Independent digital studio · since 2016
Opening an online store isn't just about paying for the website. There are platforms, fees, photos, shipping, marketing and the time you'll need to put in. Here is a complete, honest picture, so you can plan your budget without surprises.
MBMarco BagiacchiFounder of Nalu and web developer
A company website presents the business and collects inquiries. An e-commerce store does much more: it shows a catalog, manages variants and stock, calculates shipping and taxes, takes payments, sends automatic emails, handles returns and refunds, and it has to do all this reliably, around the clock. It is a point of sale in every sense, with everything that comes with it.
That's why the cost of an online store isn't limited to the build. You have to factor in the platform it runs on, payment fees, logistics, content production (photos and product pages) and above all the marketing needed to bring in visitors. If you only plan for the cost of the website, you risk ending up with a beautiful, empty store.
In this guide we go through every item, one by one: the upfront ones, the recurring ones and the ones nobody mentions until the first invoices arrive.
The website is the shop window. Sales come from everything around it.
Let's start with the most obvious item: building the store. Here are our formats, with the starting prices also published on the service page (excl. VAT).
| Format | Who it's for | From |
|---|---|---|
| Essential e-commerce | For those starting with a small catalog who want a polished store, with payments and shipping ready to go. | 2.500 € |
| Custom e-commerce | Large catalogs, custom design and features, integrations with management software or inventory. | 4.500 € |
| Migration | For those who already have a store and want to move to another platform, keeping products, customers, orders and rankings. | 1.200 € |
The platform you choose affects both upfront and recurring costs. There are two main routes: a subscription platform, which includes hosting and updates, or software installed on your own server, which is more flexible but has to be managed.
| Look | Subscription platform (e.g. Shopify) | Software on your own hosting (e.g. WooCommerce) |
|---|---|---|
| Recurring cost | Monthly platform fee, add-on apps | Hosting, any paid extensions |
| Hosting and security | Included and managed by the platform | Handled by you or your provider |
| Customization | Broad, within the platform's rules | Maximum, with full access to the code |
| Maintenance | Reduced | Regular updates and checks |
| Commissions | Possible transaction fees, depending on the plan and payment method | Only those of the payment provider |
There is no single best platform. What matters is the type of products, the expected volume, the integrations you need and who will run the store day to day. We cover this in detail in the dedicated guide.
Learn moreShopify or WooCommerce: which to choose for your store↗Every online sale has a cost: the fee kept by the payment provider. Credit cards, digital wallets, buy-now-pay-later services: each has its own rates, usually a percentage of the amount and sometimes a fixed fee per transaction.
They are small amounts on a single order, but over a year of sales they become a significant item. That's why they belong in your margin calculations from the start, together with any platform fees.
In a physical store the customer can touch the product. Online, they only have the photos and the description. That's why product content is one of the most important investments in the whole project, and one of the most underestimated.
Clear, consistent photos with several angles and details reduce doubts and returns. You can take them yourself, with a little equipment and method, or hire a photographer. With us, a product photography service starts at €300 (excl. VAT), even for large quantities.
A good product page answers every question before the customer has to ask: materials, sizes, use, care, shipping times, returns. And it's written in the words people use on Google, because every product page is a potential way in from search engines.
Write the pages for your best-selling or highest-margin products first. You don't need to perfect the whole catalog before launch: you need to make the pages that matter perfect.
Logistics is the least glamorous part of e-commerce and the one that most often decides whether a store is sustainable. Packaging, couriers, delivery times, returns: every item has a cost and shapes the customer experience.
| Item | What to consider |
|---|---|
| Courier | Rates by weight and destination, volume discount contracts, pickup services. |
| Packaging | Boxes, protective materials, branded materials. They also affect your image. |
| Time | Order preparation: if you do it yourself, it's time taken away from everything else. |
| Returns | Return shipping, inspection, restocking or loss of the product. |
| Free shipping | It increases conversions, but the cost has to be absorbed into prices or covered by a minimum order. |
Many stores set a free shipping threshold: above a certain amount shipping is free, below it the customer pays. It's an effective way to raise the average order value without eating too much into margins.
Here's the truth nobody likes to hear: a newly launched e-commerce store doesn't get visitors on its own. Without a plan to bring people to the site, even the most beautiful store stays empty. Marketing isn't an extra: it's an integral part of the cost of an e-commerce store.
Categories and product pages optimized to be found on Google. It takes time, but it brings steady, free traffic over the long term.
Search and Shopping ads to reach people already looking for your products.
Ads on Instagram and Facebook to introduce your products to people who aren't looking for them yet.
Newsletters, abandoned cart recovery, offers for existing customers.
A steady presence that builds trust and a community around the brand.
The ad budget depends on your goals and industry, but it's best to plan for it from the start. With us, campaign setup starts at €450 and monthly management at €300 a month, plus the ad budget you decide (excl. VAT).
Learn moreHow much to invest in Google Ads: how to set the budget↗Selling online comes with some obligations that cost time or professional fees. This isn't an exhaustive list, and every business should check with its own accountant, but these are the items to consider.
Before launching the store, have a professional check your terms of sale and tax setup. It's a modest cost that prevents much more expensive problems later.
Once online, an e-commerce store has monthly and annual costs on top of marketing and logistics. Here they are in summary.
| Item | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Platform or hosting | Monthly or annual | Depends on the platform you choose and on volume. |
| Apps and extensions | Monthly or annual | Reviews, advanced filters, email, integrations. |
| Payment fees | On every sale | A percentage of the amount, sometimes plus a fixed fee. |
| Maintenance | Monthly | Updates, security, backups. With us from €30 a month, excl. VAT. |
| Content | Ongoing | New products, photos, descriptions, articles. |
| Marketing | Ongoing | Ad budget, campaign management, SEO. |
Spending to bring in visitors only makes sense if the store can turn them into customers. Between arriving on the site and completing an order there are several steps, and each one can lose you sales. Designing them well is one of the jobs with the biggest impact on return on investment, even if it doesn't appear as a separate line in the quote.
