In the midst of this covid-19 pandemic many business owners are looking for what is the cost of an eCommerce website in the Caribbean. In fact my visits have increased in everything that deals with Ecommerce websites in the caribbean.
For this reason I decide to make this article to guide those people who probably want to create their eCommerce website after seeing the competition doing the same thing in all this crisis which is a quite convenient move.
Cost of an eCommerce website in the Caribbean?
The cost of an eCommerce website is highly variable. It all depends on a lot of factors that must be taken into account that I will explain throughout the post. In fact, costs can range from $1,500 to over $50,000 depending on the platform and requirements.
You also have to keep in mind that you should continue to invest money to improve the functionality and experience of your online store when the initial development is completed (not clearly including the expense in marketing). Waiting until your online store is out of date and then considering updating it is not a successful or proactive eCommerce strategy.
If you are located in some of these Caribbean islands then you should read this article.
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Jamaica
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Saint Lucia
- Sint Maarten
- Suriname
- The bahamas
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Montserrat
- Martinique
- Guadeloupe
- Cayman Islands
- US Virgin Islands
E-commerce Platforms
Depending on how simple or complex the eCommerce platform is and what the license costs are, the costs can vary quite a bit for similar functionality. There are tailor-made solutions, solutions integrated with ERP systems, configurable solutions and software as a service (SaaS) solutions designed for you to configure. same.
There are some SaaS offerings that can start at $20-30 per month, but you have to take into account the limitations of these solutions, in particular the one that you. they do not own their store, migration to another platform may not be possible and they often have limited ability to position on search engines. The most configurable and customizable offers such as Magento, Prestahop and WordPress require experience for their configuration.
ECommerce Web Design
Many platforms, SaaS and configurable, have design galleries, themes, or templates available for purchase. These templates are a quick and cheap option. Expect to spend $50 to $250 to buy a theme and another $1,000 to $2,000 to make small changes and customizations (more than just a logo change, but not a custom design either).
If you want a custom design, the cost will depend on what you want. Similarly, a custom theme can cost from $5,000 to $100,000 depending on the details, requirements, and depth of the process.
Ecommerce User Experience Design (UX)
User experience is possibly the most important part of an online store. Ecommerce UX design is focused on the wishes and needs of your visitors, and is a key component in turning them into paying buyers and customers.
An intuitive e-commerce interface means that visitors are more likely to make a purchase. By helping the visitor quickly and easily find your desired product, avoiding frustrating mistakes and delays, you will see an immediate increase in sales.
A good UX design can cost around $2,000. Measuring the effectiveness of UX design is an ongoing process, past development and initial release.
Custom e-commerce programming and functionality
Many platforms (like Magento, Prestashop, or WordPress) provide module or extension support for many functionalities that can be added to your site (at a much lower cost than custom development). Therefore, an important part of the development process is to validate if there are extensions available for the desired functionalities since this will affect the price. Be prepared, however, that some of the extensions require some customization. We always audit / evaluate extensions for quality, security, features and support before recommending them to our clients.
Outside of extensions, the cost of custom developments will depend on the development hours they require.
Product images and graphic design
The visual elements of an e-commerce site can cost between $500 and $2,000. Photography can be quite expensive, as can custom photography and graphic design work.
However, it is one of the most important elements of the development of the online store. A visually appealing ecommerce website is much more likely to attract visitors and retain them long enough to become customers than one that is too simple.
High-quality product images are also essential to a successful online store. You can use available images to use a designer to optimize product images.
A striking and memorable logo is also important. If your company does not yet have a recognizable logo, we recommend hiring a design team.
Initial training and ongoing support
Don’t forget the ongoing costs of running an eCommerce store. You will surely need training and support for your site. The cost of initial training can be around $250 to $1,200, depending on the sophistication of your e-commerce platform and the number of people who will be trained.
ECommerce web Hosting
Accommodation is more predictable. SaaS offerings will generally include some level of hosting in their packages. For a turnkey online store based on a configurable platform, the cost of hosting is cheap and can grow as your needs grow. You can count on a cost of between $15-250 per month.
Hosting for a personalized e-commerce system will be more expensive depending on service and support levels.
How to Calculate Cost of Developing Custom Ecommerce Website
Here is a typical breakdown.
- 10% of planning and pre-development tasks.
- 55% of e-commerce system configuration and database development.
- 25% design.
- 10% project management.
Hidden costs and how to detect them
There are a few questions to ask yourself before hiring a development:
- Does your company have internal resources that could offer a quality virtual store in less time and at a lower cost?
- Does your internal team have the specific knowledge and experience necessary for the modern development of electronic commerce?
- Who will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and support?
- These questions will help you decide whether to develop in-house or outsource.
After this initial decision, you should create a list of essential tasks and features for your ecommerce website.
- Domain Registration
- Reliable and scalable hosting.
- SSL certificate.
- Payment gateway.
- Planning.
- UX.
- Visual design.
- Development and documentation.
- Proof.
- Writing and uploading content.
- Images.
- These are just the most essential basic considerations when creating a functional eCommerce site. It can be complicated!
Critical questions to ask before starting the development of an e-commerce website
In the initial planning stages, you should also ask yourself these questions:
- Do you need to develop a new online store from scratch or can you redesign your current site?
- How many pages will your virtual store need?
- How many products will you sell?
- How many variations, such as color and size, do each of your products have?
- Do these variations affect the price?
- Do you have content ready to publish on your website, or do you need to create it?
- How about product images and web design?
- Already have a suitable web hosting package for eCommerce? Who is going to configure the accommodation?
- Do you have a suitable domain name for your site, or do you need to identify and register one?
- How will you accept payments? A turnkey solution like PayPal or a card gateway?
- Do you have your products with prices and descriptions organized in a spreadsheet?
- Do you want your site to have a blog?
- Do you want the site to be responsive to visitors using mobile devices?
- Do you need custom features on your site?
We offer excellence in electronic commerce services
We believe that e-commerce is not just a website with an integrated shopping cart. We devise a complete solution taking into account the scope of your business and the complete requirements of an online store.
With our eCommerce solutions, not only will you enjoy eye-catching and easy-to-use website design, but to get more traffic and reach a large number of potential customers, our eCommerce solutions are optimized for search engines.
Our experience in e-commerce services
As technology is something that is changing rapidly and every day we find a new advance in web technologies, we make sure to keep ourselves and our clients updated with these technologies and provide them with a flexible and adaptable solution to their needs so that can be updated with changes in technology.
Developing a successful website requires a large investment of time and money. Be sure to select a website development partner who can assist you with each component of the process.
At Marcelo Design X, we strive towards a simple goal: at the end of the project, our clients know as much about the website as we do. We are with you from the beginning and until long after the website is launched.
Get your professional eCommerce website today!
If you are interested in obtaining a professional and optimized eCommerce website to increase your sales, check the available packages.
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