Practice 03 · Web, software & digital solutionsEcommerce website development: sell, ship and manage

An online store draws visitors and fills baskets, then loses a share of its sales at the delivery page, the account creation step or the payment screen. Every point of friction costs money, and the most expensive ones are usually invisible from the office. Developing an ecommerce website means designing the buying journey end to end, and also the tool your team will open every morning to prepare orders.

Check what I need to sell online

A scoping of your shop, free

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At a glanceCustom e-commerce development: the essentials

Who it is for: Brands, retailers, publishers and B2B companies that want a fast, well-ranked shop built around their own sales rules.
What you get: A custom-built shop, its back office (products, orders, customers, promotions), secure payment, shipping and e-commerce SEO.
Typical timing: 8 to 12 weeks for a launch shop, 12 to 20 weeks for a full shop.
Typical budget: From €8,000 excl. VAT for a launch shop to €35,000 excl. VAT for a full shop; more for a connected or B2B shop.

Get an estimate See indicative prices

Who it is for, and whenWhen an online store is worth the investment

Most store projects grow out of an existing commercial activity that its current channel is holding back.

You sell in-store or over the phone and customers ask to order online, but your catalogue only exists in your till software or a spreadsheet.
Your current store runs on a platform whose fees rise with sales, or which cannot handle your variants, customer-specific pricing or multiple stock locations.
You sell to trade customers with negotiated prices, multi-buyer accounts and repeat orders, which consumer-oriented stores handle poorly.
Your checkout abandonment rate is high and you have no way of knowing at which step buyers give up.

Behind the purchase pathFive screens for the customer, six systems behind the scenes

The customer only sees five screens. Behind each one, the shop queries the catalogue, reserves stock, calculates delivery, secures the payment and triggers the right messages. One of these connections responding badly means a lost order or a shipping error, which is why we design them together with the journey, not afterwards. See also our approach to API integration.

Customer journey

Product pageVariants, availability, stated lead timeTalks to: Catalogue / PIMStock / ERP
BasketDelivery costs shown, reassuranceTalks to: Stock / ERPAnalytics
Delivery & paymentGuest checkout, pickup point, strong authenticationTalks to: AnalyticsSecure paymentCarrier
ConfirmationSummary, invoice, picking startedTalks to: Secure paymentStock / ERPTransactional emails
TrackingParcel number, returns, reviewsTalks to: CarrierTransactional emails

Connected systems

Catalogue / PIMProduct data, attributes, prices
Stock / ERPAvailability, reservation, picking
AnalyticsFunnel steps, drop-offs, sources
Secure paymentSpecialist provider, refunds
CarrierRates, labels, tracking
Transactional emailsConfirmation, dispatch, returns

Illustrative example. The connections depend on your tools: some shops have no ERP, others add a CRM or a point-of-sale system.

The scopeWhat Kopus builds for your online store

Catalogue structure Categories, attributes, variants (size, colour, pack size), pricing rules, promotions, stock levels and reorder thresholds, search and filters.
Product pages Photos, descriptions, specifications, related products and the fields that matter for search engines.
The checkout flow Guest purchase, delivery options and shipping cost calculation, pickup points, click and collect, payment methods (for example card, digital wallet or bank transfer for trade buyers).
The back office Order preparation, shipping labels, returns, credit notes, accounting exports and a connection to your management or till software.
Compliance Mandatory distance-selling information, terms and conditions, right of withdrawal, customer data and cookie consent.
Measurement Tracking of each checkout step, conversion rate by source, average basket and abandoned products.
A custom-built shop Catalogue, sales rules, payment and shipping built for your business, with no platform subscription or stack of plug-ins, and a back office designed for your team.

A fast, reassuring shop that is pleasant to manage.
Orders that flow into your tools without re-entry.
Sales tracking and identified levers for improvement.

Found and chosenA shop designed to be found and to sell

A custom shop is built around two requirements that a generic theme serves poorly: being properly indexed category by category, product by product, and making the purchase obvious, especially on mobile.

E-commerce SEO

Category pages written and structured to carry the most searched queries.
Unique product pages, with structured data (product, price, availability, reviews).
Controlled filters and sorting: only useful combinations are indexed.
Pagination, sold-out products and variants handled without duplicate content.
Display speed and optimised images, both ranking and conversion factors.

Conversion

A short checkout, with no forced account creation.
Shipping costs and lead times visible from the product page.
Payment in a few taps on mobile, with payment methods suited to your customers.
Abandoned cart reminders and well-designed order e-mails.
Drop-off measured step by step, to fix things in the right order.

