E-commerce mobile applications are becoming progressively well known in the present digital time because of the accommodation they offer clients in buying items and services through their mobiles.
Developing an E-commerce application can take much time and expertise, especially regarding pricing. Consequently, it is basic to analyze pricing to determine the relevant resources and fixed amount for app development.
According to Capital One research, mobile eCommerce sales are projected to exceed $7.08 trillion by 2027, reflecting a significant increase from current levels. With the eCommerce market rapidly growing, it’s a suitable time to consider entering this space
Before diving into this blog, as entrepreneurs, have you ever thought about how much it costs to develop an ecommerce app, especially if you are launching your first e-commerce business via an app?
If not, then you have landed in the right place!
This article is for most people like you, who are eager to know about e-commerce app development costs. We’ll read about multiple factors associated with cost estimation later in this blog.
So, be ready to collect all the surprises that may lead to the exact cost estimation for your first e-commerce app.
Let’s start!
An E-Commerce application is software, a mobile application, where users can buy and sell their products. Apps for mobile commerce are advantageous for both customers and business owners.
Brands can easily communicate with customers more efficiently in a dedicated space where users can also personalize and control their experience. The process of creating mobile apps is made much easier nowadays by platforms like Shopify and Ecwid.
Native eCommerce apps are designed specifically for a particular operating system, such as iOS or Android. These apps are developed using platform-specific languages and tools—Swift or Objective-C for iOS and Kotlin or Java for Android.
Native apps are renowned for their superior performance and seamless user experience since they leverage the full capabilities of the device’s hardware and operating system. This results in a highly responsive and efficient app that can utilize device-specific features like GPS, camera, and notifications.
Cross-platform eCommerce apps are built using frameworks such as React Native, Flutter, or Xamarin. These frameworks allow developers to write code once and deploy it across both iOS and Android platforms.
This approach is often more cost-effective and faster to develop than creating separate native apps for each platform.
Cross-platform apps offer a good balance between performance and development efficiency, though they may not always achieve the same level of optimization as native apps.
Web-based eCommerce apps encompass Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and responsive websites. PWAs use modern web technologies to offer an app-like experience within a web browser, with capabilities like offline access, push notifications, and fast loading times.
They can be added to the home screen of a mobile device, providing a user experience like native apps without going through app stores. Responsive web design, on the other hand, ensures that a website adapts to different screen sizes and device types, offering a consistent and accessible user experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
Hybrid eCommerce apps combine elements of both native and web technologies. They are built using web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and are encapsulated within a native container that allows them to be distributed through app stores. This approach enables developers to create a single app that works across multiple platforms, but it can lead to performance trade-offs compared to fully native apps. While hybrid apps can be developed more quickly and cost-effectively, they might not fully utilize the hardware capabilities of the device, potentially impacting user experience.
Headless eCommerce platforms separate the front-end presentation layer from the back-end commerce functionalities. This decoupling allows for greater flexibility in designing and delivering unique user experiences across different channels, such as web, mobile, or IoT devices.
The front end and back end communicate through APIs, enabling businesses to easily integrate with various digital touchpoints and customize their customer interfaces. This approach is particularly advantageous for businesses that need tailored user experience or wish to innovate quickly across multiple platforms without being constrained by the back-end system.
B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (Business to Business) eCommerce apps cater to different market segments with distinct needs. B2C apps are designed for direct interactions with individual consumers and typically feature user-friendly interfaces, product catalogs, and straightforward payment systems.
They focus on creating a seamless shopping experience for end-users. B2B eCommerce apps, on the other hand, are tailored for transactions between businesses and often include complex features like bulk ordering, custom pricing, and intricate workflows to manage business relationships and large-scale purchases.
Marketplace apps facilitate transactions between multiple buyers and sellers on a single platform. They allow various vendors to list their products or services, providing a centralized marketplace for customers to browse and purchase from different sources.
Examples of such apps include Amazon and eBay. Marketplace apps need to handle various aspects such as vendor management, product listings, order processing, and payments for multiple sellers, often incorporating features to support vendor profiles, reviews, and disputes.
This type of app typically involves complex backend systems to manage the interactions between different parties and ensure a smooth user experience.
Subscription-based eCommerce apps operate on a recurring revenue model, where users pay a periodic fee to access products, services, or content.
This model is commonly used for digital goods such as streaming services, software, and memberships. Subscription apps require robust features for managing subscription plans, billing cycles, and content access control.
They often include functionalities for handling recurring payments, subscription renewals, and user account management.
Custom eCommerce solutions are bespoke developments tailored to meet specific business requirements and goals. Unlike off-the-shelf platforms or templates, custom solutions are built from scratch or heavily customized to fit unique needs.
This approach offers the highest level of flexibility and control, allowing businesses to create a solution that perfectly aligns with their operations and user expectations. However, custom development is typically more expensive and time-consuming compared to using pre-built platforms or frameworks.
