So, just how much does an ecommerce website cost in Kenya? It’s a tough question to answer, so we’ve created this article to provide you with a guide to help you answer that question: how much does an e-commerce website cost in Kenya?
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So, why is getting a price for my e-commerce project so hard?
The reason why getting an exact price for your e-commerce website development project in 2024 is difficult is that e-commerce projects can have so many options and elements that are unique to each individual business.
Usually, when you contact an e-commerce web design agency in Nairobi, they’ll be able to give you a ballpark figure, but it may be quite vague at this early stage.
Any good website design company will take you through a series of questions and help you prepare a web design brief, so that they can really drill down into the specifics of your project – this is what will allow you to obtain an accurate itemised quote.
Think of an ecommerce project like building a new house – you need to specify how big it’s going to be, how many bedrooms and bathrooms you’d like it to have, what style of kitchen you’d like and all the other finishes.
If you’re looking for approximate e-commerce website costs…
If you’re here to just get some base figures, then here’s what you could expect an ecommerce website to cost in Kenya, depending on the approach to your project and the functionality you need.
| Project Approach | Possible Cost |
|---|---|
| Off-The-Shelf Ecommerce Website | Ksh 50,000 – Ksh 150,000 |
| Bespoke Ecommerce Website | Ksh 150,000 – Ksh 300,000 |
| Complex Functionality Bespoke Ecommerce Website | Ksh 300,000 – Ksh 500,000 |
So let’s get into the six things you need to consider and be aware of to get the most accurate price for your ecommerce project.
1) Determine your needs
The term MVP (minimal viable product) gets used quite a bit, but during the early stages, think about what you absolutely must have to ensure your ecommerce website is a success, versus what you’d ideally like to have.
The best way to do this is to fire up Excel and create a simple spreadsheet. If you have a document like this, you can ping it over to a few web design companies and they’ll love you for it, because it will be a great basis for initial discussions.
You might think doing this is more of an exercise for the start-ups out there, but we’d argue even if you’re already established selling online, it’s a good exercise to carry out.
2) An ‘off the shelf’ or ‘custom’ approach?
This applies to both design and development and will have big cost implications. Let’s look at the design first.
Design
There are e-commerce platforms out there that will let you purchase cheap themes so you can get your e-commerce website up and running quickly.
Whilst we aren’t fans of this approach if you are just getting started in the business of selling online, have limited funds, require only that your customers pay using Lipa na Mpesa, and don’t have any custom functionality requirements, then these solutions can be a good way to test the market affordably.
If you are looking to create a serious business that has the foundations in place to grow or are already established, then we’d always recommend bespoke design when it comes to your e-commerce website.
You’ll want the way your website and brand looks to be instantly recognisable and tailored to your values, so you can build a connection with your customers going forward. You can find out more about the value of good design for your business here.
Development
In terms of development – again, if you’re looking for standard e-commerce functionality and you’re happy with a generic design, then an off-the-shelf theme will be a good option for you.
If you have more bespoke requirements (like wanting to link up to an accounting package or requiring a price calculator based on your own formula), then you’ll likely need to work with a company that can offer custom e-commerce design and development.
You’ve got to weigh up what’s right for your business and your goals/ambitions.
3) Additional costs to consider
If someone tries to convince you otherwise, they are only giving you the information you want to hear. E-commerce site design is complex. Additional expenses will occur, and you should be prepared for them.
Hosting
The cost of hosting your e-commerce website will vary depending on the amount of traffic your site receives or that you expect to receive. Most agencies charge for hosting on an annual basis, and as a rough ballpark, you could be looking at anything between Ksh 5,500 to Ksh 12,000 per year if you’re using a web hosting company in Kenya.
If you have a large, established e-commerce website that receives a large volume of traffic, then a dedicated server would be a better option, with these being around Ksh 5,000 per month.
SSL Certificates
To give confidence to your customers and make your site more secure, you’ll need to make sure your website has an SSL certificate. This gives your site the “https” prefix in the address bar and also a padlock icon that helps reassure customers too.
When an SSL certificate is used, the information from your website becomes unreadable to everyone, except for the server you are sending the information to. Some web design agencies charge for SSL certificates, but there are great free options available: Cloudflare and LetsEncrypt, to name just two.
Maintenance / Bug Fixes / Plugin Updates
You’ll likely also need to factor in something like Ksh 3000-Ksh 5000 a month for the security and maintenance of your website, as many ecommerce platforms utilise plugins which are continuously being updated and improved. Leaving these plugins out of date can leave your ecommerce website vulnerable, so instructing your web design company to look after this on a monthly basis is recommended.
Search engine optimization
Whilst this should absolutely be discussed and considered in great detail at the start of your project, you’ll want to find out from your e-commerce web design company in Kenya how much they charge for this on an ongoing basis, as SEO is something that works best with continuous effort.
You might rank first for your key phrase today, but next week you might drop, so if traffic from Google is going to be the primary way you drive traffic to your website, investing in ongoing SEO services is something you’ll need to budget for.
Training
Have you considered how you are going to work with your new ecommerce website day-to-day once it’s up and running?
Chances are you and your staff will need some training and/or some documentation so you can be confident adding new products and editing other content. Some web design companies charge extra for this, so make sure you have a discussion with them about it.
4) Migrating products and customers
If you already sell online, you’ll need to talk about migrating your products and customers from your current website to the new ecommerce website that gets built.
This is obviously critical and needs to be done smoothly, so it’s a simple process for the most important people of all—your customers. Ensure that you feel confident that the company you choose can do this successfully for you.
5) Improving business processes
When you have your e-commerce website redesigned and redeveloped, it can often be a good time to look at ways in which you can streamline your business processes.
For example, you might be interested in getting a quote for functionality that allows orders from your website and your accounting package to sync up effortlessly.
Or maybe you use a CRM system? Or you have a customer list in MailChimp?
This could also be a good time to start improving your business processes and have your e-commerce website sync with these kinds of third-party platforms to cut down on administrative tasks.
6) Timescales
Creating an e-commerce website from scratch or redesigning an existing one is a significant undertaking. Don’t be misled by salespeople who claim that your new site can be delivered in just 2-3 weeks. A quality solution will require more time than that.
You’ll want to make sure you have accurate expectations and that the web design company you work with have been honest and upfront with you about when your site can be delivered. We’d say that realistically you’ll be looking at 6-12 weeks depending on how complex and custom your requirements are.
How much does an e-commerce website cost in Kenya?
The bespoke ecommerce websites we design and develop are typically between Ksh 150,000 and Ksh 300,000 – that’s how different each project can be. This goes to show that a lot of discussion and research goes into each ecommerce project, so be honest and open with the web designers you talk to, to ensure you get an accurate price.
Top tips from us?
1) Functionality Documents
Always make sure the web design company you choose to build your new ecommerce website produce a document outlining all the required features and functionality. This way nothing gets forgotten or left to chance – it’s all documented and can be checked off during the project. It will also ensure you don’t get charged extra for anything that was initially agreed upon.
2) Speak to two or three agencies
When you are ready to get things moving make sure you speak to two or three web design companies to see how they handle your enquiry. During the enquiry process you’ll get a good feel for how thorough they are. whether they proactively pick up the phone to call you and also what questions they ask. Request that they quote up your project and go from there. But…
3) Don’t necessarily pick the cheapest option
By going out to two or three ecommerce web design agencies you will get a range of different prices come back, so don’t pick the cheapest by default. Make your decision based on their past results, whether you feel like you can work successfully alongside them (after all this will be a long term partnership) and make sure each quote is actually like for like.
