Having an Online Shop Developed: What Does It Really Cost?

Create an online shop: What does it cost?

What costs an online shop – and why is the question so difficult to answer?

Short: Court answer: Create an online shop: costs, runtimes and decision-making aid between standard shop system and individual solution for mid-sized businesses.

Court answer: Create an online shop: costs, runtimes and decision-making aid between standard shop system and individual solution for mid-sized businesses.

Develop decision-makers around Onlineshop: What does it cost? Use CMS- & E-commerce platforms, cost calculator: onlineshop, solution: commerce & e-commerce and Comparison: Shopware vs. Magento as structured next steps.

“What does an online shop cost?” is one of the most frequently asked questions in the IT project business – and at the same time one of the most difficult to answer.

The honest answer: between €3,000 and €150,000, depending on requirements.

This article shows which cost drivers are really relevant, which system types fit for which companies and how to make a sound decision as a medium-sized company.

Cost drivers at the online shop

1. System type: Standard vs. Individual

Short: Standard Shop Systems (Shopware, WooCommerce, Magento Open Source):

Standard Shop Systems (Shopware, WooCommerce, Magento Open Source):

• License: 0–500 €/month
• Facility: 3,000–30,000 €
• Adjustments: 1.000–50.000 €
• Current costs: Hosting + Updates + Plugins

Individual shop solution (own development):

• Development: 40.000–150.000 €
• No license fees
• Full control of functions and scaling
• Maintenance by the development partner

2. Functional scope

Short: | function | effort | |---------------- | Product catalog, shopping cart, checkout | Base – included | | Individual price logic (shore prices, discount groups) | medium (2–5 days) | | ERP/PIM connection | high (5–20 days) | | B2B portal with customer account | high (10-30 days) | | Internationalization / Multilingualism | medium–high | | Configurator logic / CPQ | very high |

| function | effort | |---------------- | Product catalog, shopping cart, checkout | Base – included | | Individual price logic (shore prices, discount groups) | medium (2–5 days) | | ERP/PIM connection | high (5–20 days) | | B2B portal with customer account | high (10-30 days) | | Internationalization / Multilingualism | medium–high | | Configurator logic / CPQ | very high |

3. Data volume and integration complexity

Short: A shop with 200 articles and manual care is technically trivial.

A shop with 200 articles and manual care is technically trivial. A shop with 50,000 variants, automatic ERP comparison, own stock and cross-channel price maintenance is a full project.

The more your online shop needs to be integrated with existing systems (ERP, CRM, commodities management), the higher the project costs – and the greater the added value compared to an island solution.

Typical medium-sized budget frames

Up to 15,000 €: Standard-Shop with Theme and Plugins

• Shopware 6 or WooCommerce, standard template
• Up to 500 products
• Paypal, Klarna, bill
• No ERP connection Suitable for: entry into the B2C business, expandable base

15,000–80.000 €: Customized Standard Shop

• Shopware 6 or Magento, individual designs
• PIM connection or CSV import
• Simple ERP coupling (Datev, Sage, Lexware)
• Own B2B customer account

Suitable for: medium stand with clear product catalog, digital distribution next to stationary

80.000–150.000 €: Individual solution or enterprise system

• Own development or Shopware Enterprise / Adobe Commerce
• Full ERP integration (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics)
• Complex price logic, customer groups, configurators
• Multi-Mandant / international rollout

Suitable for: manufacturer, wholesaler, high volume B2B digital distribution

What the hourly price really means

Agencies typically pay €80–150/h.

Cheaper offers (< 50 €/h) often come from low-wage countries – this is not flat-rate, but the communication costs, quality risks and lack of legal certainty (GDPR, contract law) should be calculated.

Groenewold IT Solutions works exclusively with German developers at the site Leer (Ostfriesland). All projects run at an agreed fixed price – without hidden hourly bills.

→ More about our way of working: Software development fixed price

Current costs after launch

Short: An online shop is not a unique project – it needs regular care:

An online shop is not a unique project – it needs regular care:

| Cost block | Monthly (estimate) | |-------------- Hosting (managed) | 50–500 € | | Plugin licenses / platform license | 0–800 € | | Security updates, patches | 2–8 h/month | | SEO / Content-Pflege | individual | | Support / further development | as required |

Decision aid: Standard or Individual solution?

