Ecommerce development: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What ecommerce development is

A developer builds an online store with product pages, a cart, payment processing, shipping options and order management, so you can sell reliably online. You need it when you want to sell products online or move an existing shop to a better setup.

Signs you need it

  • You sell in person or by phone and want to take orders online
  • Your current shop loses carts or fails at checkout
  • Your shipping, tax or inventory tracking is done by hand
  • You need product filters, variants or subscriptions that your shop cannot handle
  • You want to connect your store to your accounting or stock system

What the pro does

  • Reviews the products, the shipping, the tax and the payment needs with you
  • Sets up the store, the product catalog and the category structure
  • Connects the payment processor, shipping options and order emails
  • Tests the full checkout with test orders across devices
  • Launches the store and hands over the admin access, the training and the documentation

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • The number of products and product variants
  • The payment, shipping and tax integrations needed
  • Whether the store needs custom features, such as subscriptions or bundles
  • The amount of product data to import and clean
  • Whether design work is included or already done
  • Whether ongoing support and security updates are included

What a written quote should spell out

  • The features and integrations built, listed one by one
  • The payment processor and shipping services used and their terms
  • Testing of checkout, payments and order emails
  • Product data import and cleanup, if included
  • Launch steps, training and the support period

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Who owns the store, the domain and the payment account?
  • How are taxes and shipping handled in the checkout?
  • How is customer payment data protected?
  • Can I manage products and orders myself after launch?
  • What happens if checkout breaks after launch?
  • Can you show me an example of a store you built?

Red flags

  • Sets up payments in the developer's name rather than yours
  • Will not show a test order or a checkout test
  • Stores card numbers on its own server without a clear need
  • Promises a store with no discussion of shipping and tax

What you can do yourself

List your products with photos, prices and descriptions in a spreadsheet, along with your shipping rules and tax settings. Create your own payment and shipping accounts in your name, and do not give your payment account password to a developer. Hire a developer for the build, the integrations and the checkout.

Licenses and permits

A license is usually not required for ecommerce development. Selling goods online may need a business registration and sales tax registration, depending on your state and city, so check with your state or local licensing agency.

Ecommerce development questions

Do I need a developer or a store platform?

A platform is enough for most small shops. A developer is worth it when you need custom checkout, unusual products or integrations with your own systems.

Who handles the payments?

Your payment processor does, through its own secure checkout. The developer connects it, but the account should be in your name.

How do I handle sales tax?

Ask the developer how the store calculates tax, and check the rules for your state with a licensing agency or tax adviser.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer ecommerce development remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

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  3. 3. They reach out

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