eCommerce, How Much Does It cost?

Making profits with your existing website design or creating a new online store can be exciting, affordable and most of all; rewarding. Mmmm . . . that's what the last sales guy told me.

What is eCommerce (or selling via the Internet)? It is similar to selling through a physical building's business storefront, with one big difference: the costs for eCommerce are lower. The lower costs alone make it a lot more affordable for someone to start up a business or expand their storefront business onto the Internet.

So, the cost to do online business depends on how much time and effort you are able to put in and the eCommerce developer you choose to work with. Generally, developers should try to enable their clients to be as independent as possible in areas such as daily site updates, processing online orders, customer feedback and low or no cost (except time) online marketing.

Hosting costs are determined by: the amount of 1) server space you require for product photos, e-mail accounts, and 2) bandwidth - the more customers that visit your store, the more bandwidth you will require. Typically an online store setup may cost $15 to $90 per month for hosting.

Other costs include online store program and designing the storefront. There are many programs to choose from with some being free to some costing thousands. As with anything you buy, you do get what you pay for. Clients like to use online store setups that are easy for them to use when they need to do product updates and simple design changes. That way the initial higher cost for the client's online store will be offset by ease of use and low maintenance costs to operate over the long term.

Next we have graphical design costs, that can range from $70 for a pre-designed store template to a built from scratch setup that can cost $500 and up. If you have only a few products I would suggest starting with the pre-designed store template as the cost is low and the look is quite professional, with only a small amount of time required to input text and make some minor modifications to suit your requirements. If you have quite a few products and they are quite different from each other, you may incur more cost to develop the graphic design as each product category will have a look designed just for that category.

Finally, we need to open up the store for business: market the store and bring in some customers to buy the products. As mentioned earlier, there is no-cost marketing that can be done. For example, the site can be submitted to the primary search engines, adding the store listing to online directories that are relevant to the product or service, and exchanging store links with other sites that are similar but not direct competition.

What are we selling? When your starting out with a new product, try to stay with a unique product that is light in weight, as shipping costs are often overlooked in starting up an online business. If you already have existing products to sell, revisit shipping costs and see where you can find savings.

I find most business owners sell what they are most passionate about. Some of your present hobbies or interests could sell as the end product, as items purchased by other people. Some of the most successful online stores are a result of one's passion and desire to share their dream with others and if done logically and thoughtfully with a good web developer, can result in financial rewards at a low investment cost through an online store.

- About the Author -

Since 1997, Dennis Dadey, Chief Designer at IR Design, has been helping people with e-commerce applications. Find out more about IR Design at http://www.irdesign.com.

---

12 Powerful Ways To Use Autoresponders That Will Take YOU To The Top

If only I had known that autoresponders are a necessity... Read More

Is Your Website Credit Card Friendly?

In my last column I discussed the process of credit... Read More

How To Turn Any Product You Sell In To Residual Income

The concept of this is for you to offer a... Read More

Cyber Banking

The use of electronic cash as a means of transacting... Read More

eCommerce, How Much Does It cost?

Making profits with your existing website design or creating a... Read More

10 Reasons To Survey Your Visitors, Subscribers And Customers

1. To find out what type of content visitors want... Read More

The Ecommerce Business Plan

Simply put, business plans can make or break your business.... Read More

Short Story: The Benefits of Shopping Online

Maria's new lifestyle: Short story about the benefits shopping on... Read More

The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors

While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the... Read More

Helping Your Visitors: a State of Mind

What does "helping your visitors" mean exactly?It means writing your... Read More

The Internet Challenge

In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet... Read More

The Essential Christmas Web-store Makeover

Ten great tips to turn online holiday shoppers into eager... Read More

Is It Still Possible To Make Money On The Internet?

Many people are saying that the internet is dead. So... Read More

Projecting Your Image

Whether you sell a product or merely sell time to... Read More

Why Suppliers Should Use B2B Exchanges

Business to business e-commerce is on the rise! Worldwide B2B... Read More

What Are The Barriers of Implementing E-Commerce Solutions

What is electronic commerce?"Electronic commerce is about doing business electronically.... Read More

Selling Online for Newbies

If you are interested in selling online, it is quite... Read More

Do You Need A Merchant Account?

Deciding when to get your own merchant account for internet... Read More

eCommerce Software Solutions

All of the long, grueling nights and an unknown number... Read More

Effective Management Of Your Customer Services

With a third party merchant account you will have a... Read More

How To Implement E-Business Solutions Successfully

Pitfalls of E-business solutions installation processA large distribution company has... Read More

A Beginners Guide To Setting Up A Successful Online Store

A beginner's guide to setting up a successful online store... Read More

Succeed With Your Own Home Based Business

An internet business is by far the best way to... Read More

Beginner Ecommerce Mistakes

This is a short article because in the constraints of... Read More

Tell Them Whats in The Can!

What does 'the can' mean? Well, its literal meaning relates... Read More

Grow Your Business Using B2B Emarketplace - Part I

If you are a small to medium size company and... Read More

Merchant Account Insider Secrets - Accept Credit Cards Online

The process of learning how to accept payments on the... Read More

Excuse Me, Are You Wasting Traffic?

The largest cost and concern of an internet business is... Read More

Tell Site Visitors What To Do

Your site visitors make all the choices when it comes... Read More

The Census and the E-Commerce Wave

Understanding business and product sales can sometimes put me in... Read More

Managing Project Risks and Issues

Inherent (or Business) RiskInherent Risk is the risk that exists... Read More

Why Arent People Buying From Your Ecommerce Website?

Your stock is tempting, your prices right - your ecommerce... Read More

ECommerce Scenario in Pakistan

Pakistan with highest growth rates in 1960s and bad politics... Read More