The hidden costs of your webshop

Setting up an online store is often more difficult than many expect in advance. According to webentrepreneur Thomas Vandecasteele (a.o. Essentialist.be and Bagazoo) it can also be an expensive joke. He listed some of the most important hidden costs:

Findability
Setting up an internet shop might be cheap, but then you're a needle in a haystack. You will need to invest substantially to generate traffic.

Shipping
Free shipping is a good trigger to let visitors buy from your site. The costs involved you can compensate by not selling at rock bottom prices.

Maintenance
The prices for the development of a shop vary widely. But even if you can keep development costs low, updates can also cost a fortune. It is important that your website remains up-to-date, an average Internet shop is outdated after one year.

Transaction costs
Providing the right payment methods is very important. However, the transaction costs can really add up. It is therefore advisable to compare different payment providers on start-up costs, monthly subscription, the cost per transaction and charges for extras like credit card payments. The two methods - collecting and distributing PSP's - both have pros and cons. The first is more complex and time consuming to start-up, but clearer. The second is easy to start, but for every transaction you pay a commission.

Customer Service
If your website is not clear enough, the customer service will get a lot of questions. Online shoppers email quickly and expect an immediate answer. You should constantly think about how you can ensure that customers ask fewer questions. This can be done by online tracking & tracing, but also by clear product descriptions and a clear communication of the delivery costs.

Controlling these costs is a difficult task. Especially since prices and suppliers vary and your situation will change as you sell more or less. Vandecasteele recommends therefore to keep as many costs variable as possible, especially when you're small. "As a small player you have to try to use the scale benefits of larger partners. By negotiating, you can quickly save some percentages."

Based on: Bizz