E-commerce Development Cost & Pricing】
Hong Kong Online Shop Building Price Guide 2019

The number of so-called E-commerce development companies is plenty, and their charges are widely varied, it's just not easy to find out the legit ones. For example, if a online shop is built to generate profit, then the stability of the site and the subsequent management are essential. 2Easy does not recommend freelancers in this case as their services are not sustainable and disorganized. For instance, a freelancer could be skillful; however, you never know if he cannot be reached when your site is down, even if it's only hours. Most importantly, a one man band is unable to deliver all your project requirements, not to mention the unpromising warranty from a casual professional.
The value of a online store production company lies in its project management expertise and understand the needs of its customers. Thus, effectively allocate resources to meet customer requirements.
The following is the Hong Kong E-commerce development price guide:

【E-commerce Development Cost, Rate Comparison】

Simple General Challenging
Price HKD 3,000 - HKD 15,000 HKD30,000 - HKD 250,000 > HKD 300,000
Type Templated website General customization Fully customization
UI Design Templated design General customization Fully customization
UX Design No General customization Fully customization
Customization No General High
Branding No General High
Functionality Limited General customization Unrestricted / fully customized
SEO Limited SEO customization Full SEO customization
Multi-language Generally not included Included Included
Development potential Limited General Unrestricted / fully customized
Maintenance/Upgrade Self-maintenance or additional charge Included in the contract period Included in the contract period
Modification Limited Included in the contract period Included in the contract period
Suitable for Small online store / Low branding requirement / Low traffic requirement SME online store / Require traffic growth / Require branding / Require customization Creative web platform / High functionality requirement / High traffic requirement / Corporate image website / Highly customized
*Substantial service details are subject to the signed contract
Why is 2Easy superior to other platforms?
1. Personalized recommendation
Several services matching platforms in the market adopt a first-come-first-served system, that means, clients receive bids from quick responding service provider, but not the right one. We believe that it's not an appropriate matching system when comes to E-commerce development projects, as they are more complicated and do not meet clients' needs. 2Easy guarantees personalized recommendations, we recommend 2-3 most suitable production agencies according to customer needs. If clients are not satisfied, we follow up to ensure customer satisfaction.
2. Only quality agencies exclude freelancers
Unlike other service matching platforms, they do not have quality control over their service providers. You can only find excellent quality web development companies on the 2Easy platform excluding Freelancer. All company portfolio and service quality are certified by the 2Easy strict quality assurance team.
What are the potential risks searching for web development agencies online?
In general, 7 out of 10 business clients are dissatisfied with the service providers they find. Different from other low-skilled services (such as appliance repair and cleaning), shopping website development is varied and complicated. Service providers claim that their services meet clients' need. In fact, customers do not understand service providers' skills, past clients, previous experience, etc. There are plenty of agencies in the market, and 2Easy is a third-party appraiser to verify their quality with a full grasp of the market information. We follow up with projects of different clients, allowing us to gain a wealth of experience and Insider information to handpick the most suitable agencies for our customers, thus greatly reduce the risk of project failure.
The price range for building a shopping website is significantly huge. You can find charges range from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. For sure, the more complicated it is, higher the price it fetches. Here we list out the most popular E-commerce website types and functions on the market, you can find the price range of each type:

Cost for E-commerce website development:

1. DIY, Online Shop Builders Solution
In general, the fee is less than HK$30,000 per annum. Shopping website builders offer dozens of layouts and templates, allowing customers to select their own and upload information to their e-commerce store right away. As you don't need to hire a web designer and web developer, this is the cheapest option.
However, the do-it-yourself option has various restraints, the shopping cart, multi-language or other special features are fairly limited, and it is difficult to further develop if you have an enterprise or an expanding business.
Nevertheless, users still need to have basic web development concepts and image processing skills. If business clients do not possess the skills, hiring a small-scale online shop development agency is a better option.

2. A Custom website:
The cost of a custom E-commerce website is based on the number of pages, the amount of multimedia content, the functionality of the product page, and the quality required. For example, a corporate online store requires a 15 to 25 web pages, together with basic functionality, the fees range from $60,000 to $160,000. The huge price gap is decided by the required production time and labor costs.
In addition to shopping website development and design costs, system maintenance and upgrades also bring extra costs. The monthly website server renting fee ranges from HK$1,400 to $3,500, depending on the capacity required. The cheaper option is web hosting, depending on capacity, the monthly fee ranges from HK$25 to $450.
For sure, there are more restrictions on this cheap option. As the server is shared with other users, the speed is less stable, enterprises that highly appreciate customer experience and brand reputation must be aware of this. Well-known companies with big traffic have an option to set up their own servers, and the cost is one of the priciest.

3. Fully customized project shopping website:
If it is an innovative project E-commerce website with unique functional requirements, a fully customizable functional specification is required. Customized programming with special functions requires long hours of works from skillful programming engineers, it, therefore, drives the costs up. The sites require a project manager, web designers, UX designers, front-end engineers and back-end programmers who possess system and industry experience and knowledge, to work together.
Due to the high cost of customization, relatively high professional requirements (system specifications and enterprise client requirements), the cost is generally more than HK$300,000. The quality and deliverable of different agencies significantly vary. The project must be reviewed and revised from time to time. It is a safer and wiser choice to choose a professional agency. Enterprise clients can afford no website failure.

Additional services to E-commerce Development:

Clients should be aware of the associated charges and additional fees. As mentioned above, renting of server and web hosting are all feasible solutions. Depending on the requirements, monthly fee ranges from less than hundreds to thousands of Hong Kong dollars are all available. Website storage, domain settings, additional website marketing, and SEO optimization are not necessarily included in the development costs and an agency must clarify before the project kick starts.

