What You're Really Paying For

An ecommerce site isn't just a website. You're paying for:

  • Platform setup: Shopify, WooCommerce, custom code—each has different costs.
  • Product database design: How many products? How many variations (sizes, colors)? That changes the database structure.
  • Payment gateway integration: Razorpay, PayU, Instamojo, international gateways. Each one takes time to set up correctly.
  • Inventory management: Real-time stock tracking costs more than a simple list.
  • Shipping integration: Shiprocket, Easypost, or manual? Auto-calculating shipping fees takes development time.
  • Admin dashboard: How much control do you need over orders, refunds, customer data?
  • Security and compliance: SSL, PCI DSS, GDPR if you ship internationally, GST handling in India.
  • Performance: A fast site costs more than a slow one. Image optimization, caching, CDN—these aren't free.

The cheapest quote assumes you want almost none of this. The expensive quote assumes you want all of it, done well.

Price Tiers: What Each Budget Gets You

₹1,00,000 to ₹2,50,000 (Budget Tier)

This is the floor for a real ecommerce site in Hyderabad. You'll get:

  • A Shopify store or WooCommerce site on shared hosting.
  • Basic product catalog (100–500 products).
  • One payment gateway (Razorpay or PayU).
  • Basic design—often a template, lightly customized.
  • Mobile-responsive (not mobile-first).
  • 1–2 months of support after launch.

Good for: Side businesses, dropshipping, testing a new product line.

Gotchas: Slow load times. Limited shipping integrations. No custom features. The host may struggle during peak traffic. You often own the code, but not the platform—Shopify charges 12–15% extra per transaction if you use their payment gateway.

₹2,50,000 to ₹6,00,000 (Mid-Market Tier)

Most serious ecommerce businesses land here. You'll get:

  • Custom WooCommerce or a light custom build.
  • Up to 2,000 products with variants.
  • Integration with 2–3 payment gateways.
  • Shiprocket or similar shipping automation.
  • Basic admin dashboard with order tracking.
  • Mobile-first design, fast load times (under 3 seconds).
  • Basic SEO setup.
  • 3–6 months of post-launch support.

Good for: Retail businesses moving online, D2C brands, B2B catalogs with commerce.

Gotchas: Still using existing platforms (WooCommerce). Scaling to 10,000+ products gets slow. Custom features still cost extra. You may need to pay ₹20,000–50,000/year for good hosting.

₹6,00,000 to ₹15,00,000 (Custom Build Tier)

You get a purpose-built ecommerce platform. Features:

  • Fully custom backend in Node.js, Python, or Go.
  • Unlimited products. Real-time inventory sync.
  • Multiple payment gateways, subscription billing, dynamic pricing.
  • Custom shipping logic. B2B wholesale portal if needed.
  • Analytics dashboard. Customer segmentation. Email automation hooks.
  • 3-month warranty. 6-12 months of ongoing support (₹30,000–80,000/month).

Good for: Established retail brands, marketplace operators, subscription boxes, high-volume sellers (₹50L+ annual revenue).

Gotchas: Takes 3–5 months to build. Expensive to scale or change. You need good hosting (₹50,000–1,50,000/month). Still need separate tools for email, analytics, customer service.

₹15,00,000+ (Enterprise Tier)

Multi-region, high-availability systems. You're buying a business platform, not a website. Honestly, for most Indian businesses, this is overkill.

Hyderabad vs. Other Cities

Hyderabad has a strong tech ecosystem. Salaries are lower than Bangalore or Mumbai, so you get better prices—usually 10–25% less than equivalent work in other metros.

Typical cost differences:

  • Hyderabad: ₹3–8 per developer hour.
  • Bangalore/Mumbai: ₹4–12 per developer hour.
  • Delhi: ₹3.5–9 per developer hour.
  • Tier-2 cities (Pune, Jaipur): ₹2.5–6 per developer hour.

The catch: Hyderabad has strong talent, but the boutique agencies are smaller. A 50-person agency in Bangalore might handle your project alongside 5 others. A 12-person agency in Hyderabad might give you more attention—or overcommit and miss deadlines. Check who will actually work on your project. Get their names and GitHub profiles.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring

About the Platform

  1. Will we own the code and the domain? (You must answer: yes.)
  2. Are we using an existing platform (Shopify, WooCommerce) or building custom? Why that choice?
  3. If custom: What language is it built in? Who else uses that tech in Hyderabad? (Can we hire someone else to maintain it?)
  4. How many products can the system handle before it gets slow?

About the Team

  1. Who exactly will be working on my project? Show me their LinkedIn, GitHub, or portfolio.
  2. Do you have a project manager assigned, or will I be emailing the dev lead?
  3. What happens if someone on the team leaves mid-project?
  4. How many ecommerce projects like mine have you done? Can you name three (without names of the brands, that's fine)?

About Support & Security

  1. What happens after launch? Is support included? For how long?
  2. Who handles hosting? You or us? What's the extra cost?
  3. How do you handle security updates?
  4. Will the site be PCI DSS compliant? (This is non-negotiable if you take cards.)
  5. Do you do load testing before launch?

About Costs

  1. Is the quote fixed or will there be scope creep?
  2. What's included in the quoted price? (Ask for a detailed breakdown.)
  3. What costs are separate? Hosting, domain, SSL, Razorpay account, logo design?
  4. If we want changes after launch, how much will that cost?

Red Flags to Watch

  • No portfolio or all projects are hidden: Why? Good work speaks. Move on.
  • They guarantee rankings or traffic: No one can do this. SEO takes months and is never guaranteed.
  • They build on a platform you can't own: If they use Shopify and control your account, you're renting forever. That's fine for Shopify, but know what you're buying.
  • Cheap quotes with no breakdown: ₹1,50,000 for "a complete ecommerce site" means they'll cut corners. Load times will suffer. Payment gateway setup will be bare-bones.
  • They want 100% upfront: Standard is 50% upfront, 50% on delivery, or milestones (25% → 25% → 25% → 25%).
  • No written contract: Never. Get everything in writing: scope, timeline, payment terms, support terms.
  • They promise delivery in 2 weeks: A real ecommerce site takes 4–8 weeks minimum, even if they already have a template. If they say 2 weeks, they're lying.

How to Get Honest Quotes

Step 1: Write down what you need.

Not "an ecommerce site." Write:

"I sell apparel. 500 SKUs (styles × sizes). I need Razorpay + UPI. Shiprocket integration. Basic admin dashboard. I'll handle marketing myself."

Step 2: Ask 4–5 agencies the same thing.

Call them. Don't email yet. A good agency will ask you 10+ follow-up questions. If they don't, they're not thinking hard about your problem.

Step 3: Ask for references.

Not the brand name—that's often confidential. Ask for the agency owner's contact to verify the project happened and was on time.

Step 4: Check their hosting assumptions.

If a quote doesn't mention hosting, the dev thinks you'll figure it out. You won't. Include hosting in the quote or negotiate it separately.

Step 5: Ask about post-launch.

What does 3 months of support actually mean? 5 hours/month? Unlimited? What's not included?

The best quotes take 3–4 days to prepare. If you get a quote in 2 hours, it's a template.