E-commerce Website Development Cost: An Estimated Guide in 2024

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Frontend Weekly

7 min readMay 2, 2024

Do you want to buy something? Where would you prefer landing- in a fully crowded street or choosing to access an online store to easily explore, compare, and buy your desired product within seconds from the comfort of your home?

Of course, in this digital era, where everything is just a few clicks away from your mobile phone, customers would prefer to shop online. As per reports, 70% of Americans shop online and 34% of shoppers shop online at least once a week. There are approximately 268 million digital buyers in the US alone.

And if you still believe in running that brick-and-mortar retail store then unfortunately you are directly passing the most potential customers to your competitors with digital presence.

Whether you are an SME or a leading enterprise, selling any product or services, setting up an online store could be a worthy decision. It will not only 10X your business sales but also ensure these few benefits:

Ensuring global presence and wider market reach
Expand userbase and enhance customer experience
Add a competitive edge and enhance ROI
Improving brand image and customer loyalty

These clear benefits have influenced businesses to migrate their store to online platforms. As per GoDaddy, 55% of new small businesses have been launched in the last 5 years, and out of that 62% of them have online websites, ecommerce sites, or online stores to manage their sales channel.

So what exactly holds you back from ecommerce website development services? Of course the ecommerce website development cost.

But what exactly do ecommerce website development solutions cost you? Let’s get into the big picture!

What Is The Total Ecommerce Website Development Cost?

The average ecommerce website development cost ranges between $50,000*+ to $70,000*+, depending upon various factors including website complexities, functionalities, design, testing, deployment, maintenance, and more. In addition, there are various cost add-ups including domain registration, website hosting, payment gateway integration, third-party extensions, SSL certificates, website promotions, and more.

The cost to create an ecommerce website also surpasses the number of products to sell and what level of ecommerce web developers you hire for your project.

Estimating the real ecommerce website development cost is a little challenging for any web developer especially since the requirements, features, and complexity of the app are not yet settled.

But still considering the market overview, here we have a cost breakdown of ecommerce website development cost:

Small eCommerce Website Development Cost- $30,000*+ to $50,000*+ with up to 100 product listings and a 1-year maintenance package.
Medium eCommerce Website Development Cost- $50,000*+ to $70,000*+ with up to 1000 product listings and a 1-year maintenance package.
Large eCommerce Website Development Cost- $75,000*+ with up to 10,000 product listings and a 1-year maintenance package.

These are the rough estimates of ecommerce website development services, but what exactly contributes to this price structure? What you need to calculate while setting the final budget for the ecommerce website development.

How To Calculate the Ecommerce Website Development Cost?

Now we have a detailed breakdown of ecommerce development costs that help you understand what to include and how much each phase of website development contributes to the budget.

Understanding the Cost Breakdown of Ecommerce Website Development Services:

Ecommerce Website Development Cost Based on Development Approach
Cost Depends Upon The Size of the Website
Ecommerce Website Development Cost Depending upon Design and Development
Payment Gateway Integration Cost
Hosting and Domain Name Registration Cost
Third-Party Integration Cost
Cost for Website Maintenance and Support

Let’s discuss each one in detail and get the cost estimation…

1. Ecommerce Website Development Cost Based on Development Approach

To get started with your project, you must decide what website development approach to follow. The ecommerce website development cost will depend on the developer you choose.

Here are some approximate cost ideas for the ecommerce website development based on the type of developers:

DIY: Various reputed ecommerce website development platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, WordPress, and Shopify are available enabling you to build your website on your own. The average cost to build an ecommerce website using these platforms may range from $5000*+ to $50,000*+ or more depending upon the website templates, plugins, and extensions you additionally resourced.
Freelancers: This is a budget-friendly option than working with a website development company in India. They typically charge hourly-based or fixed project costs which will range between $20*+ to $50+* per hour or $10,000+* to $20,000*+.
Website Development Company: Choosing to hire an ecommerce website development company can provide the flexibility to avail more comprehensive, well-planned, and professionally appealing ecommerce website solutions.

The reputed companies have an in-house team of web developers, designers, and marketers who can offer a full suite of services under one roof. The estimated cost of working with a website development company in India to build an ecommerce website can range from $15,000*+ to $20,000*, depending upon the complexity of the project.

