eCommerce & Website Startup Costs | CardConnect (2024)

FAQs

How much does it cost to develop an ecommerce website? ›

On average eCommerce website design & development prices range from $10,000 to $250,000 or more. The website cost will ultimately be driven by the complexity of the project, the platform you select (Shopify, WordPress, Magento, etc.)

The cost of creating an online store depends on the needs of the business and anything extra you'll want. In general, some ecommerce stores cost a few hundred dollars to set up while others can cost tens of thousands, or even several hundred thousand dollars.

Yes, you can easily build an e-commerce website on your own. You need to follow these steps: Buy a custom domain name for your e-commerce website. Opt for an SaaS e-commerce solution.

For instance, if you opt for an off-the-shelf e-commerce platform, you can create a basic store in a few days. Yet, if you need custom features or have thousands of products, it will take 3–9 months. Now, let's take a peek at some general timeframes for building websites of different sizes and complexities.

Ecommerce website builders can range from $39 per month to $399 per month, depending on whether you have retail stores or not. However, the average ecommerce website price will cost about $39 per month for new stores, not including sweat equity!

If you're a service-based business, a basic website will normally be around five to eight total pages. Depending on if you plan to build it yourself or hire outside help, you're likely looking at costs of $500 to $5,000. For an e-commerce website, the average cost can be anywhere from $2,000 to $100,000-150,000.

There are three main Shopify pricing plans to choose from. You have Basic Shopify at $29 per month, Shopify at $79 per month, and Advanced Shopify at $299 per month.

In ecommerce, the general rule of thumb is that gross profit margins between 50-70% are considered “good.” That said, NYU Stern School of Business reports an average of 41.54% for gross profit margins.

There are three main types of e-commerce: business-to-business (websites such as Shopify), business-to-consumer (websites such as Amazon), and consumer-to-consumer (websites such as eBay).

How to start an ecommerce business with no money? ›

The website development cost for a site like Amazon ranges from $50,000 to $150,000. If you're willing to start an eCommerce business, you should take a cue from Amazon. Another popular type to consider is Facebook.

An eCommerce website should include a home page, category overview, category page, product page, login page, user account page, terms and condition page, shipping policy page, FAQs page, cart page, shipping details page, payment details page, thank you page, to name a few.

GoDaddy Payments

And with the lowest transaction fees compared to other leading providers,* we're here to save you money and grow your business. Keep more of your money — 2.3% + 30¢ online transactions and 2.3% + 0¢ in-person transactions.

The average cost for website development is between $100 and $500. It can even go up to $30,000 or more if you want some sophisticated features. You'll also need a budget for a domain name and web hosting. Buying the domain name costs $14.99 per year and web hosting at $7.99 per month.

The average cost of maintaining a website ranges from $400 to $60,000 per year. The most common maintenance costs are domain SSL certificate, and software or web hosting renewal. Other costs might include purchasing additional extensions or investing in a major website redesign.

Many eCommerce entrepreneurs make and sell their products through their websites, which means you own the entire brand and everything you produce. Whether it's arts and crafts, clothing, or any other types of products, you can make a profit if you have a unique skill.

Who is the richest ecommerce business? ›

On average, the monthly Shopify income is around $3,897.

You don't need tons of cash to get started. Start selling online with Shopify's Starter plan. For just $5 per month, you'll get all the tools you need to sell via social media.

As for transaction fees, Shopify charges a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for all online purchases made under this plan. On the other hand, physical purchases attract a 2.7% fee per transaction. If you use any payment gateway other than Shopify Payments, a 2% fee will be charged on every transaction.

The success rate for online businesses is only 10-20%.

The truth is that only 10% of online businesses succeed on average, with most failing within the first 120 days. This is because online businesses can't expect to make a profit within their first few months of inception.

Amazon Overview of Revenues, Expenses, and Profits

Amazon generates revenues from retail sales, subscription services, web hosting services, and other business activities. For the year 2022, Amazon reported $514 billion in total revenue, which was a 9% increase from 2021.