Before you reach any conclusion about e-commerce app development cost, it would be beneficial to know what trending is. The reason is that ecommerce app development trends are one of the influential factors in the cost of developing an e-commerce app, and other factors exist that we’ll read about in the upcoming section of this blog.
From a costing point of view, these trends should be considered in terms of better customer satisfaction and following the trends.
Leveraging AI/ML is the best way to create a personalized shopping experience. When a user gets personalized recommendations, they will connect more with your brand.
Most of the customers prefer a trial before purchasing the products. Integrating AR shopping features will allow your customers to experience the product in a virtual environment. It elevates the customer engagement to a higher degree.
Voice commerce allows users to create their shopping lists and order products using voice commands. It makes multiple tasks easy, from searching for products to ordering them. Virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and others are aggressively advancing with it, and in the future, things will change.
Social commerce is trending hot, and brands focus on sales through social media platforms, such as providing direct shipping links, selling goods through influencers, and more. You’ll be surprised to know that average social media users log onto at least 7 Platforms in a week. So, integrating social media into your next ecommerce app is beneficial.
Security concerns most e-commerce businesses, making them turn toward safer Blockchain technology. This technology falls under Web 3.0, which is rapidly advancing as the internet’s future. So, there is no doubt that the ecommerce industry can also leverage it.
One of the most popular e-commerce app development trends is customer service chatbots that help address customer queries without burdening the customer support team. The AI/ML-powered customer service chatbots are bringing personalized support to the front. Amazon, Sephora, Walmart, and Nike are some of the top brands using AI-powered customer chatbots.
The e-commerce mobile app development cost differs based on the features and services it provides. Following this, the time and effort needed to create an app are determined.
Although you have gone through all the cost-influencing factors, in simplistic terms, the cost of developing an e-commerce app could be like that.
An important step in developing an e-commerce app design is to ensure a simple and seamless user experience. Depending on the project’s intricacy, an e-commerce app design cost could be between $2000 and $20,000.
Furthermore, the cost of designing an e-commerce app is dependent upon the tasks needed, the deadline, and the project’s level of complexity.
All of the many features and capabilities of the software require programming to be implemented. Creating code in programming languages like Java and Swift or incorporating databases and APIs into the application are prominent examples of this.
Based on how challenging a project is, the cost of coding it could be anything between $10,000 to $1,50,000 and more.
An eCommerce system needs to be checked for issues or mistakes after setup. It must be put to the test to make sure that it operates and performs as intended.
Depending on how long it takes the management, this might cost as little as $1,000 as well as as much as $20,000. However, the common criteria for app maintenance cost is 15%-20% of overall project management cost.
Considering all these, the average online shopping app development cost varies between $10,000 and $50,000 for a single platform. It may cost you more if you need an advanced version of an e-commerce app. Suppose you need an ecommerce marketplace, so a multivendor ecommerce app development cost may be around $50,000 to $1,50,000 or more. The best idea is to consult with an expert e-commerce app development company.
Directly estimating the mobile app development cost is not realistic or even possible. The same scenario exists with e-commerce apps. There are multiple factors behind ecommerce app development costs. Based on these factors, the overall cost is estimated.
Let’s have a look at what are the factors that decide the ecommerce app pricing.
One of the biggest factors in the ecommerce app development is the app’s complexity. Based on the increasing degree of complexity, the cost gets hiked. In simpler terms, complex applications require more cost as more time and effort are needed. Usually, an ecommerce app’s features and functionalities determine the app’s complexity.
So, the ecommerce mobile app development cost based on complexity can be like-
| Cost to Develop Basic Ecommerce App | $20,000-$50,000 |
| Cost to Develop Mid-Level Complex Ecommerce App | $50,000 – $1,00,000 |
| Advanced Ecommerce App Development Cost | $100,000 – $2,50,000+ |
The choice of platform is also one of the crucial factors affecting e-commerce app pricing. Most ecommerce apps are segmented into two platforms: Android and iOS. Although each platform offers advantages, if you are focusing on targeting users worldwide, then Android is the best, but suppose you want to target North American customers, then iOS app development is the best.
