According to a report by eCommerceDB: Egypt is the 39th largest market for eCommerce with a revenue of US$5 billion in 2021. With an increase of 44%, the Egyptian eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 29% in 2021.
The biggest player in the Egyptian eCommerce Market is souq.com (Became amazon in 2021); its store had a revenue of US$109 million in 2021. Following it is btech.com with US$27 million in revenue and LC Waikiki with US$24 million in revenue.
eCommerceDB considers five categories; Electronics & Media is the largest segment in Egypt and accounts for 26% of the eCommerce revenue in Egypt. Following it is Fashion with 21%, Food & Personal Care with 21%, Toys, Hobby & DIY with 19%, and Furniture & Appliances with the remaining 12%.”
So it makes sense if you have a startup or a small to medium-sized retailing business in Egypt and are considering developing an online store.
How much does developing an eCommerce website or mobile app in Egypt costs?
The pricing varies in the Egyptian market -for medium to large online shops- from 80,000 EGP & can get as high priced as 800,000 EGP, depending on the web or mobile app developing company portfolio, the platforms to cover (Web, IOS & Android) and the eCommerce functions' complexity.
Some cheaper options are available in the Egyptian market as well, yet it cannot be relied on, for retailers or platforms with large amounts of products &/or monthly orders.
What goes into calculating the cost of developing an eCommerce website or mobile app?
- Single vendor or multi-vendor eCommerce
- Shipping and operations complexity
- Payment Gateways
- Platforms
- Basic main features
- Advanced features
- Custom (unique) design
- Development technology
Additional costs may apply for:
- Online store maintenance
- Rolling out updates and enhancements
- Adding features
So let’s dive into those factors:
1- Single vendor or multi-vendor eCommerce
Is your eCommerce website or mobile app a single vendor eCommerce app like Zara or LC Waikiki or is it a multi-vendor eCommerce like Amazon and Noon?
Your retailing business type will dictate whether you need a single vendor or multi-vendor eCommerce.
2- Shipping and operations complexity
The complexity of shipping and fulfilling operations; whether your business operates from a single inventory or multiples and whether it ships locally in Egypt or internationally. Will you need complicated shipping scenarios, such as shipping from the nearest inventory to your customer?
3- Payment Gateways
Adding multiple payment gateways increases your online store conversion rates as customers like to pay through the payment gateway they trust via credit card, cash on delivery (COD), cash collection, mobile wallet, debit cards, or Fawry Pay. Whether you decide to start with single or multiple payment gateways, this contributes to your eCommerce development cost.
4- Platforms
Website, Android apps, iOS apps, or the three together. Depending on your market research, you can know the platform on which your target customers shop and thus create an app for that platform. However, we recommend that you are at least present in the two App stores, the Google Play store and the Apple App store, to increase your market reach and attract more customers to your business. Our eCommerce mobile app developers at Road9 Media use advanced mobile development technologies such as React Native, which provides:
- High performance.
- The app can be enhanced easily.
- One code base for the Android & IOS together which saves time & money.
5- Basic, Main Features
There are some basic eCommerce features like promo codes, gift cards, chatbots, up-selling, cross-selling, loyalty programs, variant products (ex: multiple sizes or colors for the same product), social login, wishlists, etc. The more of these features your online store requires, the more it shall cost.
6- Advanced features
Some online stores like to provide a unique experience for their clients, so we have developed features like: “products customization", that allows your customers to do specific changes to your products before ordering, or incorporating Pinterest-like "mood-boards" for interior design online stores.
These advanced features enhance your users' experience within the website or app, increase the time spent on your online store, hence increase conversion rates.
Whether you prefer to have such advanced features in your online sore or not will contribute to its overall development cost.
7- Custom (unique) design
Unless our clients state that they want a template design for their app, we always create unique designs; because it adds so much value to your online store. We can also customize the design to align with your brand identity; this way, the online store can imprint on your customers’ minds.
8- Development technology
Whether your eCommerce website or app is built on:
- A ready-made cloud system like Shopify.
- A ready-made stand-alone system like WooCommerce.
- A stand-alone system that our developers built from scratch.
The type of system it’s built on will contribute to its total cost.
Post-development services:
1- Online store maintenance and updates
Your eCommerce website or app will require continuous maintenance to preserve its performance for your users. Otherwise, with time, it won’t be suitable for usage, and the current users will start to notice the glitches and the slowness of the app, which will give them a negative user experience. Maintaining your online store and releasing updates means that your online store will always give the highest performance to its users, which means that your conversion (purchases) rate will either be stable or increase.
2- Adding more features
There will come a time when your retailing business will be ready to scale up, and that will be the perfect time to add new advanced features to your online store to enhance its functionality.
We do not include the post-development services cost in the primary development cost, but you should consider it for long-term planning.
Wrap Up
Numerous factors contribute to the cost of developing your eCommerce website or mobile app here in Egypt. At Road9 Media, we always give our clients consultations and expert advice before developing their eCommerce mobile apps. We use full disclosure when it comes to costs.
If you want to build a successful mobile app, we recommend that you have a consultation with one of our experts!
