With this virtual world, eCommerce is not a nicety but a requirement, as much as a mandate, for small, medium, and large businesses. Be it a small shop owner that wishes to enhance its visibility, a new business launching a new product line, or a thriving business that desires to grow still larger, what is imperative at this juncture is that it should possess an eCommerce site that is simply awesome. But what strikes every businessman immediately is: How much does it cost to develop an eCommerce website in India?
The answer does not come so conveniently in the manner of quoting a simple number. The cost varies on the basis of an incredibly wide range of variables, anything from platform selection and complexity of design to integration, functionality, and sophistication level of the development team. In this blog post, let us identify major cost drivers of eCommerce website cost in India so that you may make judicious optimalizations of your expenses.
Your first cost driver is the type of eCommerce business that it will be. Not every eCommerce site is the same, and simplicity has a direct impact on design and development cost.
- Single-vendor store: Best suited for one company selling products directly to end-users. Most manual, least integrated, most cost-effective.
- Multi-vendor marketplace: Just like Amazon or Flipkart, where there are authorized vendors who get to register and add products. Needs features such as high-end vendor dashboards, commission models, product approval workflow, and conflict of interest modules. Naturally, costly.
- B2B eCommerce portal: Generally has bulk ordering, price tiering, and negotiation customization module. A bit more complex than B2C.
Economical: A single-vendor Indian website can cost anywhere from ₹50,000 to ₹150,000, while a full marketplace can cost anything over ₹500,000, depending on size and functionality.
2. Platform Choice
Your platform choice does impose some impact on setup and operations costs.
- Open-source platforms (Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart): The software license fee is low, though it will require experienced developers to create custom features that will be equivalent to the development cost.
- Hosted platforms (Shopify, Wix, BigCommerce): Easy to implement, subscription-pay-per-model, lower technology intensity. Monthly recurring costs accumulate over a period.
- Custom-built platforms: Custom-built platforms are hand-coded in such frameworks as Laravel or Django. Highest level of freedom, but at greater cost and longer lead times.
Cost-effective: Shopify stores would cost anywhere in the range of ₹50,000-₹200,000 to establish and design (with no recurring costs per month), and Magento or custom installation would cost anywhere above ₹200,000-₹1,000,000 based upon the extent of.
3. User Experience (UX) and Design Complexity
Your web design isn't how it appears; it's customer experience and how customers feel about your brand when they're online. The more advanced, the more interactive, and the more customer-focused your design, the more work (and funds).
- Standard template-based design: Fast to launch, minimal degree of customization. Very low cost but could end up looking standard.
- Custom design with brand: Thoughtfully designed UI/UX design by seasoned designers who fit your brand voice.
- Luxury design with animation, micro-interactive effects, and dynamic layout; very user-interactional but takes a lot of design time and usability testing.
Cost-effective: The template-based design would be around ₹30,000-₹80,000, while a highly customized, high-profile one would be in excess of ₹2,000.
4. Features and Functions
Increased functionality, bigger project. Some of the most widely used eCommerce functions that influence cost are:
- Core functionality: Product cataloguing, shopping cart, payment, and payment gateway plug-in.
- Advanced functionality: AI-based product recommendations, filtering, searching, wishlists, ratings, multicurrency support, and loyalty schemes.
- Integrate with external services: Shipping APIs, accounting packages, ERP, CRM, and automated emailing/SMS.
- Each feature takes more development time and costs accordingly.
Cost-effective: The basic eCommerce functionality can be in the low-value bracket, but the other advanced personalized features can have a cost of ₹50,000–₹300,000.
5. Payment Gateway and Security
Secure and easy payment is the core of e-commerce. Common names for payment gateways in India are PayU, Stripe, Paytm, and Razorpay. It is easy for easy integration, but multi-currency payment, subscription billing, or fraud checking require extra efforts.
Others include SSL certificates, secure hosting, and PCI compliance. They're an investment that's worthwhile. Security is not a luxury as far as e-commerce is concerned, and it will affect your bottom line and customer trust also.
Cost factor: Payment gateway integration costs anything between ₹10,000 and ₹50,000 depending on its complexity, and advanced security deployments are much more expensive.
6. Mobile Responsiveness and Integration of Apps
Since over 70% of Indian business is transacted on the phone, it is no longer a luxury but a necessity to have a mobile-optimized website.
- Responsive design: Guarantees your website will always look and work great on any device.
- Progressive Web App (PWA): Offers an app-like experience without a native app.
- Autonomous phone apps: There are some businesses that like to add the site to iPhone/Android apps as an additional effort to receive more interaction.
Cost factor: Responsiveness being a design norm of regular designing, building a PWA or a mobile app involves ₹1,00,000-₹5,00,000.
7. Product and Content Posting
Easy to build; difficult to populate with content. It takes time to fill out product descriptions, get good-quality images, and create SEO-friendly content and videos.
Content population is included in the offering package of some players, while others are extra chargeable on an SKU basis.
Cost incurred: Bulk product upload will be ₹5,000-₹50,000 depending on bulk. Copywriting and professional photography are chargeable separately.
Conclusion
Establishing an e-commerce website in India is an investment, not an expense. Even though it may be so tempting to try to save money and get the cheapest one, keep in mind that your website is your virtual store. It should look pretty and function well and attract customers as well as make money. When you understand what drives eCommerce website design cost in India, be it design complexity and platform or features, integration, and maintenance, you'll be better positioned to plan and not be left behind.
When you're planning to develop, redevelop, or revamp your eCommerce site, start by deconstructing your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and long-term goals. This will place you in sync with the perfect development partner and realize the highest ROI from capital.
Also Read: How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Web Design Company in India?