Retail software cost by type
| Type of project | Typical cost | Typical timeline from approved scope |
|---|---|---|
| Online store connected to point of sale stock | $12,000 to $24,000 | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Click and collect or reserve online | $8,000 to $20,000 | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Loyalty app for iPhone and Android | $20,000 to $44,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Inventory and product data platform across locations | $24,000 to $60,000 | 8 to 14 weeks |
| Retail dashboard: sales, stock, and margin by store | $6,000 to $15,000 | 2 to 4 weeks |
The timeline starts once the scope is approved and we have what we need from you.
Cost drivers specific to retail
| Driver | Why it adds cost | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Point of sale integration | Tills differ in how they share sales and stock | $5,000 to $12,000 |
| Number of locations | Every shop and warehouse adds stock rules and transfers | +5 to 10% per extra location group |
| Product data quality | Inconsistent sizes, colors, and codes break syncing | $1,500 to $3,500 of cleanup |
| Peak trading | Sales and holidays multiply traffic and orders | $2,500 to $6,000 for load testing and scaling |
| Returns across channels | Buy online, return in store needs shared records | $3,000 to $7,500 |
Why retail software is different from an online store
An online store sells from one stock pile. A retailer with shops sells the same products from many places at once: tills in each shop, the website, marketplaces, and sometimes a wholesale channel. The hardest problem is not taking payment. It is knowing, at every moment, how many of each item are available and where.
When stock is wrong, everything else goes wrong. Customers buy items that sold out in a shop an hour ago. Staff walk the stockroom looking for products the system says are there. Reorders arrive late or too early. Most retail software projects are, at heart, stock accuracy projects.
The five cost drivers that are specific to retail
The first is your point of sale (POS) system, the tills and software in your shops. Modern cloud POS systems such as Shopify POS, Square, and Lightspeed share sales and stock easily. Older systems may only export files at the end of the day. Connecting them costs $5,000 to $12,000.
The second is locations. Each extra shop or warehouse adds stock levels, transfers, and rules about which location fulfills an online order.
The third is product data. Retailers often have the same product under different names and codes in different systems. Cleaning and matching that data is unglamorous and essential, and it usually costs $1,500 to $3,500.
The fourth is peak trading. Black Friday, seasonal sales, and holidays multiply traffic. Systems must be load tested and able to scale for those weeks.
The fifth is returns across channels. Customers expect to buy online and return in a shop, or the reverse. That needs shared order records and refunds that work everywhere.
Key points
- Your point of sale system
- How many shops and warehouses you run
- The state of your product data
- Peak trading weeks
- Returns that work in every channel
What is included in the price
Every retail quote from us includes a stock flow map showing every channel, every location, and which system owns stock, orders, and customers. The build covers the integrations, the customer features, and a dashboard for your team. Before launch we test with real products and real tills, run load tests for your peak season, and train staff in each shop on any new process.
A typical timeline
Connecting an online store to your tills takes three to five weeks. Click and collect takes two to four weeks once stock is accurate. A loyalty app takes six to ten weeks. An inventory and product data platform takes eight to fourteen weeks, rolled out one location at a time. We avoid launches in the six weeks before your busiest season.
How to keep the cost down
Fix stock accuracy before anything else, because loyalty apps and click and collect both depend on it. Use the integrations your POS and store platforms already offer where they are reliable, and build custom only for the gaps. Clean product data before the build starts. Roll out to one shop first, learn from its staff, then move to the rest.
A worked example
Picture a footwear retailer with five shops and a growing online store. Each shop counts stock on its own system, and the website is updated by a nightly file. Online customers regularly buy sizes that have already sold in a shop.
The project connects the online store and all five shops to one stock pool, with near real-time updates from the tills. Online orders are routed to the nearest shop with stock, and click and collect follows in the same project. Product data for 3,000 styles is cleaned and matched first. It falls in the $24,000 to $32,000 range and launches in about six weeks, one shop at a time. Overselling stops, and online orders ship faster because the nearest shop fulfills them.
A loyalty app follows as a second phase, using the clean customer and stock data the first phase created.
What retail software pays back
The returns are easy to measure. Fewer cancelled online orders, because stock is right. Faster fulfillment, because the nearest shop with stock ships the order. Less time counting and searching the stockroom. And more repeat visits, once loyalty and click and collect give customers a reason to come back.
Record cancelled orders, average fulfillment time, and stock discrepancies before the project starts. They show whether the first phase worked, and they point to what to build next.
How to compare retail software quotes
Ask whether the supplier has connected your POS system before. Ask how often stock will update and what happens when a till goes offline. Ask how product data will be cleaned and who will do it. Ask how the system will perform on your busiest day of the year, and how that will be tested. Confirm that you own the code, the customer data, and the accounts on every platform.