2. Cost Depends Upon The Size of the Website

What size of the website you are planning to develop? Your answer will decide the breadth and depth of features, pages, and functionalities required to fulfill the business objectives effectively. Here’s how the size influences costs:

Small-Size Ecommerce Websites

Small eCommerce websites are similar to digital storefronts tailored for startups or small businesses with up to 1000 to 2000 product offerings. These sites typically feature all the basic pages like the homepage, product listings, and a simple checkout process. As they are basic and low-budget websites, therefore, businesses prefer using pre-designed templates which overall cost between $4000*+ to $10,000*+.

Midsize Ecommerce Websites

Businesses seeking more comprehensive e-commerce stores with extensive functionalities could look for mid-level e-commerce websites. They encompass a broader range of features such as user accounts, advanced search and filtering options, wish lists, and an expanded checkout process. To extend the functionality, businesses can prefer integrating third-party services, like CRM platforms or email marketing tools which overall cost between $10,000*+ to $50,000*+.

Larger and Complex Ecommerce Websites

These types of e-commerce platforms are tailored for established businesses or enterprises with extensive product catalogs and complex operational needs. Large-size websites have a vast array of features, including multiple product categories, advanced search functionality, personalized recommendations, and comprehensive backend systems to manage large-scale operations efficiently. The typical range starts from $50,000*+ and can exceed this amount significantly.

3. Cost Depending upon Design and Development

The next factor that majorly influences the ecommerce website development cost is its design and development requirements.

To save time and effort, businesses prefer choosing pre-designed themes and plugins and then go for some customization and integrations of various plugins to add functionality. This approach to website design will range between $12,000*+ to $20,000*+ and more.

The website development cost will depend upon the complexity of the design and the flexibility required. Usually, the average development cost ranges from $5000*+ to $25,000*+.

4. Payment Gateway Integration Cost

Any ecommerce store is complete with payment gateways. So to facilitate transactions on your eCommerce website, integrating a payment processor is essential to offer multiple payment processors to add convenience to the customer. Several widely accepted payment processors are available, each with its own annual fees structure. let’s take a look at the top providers:

Cost of Integrating Payment Processors in Magento:

Magento 2 offers default integrated payment gateways such as PayPal, Authorize.net — AIM version, and Braintree, where they charge a per transaction fee on each gateway which ranges from 2.9% to $3.0 per transaction.

Payment Gateway Costs in WooCommerce:

WooCommerce supports over 100 payment gateways, including major providers like PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net with a $25 monthly fee or 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

Payment Gateway Integration Costs in Shopify:

Shopify provides its Shopify Payments gateway and supports payments from numerous processors with estimated charges ranging from 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction fee.

5. Hosting and Domain Name Registration Cost

Determining the cost of domain and hosting services depends on various factors such as your business type, the number of pages on your website, and your target country. These factors influence your domain and hosting expenses, consequently impacting the overall eCommerce development cost.

Usually, the average cost of domain registration can range from $25 to $50*+, while hosting plans may vary and could cost up to $500*+ per month.

6. Third-Party Integration Cost

To extend the functionality of your e-commerce store, it is important to integrate third-party services like integrating CRM systems, inventory management tools, shipping providers, and more.

The more integrations you add up, it will add complexity into development, hence the final e-commerce website development cost increases. You can expect prices ranging from $500 to $5,000 or more, reflecting the investment in expanding your site’s capabilities and streamlining business operations.

7. Cost for Website Maintenance and Support

The ecommerce website development cost has yet to end. Usually, people skip to add up its ongoing maintenance and update cost which is important to keep your website running smoothly. Well, the final maintenance cost of any website depends upon its complexities, features, and functionalities, so here are estimated maintenance costs for differently-sized websites:

Small sites: Typically incur maintenance costs of around $500*+ per year, reflecting the simpler structure and fewer features.
Midsize sites: Maintenance costs range from $2000*+ to $5000*+ per year, depending upon the complexity and expanded functionality.
Larger sites: Maintenance costs for complex websites usually start from $5000*+ per year and can go beyond $15,000*+, depending upon the complexity of the website.

Apart from that, many more miscellaneous add-ons are there to add up to 20% more to your budget like SSL certificates, website features customization, and more.

Conclusion

As the ecommerce sector is booming to the next level, businesses working with the traditional model for selling any sort of product and services should look forward to creating an ecommerce website. With this blog guide, hopefully, you have gained a fair idea of how to calculate the ecommerce website development cost. However, these are rough estimations that can greatly fluctuate depending on the size of the site, complexities, features, functionalities, design, and development.

If you are unsure about what type of ecommerce website your business needs and how much it will cost you exactly, then you need to hire a professional website development company. These experts will help you evaluate your requirements and provide estimations. If you have any doubt or query drop a comment below.