Cross-platform app development is another type you can choose to develop your e-commerce app. FYI, Android and iOS are considered native platforms. So, the cost can be like this:
| Native Ecommerce App Development Cost (Approx.) | $20000-$100,000 |
| Cross- Platform Ecommerce App Development Cost (Approx.) | $25000-$60,000 |
The location of app developers is another cost-influencing factor in the ecommerce mobile app development cost. Worldwide ecommerce developers charge different costs. Later, the hiring cost is added to the total cost. It works like:
| Location | App Developers Hiring Cost |
| Ecommerce Developers in USA | $100-$150/hr. |
| Ecommerce Developers in UK | £100 – £150/hour |
| Ecommerce Developers in Europe | €100 – €150/hour |
| Ecommerce Developers in Australia and New Zealand | $120-$160/hr. |
| Ecommerce Developers in India | $25/hr. Onwards |
If your project size is larger, you need an extensive team of mobile app developers. However, it will increase hiring costs and, in turn, ecommerce mobile app development cost. For creating the team, their hiring cost would be as follows.
| Experts | Hiring Cost |
| Junior Ecommerce App Developers | $20/ hr. |
| Intermediate Ecommerce Developers | $25/hr. |
| Experienced Ecommerce Developers | $30/hr Onwards |
| Team Lead | $50/hr Onwards |
| Project Manager | $100/hr Onwards |
| UI/UX designers | $20/hr Onwards |
| Quality Analysts | $20/hr |
The project timeline is also a cost-affecting factor that determines the ecommerce development cost. The reason is that complex projects require an extended timeline or a big team to develop them within the desired timeline. However, the cost will be higher in both cases.
The primary goal of building an e-commerce app is to make shopping simple and convenient for end users who are looking to purchase the desired stuff online.
Usually, an ecommerce app allows its users to explore merchandise, conduct product searches, add items to their cart, and pay for it. It is from an end user’s perspective, but if look closely from a business point of view, there are multiple benefits related to building an e-commerce app, and these are:
Is it great to have your favourite brand available to you? The best prompt customer care is provided via e-commerce apps, which interact with customers frequently.
The conversion rates of mobile commerce apps are high compared to ecommerce websites. When customers find an app with multiple features, it’ll automatically increase conversions.
Mobile app developers can collect useful user data depending on the usage habits of their users by utilizing the power of e-commerce. They can more successfully target users through their advertisements for particular discounts and services if they utilize them to understand what their customers are searching for.
Mobile apps offer seamless communication with customers using in-app chat or call features. Using an ecommerce app, you can stay connected with your users 24/7.
Most businesses focus on the personalized shopping experience. You can do it easily with the help of an ecommerce mobile app.
When most internet users prefer to shop online using mobile apps, you can also generate good revenue for your business with an online app.
Among the ocean of mobile apps, you can have a competitive advantage with a well-designed app developed by a top e-commerce app development company.
Shopping trends are rapidly changing, and following the trends is necessary to survive in this tough market landscape. So, with an ecommerce mobile application, you can do it effortlessly.
The direct selling choice is undoubtedly one of the most important components of an eCommerce application and ecommerce platforms.
Even the costs of development are reimbursed. Let’s start by looking at the features of developing a successful eCommerce application and the costs involved.
smooth signup or registration helps user onboard quickly. Users can easily create their account on the app using their e-mail ID, social media ID, or phone number.
It helps users manage their profiles as they need. They can showcase their contact number and e-mail ID, check order history, set payment methods, and more.
the powerful search option, including the filters, will help users search for their desired products under the categories available in the ecommerce app.
Almost all users used to buy products after reading the product information. So, it is one of the features that you must include in your app.
the users can add products to their cart with a click and buy them now or later as they wish.
Suppose a user wants to buy the product but they are waiting for the price drop so they can save it to the Wishlist. Whenever there is a price drop, they’ll get a notification about it.
helps users stay updated about every sale, new product launch, change in the app’s policy, and others.
A successful mobile eCommerce application must include a fully functional product catalog. This feature gives users access to quick product searches, thorough product descriptions, and recommended related items.
With this function, you may thank customers for their buying decisions by offering discounts, points, or unique offers that depend on their previous buying behavior.
Clients can use this service to track the progress of their orders and learn when delivery will arrive. It provides current details on order status and anticipated delivery times, including shipment information.
t plays a crucial role in any mobile eCommerce app. Ecommerce businesses can provide their clients with better service by using the personalization options in eCommerce Apps.
The direct selling choice is undoubtedly one of the most important components of an eCommerce application.
Even the costs of development are reimbursed. This can entail unusual product combinations, specialized guidance, and focused advertising. These are all standard ecommerce app features that don’t cost extra. Yet, including payment gateways or other APIs may incur additional service and subscription fees.
Remember one thing, if you include advanced features then it may increase your ecommerce app development cost that you can confirm with your ecommerce app development services provider.
Till this section, you have gone through the information related to the ecommerce app development cost, but are you aware of how to build ecommerce applications?
Here, we have created a dedicated section in this blog to share information about the e-commerce application development process.
Be sure about what you need in your e-commerce app, from features to functionalities and from visual components to third-party APIs.
Extensive research about the market and competitors is needed. Here, you need to find out what is trending in the market and in terms of competitors, find what kind of features they have in their app, what their business strategy is, and others.
The next step is to hire dedicated developers to develop your ecommerce application. The developers will help to develop your app as you desire for your business.
