How Much does it cost to develop an E-Commerce Platform?
By: Rania Mdimagh
Tags: Budget, Ecommerce, Online Shopping, Software Development

“E-commerce” is present in a wide range of sectors like food, fashion, booking, etc The COVID-19 outbreak excelled to raise e-commerce sales by an astonishing 25% by the end of 2020 expected to double in case 2021 passes with the same conditions pushing small, medium, and large businesses to strive to become online investors and demand IT firms for the development of e-commerce platforms.

Did it come to your mind to upgrade your business with an online platform but got spicular about its cost? We are not providing a bill but This blog is here to answer your questions :

How much developing an e-commerce platform can cost?

What are the elements that determine the cost?

How much does it cost to build an e-commerce platform?

How the cost estimation is done?

Whether you are looking to develop an E-commerce mobile app or website, The cost estimation for any kind of project is carried out by technical Leads, Business analyst, and other experts and depends on different variables:

the project requirements

selected technologies

aimed user experience

planned features

Number of hours and people working on the project

The definitive price is up to how specific are your requirements and how much effort it takes to elaborate on every detail you ask for.

Cost interval

The very basic general estimation for An eCommerce website in 2020 can make your pockets bleed from $5,000 to $200,000 with hopes of no more. All depending on the scale you are looking for and your business needs.

It is reasonable that a big brand’s website costs 3 or 4 times more than a small shop! logically the various features, stages, scope, and method of development affect the cost of building an eCommerce platform. There are different methods of development from cheap general Open-Source and SaaS eCommerce platforms to effective, flexible, and custom eCommerce development.

Different elements that control the cost

Let’s have a closer look at the different elements of an eCommerce website, and how they impact the overall cost:

Selection of platforms

Do you need a website? an app ? or both?

The cost largely depends on the type of platform you are aiming to build. There is a big difference between wanting to build a parent platform like “Myntra” that does host other vendors and take a commission, an online store platform that only sells your own product, or a combined platform that does both like “Amazon”.

When it comes to apps opting for a native platform is relatively less costly than going for a cross-platform app.

The UI/UX Design

Depending on the typology of your business and its customers. It is obvious that a cometic e-commerce website requires a more delicate design than a simple online hardware store. Your e-commerce platform needs to be impressive at first sight as it is important for your sales. Design plays a major role in making your platform stand out. Design cost depends on how engaging you want the User experience to be.

Required deadline and team capacity

The cost varies if you are in a hurry! The efficiency of the work depends on the number of people involved in the development process. It is obvious that the faster you want the platform to be developed the bigger team it will require to work on it.

The Functional features

Functional features are the ones that you have no option but to pay for. They are the basic features that make your platform work and unfortunately they make the basic fixed cost of your e-commerce platform.

Here are some main features and their cost to consider

Registration & login : E-commerce platforms must be flexible and adaptive allowing quick research for users' needs preferences

: E-commerce platforms must be flexible and adaptive allowing quick research for users' needs preferences payment and order process : The ordering procedure should be simple, fast, secure, efficient, and effective. The delivery address and payment details are saved for quick checkouts.

: The ordering procedure should be simple, fast, secure, efficient, and effective. The delivery address and payment details are saved for quick checkouts. Platform Management : Give full control over the platform to Manage the product per categories & subcategories, add images, videos, QR code, and product details .etc

: Give full control over the platform to Manage the product per categories & subcategories, add images, videos, QR code, and product details .etc Shopping cart : To help the customer take a last look at his items and make a final decision of buying them.

: To help the customer take a last look at his items and make a final decision of buying them. Customer Support : The customer can directly use the platform to get customer support regarding any query, like delay in delivery or items missing in the order refund issues, etc.

: The customer can directly use the platform to get customer support regarding any query, like delay in delivery or items missing in the order refund issues, etc. Review system: This feature allows customers to give feedback about a specific item or after ordering or about their general experience with your website. It is a very important feature and it helps to build notoriety.

Advanced features

Let’s say that this type of feature is unfortunately responsible for draining your pockets yet it is what fills them again with profit. They play a huge role in shaping the user experience resulting in customer satisfaction and fidelity. In 2020 some of these features become a must-have by 2021 they are expected to even become inevitable basics!

You can compromise your requirements for advanced features according to your budget and needs. But at the end of the day who wants to settle an online store that is not pleasant?

At IndiaNIC we are proud of our capacity to develop the most sophisticated trending features

Smart assistance : AiML driven platforms work to fasten up the process by suggesting options according to the user’s previous orders. It analyses the customer’s favorite choices and informs him about any promotions

: AiML driven platforms work to fasten up the process by suggesting options according to the user’s previous orders. It analyses the customer’s favorite choices and informs him about any promotions Order tracking : Keeping track of orders builds trust between user and business as it helps users get to know the exact time of delivery and predict if their food is hot or not

: Keeping track of orders builds trust between user and business as it helps users get to know the exact time of delivery and predict if their food is hot or not Community Chat options : Chat window to interact with customers or even an included social platform where customers share experiences and give each other advice.

: Chat window to interact with customers or even an included social platform where customers share experiences and give each other advice. Content Management : A smooth and easy solution to manage contents and documents.

: A smooth and easy solution to manage contents and documents. Push Notifications : To Get real-time personalized and bulk notifications that help build a relationship with the customer

: To Get real-time personalized and bulk notifications that help build a relationship with the customer Personalized Dashboard : The User can easily set up and manage a personalized theme dashboard according to his preferences.

: The User can easily set up and manage a personalized theme dashboard according to his preferences. Shipping : Allowing the user to have more control over his experience by choosing the shipping method and timing according to his availability.

: Allowing the user to have more control over his experience by choosing the shipping method and timing according to his availability. Statistics : The well-defined structure that gives you insights about revenue generation for each vendor or typology of product

: The well-defined structure that gives you insights about revenue generation for each vendor or typology of product Multiple languages wish list Etc … :

Customizing advanced features will naturally require a bigger budget starting from 10000$. But that’s an investment really. The more pleasing is the website, the easier it becomes to attract customers.

Conclusion

To build a successful eCommerce business, a great website or mobile app is only half the battle won. Customer satisfaction and fidelity are a matter of how well you run your services. This means delivering on time, guaranteeing product quality, and refunding for any mistake.

Fulfillment service is going to be the backbone of your eCommerce business!

why IndiaNIC?

With our years of experience, we came to determine real market needs and design tens of successful e-commerce platforms and various on-demand models aligned with the best and latest possible features on the market and perfect combo and UI/UX to keep your clients never fail to return back. We customize and develop uniquely each and every solution according to the well-analyzed customer inquiries.