What are 3 examples of e-commerce websites? ›

Some examples of the online marketplaces are these:

Amazon offers several monthly plans for merchant stores. Buy.com, which is now part of the global Rakuten.com, is an expansive online marketplace that receives heavy traffic. eBay owns PayPal payment services and the Magento on-premise ecommerce platform solution.

Note that you don't need an LLC to start or run your online business. You can form one at any time or not at all, but forming an LLC would just be smarter risk management once you're up and running.

Business books and advisers might recommend having at least six months of runway saved before launching your own company. But it's possible to start a business on a budget as low as $500.

No matter what eCommerce industry you want to enter, Shopify enables you to sell almost anything – from physical to digital products and services. However, before deciding what to sell on Shopify, make sure to read their Terms of Service to be certain that what you plan to sell is legal where you live.

Overall, making a website with a professional can take anywhere from two to five months. Knowing how long it takes to design a website with a designer/developer, agency or team can help you decide if you'll complete the process on your own or hire a professional.

Costs of developing your own marketplace

Custom websites can easily start from $20,000 and robust marketplaces can quickly reach $150,000 and beyond. This is largely based on the salary of your freelance developers, in-house team, or software development agency.

Sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry can create a dedicated Store within Amazon at no additional cost with a unique Amazon URL. Amazon Storefronts are hand-picked destinations showcasing top products from Amazon sellers.

Don't let your site lose you potential customers! According to research* the average lifespan of a website is around 2 years, 6 months and 27 days but, if we rephrase the question to “What should the lifespan of MY website be?” then the answer is a more vague... “it depends”.

Do I need an eCommerce website to sell? ›

If you plan on selling any goods or services, it's in your best interest to do so through an ecommerce platform. Two of the biggest advantages of using an ecommerce platform are that they are easy to use and extension-friendly.

How Many E-commerce Businesses Fail? E-commerce business has a failure rate of about 80%-90% failure rate. Many mistakes occur when building an e-commerce business, so you must research before investing money into a new venture.

Ecommerce Website (350+ hours)

Ecommerce requires more significant investment into every step of the website timeline, especially the UX/UI aspect. The technology stack can also differ significantly from project to project, depending on business objectives.

Starting a successful ecommerce business is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't measure business success by profitability in your first year. Give yourself a runway of 18 to 24 months for your business to get off the ground.

The cost of a website builder varies based on the number of features, tools, apps, support options and more. Shopify offers tiered pricing with five plans. The Starter plan is only $5 USD/month, Basic is $29.00 USD/month, Shopify is $79.00 USD/month, Advanced Shopify is $299.00 USD/month when billed yearly.

There are three main Shopify pricing plans to choose from. You have Basic Shopify at $29 per month, Shopify at $79 per month, and Advanced Shopify at $299 per month.

Shopify Explained: Recap of Pricing

The standard Shopify plans range from $5 to $399 per month. Plus, there are transaction fees ranging from 0.5% to 2.9% + $0.30, depending on the transaction type and the Shopify plan.

Shopify also provides a free domain for new websites until you're ready to create a custom one. Learn more about Shopify's website hosting plan.

What are the disadvantages of Shopify? ›

The total cost to build an ecommerce website ranges from $30 to $10,000 depending on your business needs and your own experience. Small to medium-sized ecommerce businesses spend roughly $1,000 - $10,000 per month on marketing, whereas large businesses spend around $5,000 - $15,000 per month on average.

The main differences between Shopify and Wix are that Shopify is a fully-fledged ecommerce platform, while Wix is a website builder with ecommerce capabilities. Shopify is more expensive than Wix, but it offers more features and is more scalable.

While Shopify is significantly more expensive than GoDaddy, the platform dedicated to e-commerce offers a number of additional features to help users customize their store, grow their business and retain customers.

Are there any transaction fees? There are no transaction fees for stores using Shopify Payments. If you choose a third-party payment provider, there will be additional fees of 2%, 1% or 0.5% for our Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans, respectively.