An online store is a business system, not a brochure
A service website has done its job when someone picks up the phone. An online store has to take the order, charge the right price including GST, calculate freight to an address in Broome or Bondi, decrement stock, send confirmation emails, feed your accounting software and handle the return when the size is wrong. Every one of those steps is something that has to be designed, built and tested.
That is why the question how much does an online store cost has no honest single answer. A boutique with forty products and flat-rate shipping and a wholesaler with thousands of SKUs, trade pricing and warehouse integration are not on the same scale. This guide explains what actually drives cost, so you can read quotes properly. It does not quote market price ranges, and we never publish our own project prices, because neither would describe your store.
What drives the cost of building an online store
Catalogue and product data
Number of products, variants such as size and colour, product attributes for filtering, and the quality of photos and descriptions. Product data is the most underestimated part of most ecommerce projects. Someone has to write, structure and upload it, and if you sell what other retailers also sell, copying the supplier's description gives Google little reason to rank you.
Design and user experience
A well-chosen theme adapted to your brand is quicker than a custom design. Custom work makes sense when your range, story or buying process is unusual. Either way, category pages, product pages, cart and checkout carry most of the commercial weight.
Platform
Hosted platforms such as Shopify and BigCommerce, self-hosted WooCommerce on WordPress, or a custom or headless build each have different set-up effort and running costs. More on that below.
Integrations
Accounting software such as Xero or MYOB, inventory and warehouse systems, ERP, point of sale, marketplaces, email marketing and reviews. Each connection adds development and, often, a monthly app fee.
Business rules
Trade or wholesale pricing, customer-specific catalogues, subscriptions, bundles, gift cards, click and collect, pre-orders or made-to-order products all add logic and testing time.
Migration
Moving from an existing store means migrating products, customers and order history, and redirecting old URLs so you keep search visibility. Done badly, this is where shops lose organic traffic for months.
Platforms and how each one bills you
The platform choice shapes both the build and the running costs. Check each provider's current Australian pricing page before deciding, because plans and fees change.
| Platform type | How it bills you | What usually comes on top | Often suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Monthly plan; transaction fees depend on plan and payment provider | Paid theme, apps billed monthly, POS add-ons per location | Retail brands that want a stable hosted platform and fast set-up |
| BigCommerce | Monthly plan, with plan levels tied partly to sales volume | Apps, theme customisation | Larger catalogues and B2B features without self-hosting |
| WooCommerce (WordPress) | Free core software; you pay for hosting | Hosting, premium extensions, maintenance and security updates | Content-heavy stores and businesses that want full control |
| Custom or headless build | Development effort plus infrastructure | Ongoing development for every change, hosting, monitoring | Unusual business models or very high volumes with in-house technical support |
Shipping across a large country
Freight is where Australian online stores most often lose margin without noticing. Distances are long, regional and remote deliveries cost more, and customers compare your shipping cost with the biggest retailers.
- Carrier choice. Australia Post and StarTrack, Sendle, and courier or aggregator services all have different strengths for parcel size, speed and coverage. Each integration needs set-up and testing.
- How rates are calculated. Flat rate, weight or zone-based rates, or live carrier rates at checkout. Live rates are more accurate but need accurate product weights and dimensions in your data.
- Free shipping thresholds. Useful for conversion, but only if the threshold is set from your margins rather than copied from a competitor.
- Returns. Return labels, restocking and refunds take operational time. Your returns policy must also respect the rights your customers have under the Australian Consumer Law.
None of this is exotic, but it has to be scoped. A quote that says shipping set-up without detail should prompt a follow-up question.
Payments Australians expect at checkout
Australian shoppers are used to choice at checkout: cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, PayPal, and buy now, pay later services such as Afterpay and Zip. Each option can lift conversion, and each carries a cost.
- Gateway and transaction fees per order, which vary by provider and plan.
- Buy now, pay later merchant fees, which are typically higher than card fees and are charged to you, not the customer. Check the provider's current merchant terms.
- Card surcharging rules. If you surcharge, the ACCC's rules on excessive payment surcharges apply.
- Fraud and chargebacks. Fraud screening tools and the time spent handling disputes.
Offering every payment method is not automatically right. Choose the ones your customers actually use, and look at the fee on your average order before adding another.
Shopify POS and selling in store
Many Australian retailers sell both online and from a shop, market stall or pop-up, which is why searches about Shopify POS pricing are so common. In short: Shopify includes a basic point-of-sale capability with its plans, and offers a paid POS Pro upgrade, billed per location, with more advanced retail features such as staff permissions and in-store inventory tools. Hardware such as card readers, barcode scanners and receipt printers is bought separately.
Whether you need POS Pro depends on the number of locations and staff, how you manage stock between store and online, and the reporting you need. Check Shopify's current Australian pricing for exact figures rather than relying on old blog posts, because plans and names change. If you sell in store, include POS in the conversation from the start: it affects how products, stock and customers are structured in the store. Our Shopify web design page covers how we set that up.
GST, privacy and consumer law in your online store
These points belong in the scope, because getting them wrong later is costly. This is general information; check the specifics with your accountant or adviser.
- GST. Once your GST turnover reaches the registration threshold, you must register and charge GST. The ATO sets the threshold and rules. Your store must calculate GST correctly, show it on tax invoices and handle GST-free items if you sell any.
- Price display. Under the Australian Consumer Law, prices shown to consumers generally need to include a single total price, including GST, rather than a base price with GST added at checkout.
- Privacy. Customer accounts, order data and marketing lists are personal information. If you are covered by the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Privacy Principles apply; the OAIC's guidance for organisations is the primary source.
- Marketing emails. Newsletters and promotional emails fall under the Spam Act 2003: consent, clear identification and a working unsubscribe.
- Reviews and claims. Product reviews must be genuine and not selectively suppressed; the ACCC acts on fake reviews and misleading claims.
Running costs to budget for
The build is the start. These recurring costs determine what the store really costs to own:
- platform subscription or hosting, with security and backups;
- apps and extensions, often billed monthly in US dollars;
- payment gateway and buy now, pay later fees per order;
- shipping software or carrier integration fees;
- maintenance, updates and fixes, especially on WooCommerce;
- product photography and data entry for new ranges;
- marketing to bring traffic in: ecommerce SEO, paid search, shopping ads and email;
- ongoing improvement of category, product and checkout pages through conversion rate optimisation.
A store that launches and is never improved tends to slowly lose ground to competitors who keep testing.
What a good ecommerce quote contains, and how we price
A comparable quote states the platform and plan, the theme or design approach, the number of templates designed, how many products are set up and by whom, every integration and app, shipping and payment configuration, migration and redirects, analytics and tracking, accessibility and device testing, training, the support period, ownership of accounts and data, and whether prices exclude GST. If one of these is missing, ask before comparing.
Where you can save: entering product data yourself under clear guidelines, starting with a strong theme instead of custom design, and launching with fewer integrations. Where you should not save: product data quality, checkout testing, migration and tracking.
We do not publish ecommerce prices, because the scope differs so much from store to store; our ecommerce web design page and pricing page explain how we work. Our general guide to website costs in Australia covers the non-ecommerce side. The first step is a paid strategy session with the founder: 50 minutes, A$425 excl. GST, a conversation about your ambition, market and fit rather than an audit, with no fee credit. If we take on the project, you receive a proposal with a fixed scope and a fixed price.