In addition, it's necessary to understand the details of a solution an agency offers, some only deliver programming services, and are not responsible for the content and images of the website. If your website requires additional images processing, gallery, or premium website design services, the cost may be extra. As for post-services, if you need support in updating or maintaining the website from time to time, a starting monthly fee of HK$2,500 is required, depending on the scale and complexity of the update.

Website Development Payment Schedule:

In general, online shop building services are charged in stages.
1. Recommended by 2Easy
According to clients' needs, 2Easy will recommend 2-3 most suitable agencies for free. Client and agency have a preliminary discussion and understand their company background and project details. Then, the agency delivers a proposal and quotation.

2. Client makes a hiring decision and a deposit payment
Client selects the most desirable agency, signs the contract and makes a deposit payment. (2Easy also offers an optional Escrow payment service. The client makes the first payment to 2Easy, 2Easy only releases the payment after the agency has accomplished and delivered the work, and it is approved by the client.)

3. Complete the initial phase, the second payment schedule due
Upon completion of the initial phase, the client makes the second payment if it's been approved. At this stage, it involves website content, customized programs, preliminary system testing and modification, and animation planning.

4. After the entire work is completed and delivered, the remaining balance due
Final testing and De-bug modification executed, also need to ensure that all files and programs are delivered after the shopping website is up and running, and the client is ready to pay remaining balance after their approval.
Hire a e-commerce development company
Free to receive and compare quotes from e-commerce development companies
Client Reviews
PCCW , Habbitzz

Clarity crafted a personalised shopping experience by UX&UI design. Clarity handled the design of the website, iOS and Android app at the early idea stage. Clarity helped us to create an engaging user experience and user interfaces (UX & UI) as well.

Vector Smart Object Vector Smart Object Vector Smart Object Vector Smart Object Vector Smart Object
ListCup 's Co-Founder , Teresa Lam

We have been worked with Rabbit Studio since we started our business. We have always found the team provides professional and efficient services in creating our eCommerce platform. I believe we will work with the team going forward.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
QUESTION 1： How can 2Easy helps finding E-commerce development agencies?
There are three key reasons:
1. 2Easy accurately assesses the pros and cons of different agencies and reduces the risk of failures:
Many corporate customers end up with disappointing results when sourcing for E-commerce website development companies without expertise. The quality of most development agencies sourced online is highly inconsistent, and the typical client may not be able to accurately ascertain their capabilities. 2Easy ensures the quality of each agency by evaluating their prior works and portfolios. On top of this, we are also stringent in verifying their backgrounds, operational scale and strengths.

2. 2Easy can recommend the most suitable developers based on clear understanding of client needs:
Each developer has different strengths and areas of expertise, and a good match is critical to ensure successful project delivery. 2Easy also has an established network of independent developers with full knowledge of their capabilities and expertise. Armed with clear requirements from the client, 2Easy can carefully select and recommend the most competent and well-suited developer for each task, greatly reducing time, cost and risk for the client.

3. Data-driven developer appointments and 2Easy's expert advice:
On the 2Easy platform, clients can monitor their project status or view developer ratings and reviews to identify the best agency for them. We also collect data from all our developers and translate these into meaningful charts and diagrams. Along with our expert advice, you can quickly gain clarity and understanding of the market and be confident of appointing the development agencies we recommend.
QUESTION 2：Which type of company is the 2Easy platform most suited for?
1. SMEs all the way to large multinational companies:
2Easy is a qualified and professional platform specializing in servicing corporations. If your project is quite small in scale (e.g. total project budget of less than HK$20,000), we recommend sourcing for independent freelancers or using existing web builder platforms to build a simple site.

2. Customers who need multiple quotes at the same time:
Some companies require projects to go through a series of tendering procedures, including quotations and proposals from multiple developers for comparison. 2Easy is perfect in this scenario. Simply tell us the requirements of your project and the number of quotations required, we will select the appropriate developers for submissions.

3. Companies sourcing for new development agencies:
It is a norm for companies to rotate through different development agencies on a regular basis. This practice increases the enterprise’s exposure to new technologies and trends. In our fast-paced business environment where consumers are ever-hungry for change, continuous evolution is a core driver for many businesses. 2Easy understands and can recommend innovative developers who will help you push the boundaries.
QUESTION 3：Some people say that HKD 3 000 is sufficient for a good E-commerce website. Why do the developers on 2Easy have quotations in tens of thousands?
The scale of E-commerce websites can range from anything as basic as a student's assignment page to a massive site like Alibaba. Thus, the question is what type of shopping website the customer needs. The more complex and demanding the project, the higher the price. Many templated sites are overly-simple and unstable, with no capacity for high speed, high traffic, network security, or customization. If you are building a website for corporate branding or commercial purposes, it’s important to weigh the risk of losing time and prospective customers against any potential savings in web development.
QUESTION 4：Why should I seek a E-commerce developer when I can use one of the many web builder platforms?
This depends on the needs of customers. Generally, the design and functionality of the low-priced self-service web builder platforms are quite basic. It can cause brand confusion or brand damage when your site looks too similar to many others. Without expert knowledge of web architecture, layout and general design, your DIY site may also not turn out professional-looking or aesthetically pleasing. If your business’s advertising cost remains high on an ongoing basis due to poor branding, that would negate any savings gained from using a DIY web builder.
Provide your email and we will assist for FREE.