Real Naira figures for every cost involved in building and running a Nigerian online store — from ₦0 starter options to full custom builds, with no hidden surprises.
"How much will it cost me?" is the first question most aspiring Nigerian online store owners ask — and the answer varies wildly depending on how you build it. You can start for free, spend ₦50,000/year on a managed platform, or invest ₦1,000,000+ on a custom-built website.
This guide breaks down every real cost involved — with actual Naira figures for 2026 — so you can make a properly informed decision before spending a kobo.
In This Guide
There are six potential cost areas when building an online store in Nigeria. Not all of them apply to every approach — some managed platforms bundle several into one fee:
Platform / Store Builder
The software that powers your store
₦0 – ₦600,000/yr
Web Hosting
Server that stores your store files
₦0 – ₦200,000/yr
Domain Name
Your custom URL (e.g. yourshop.com)
₦5,000 – ₦15,000/yr
Payment Processing
Paystack fees per transaction
1.5% + ₦100 per sale
Design & Development
Custom design or developer fees
₦0 – ₦1,500,000 (one-off)
Ongoing Maintenance
Updates, security, support
₦0 – ₦100,000/yr
There are three main ways to build an online store in Nigeria. The cost difference between them is significant:
A managed platform like CartMor handles hosting, security, updates, and payment integration for you. You pay a single annual or monthly subscription and focus entirely on your business.
CartMor Starter
Hosting, Paystack, order management included
₦50,000/yr
CartMor Growth
More products, higher order volume
₦100,000/yr
CartMor Professional
Installment payments, affiliate tools
₦250,000/yr
Shopify Basic
$29/month — USD price, exchange rate risk
~₦540,000/yr
Paystack Storefront
Basic only — no order management
Free
WooCommerce is technically free to install, but the hidden costs add up quickly:
Realistic WooCommerce total: ₦130,000–₦600,000/year, plus significant time investment managing the technical side.
Hiring a Nigerian developer or agency to build a custom e-commerce website from scratch is the most expensive option:
Custom builds make sense only when you have very specific requirements that no existing platform can meet — and the budget to sustain ongoing maintenance costs.
Warning: Many Nigerian businesses pay ₦300,000–₦700,000 for a custom-built store, then discover that maintenance, updates, and bug fixes cost as much as the original build — every year. Factor in total cost of ownership, not just the upfront price.
Wherever you are financially, here's what a realistic online store looks like at each budget:
Starter Budget
Testing the waters — validate before you invest
₦0
Best for: Testing a product idea with zero investment. Outgrow it quickly — no order management, no inventory, no analytics.
Growth Budget
Serious seller — professional store, full control
₦55,000–₦115,000/yr
Best for: Most Nigerian online sellers — fully featured, professionally presented, and entirely manageable without a developer.
Professional Budget
Scaling business — advanced features, custom domain
₦265,000–₦400,000/yr
Best for: Established Nigerian businesses with consistent order volume needing advanced features and premium support.
Beyond your platform subscription, here are the running costs every Nigerian online store owner should budget for:
This is your biggest variable cost. As your sales grow, so do your Paystack fees — but they scale proportionally, so your margins stay consistent. At 1.5% per transaction:
If you're using a courier service, delivery costs are typically ₦800–₦3,500 per order depending on route and weight. Most sellers pass this cost to the customer as a delivery fee at checkout, making it cost-neutral.
Social media advertising is optional but accelerates growth significantly. Nigerian sellers running Instagram or Facebook ads typically spend:
Organic growth through WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok is free — and often more effective than paid ads for early-stage Nigerian sellers.
Professional product photography costs ₦15,000–₦80,000 for a full product shoot. However, many successful Nigerian sellers use their smartphone with good natural lighting — which is entirely sufficient, especially early on.
If you're using Shopify or another USD-priced platform, your monthly cost in Naira fluctuates with the exchange rate. A plan that cost ₦20,000/month two years ago may now cost ₦45,000+/month. Nigerian-priced platforms like CartMor completely eliminate this risk.
With custom-built or WooCommerce stores, even small changes — updating a product layout, adding a new page, fixing a broken checkout — often require a developer. At ₦15,000–₦50,000 per task, this adds up quickly. Managed platforms let you make all changes yourself from a dashboard.
WooCommerce is free, but the plugins that make it a competitive store are not. A Paystack plugin, shipping plugin, analytics plugin, and customer account plugin can collectively add ₦50,000–₦150,000/year in plugin subscription costs.
Self-hosted stores can go down due to hosting issues, plugin conflicts, or security breaches. Every hour your store is offline during business hours is lost revenue. Managed platforms like CartMor handle server security and uptime — no store downtime on your account.
An SSL certificate (the padlock in your browser bar) is required for any store accepting payments. Most managed platforms include SSL for free. For self-hosted stores, SSL renewal is typically ₦10,000–₦25,000/year.
| Approach | Year 1 Cost | Ongoing/yr | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paystack Storefront | ₦0 | ₦0 | Testing ideas |
| CartMor (Starter) | ₦50,000 | ₦50,000 | Most sellers ⭐ |
| CartMor (Growth) | ₦100,000 | ₦100,000 | Growing stores ⭐ |
| WooCommerce | ₦130,000–₦400,000 | ₦100,000–₦300,000 | Tech-savvy sellers |
| Shopify Basic | ~₦540,000 | ~₦540,000 | International sellers |
| Custom Build | ₦400,000–₦2,000,000 | ₦100,000–₦400,000 | Complex requirements |
The bottom line: For the vast majority of Nigerian online sellers, CartMor at ₦50,000–₦100,000/year is the most cost-effective option. It's all-inclusive — hosting, Paystack integration, order management, and store templates — with no developer needed, no exchange rate risk, and no hidden fees. Try it free for 14 days before committing.
All-inclusive — hosting, Paystack payments, order management, and store templates. No hidden costs, no developer needed.
Try free for 14 days — no credit card required
It depends on your approach. A free option (Paystack Storefront) exists for basic product listings. A fully-featured managed store with CartMor starts at ₦50,000/year. A WooCommerce store costs ₦130,000–₦400,000/year when all costs are included. A custom-built store costs ₦400,000–₦2,000,000 to build, plus ₦100,000–₦400,000/year to maintain.
Shopify Basic costs $29/month (USD) — approximately ₦45,000–₦50,000/month at current exchange rates, or roughly ₦540,000–₦600,000/year. This makes Shopify 10× more expensive per year than CartMor's Starter plan for equivalent core features.
Not if you use a managed platform. CartMor, Shopify, and Paystack Storefront all include hosting. If you build with WooCommerce, you'll pay separately for hosting — typically ₦10,000–₦200,000/year depending on quality.
Start with Paystack Storefront (free) to test your product idea. Once you have consistent orders and want proper order management, analytics, and a professional storefront, move to CartMor starting at ₦50,000/year. The 14-day free trial lets you test CartMor fully before paying.
A custom-built e-commerce site costs ₦200,000–₦600,000 with a Nigerian freelance developer, or ₦500,000–₦2,000,000 with an agency. Add ₦50,000–₦200,000/year for hosting and ₦50,000–₦150,000/year for maintenance. Custom builds are only justified when your requirements cannot be met by any existing platform.
Yes — your platform subscription (fixed), Paystack transaction fees (variable, 1.5% + ₦100 per sale), an optional domain name (₦5,000–₦15,000/year), and any marketing budget. With CartMor, there are no surprise bills — one annual fee covers everything except payment processing and your optional domain.
CartMor Team
Published April 2026
