article about different forms of payment that exist, but always keep one thing in mind: it is worth investing in securing the money (both yours and your clients’).
Any form of payment that you establish with guarantees is going to cost you.
Virtual POS: the cost depends on each bank, but it is approximately €25 per month if you invoice less than €1,000 per month.
PayPal: charges you commissions according to the amount of the purchase, the general fee for receiving payments is 4% plus €0.30.
Stripe: allows payments with any card and its commission is 1.4% + €0.25.
You must choose the payment method that suits you best depending on your sales forecasts and the profile of your buyers.
Check your accounts to know how much your online store costs
With this post we have tried to guide you about what is the minimum budget you must have to set up your e-commerce.
Keep in mind that it is an estimate and that all are average prices, since in most cases, you always work with tailored estimates.
However, the post also serves as a check list to be clear about all the points that you must take into account when you start creating the store. We hope you find it very useful.
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