Ecommerce Website Cost: Full Guide for 2024

There are two ways to create a web-based store: use an ecommerce website builder or hire an online development company. Which method you select has an impact in your online store cost.

Ecommerce website builders are typically the least expensive method to start a web-based store. Using free, open-source platforms are attractive, but you find yourself paying for hosting, themes, plug-ins, and even help from a developer if you’ve got specific needs, all of which may increase your total cost.

Ecommerce website builders are best for:

• Individuals with limited technical know-how
• Individuals who need to construct an internet site fast

Ecommerce platforms can range in price depending on the features you wish and whether you’ve got brick-and-mortar stores or not.

Total costs of an ecommerce website

The typical cost of an ecommerce website will probably be roughly $39 per thirty days for brand spanking new stores. Pricing does differ depending on various aspects like design, customization, and the platform you select.

Here’s the rough breakdown of costs for creating an ecommerce website:

• Domain registration: $10–$30 annually
• Webhosting: $5–$250 monthly (depending on the hosting plan and provider)
• SSL certificate: $0 (complementary with some hosting providers) to $200 yearly
• Ecommerce platform:
• Hosted platforms like Shopify: $20 to $300 monthly, based on the plan and features
• Open-source platforms: No cost to download, but there could also be charges for extensions, plugins, and themes
• Web site design and development:
• Prebuilt themes: $0–$200
• Custom design and development: $2,000–$20,000+, depending on the complexity, features, and functionality needed
• Additional costs:
• Payment gateway fees: Varies based on the provider (PayPal, Stripe, Shop Pay) and transaction volume
• Digital marketing and promoting: Varies depending on the budget and strategy
• Website maintenance and support: Varies based on the degree of support required

6 common ecommerce website costs

1. Hosting
2. Payment processing
3. Ecommerce website design costs
4. Custom development
5. Add-on and extension
6. Business costs

1. Hosting

Website hosting costs can vary, with prices starting as little as $2.49 per thirty days, and climbing as much as $1,000 or higher. The price depends upon quite a lot of aspects, comparable to how much traffic your store gets and any extra services you might need, comparable to automated backups. 

Regardless, every website needs hosting to store its files. You’ll also need a website name, which is just like the digital home in your ecommerce store.

There are two forms of hosting commonly utilized by ecommerce brands:

SaaS ecommerce platform hosting

Ecommerce platforms like Shopify don’t require you to put in, manage, or host a website on your individual. All the things you wish is included in your monthly subscription fee.

Secure hosting comes with every Shopify plan, which incorporates:

• Unlimited bandwidth, so that you don’t need to worry about paying more in case you get more traffic
• Level 1 PCI compliance, which keeps customer data secure
• Blazing fast servers and easy updates, so that you never miss out on the most recent features
• An SSL certificate to forestall fraud and construct customer trust
• A reliable content management system to handle site content
• Unlimited email forwarding

You’ll just have to buy and register a website name individually. You’ll find available domains through Shopify’s domain name generator and begin your small business fast.

Pricing starts at around $15 per 12 months, but can run as high as $81 per 12 months, depending on the top-level domain you select.

Self-hosted ecommerce website

Some ecommerce website builders like WooCommerce (a plug-in for WordPress) and Magento are free. But that you must have an account with an ecommerce hosting provider to administer your files and buy a website.

Some costs you’ll incur when self-hosting your website include:

• An ecommerce hosting account, which starts at $7.99 per thirty days
• A site name, which may cost around $15 per 12 months
• An SSL certificate, which starts at $69 per 12 months

There are some web hosts like Bluehost that supply services with a free domain name and SSL certificate for $2.75 per thirty days.

The one drawback is that as your ecommerce store grows, you’ll have to upgrade your hosting plan to administer traffic increases. For those who find yourself with a high-volume website, self-hosting can cost you upward of $1,000 to $2,000 per thirty days.

Hosting cost estimates:

• SaaS-hosted: As little as $39 per thirty days with unlimited hosting.
• Self-hosted: Between $2.75 and $2,000 per thirty days with incremental upgrades.

