How much does an e-commerce website cost?
This is a question that many companies ask us as people just do not know the costs associated with getting a website set up, designed, tweaked, tested and running smoothly.
A website is based on the following criteria being done:
- planning and research
- setting up a brief and spec for the outline / map of the site
- getting the site designed with good copy
- getting the items / products on the website (photos etc.)
- getting a payment gateway set up (sagepay / paypal etc.)
- getting the site tested
- launch
- updates / modifications
As you can see there is quite a bit involved with getting a site set up, certainly if you want the site set up properly and smoothly. Visitors hate going onto a new site that looks good, but things do not work, there are spelling mistakes, pictures do not load, payments do not go through etc. A lot of these things are sorted out in a testing area once the site is set up – and like with all good things, can take a bit of time if you want it done right.
It is always advised to get a site set up properly as opposed to a rushed botch job which may be shelved for something else at a later point – as it does not really help your brand and can damage client loyalty in the long term.
Another thing that effects the cost of a site is the number of pages that are set up; as this will involve more work and generally push the costs up.
E-commerce websites can be set up for as little £ 2,000 however as above, if you are going to get a site set up, it would be best to get it done properly and as such, you may need to pay a little more . A reasonable price to pay would be £ 10,000 upwards (upwards being some of the well known sites such as amazon, e-bay which would be right at the top end of the pricing scale).
It is always advised to talk to a few different website designers to get ideas and options together. Comparing different design options and prices is always a good thing and in a sense, this is why price comparison sites are very popular these days.
