Ecommerce Website expense: packed navigator for 2024

There are two ways to make an online store: use an ecommerce website builder or hire a web advancement business. Which way you choose has an impact on your online store expense.

Ecommerce website builders are typically the least expensive way to commence an online store. Using free, open-source platforms may seem attractive, but you complete up paying for hosting, themes, plug-ins, and even assist from a developer if you have specific needs—all of which can boost your total expense.

Ecommerce website builders are best for:

• People with limited technical recognize-how
• People who require to construct a website quick

Pricing ranges for ecommerce platforms can vary depending on the features you require and whether you have brick-and-mortar stores or not.

Total costs of an ecommerce website

The average expense of an ecommerce website will be approximately $39 per month for recent stores. Pricing does differ depending on various factors like design, customization, and the platform you choose.

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

• Domain registration: $10–$30 annually
• Web hosting: $5–$250 monthly (depending on the hosting schedule 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 schedule and features
• Open-source platforms: No expense to download, but there may be charges for extensions, plugins, and themes
• Website design and advancement:
• Prebuilt themes: $0–$200
• Custom design and advancement: $2,000–$20,000+, depending on the complexity, features, and functionality needed
• Additional costs:
• settlement gateway fees: Varies according to the provider (PayPal, Stripe, Shop Pay) and deal volume
• Digital marketing and advertising: Varies depending on the monetary schedule and way
• Website maintenance and back: Varies based on the degree of back required

6 ordinary ecommerce website costs

1. Hosting
2. settlement processing
3. Ecommerce web design costs
4. Custom advancement
5. Add-ons and extensions
6. Business costs

1. Hosting

Website hosting costs can vary, with prices starting as low as $2.49 per month, and climbing up to $1,000 or higher. The expense depends on a variety of factors, such as how much traffic your store gets and any extra services you may require, such as automated backups.

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

There are two types of web hosting commonly used by ecommerce brands: hosting via a SaaS platform and self-hosting.

SaaS ecommerce platform hosting

Ecommerce platforms like Shopify do not require you to install, manage, or host a domain on your own. Everything you require is included in your monthly subscription fee.

Secure hosting comes with every Shopify schedule, which includes:

• Unlimited bandwidth, so you don’t have to worry about paying more if you get more traffic
• Level 1 PCI lawful operation, which keeps customer data secure
• Blazing quick servers and instant updates, so you never miss out on the latest features
• An SSL certificate to prevent fraud and construct customer depend
• A reliable content management structure to handle site content
• Unlimited email forwarding

You’ll just require to buy and register a domain name separately. You can discover available domains through Shopify’s domain name generator and more quickly commence your business.

Domain pricing starts at around $15 per year, but can run as high as $81+ per year, depending on the top-level domain you choose.

Self-hosted ecommerce website

Some ecommerce website builders like WooCommerce (a plug-in for WordPress) and Magento are free. But you require to have an account with an ecommerce hosting provider to manage your files and purchase a domain.

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

• An ecommerce hosting account, which starts at $7.99 per month
• A domain name, which can expense around $15 per year
• An SSL certificate, which starts at $69 per year

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

The one drawback is that as your ecommerce store grows, you’ll require to upgrade your hosting schedule to manage traffic increases. If you complete up with a high-volume website, self-hosting can expense you upward of $1,000 to $2,000 per month.

Hosting expense estimates:

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

Resources:

• How To Choose the Best Domain Name
• The 11 Best Domain Name Registrars To Use Now

2. settlement processing 

A settlement processor is a business that manages transactions so shoppers can buy your products. Every ecommerce store must have one to receive payments from capital cards, debit cards, and other intelligent pay options.

settlement processing costs depend on the schedule you have with your ecommerce platform. For example, the Shopify Basic schedule has a processing fee for online capital card payments of 2.9% plus 30¢ per deal. The Advanced Shopify schedule has a fee of 2.4%. If you are taking payments in-person, the fee is lower because there is lower fraud hazard.

Every Shopify schedule comes with Shopify Payments, which helps you commence selling correct away. Once you turn on Shopify Payments, you can receive capital cards and other popular settlement gateways like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and G Pay. 

Offering Shop Pay as a checkout alternative makes it straightforward for customers to check out with saved settlement and shipping information. 

3. Ecommerce web design costs

Did you recognize that it takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for someone to form an view about your website? Not only that, but shoppers buy based on depend, and your branding can assist construct that depend correct away.

Ecommerce platforms like Shopify have templates you can apply to your site easily. They are a quick and affordable way to get up and running. Shopify Themes propose built-in tools to customize layout, colors, style, and other settings.

These templates arrive set with everything you require to commence your store:

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

Shopify Themes propose over 100 free and paid themes to assist you discover the correct look and feel for your store. You can discover themes based on categories like video and 3D products, large imagery, large inventories, minimalist style, fun and lively, and more.

Resources:

• 18 Best Shopify Themes in 2024
• Essential Website Design Tips for Ecommerce Stores
• Examples and Tips for attractive Ecommerce Website Design

4. Custom advancement

From packed design overhauls to customized back ends, sometimes you may require assist to get your store looking the way you desire. 

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

The ability to customize with Shopify really allows us to push it to the limit and make a custom checkout encounter customers can depend and be confident in keeping their personal and settlement information secure. It really makes customers feel like the site is going to receive worry of them.

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

Your best bet? Check out Shopify’s Partners marketplace if you require custom design or advancement work. You can discover freelancers and agencies offering custom theme advancement for less than hiring an in-house developer.

5. Add-ons and extensions

It’s nearly unfeasible for one ecommerce software to satisfy the needs of every ecommerce business. Chances are, you’ll desire to add a few features to your website.

The best ecommerce software lets you add applications to your store to extend its ecommerce functionality and enhance the user encounter. Some are free and some are paid, which can boost the expense of creating your online store.

The Shopify App Store has thousands of apps for you to choose from, and there are many free Shopify apps. Whether you desire to add email marketing, sell on social media, add social proof to your store, or enhance your search engine optimization (SEO), there’s an app for that.

The worth for paid apps varies. Most are available on a monthly subscription basis. You can also add private apps made specifically for your store. These apps are stored and run on another server, but you can generate Shopify API keys to provide the app access permissions. 

Custom apps can expense upward of $5,000, depending on your developer’s encounter and rates.

Resources:

• The 20+ Best Free Shopify Apps for Your Shopify Store
• AI Apps: Best Artificial Intelligence Apps for a Range of Uses

6. Business costs

monetary schedule is always a consideration. You can launch an ecommerce website for as little as $100, but you’ll likely have to spend more than that to get your business moving.

According to our latest research, most tiny business owners spend around $40,000 in their first year, with 9% of that allocated to online business needs. (Shopify merchants spend an average of $38,000, while non-Shopify merchants average around $41,000.)

It takes period to turn a profits for an online business. So, choose an ecommerce platform that won’t receive up your entire monetary schedule and gives you the tools you require to achieve.

Focus on where your business is now and where you desire it to leave in the upcoming. Then discover an ecommerce platform that will assist you get there.

construct a successful ecommerce business today

The expense of an ecommerce website isn’t expensive.

After buying a domain name for your ecommerce business, you’ll likely only require to pay $39 per month for a standard online store with Shopify. If you add custom features or include paid apps, it can bring up the total expense.

Shopify lets you choose the amount of money you desire to spend upfront, so you can commence making profits.