Are E-Commerce Development Services Overpriced in Germany?

 

E-commerce or online shops are still one of the most popular solutions for B2C businesses. However, acquiring e-commerce implies costs related to design, development, payment integration, maintenance, and more. In some countries, where the workforce is cheaper or the competition is high, building an e-commerce platform could be affordable. However, if you’re looking to build an online store in a place where web designers and web developers are fewer, you may hit on higher costs. So, how does Germany qualify as a marketplace for e-commerce development services?! Is e-commerce development overpriced?!

To answer these questions, we will need at least one of the following information:

• Average e-commerce cost per project

• E-commerce development companies’ hourly rate

Considering that the average e-commerce cost per project is difficult to estimate due to differences in timeframe, project requirements, and other elements - we will build our data based on the hourly rates of e-commerce development companies in Germany. 

According to TechBehemoths, as of December 2023, there are 171 registered companies specializing in E-Commerce Development. The majority of them are located in large cities such as Berlin, Munich, or Frankfurt. Hence, based on these locations we will identify how much E-Commerce development services cost in Germany. 

E-Commerce Development Hourly Rates in Berlin

In Berlin, there are 42 E-Commerce development companies, which makes almost ⅓ of the total companies available in Germany specializing in this service. As it is the capital city and one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe, the competition in this industry is also high. 

Based on the available data, in Berlin, there are three price categories for E-Commerce development.  Hence, only 5.13% of companies have an hourly rate of less than $30 for e-commerce development services. At the same time, 41.03% of the companies charge between $30-70 per hour for developing online shops. The highest hourly rate has the highest percentage - more than half of Berlin-based companies charge between $70-150/hour for e-Commerce development services.  This makes the average hourly rate for e-commerce development in Berlin $80.51. 

E-Commerce Development Hourly Rate in Munich

Munich is Germany’s third largest city, with a population of 1.4M. It is also one of Europe’s largest business hubs, where E-commerce plays an important role in the local economy.  According to TechBehemoths, there are 32 registered and verified E-Commerce development companies in Munich, which is 10 companies fewer compared to Berlin. 

Also compared to Berlin, in Munich we can notice that there are 4 price categories for e-commerce development services. As the chart below illustrates, 9.1% of companies charge less than $30/hour for e-commerce development services. At the same time, 31.8% charge between $30-70 per hour for e-commerce development, and 45.5% charge between $70-150/hour.  

The average hourly rate for e-commerce development services in Munich is $94.55, which is also $14 higher compared to Berlin. 

E-Commerce Development Hourly rates in Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main is the 5th largest city in Germany, after Cologne, and is also a progressive business and IT hub in Germany. The city hosts a large number of businesses and events, including startup funding events and tech presentations. According to TechBehemoths, there are 12 verified and registered companies specializing in E-Commerce Development services. This makes the city the least competitive compared to Berlin and Munich. 

In terms of pricing and hourly rate, Frankfurt leads the list of cities with the highest hourly rate for e-commerce development. However, in Frankfurt you can also find companies that charge less than $30/hour, but also companies that charge between $15-250/hour. 

The most common range in terms of hourly rate for e-commerce development is $70-150/hour in Frankfurt. And to be more precise, 63.6% of e-commerce development companies charge per hour in exactly this range. 

On average, e-commerce development services in Frankfurt are estimated at $95.45/hour, based on the data of 12 companies. 

E-Commerce Development Average Hourly Rate in Germany

With Berlin as the most affordable city for e-commerce development services and Frankfurt as Germany’s most expensive for the same service, the average hourly rate per country equals $90.17. This means that if building an e-commerce would last 120 hours, you would pay roughly $10,824 to a German company. 

If that’s a lot or not, it all depends on your business and project requirements. And, if you are not sure about which company you should pick - feel free to submit your project requirements to TechBehemoths.