The Truth About Ecommerce Website Design Cost

Ecommerce is booming. Seventy-one percent of customers now shop online to find the best price, while 50 percent have made more than one purchase in the last year. A good ecommerce website is critical if you want to boost sales, generate revenue and lead customers through the sales lifecycle. But how much does an ecommerce website design cost? Here's the lowdown on ecommerce website prices in 2017.

 How Much Does an Ecommerce Website Start From?

This all depends. Ecommerce website design costs depend on the scope of your design project, the company you work with and which features you want to incorporate into your design. As a general rule, ecommerce websites start from around $2,000. This includes a basic website that will help you connect with customers. Product pages, content management, reporting — expect all these features when investing in an ecommerce website for your business.

"The majority of transactional sites create efficiencies by seamlessly integrating the transaction process with back-office systems such as accounting, inventory, order management, logistics and fulfillment, marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), web analytics, and others," says the International Trade Administration.

 How Expensive are Ecommerce Websites?

If you want more features, expect to pay for your ecommerce website. Some ecommerce website designers might charge you several thousand dollars to create a bespoke website for your business. Typically, this price includes a domain name, custom development and hosting. Some designers might even market your website for you as well. You might also need to pay for ongoing maintenance and support — this ensures your website runs smoothly in the future. 

Although spending this amount of money sounds like a big expense, investing in an ecommerce website could provide you with a long-term return on your investment. Experts predict that retail ecommerce sales will swell to $4,058 trillion by the year 2020 — and make up a total of 14.6 percent of all retail spending.

 Custom Ecommerce Software vs. Off-the-Shelf Software

Off-the-shelf software provides you with a "one-size-fits-all" solution to your ecommerce requirements. Custom programs, on the other hand, offer you a wide range of bespoke tools that will benefit your business. Instead of paying for features that you don't need, custom software lets you pick and choose development options that suit your brand. These options might include social media integration, mobile device support and search engine optimization. Custom websites take a while to build — expect to wait, on average, 14 weeks for design, development and modifications to take place — but they provide you with a personalized e-commerce solution that off-the-shelf programs just can't replicate. 

Spending a little bit more money for the features that you require could pay off in the long run. Research shows that online retailers who incorporate product videos into their ecommerce websites, for example, boost product purchases by up to 144 percent. Moreover, ecommerce sites with two-second loading speeds generate 74 percent higher conversion rates than sites with eight-second loading speeds.

The global ecommerce market is now worth a massive $22 trillion. As a result, more business owners are investing in good ecommerce software to streamline their payment, fulfillment and marketing processes. Although prices for an ecommerce site can fluctuate, investing in custom software will provide you with the features you need.

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