Doing the math: the real cost of e-commerce

It’s not easy to find a way through the hundreds of options whose real costs and services are not always clear. An analysis shows that time, effort and an adequate budget are necessary to do a good job.

The resources required and costs associated with opening an online retail business are best not underestimated. Likewise, do not give in to the lure of choosing a cheap e-commerce site, it will soon become clear that the result is way under par/just isn’t good enough.

Setting up an e-commerce isn’t particularly difficult, but if we want one that works, getting it online is not enough/getting it online does not guarantee its success. We are lost without hardware, software, computer skills, time for catalogue management and visibility. Because, unless you deal in exclusive articles, you will have to contend with competition. As everything is available online, being easy to find is fundamental to success.

Let’s do some quick calculations to determine the costs associated with setting up a small to medium-sized retail platform:

Start-up costs

Irrespective of the software chosen, either open-source or commercial, you will need:

• Computer literate personnel who are able to install, configure and customize the site according to your specific requirements  -  ranging from 3.500-25.000 €+
• SEO optimization - ranging from 3.000-12.000 €+

Operational, maintenance and advertising costs

• Domain registration and hosting services able to handle your traffic, that is to say the measurement of people who visit your website daily or monthly -  ranging from: 120-1.500 €+
• Social media marketing    from 300€ monthly per channel
• Online advertising services   from 300€ monthly per channel

Building an e-commerce activity also needs time for development and publication. This can take from 1 months /up to 12 months.
To sum up, a well-designed e-commerce needs an initial expenditure that can range from  6.500 to 50.000 €+, depending on software costs and the level of functionalities required. Hosting services, ranging from 120 to 1.500€ per year, not including unforeseen extra services like backup or disaster recovery, which usually have an hourly rate of approximately 70€. Finally, generating traffic means investing at least 1.000€ a month on advertising, so we’re talking from 10-12.000€ a year.

It goes without saying that professional images of the products and accurate descriptions must be uploaded onto the site and furthermore, orders, returns and requests for information from clients must be dealt with.

All things considered, a Qyoube subscription is an excellent option for your business. In addition, having so many businesses in one digital arena means everyone is more visible, interesting and functional: a multi-product offer attracts far more clients and makes it easier to build your own supply chain.

To wrap up, Qyoube presents you with a highly evolved platform that is already geared towards promoting your products and services, in which we have already made sizeable investments in terms of software development, hosting services, SEO optimization and online promotion.

A simple subscription means you save on lots of the costs we have illustrated.
Join us and you’ll be online before you know it.