The methodHow your ecommerce project unfolds

Catalogue and flow analysis
How your products are described, where stock lives, how an order is prepared and shipped today.
Buying journey design
From category page to confirmation email, each screen is drawn with the real cases in mind (out of stock, pre-order, partial delivery).
Configuration or development
Platform setup, catalogue import, connection of payments, carriers and management tools.
Order testing
End-to-end purchases, test payments, refunds and returns, on the customer side and in the back office.
Opening and first-sales follow-up
Launch, observation of the checkout, correction of the blocking points the data reveals.

Indicative pricesHow much does a custom e-commerce website cost?

At Kopus, a custom online shop usually costs between €8,000 and €15,000 excl. VAT for a launch with a focused catalogue, and between €15,000 and €35,000 excl. VAT for a full shop (large catalogue, variants, promotions, several languages). A shop connected to an ERP, a PIM or a CRM, or a B2B site with customer-specific pricing, starts at around €35,000 excl. VAT. The price depends mostly on the catalogue, the sales rules and the connections to your tools.

Launch shop

€8,000–€15,000 excl. VAT

A first catalogue, a brand opening its online sales channel.

Up to around a hundred products
Secure payment and shipping
Product and order back office

Typical timing: 8 to 12 weeks

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Full shop

€15,000–€35,000 excl. VAT

A large catalogue, variants, promotions, international customers.

Variants, filters, search
Customer accounts, promo codes
Several languages or currencies

Typical timing: 12 to 20 weeks

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Connected or B2B shop

From €35,000 excl. VAT

A shop linked to your management systems, or professional rules.

ERP, PIM, CRM, logistics connections
Customer-specific prices and terms
Several warehouses or channels

Typical timing: schedule set during scoping

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What makes the price vary

The size of the catalogue, the variants (sizes, colours) and the quality of the product pages to produce.
Sales rules: promotions, bundles, subscriptions, trade prices, pre-orders.
Payment and shipping methods, and the countries served.
Languages and currencies.
Connections: stock, ERP, PIM, CRM, accounting, carriers.
Taking over an existing shop: products, customers, order history and redirects.

Recurring costs

Hosting, security and maintenance: €150 to €600 excl. VAT per month depending on volume and service level
Payment provider fees: charged by the bank or provider, per transaction
Changes and conversion optimisation: fixed price or time spent, quoted

Indicative ranges, excluding VAT, based on our projects. Each quote is refined after a first conversation about your catalogue, volumes and tools.

Your project deserves a precise quote

Describe it in a few lines, even without a specification: we will come back to you with a reasoned estimate and the possible options.

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Your questionsFrequently asked questions about this service

Answers to the questions we are asked most often about this service. Another question? Ask us directly.

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What makes an ecommerce site perform?

An offer that can be understood at a glance, trust signals (delivery, returns, payment), a checkout with no surprises and a team able to run the store day to day without calling a supplier.

Why a custom shop rather than an off-the-shelf e-commerce solution?

Because your sales rules, catalogue and connections are built exactly as they are, without stacking plug-ins or paying a platform subscription. Kopus builds all its shops from scratch: a faster, better-ranked website that you own and can develop freely.

How are payments and security handled?

Payments go through a specialist provider that secures card data. The site itself must stay up to date and protect customer accounts and order information.

Can you migrate our existing shop?

Yes, including products, customers and order history, with a redirect plan so you do not lose the SEO you have earned.

How much does an e-commerce website cost?

At Kopus, allow €8,000 to €15,000 excl. VAT for a launch shop, €15,000 to €35,000 excl. VAT for a full shop, and from €35,000 excl. VAT for a shop connected to your tools or aimed at B2B. Hosting and maintenance then cost €150 to €600 excl. VAT per month, excluding payment fees.

Which connections should an online shop have?

Payment, shipping, accounting and, depending on your organisation, stock, CRM and email. These connections avoid re-entry and order errors.

How do you improve a shop’s conversion rate?

By measuring where visitors drop off, then fixing things in order: speed, clarity of product pages, shipping costs shown early, simple checkout. Kopus tracks these indicators from launch.

What are the recurring costs of an online shop?

Hosting, security and maintenance (€150 to €600 excl. VAT per month at Kopus depending on volume), the payment provider’s fees on each transaction, and the changes you decide on. There is no platform subscription and no commission on your sales.