The next step is wireframing, where e-commerce app designers will create the wireframes of your app, which will be a blueprint. Go thoroughly with it, apply changes, if any, and finalize it.
The next step is e-commerce application design, which is the design and development of the visual aesthetics of your app for better user interaction and engagement.
At this step, the developers will code for backend functionalities like database programming, server-side programming, connecting the backend and frontend of your ecommerce app, and others.
Once the app is developed, the QA professionals will create robust test cases. They will test your app to remove the bugs and ensure its best quality.
Here’s the way to create an e-commerce app like Noon on a budget mentioned below:
Step 1: Create your ecommerce app features first. You can save on total development expenses by releasing your app as a minimum viable product (MVP) and adding functionality as you go.
Step 2: With pre-built platforms, including Shopify app development services, you may create an e-commerce app without starting from scratch. You can cut development costs by utilizing a pre-built framework.
Step 3: Build the product in a low-cost region. For example, hire dedicated developers in India at an affordable cost. Here, you can find experienced developers at just $25/hr.
Step 4: Since open-source technologies allow you to do away with the need for pricey proprietary software licenses, you should consider using them to cut development expenses.
Step 5: Using code already developed: If you have previously worked on an e-commerce application, you can reuse some of that code in your current project to save money.
Step 6: Deal with an experienced mobile app development firm that provides a fixed-price contract rather than an hourly rate to ensure you get the most value for your money. Budgeting more effectively will help you avoid unpleasant surprises.
Although there are many ways to monetize an eCommerce app and to get smooth in the ecommerce website development process, we’ll go over some of the most popular ones so you can utilize them separately or in conjunction to increase both your revenue and the value of your app to your customers.
The platform manager will ensure a consistent income stream by extracting a commission fee via each exchange between sellers and buyers.
You may charge a monthly or yearly membership fee to give users benefits like same-day delivery, discounts, etc.
You can charge a one-time sign-up fee to encourage merchants to sell their goods on the platform you’re using.
You can charge the vendor a fee for listing their goods so that they show up first in users’ searches.
Arka Softwares is an experienced ecommerce app development company with a proven record of delivering cutting-edge ecommerce solutions to businesses around the globe.
With us, you can have all types of ecommerce apps, from single-vendor to multi-vendor ecommerce apps, including multiple features to engage your customers the best.
Klikpei– A Rapidly Growing Solomon Island’s Own Marketplace is one of the best examples of our ecommerce development excellence. As we developed Klikpei, we had an amazing and thrilling experience. Our team created the UI/UX, user and seller registration, checkout customization, shopping cart customization, payment gateway integration, seller registration, admin approval, and more to create an online Solomon Islands marketplace.
Even though developing a mobile eCommerce app may be expensive, it can offer businesses a sizable return on their investment. Dealing with a trustworthy and experienced app development company is essential if you want to complete your project and properly manage the entire procedure.
A lot of variables, including complexity, functionality, and the level of expertise of the development team, affect how much it costs to design a mobile e-commerce app.
Businesses may stay in touch with their customers by enabling them to use mobile apps for making purchases without ever visiting a website. Individuals won’t have any issue discovering your app if it is easily available on mobile phones. In comparison to desktop computers, mobile phones have the advantage of on-the-go shopping. Users of e-commerce apps can explore products and make purchases using mobile devices anytime they are far from home or on foot.
No, the price of developing an app depends on several variables that might be both pricey and cost-effective..
An e-commerce application can take anywhere between 2 and 12 months to develop. Based on its application’s complexity, design requirements, integration preferences, and the experience of the development team, this time range varies.
The price range for creating and building a mobile app for e-commerce is often between $20,000 and $50,000. You can determine if this is the case by looking at the app’s features, difficulty, and all the other aspects.
As a result, it is possible to operate Shopify stores as sole proprietorships or LLCs. Although unnecessary, you could set up an LLC or a company. You normally need your social security number or tax identification number (TIN) to set up all the legal aspects of your Shopify store.
The typical cost to design and develop eCommerce apps like Noon would be between $25,000 and $30,000. The price of creating the app may increase to around $35,000 if AI and customized features are integrated.
The best way to create an ecommerce mobile app for business is to hire ecommerce app developers from a leading ecommerce app development services provider. They will ensure a quality app for your business without any hidden cost.
Jeeto11
The app quickly earned over 1,000 downloads within two months of launch, and users have responded positively. ARKA Softwares boasted experienced resources who were happy to share their knowledge with the internal team.
Archithrones
While the development is ongoing, the client is pleased with the work thus far, which has met expectations. ARKA Softwares puts the needs of the client first, remaining open to feedback on their work. Their team is adaptable, responsive, and hard-working.
Service Provider
I started my project with Arka Softwares because it is a reputed company. And when I started working with them for my project, I found out that they have everything essential for my work. The app is still under development and but quite confident and it will turn out to be the best.
