How much does it cost to set up an e-shop?

Entrepreneurs planning to set up an online store may face extreme opinions about the cost of launching such a venture. Is it possible to launch your own e-commerce at no cost, or are you facing a serious investment of up to 50 thousand zlotys? Kokos.pl, a social finance platform, decided to look into the matter.

Poland is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Europe. It is estimated that up to several hundred new e-shops are established every month. Some of them are set up by new entrepreneurs, while others are the online entry of entrepreneurs previously operating in traditional channels. According to a survey conducted by the Millward Brown studio on behalf of Shoper, the leading software for online sales, every third owner of a stationary store declares his desire to launch an online channel in a definable time frame. They are tempted primarily by the chance to easily and virtually unlimitedly reach new customers.

- A professional and fully functional online store can be created for as little as PLN 1,000, assuming that we use ready-made tools for online sales. Starting your own e-business these days is much cheaper and simpler than setting up a small neighborhood store, notes Joanna Tokarska of Kokos.pl, a social finance platform where small entrepreneurs can borrow money from private investors.

In theory, you can set up an online store in a day, provided you already have a well thought-out strategy for entering the e-commerce market. What is worth keeping in mind?

Hosting and domain

To begin with, it will be sufficient and convenient to use ready-made software for setting up and running an online store. Platforms offering such solutions usually offer a subscription model (payment once a year, less often once a month). Usually we can count on very favorable promotions to start. We can buy Shopper's basic package for as little as PLN 33 per month, meaning that a year's subscription for using the software costs only PLN 396. The price includes hosting with an annual transfer of up to 300 GB, access to the administration panel with a limit of 10,000 products, as well as telephone and email technical support. We can also take advantage of a number of add-ons and ready-made integrations, related to online payments, logistics and online promotion.

The costs mentioned above are not much compared to a store "tailor-made" by an interactive agency. For the work of programmers and the rest of the team on our store we will pay from several to tens of thousands of zlotys.

Ready-made store platforms also allow you to buy a domain at attractive prices. A good domain is like an attractive store location. It should be short and catchy, so that customers comfortably reach our address. Prices range from a symbolic zloty to ... the upper limit actually does not exist. It all depends on the popularity of the phrase and the tip. We will pay more for English-language names with a .com suffix. The prices of native .pl domains start at about PLN 50. For the purchase of a package of several of the most popular extensions, such as .com.pl and .eu, we should not spend more than PLN 100 per year.

Graphic design

P

latforms on which to set up a store offer a range of ready-made and, importantly, responsive designs, which we can have for a subscription price or purchase for no more than PLN 400. In doing so, we can, and sometimes must, redesign some elements according to our needs. Minor work by a graphic designer or the help of the platform operator in adapting the changes to the panel is an additional cost of several hundred to 1000 zlotys. For a professional, completely individual graphic design of an e-shop we will pay a minimum of PLN 2 thousand.

SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate, by encrypting communications between computers, ensures the confidentiality of data sent electronically. It is assigned to a particular domain and secures cash transactions made through the website. It will be purchased for an amount starting at about PLN 79 per year. Is it necessary? Certificates are a guarantee of the store's credibility in the eyes of customers, position the site higher in browsers and are required if you intend to integrate your store with Facebook.

Regulations

Some would-be e-entrepreneurs would probably skip this point or use any of the templates circulating on the web. However, the terms and conditions are the legal basis of the remote contract with the customer. It should be tailored to the specifics of the e-store and regulate all key issues related to its operation. In the cheaper version, the regulations can create for us, for example, Rules Wizard. For the preparation of individual, correctly formulated e-shop regulations, a law firm will bill us about PLN 500.

Content

The key to successful online sales is reliable and attractive product information. If you do not have photos provided by the manufacturers of the goods sold, you will face an investment in a professional product session. The cost of a packshot of a product ranges from about PLN 20 to as much as PLN 100 for 360-degree photography. Product descriptions "go" online for about PLN 3 apiece. If you don't have your eye on trusted subcontractors, it's worthwhile to catalog and place the assortment on the website yourself, as we will be responsible for any discrepancies between the goods and the description.