The world around us has become so technologically driven, that we no longer need to do anything other than press a few buttons to fulfill any whims and fancies we might have. As a result, capitalizing on this poses a very lucrative opportunity for sellers on the other side of this transaction.
Costs To Take While Opening An Online Store
Opening your own online store can be an extremely profitable endeavor in such an age of digital transformation, and thus leading to more and more entrepreneurs swarming to the field of eCommerce. However, like most good things, you must be willing to incur some costs before delving into such a lucrative field.
So, here are a few costs to take into account while opening an online store.
The General Cost Range
Pinpoint the exact cost that is involved in starting your own online store is quite insurmountable, since the needs of various business organizations may differ. However, the range of $1,000 to $100,000 is generally what most costs fall under when it comes to setting up your digital store. Depending on your business model (such as the dropshipping, sale of private label products, et cetera) as well as the size of your organization. That being said, keeping this range in mind is a good place to start, while forecasting the financial viability of this project.
A Guide Into Specific Costs
- Finding A Hosting Service – Every website will need a software to host their digital store, since it acts a space for your store to function in the internet space. The cost of hosting may depend on the hosting provider you opt for as well as the type of hosting you wish to make use of, such as cloud hosting, shared hosting, et cetera. While making an estimation, you should allocate a maximum of about $24,000, since costs can go up to that in some cases. An additional $1500 should also be kept in case you wish to secure an SSL certificate.
- Purchasing A Domain Name – Purchasing a domain name is an extremely crucial step in the setup of an online store. The costs of buying a domain name are extremely differing, since it all depends on where you purchase it from. If you’re lucky, you might be able to bag one for free, whereas in some case it may even go up to $60.
- Design And Site Outlook – The design of your website plays a very pivotal role in bringing users to your store, and as a result is something that online stores have begun to pay close attention to. If you make use of the same platform that hosts your website for design as well, then you will be incurring fees accordingly. However, the costs may be higher for a third-part web design service. Either way, an allocation of funds amounting to anywhere between $2,000 to $15,000 may be prudent.
- Plugins –An amount of at least $2,000, with a maximum of about $25,000 may be necessary to add in plugins such as shopping facilities or payment processing options to your website. Platforms such as Shopify or BigCommerce may offer in-built plugins for which no extra costs will be necessary, however, you will have to pay some amount when you wish to scale the volume of your business.
Conclusion
Keeping the price range in mind while starting an online business is crucial to understanding how you can arrange your finances. That being said, most of the above-mentioned costs are estimates, and your actual costs may depend on a variety of additional factors.