Standard shop system recommended if:

• Your product catalog < 5,000 items with little variance
• No complex ERP integration required
• Budget < 50,000 €
• Fast go-live more important than maximum adaptability

Individual solution recommended if:

• Complex B2B logic (customer prices, approval workflows, configurators)
• Deep integration into existing enterprise systems
• independent scaling requirements
• Long-term independence of platform providers desired

→ Also interesting: Individual software development for mid-sized businesses

FAQ: Onlineshop Costs

Short: **How long does the development of an online shop take?

**How long does the development of an online shop take? ** Standard shops with small size: 6–12 weeks. Individual solutions with ERP integration: 4–9 months.

**What shop system is the best? **Shopware 6 is most widely used and well documented in German mid-sized businesses.

For maximum individuality, a development based on modern frameworks (Next.js, NestJS, Laravel) is recommended.

**What does the connection to our ERP cost? ** Depending on the ERP system and integration depth between 5,000 € (CSV-based) and 80,000 € (real-time API integration). We clarify the exact costs in the first interview.

**Do we smoke a PIM system for our online shop? ** PIM (Product Information Management) is recommended from about 1,000 products or in complex variants. It saves long-term care and prevents inconsistencies.

**Can Groenewold IT Solutions expand my existing shop? ** Yes. We also take over the further development of existing shopware or WooCommerce installations as well as migrations to new platforms.

→ Talk to us about your project: Free first consultation

Typical stumbling stones – and how to bypass them

Short: Scope-Creep arises when requirements are re-suspended without new prioritization.

Scope-Creep arises when requirements are re-suspended without new prioritization. Antidote: clear product-over roll, visible backlog and documented “later” list.

Selective test data lead to surprises in production. Invest early in anonymized snapshots or generated records covering edge cases.

Knowledge islands between development and operation cause long incident times.

Common runbooks, common demos and a common glossary on technical terms reduce friction – especially in complex topics such as Onlineshop: What does it cost?.

Checklist (compact, customizable)

• Monitoring on business figures, not just infrastructure.
• Set up cost and license monitoring for cloud/environment.
• Plan documentation and short courses for key users.
• Set goals, KPI and non-scope in writing.
• Record performance budgets and accessibility in QA.
• Track dependencies on third-party providers and API versioning.

Measurability and quality assurance

Short: Define Erfolg on measurable criteria – for example reduced processing time, lower escalations or higher conversion – and not only managed via “Go-live”.

Define Erfolg on measurable criteria – for example reduced processing time, lower escalations or higher conversion – and not only managed via “Go-live”.

For onlineshop, a slim set of automated tests is worth on the most important user journeys plus targeted manual exploratory tests before releases.

Quality is also created by code reviews, architecture decision logs (ADR) and clear handovers to the operation: runbooks, escalation paths and documented border cases.

Knowledge remains in the company – regardless of individual persons or service providers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is it about in this article about “Let’s develop online shop: What does it cost?”

This article highlights Onlineshop: What does it cost? from the perspective of requirements, typical stumbling stones and meaningful next steps.

In the core: to develop online shop: costs, runtimes and decision-making aid between standard shop system and individual solution for mid-sized businesses.

For whom are the content described especially relevant?

Pragmatically usable for project management and Product Owner who need to decide in E-Commerce between standard software, individual development and integration.

How can the topic be classified into an IT or digital strategy?

Technically and organizationally, it is worthwhile to vote with experienced partners – from request clarification to operation; an entry point is the performance overview with related topics. In addition, a coordination with IT consulting and architecture helps if several systems or suppliers are involved.

What next steps are useful when support is needed?

Pragmatic next step: book appointment and jointly clarify what MVP or pilot variant fits your team and landscape.

Conclusion and next steps

Short: To be developed onlineshop: What does this really cost?

To be developed onlineshop: What does this really cost? can be successfully implemented when technology, organization and measurability fit together – instead of insulated tool rollouts without process reference.

Use the overview in this article as a basis for discussion on priorities, risks and the first loadable pilot.

Intensify matching topics in category overview Blog category and check operational support via web development, onlineshop creation. Groenewold IT accompanies analysis, implementation and operation – from the first classification to scalable releases.

Technical sources and further links

Short: The following independent references complement the classification on the topics of this Article:

The following independent references complement the classification on the topics of this Article:

• Bitkom – Digital Economy Association
• BSI – Federal Office for Information Security
• European Commission – Digital Strategy
• MDN Web Docs (Mozilla)
• W3C – World Wide Web Consortium

"Privacy by Design is not a subsequent checkbox, but an architectural question – especially for personal master data."

— *Björn Groenewold, Managing Director, Groenewold IT Solutions *