The cost of an online store includes development, catalogue preparation, payment and delivery setup, followed by ongoing website expenses. To estimate the budget, you need to know which processes the store will automate and which will remain the team’s responsibility.
Two stores with the same number of products can require different amounts of work. Simple product pages with one price and a complex catalogue with sizes, stock across warehouses and several delivery rules are different projects.
Below, we break down the main expenses and show an illustrative calculation for catalogues of 20 and 120 products.
When preparing an estimate, separate:
A practical formula for the first year’s technical budget is:
Development + catalogue preparation + additional integrations + annual subscriptions and licences + maintenance + planned improvements.
Budget for stock purchases, warehousing, advertising and staff separately in the overall business plan. Otherwise, the website development fee can look like the full cost of launching the store.
Basic development usually covers structure and design, a catalogue, product pages, a cart, checkout and the agreed payment and delivery methods. Check each provider’s scope against their estimate.
For example, our commercial offer for online store development lists a base price of €1,599. It covers a Tilda store with up to 10 pages, uploading up to 20 products using the client’s materials, custom design, basic SEO setup, and domain, SSL, analytics, payment and delivery setup. These terms were checked on 6 October 2026.
Distinguish the number of products included in the uploading service from the catalogue’s technical capacity. A package that includes uploading 20 products does not mean the store can only sell 20 items.
Before the project begins, clarify which integrations the base price covers. Warehouse synchronisation, complex delivery calculations or data exchange with a business management system need a separate specification and estimate.
Each product needs a name, SKU, description, specifications, price, images and availability information. Physical products may also need weight and package dimensions.
If a product comes in several sizes or colours, decide which variants have their own price, image and stock quantity. The number of product pages alone does not reveal the workload.
Separate two tasks:
Importing is useful for a large catalogue when the source data is ready. It does not correct wrong prices, duplicate SKUs or mismatched images.
For example, WooCommerce supports adding and updating products through CSV. Updates use product IDs or SKUs, and images must be available for import. Account for this when preparing the file and estimating the work. WooCommerce product import documentation.
Before importing the whole catalogue, check a small sample: a simple product, a product with variants, an out-of-stock item and a product in several categories. Then agree on the format for the full catalogue.
The platform needs to support your sales and order management processes. Before choosing it, check:
Tilda’s catalogue limits depend on the plan; import and data exchange integrations are available. Check the terms against your product range and processes. Tilda product catalogue.
Webflow counts products, variants and categories towards its Ecommerce item limit. The number of product names in your price list therefore differs from the number of items the catalogue will use. How Webflow counts products and variants.
For WordPress with WooCommerce, list the extensions you need in advance and check compatibility and renewal fees. Assess any additional plugin together with the work required to configure and maintain it.
Setting up payments on the website and paying for transaction processing are separate expenses.
Before development, check whether your chosen provider supports your company, products and required currencies. A method offered by the provider is not necessarily available through a particular platform integration. Stripe, for example, lists payment method restrictions by country, currency, product and integration option. Stripe payment methods documentation.
When calculating expenses, check the percentage and fixed components of the fee, possible platform charges, currency conversion and refund terms.
Illustrative example: with a fee of 2% + €0.20 per successful payment, 100 payments per month and a total payment value of €5,000, the fee would be:
€5,000 × 2% + 100 × €0.20 = €120 per month.
If these figures remain the same for all 12 months, the total is €1,440 per year. This is an arithmetic example, not a Stripe or other provider’s tariff or a sales forecast. Check the actual calculation basis and additional charges in the provider’s terms.
The development brief should also specify how the store receives payment status and what happens after a declined payment, cancellation or retry. A customer returning to a thank-you page should not, by itself, replace payment verification.
First, describe where the store ships, which delivery options are available and how their prices are calculated.
Budget factors include:
Selecting a delivery method at checkout, calculating a rate automatically and generating a shipping label are separate functions. The estimate should make clear which ones will be implemented.
Manual shipment booking may suit a low order volume. As sales grow, compare staff time with the cost of automation. Include the handling of unusual orders and data exchange errors in that assessment.
If customers pay for delivery, check whether the amount covers the actual shipping cost. Free delivery for the customer remains an expense for the store.
Once published, the store needs product updates, order monitoring, integration checks and technical changes.
For WordPress, decide who updates the system and extensions, makes backups and restores the site if something fails. WordPress recommends running the current version and making a backup before updating. WordPress update guidance.
On Tilda and Webflow, the platform manages website hosting. Content, integrations, custom code and design still need maintenance.
For work on Tilda, WordPress and Webflow, you can use our hourly website and design support service. The published rate is €30/hour; we agree on the tasks and estimated time according to the platform and the store’s requirements.
Assign responsibility for daily operations separately: price changes, order confirmation, returns and customer replies. Technical website support does not automatically include these activities.
The following illustrative scenarios use the same base Tilda store configuration. Both assume one language, ready-to-use photographs, simple products and agreed standard payment and delivery methods. Warehouse synchronisation, extra paid services and custom integrations are excluded.
The base development fee and additional product uploading package come from the published commercial offer. Uploading 100 products costs €200 when materials are provided. Data preparation, domain and platform costs below are assumed for illustration. Support is budgeted at 2 or 4 hours per month at the published rate of €30/hour.
This is an example calculation, not an individual quote. The catalogues are compared using the same basic features; the larger support allowance is an assumption, not an unavoidable consequence of the product count. Support is charged for agreed work, rather than as a fixed amount from the table.
The calculation excludes payment fees, stock purchases, advertising, warehousing, packaging, shipping, returns and staff costs. Applicable taxes and how prices reflect them are clarified in the actual proposal.
If you need extra languages, complex product variants, licences or synchronisation with a business management system, add them as separate line items. Compare subscriptions over the same period and include renewal prices.
Before approaching a developer, prepare:
Before opening for sales, go through the full customer journey: product and variant selection, availability, cart, delivery, successful and unsuccessful payments, notifications and order processing. Also check cancellation and refunds using the agreed process.
Prices on the site and order totals must reflect the selected products and terms. Customers should have access to clear information about the seller, payments, delivery and returns. Prepare the necessary documents for the markets you serve.
First, agree on the functions needed to process a real order. You can schedule additional features after launch if adding them later will not require rebuilding the store’s foundations.
It can be sensible to save on optional design elements and prepare the catalogue in a consistent format. Include payment verification, price accuracy and the delivery of orders to responsible staff in the essential scope.
When discussing online store development, we recommend starting with the product range, sales terms and order handling process. This information helps define the scope and estimate both launch and ongoing maintenance.
A store budget should show the cost of building it, maintaining it and servicing each sale. You can then compare developers’ proposals against the same scope and plan post-launch expenses in advance.