Visitors need to understand right away what you sell and why they should trust you: a clear message, polished photos, signs of reliability.
Logical categories, useful filters and an internal search that works help people find what they're looking for quickly.
Photos, description, price, availability, shipping times and costs: every answer, before the questions.
A clear summary, total costs visible, no surprises at the last step.
Few fields, guest checkout, the most popular payment methods.
One of the most common reasons for abandonment is discovering unexpected costs at checkout, like shipping that wasn't shown earlier. Another is being forced to create an account. These are problems you solve at the design stage, and they are worth more than many ad campaigns.
Show shipping costs on the product page, or at least in the cart. Transparency reduces abandonment more than any discount.
Anyone buying from a store they don't know always asks one question: can I trust it? The answer comes from many small signals, which cost little and have a huge impact on conversions.
These elements don't require big investments, but they need to be planned from the start. A store that inspires trust sells more from the same number of visits, which means spending less on advertising to get the same results.
For many stores an essential, well-configured solution is more than enough. There are cases, though, where a custom project becomes the better value in the medium term, even if it costs more upfront.
In these cases, adapting a standard solution with dozens of extensions can cost more over time, in fees, maintenance and limitations, than designing it properly from the start.
Running an e-commerce store takes time, every day: fulfilling orders, answering customers, updating stock and prices, adding new products, checking campaign results. It's a real cost, even if it doesn't appear in any quote.
Before you start, ask yourself who will take care of it and how many hours a week they can give it. If the answer is "nobody" or "when there's time," the store may never take off, whatever the quality of the website. Sometimes the solution is to automate some tasks, other times to hand part of the work to outside professionals.
To put the pieces together, here is an indicative example for a small online store. The figures are hypothetical and are meant to show how the budget is made up, not to estimate your specific case.
| Item | Indicative amount |
|---|---|
| Essential e-commerce build | from €2,500 |
| Product photos | from €300 |
| Platform, apps and hosting | a few hundred euros a year |
| Maintenance | from €360 a year |
| Campaign launch | from €450 |
| Ad budget | your choice, based on goals |
The message is simple: the cost of the website is only part of the investment. Planning content, marketing and management from the start is what separates a store that sells from one that just waits.
You don't need a big budget to start selling online. You need to start with the right priorities and grow in stages.
Start with your strongest products: the ones that sell best or set you apart. The catalog can grow later.
Choose a solution sized for your initial volume, one that can grow with you.
Excellent photos and pages for a few products are worth more than a large, sloppy catalog.
One channel done well beats five neglected ones.
See what works and move your budget there, month after month.
An alternative, or a complement, to your own store is marketplaces: large platforms where you sell your products alongside those of other sellers. They have different costs and different advantages.
| Look | Marketplace | Your own store |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic | Traffic already on the platform | Built through marketing and SEO |
| Costs | Fees on every sale, sometimes subscription fees | Build, platform, marketing |
| Margins | Reduced by fees | Higher, once fixed costs are covered |
| Customer relationship | Mediated by the platform | Direct, with your own data and contacts |
| Brand | Barely visible | At the center of the experience |
Many businesses use both: the marketplace to get known and reach people who search there, their own store to build the brand and the relationship with customers. The key is not to depend entirely on a platform whose rules you don't control.
An e-commerce store has a big advantage over many other investments: almost everything can be measured. A few indicators, checked regularly, are enough to see whether the store is heading in the right direction and where to step in.
| Indicator | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Conversion rate | The percentage of visits that become orders. |
| Average order value | How much a customer spends on average per purchase. |
| Acquisition cost | How much you spend on marketing to win a new customer. |
| Repeat purchase rate | How many customers come back to buy again. |
| Margin per order | What's left after product, shipping, fees and marketing. |
Comparing acquisition cost with margin per order is the heart of sustainability: if winning a customer costs more than you earn from their first order, you need customers who come back, bigger orders or more efficient campaigns.
Prepare answers to these questions: you'll get a more precise proposal and be able to compare offers more easily.
A well-planned e-commerce store is a powerful tool: it sells while you sleep, reaches distant customers and grows with your business. The key is to consider every item from the start, not just the cost of the website.
The questions we're asked most often on this topic. If yours isn't here, write to us.
With us, an essential e-commerce store starts at €2,500 and a custom one at €4,500 (excl. VAT). The price depends on products, variants, integrations, features and level of customization.
It depends on the platform, apps, maintenance and marketing. On top of the technical costs come fees on sales and the ad budget, which varies with your goals.
Shopify is easier to manage, with hosting and security included; WooCommerce is more customizable but needs maintenance. The choice depends on products, volumes, integrations and who will run the store.
On average 8 to 14 weeks for a complete e-commerce store, depending on the catalog, integrations and the availability of photos and copy.
Yes, with a migration that keeps products, customers, orders and Google rankings thanks to redirects. With us it starts at €1,200 (excl. VAT).
There's no figure that works for everyone: it depends on industry, competition and goals. It's best to start with a test budget, measure the results and increase spending where the campaigns pay off.
They're the two most widely used platforms for opening an online store, and the question "which one should I choose?" comes up in almost every first call. There's no absolute winner: there's the one that best suits your products, your team and your growth plans.
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