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2. Payment processing 

A payment processor is an organization that manages transactions so shoppers should buy your products. Every ecommerce store will need to have one to take payments from bank cards, debit cards, and other smart pay options.

Payment processing costs rely on the plan you’ve got together with your ecommerce platform. For instance, the Shopify Basic plan has a processing fee for online bank card payments of two.9% plus 30¢ per transaction. The Advanced Shopify plan has a fee of two.4%. For those who are taking payments in-person, the fee is lower because there’s lower fraud risk.

Every Shopify plan comes with Shopify Payments, which helps you begin selling straight away. Once you switch on Shopify Payments, you’ll be able to accept bank cards and other popular payment gateways like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and G Pay. 

Offering Shop Pay as a checkout option makes it easy for purchasers to ascertain out with saved payment and shipping information. 

3. Ecommerce website design costs

Did you recognize that it takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for somebody to form an opinion about your website? Not only that, but shoppers buy based on trust, and your branding may help construct that trust straight away.

Ecommerce platforms like Shopify have templates you’ll be able to apply to your site easily. They’re a quick and reasonably priced method to stand up and running. Shopify Themes offer built-in tools to customize layout, colours, style, and other settings.

These templates come set with all the pieces that you must start your store:

• Homepage
• Product pages
• Shopping cart
• Checkout page
• FAQ
• About pages

Shopify Themes offer over 100 free and paid themes to aid you find the proper feel and look in your store. You’ll find themes based on categories like video and 3D products, big imagery, large inventories, minimalist style, fun and energetic, and more.

 Themes can run from zero dollars to upward of $180, depending on the one you select.

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4. Custom development

From full design overhauls to personalized back ends, sometimes you might need assistance to get your store looking the best way you would like. 

Custom ecommerce website development costs are related to designing, deploying, and maintaining your store for specific business needs. Store owners can work with developers to create custom storefronts or tweak Shopify themes.

Prices vary depending on what services you wish. Some development agencies like OuterBox charge upward of $100,000 for a customization job. Other established Shopify agencies can cost between $5,000 and $20,000, depending on the scope of the work.

Your best bet? Take a look at Shopify’s Partners marketplace in case you need custom design or development work. You’ll find freelancers and agencies offering custom theme development for lower than hiring an in-house developer. 

5. Add-on and extension

It’s nearly not possible for one ecommerce software to satisfy the needs of each ecommerce business. Likelihood is, you’ll wish to add a number of features to your website.

The most effective ecommerce software enables you to add applications to your store to increase its ecommerce functionality and improve the user experience. Some are free and a few are paid, which may increase the fee of making your online store.

The Shopify App Store has hundreds of apps so that you can pick from, and there are lots of free Shopify apps. Whether you would like to add email marketing, sell on social media, add social proof to your store, or improve your search engine marketing (search engine marketing), there’s an app for that.

The value for paid apps varies. Most can be found on a monthly subscription basis. You may also add private apps made specifically in your store. These apps are stored and run on one other server, but you’ll be able to generate Shopify API keys to provide the app access permissions. 

Custom apps can cost upward of $5,000, depending in your developer’s experience and rates.

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6. Business costs

Budget is at all times a consideration. You possibly can launch an ecommerce website for as little as $100, but you’ll likely need to spend greater than that to get your small business moving.

In accordance with our latest research, most small business owners spend around $40,000 of their first 12 months, with 9% of that allocated to online business needs. (Shopify merchants spend a median of $38,000, while non-Shopify merchants average around $41,000.)

It takes time to show a profit for a web-based business. So, select an ecommerce platform that won’t take up your entire budget and offers you the tools that you must succeed.

Deal with where your small business is now and where you would like it to go in the longer term. Then find an ecommerce platform that may aid you get there.

Construct a successful ecommerce business today

The price of an ecommerce website isn’t expensive.

After buying a website name in your ecommerce business, you’ll likely only have to pay $39 per thirty days for a typical online store with Shopify. For those who add custom features or include paid apps, it will possibly bring up the full cost.

Shopify enables you to select the amount of cash you would like to spend upfront, so you’ll be able to start making profits.