Selling online has proven to be a lucrative venture for both brick-and-mortar and online-only retailers in the UK, but how much does an e-commerce website cost? Whether it’s something simple or a mixture of bespoke functionality, we’ve got the lowdown on e-commerce website costs.
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Is a web development agency right for me?
It’s true, some things are best off left to the professionals. But in an age where building a website is on the cards for anyone, should you design one yourself or hire a professional?
Nowadays, being proficient in coding isn’t a requirement, but believe me when I say that the hours spent on getting your website well-oiled and looking just right can really add up. You also have to know how to choose and navigate CMSs on top of understanding the crucial web design best practices. And that all takes up energy and resources.
While there are additional costs associated with a professional web design package, you’ll see that by outsourcing the labour, they’re far outweighed by the gains.
The benefits of e-commerce for small business?
In the long term, building or redesigning an e-commerce website for your small business with the help of an experienced developer like beefound.agency can set you up for sweet, sweet returns. The initial costs of getting your website up and running are offset by the following benefits of using the experts as your worker bees:
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- It gives small business owners the chance to sell their wares 24 hours a day, while, more importantly, letting said owners have a much-needed rest!
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- It opens up global selling potential and lends itself to other digital marketing practices.
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- It allows you to reduce selling costs and support your existing business.
This being said, like any other digital marketing setup, building an e-commerce site comes with its own costs.
Types of e-commerce websites
When calculating how much it costs to set up an e-commerce website, you first need to determine your goals by asking some of the following questions:
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- How complex does my website need to be?
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- How much time do my team and I have?
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- How critical is your website to your business?
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- How much do I want to spend?
With these questions answered you’ll have a better idea of your needs and objectives for the company. Typically, your goals may be one of the following:
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- DIY website design – build your own website with a free or paid-for builder for limited functionality and design templates.
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- Off-the-shelf design – a standard template with simple e-commerce functionality.
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- Bespoke website design – a branded design with standard e-commerce functionality.
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- Completely bespoke website design – an e-commerce website with complex and tailored functionality.
So, what will you get with all three, and how much do these e-commerce sites cost? Let’s take a look.
How much does an e-commerce website cost? A tier-by-tier breakdown
DIY website design
Not everyone has the luxury of a large budget, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on having a perfectly usable website with a decent UX. In fact, if you need something simple mocked up very quickly a simple DIY website might do the trick. Or conversely, if you have the time and gumption to teach yourself the basics of building a website for simple products, you can work towards a pretty swish-looking online store.
These more basic websites are suited to tradespeople, freelancers or other businesspeople who might be generating leads from their site.
Average costs: free or £110 to £250
Average development time: 2 to 6 weeks depending on your capacity
Off-the-shelf design
This style is ideal for small businesses with a limited budget who just want to take their products to market. An off-the-shelf design will include a pre-built theme, so you may have seen similar before, but you can customise it with your own wording.
These sites will be quicker to develop because they won’t have your bespoke branding, nor will they have complex functionality besides sales and order management. While you can pay fees upfront for the job, many experienced web designers with allow you to pay monthly to help you save on capital expenditure.
Average costs: £500 to £1,000 total or £50/ month
Average development time: 4 to 6 weeks depending on developer availability
Bespoke designed websites
The benefit of choosing a bespoke designed website is that you can see it designed entirely around your company branding. This will take longer to develop as the design is often made from scratch. There will be a design team who may give you a few options, and testing may be more thorough using a form of visual website builder to make it easier for you (the client) to make amends.
These websites offer basic payment functionality but more complex rules and functionality (like subscriptions or bookings) can be added on (at additional cost).
Average costs: £1,481
Average development time: from 8-10 weeks depending on developer availability
Completely bespoke e-commerce websites
These websites are ideal for larger businesses with a more generous budget. Like the previous tier, they benefit from personalised branding, but in scope, reach much further. This is because all of their designs and functionality are coded in a way that allows for much more complex sites. What’s more, this increased functionality doesn’t sacrifice website performance or come with the risk of conflict between addons (like the previous tier).
Average costs: from £8,000 to £15,000 or more
Average development time:
from 12-18 weeks depending on developer availability
Of course, much of this may vary depending on your needs, the complexity of the site functions and any changes made along the way. What you shouldn’t do is forget the other costs of building an e-commerce website.
Weighing up your options
To put things into perspective, here is how all four tiers compare.
| Website type | Average cost | Average development time | Result |
| DIY website | £0 – £250 | 2-6 weeks | A basic website with limited functionality and design, suited to simple operations |
| Off-the-shelf design | £500 – £1,000 | 4-6 weeks | A standard template with simple e-commerce functionality, suited to smaller businesses |
| Standard e-commerce websites | ≥£1481 | 8-10 weeks | A branded design with standard e-commerce functionality, suited to more sophisticated operations |
| Completely bespoke e-commerce websites | ≥£8,000 | 12-18 weeks | An e-commerce website with complex and tailored functionality suited to businesses prioritising e-commerce |
Other costs to consider when building an e-commerce website
You should allow for the following extras when approaching a web developer:
Hosting
While often included in the overall quote, some agencies offer hosting costs as a bolt-on. Ensure you ask for a full breakdown of the costs involved with the job or have a detailed discussion with your chosen developer to avoid any hidden costs later down the line.
SSL certificates
SSL certificates are an essential security add-on for e-commerce sites that you will need to factor into the overall price.
Training
Often overlooked, training such as managing products, orders and back-end functionality is essential going forward with your e-commerce store. If you’re uncertain about taking over the reins of your new website, this crucial aspect shouldn’t be overlooked.
Maintenance and updates
Ongoing website maintenance and updates also accrue a cost, but these mustn’t be neglected. Keeping things up to date here will help you ensure your site is running at full capacity, reducing bounce rate and maintaining security.
Content
The type of content required for your new website will vary depending on your industry, the website’s envisioned functionality and, of course, your starting point. You may want to rehash existing content, or you might want to rewrite your landing page text entirely to boost CTR.
Supplementary marketing
Leading on from this, marketing such as search engine optimisation or pay-per-click advertising is another additional cost you should weigh up, especially if you use a web designer. Despite your choice of website design, the building only represents the start of your website journey and makes up a small proportion of its overall cost.
Building an e-commerce website won’t instantly increase your sales, but paired with digital marketing efforts you can begin to draw leads into your orbit. You’ll need to invest in tactics such as SEO, PPC and/or social media to ‘bee’ successful and drive brand awareness and those all-important clicks.
Quickfire tips for choosing a web developer
Finally, let’s whiz through some tips for picking the right web developer for the job. Your website will become your baby, so when you’re mulling over this crucial decision make sure to answer the following questions:
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- Can the agency or freelancer achieve your website requirements?
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- Do they specialise in your niche? And can they offer a portfolio or testimonials?
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- Do they offer discounts along with other services?
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- How far will your budget stretch? Can you pay monthly for incremental changes to save on capital expenditure?
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- Have you compared quotes or spoken to a specialist for advice?
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- Are their pricing structures transparent?
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- Do your company values align?
You may need to break down your requirements into “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” – your site will change over time, so these can be incorporated into phases/progressions of a site.
Start selling online with a custom-made e-commerce site
Hopefully with all of these questions answered, you will be well on the way to achieving the e-commerce website of your dreams.
Whether you need something simple and traditional or your own branded site with custom functions, you should speak to an e-commerce website design agency that is transparent with costs.
Ready to get started? Get the best from selling online with a new e-commerce website designed by beefound.agency’s hive of web specialists.
