Cost and Management of an eCommerce Website in Nigeria – In recent times, more people are beginning to build their own websites as a means of taking their businesses to the digital space. Furthermore, it’s no longer news that a business that is dependent only on the customers that are visible to it would sooner or later go extinct; thus, there is a pressing need for such a shift. Moreover, most business owners have worried about what it would cost to build an effective and functional eCommerce website that can help them increase their visibility and sales.

While there may not be a precise cost of building an e-commerce site, there is however a means of knowing the cost range of building a basic and/or dynamic site in Nigeria. So long as you have a budget, a good web developer would help you do justice to your funds.

The first thing you would need to know is that, for starters, the skill and experience of your web developer significantly has a lot to do with the cost of your eCommerce website. Furthermore, having been in the developers’ space, I have come to realize that efficiency and effectiveness are not only key things to look out for, but also crucial factors in ensuring a successful project.

Enough with all the lectures, let’s head to the crux of the matter.

There are four major things that actually sum up the cost of creating an eCommerce website, they are:  Domain name, hosting account, development fee and Digital Marketing (site promotion, etc.).

The Domain name

Domain name is the unique registered name of your business on the internet that allows your website to be accessed. For a Nigerian business with a com.ng it costs between NGN4, 000 to NGN28, 000 while that of .ng cost between NGN12,000 to NGN15,000 depending on whether or not the name is new or previously owned by another it could cost more, which can be determined by auction.

Hosting account

There are various kinds of hosting, the goals you hope to achieve and the budget you have would determine your choice. If you are expecting traffic to your site, it would be better to go for either a VPS or cloud hosting.

• Shared hosting
• Cloud hosting
• Dedicated server
• Virtual private server (VPS)

The costs of hosting an eCommerce domain is between NGN40, 000 to NGN 1,200, 000 and above Per annum depending on the hosting plan and disk size.

Development fee

The fee a developer demands is usually dependent on two major things, first the functionalities of the project (e-commerce website), and the skill set and experience of the developer. Some developers also include the fee for content development and graphics (e.g. logo) which are also important aspects of your website. With all of these you are likely to pay between NGN40, 000 to NGN800, 000 as the quantity of products affects the development cost.

Management and promotion of your website are as important as developing the website, to ensure Return on Investment. You can achieve this via search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media, email marketing, etc. These could cost you about NGN90, 000 to NGN20,000,000 monthly. Also remember that your domain name and web hosting is subject to renewal annually.

Having an eCommerce website for your business is a great idea. With good management practices, it would do much good to your business. I hope this article was helpful?