If you ask Google, “How much does an e-commerce site cost?” you will find that the prices range from 500 euros to over 100,000 euros. Before you can determine the cost, you need to know what you want from it and several strategic details or features that can affect the end cost.
According to data from Statista, e-commerce retail sales worldwide in 2019 were worth 2.9 trillion euros. Online sales are expected to reach 6 trillion euros in 2022. But opening an online store costs money. This article will discuss what to look at and how to figure out the cost before making a final choice.
How Much Does It Cost To Build An eCommerce Site?
The costs of building your eCommerce site will depend on how you choose to do it: you can do it yourself, hire web developers and other experts, or use a service.
There are no fixed numbers because these are things that change. Starting costs for small shops range from €3,000-5,000, while medium-sized stores cost between €5,000-10,000. Technical support can start at €2,400 / year. Ecommerce with a lot of customization can cost between €10,000 and €50,000 and more, with high management costs.
How Do You Calculate E-commerce Costs?
How much it costs to build an online store depends on many factors. In general, making some types of online stores only costs a few hundred euros. Making other stores can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros.
Here are the costs you will face (excluding product costs).
- E-commerce software.
- Domain name.
- E-commerce hosting.
- SSL certificate.
- Payment processing fees.
- Store logo and design.
- Add-ons and extensions.
E-commerce software costs.
The price of e-commerce solutions varies based on the program type, service level, and features that come with them by default. BigCommerce comes with plugins that are already set up for frontend content management systems (CMS) and direct access publishing (DXP) systems like WordPress, Bloomreach, and Drupal. BigCommerce is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, so you won’t have to switch server companies as your business grows.
Magento can be stored on-premise or in the cloud, but many businesses now choose SaaS models because they get regular updates, such as security patches. However, it doesn’t offer ad hoc teaching, and it’s hard for new users to get the hang of it.
Shopify is made for small businesses and has drag-and-drop areas that make it easy to set up online shops. To add more complicated features, you might need to use extra programs or create your own encodings.
The costs of the domain name.
A domain name requires a fee every year unless you want to pay all at once for a few years. According to GoDaddy, the price of a domain name each year is usually between €1 and €20. The price changes based on where you buy it and the address you want, like .com or .shop. It’s generally more expensive to buy it from a private person or at an auction.
E-commerce hosting.
After getting a domain name, you need to find a host for the website. Some solutions, like BigCommerce and Shopify, are hosted in the cloud, and the hosting is part of the subscription price. This means you won’t have to look for hosting or deal with the issues of handling it. It costs between €80 and €730 per month to self-host your online store, depending on its traffic, website features, and automated services like site backup.
SSL certificate costs.
An SSL license can cost between €20 and €70 a year. It’s a fixed cost that your online store has to deal with, but it’s important to make sure that your customers can safely look and buy on your site. Search engines sometimes consider the SSL certificate as part of their review. Also, remember that some server services offer this certificate for free.
Payment Processing Fees.
We don’t usually consider the fees for handling payments, but they can add up very quickly. How much it costs to make payments depends on what kinds of payments you accept, like PayPal or different credit cards, what currencies you use, and where you want to sell.
Each payment method you want to offer will cost you money. Let me show you how it works:
- PayPal charges 1.29 to 1.99% + €0.20 for transactions over €10.01.
- Stripe charges 1.4% + €0.25 per transaction.
- Authorize.net charges 2.9% + €0.30 per transaction + €25 monthly fee.
- Shopify platform charges from 1.9% +0.25 for small volumes while for e-commerce with high volumes you can get better commissions.
Any fees your bank charges should be added to these costs. When you look at your total payment handling costs, WooCommerce and BigCommerce have the lowest prices. In addition, they offer a lot of different ways to take payments.
Theme and design costs.
The big e-commerce platforms let you pick from several themes when building your site. You don’t have to pay extra to use some themes on top of what you already pay to use the site. On the other hand, some themes can cost anywhere from €60 to €200 each.
Add-ons, plugins, and extension costs.
Add-ons, plugins, and extensions are very important for an online store because there isn’t a single e-commerce option that can do everything. BigCommerce has free and paid add-ons, each with its price and monthly payment plan. It can help stores save anywhere from $5,800 to $30,000 yearly on app subscription fees. Magento’s store has tens of thousands of extensions that cost anywhere from €0 to €15,000. Shopify, like BigCommerce, has a vast selection of paid and free apps. The prices vary for each app.
What are average payment processing costs?
The fee that online stores charge to handle payments is usually between 2% and 3.5% of the transaction amount, plus a fee for each transaction. However, these prices can change depending on the payment processor, card type, number of transactions, and pricing plan chosen (flat rate, interchange-plus, or subscription). Also, some payment companies charge fees monthly or annually. It’s essential to look at several processors and price plans to find the one that will save your business the most money.
Do eCommerce website platforms have base fees?
Depending on the platform, they may charge annual license or transaction fees. For instance, a Magento Enterprise license costs $20,000+ a year without including design or development. However, the hosted eCommerce platform Shopify charges $29 to $299 per month. Shopify Plus costs $2,000 per month. Basic WordPress with WooCommerce costs $10. Choosing the right software platform significantly affects the cost of building an eCommerce website.
Final Thought
How much it costs relies on what features you need to make your business work. An online store has a lot of different tools. You should only pick out and pay for the ones you really need. Regarding beginning prices and fixed costs, you won’t have any nasty surprises if you look at everything ahead of time. There is a good chance that getting your business online will help you meet more people and make more sales.