DoodleWeb

Cost and scoping

What an online parts store costs and what actually drives the number.

Dealers usually ask for a price before describing their brands, which is understandable and also backwards. The storefront is close to a fixed cost. The integrations are not, and they are most of the project.

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Short answer

The cost of a dealer parts store is driven by brand count and data quality, not catalog size or page count. Each brand that has to be connected adds real effort, while adding parts to an existing pipeline adds almost none.

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Five things that move the number

If you want a rough sense of where a project will land before you speak to anyone, these are the variables that matter.

  • Brand count. Each brand is a separate integration and separate normalisation work.
  • Data availability. A brand with a usable feed is far cheaper than one that needs structured sourcing.
  • Fitment depth. Part number search only is cheap. Model, serial range and diagrams are not.
  • Freight complexity. Parts ranging from an O-ring to a loader bucket need real shipping logic.
  • System writeback. Order notifications are simple. Writing orders back into a DMS is not.

What barely moves the number

It surprises dealers that catalog size is almost irrelevant. Once the pipeline exists, publishing three million parts costs about what publishing thirty thousand costs, because nobody is typing either one.

Design also matters less than expected. A parts store is judged on whether the right part is found in three clicks, not on how the hero section looks. The money belongs in search and data.

Three ways dealers start

There is no requirement to build everything at once, and most dealers should not.

  • Start with one brand: prove the integration on your largest parts line before committing further.
  • Full catalog build: all brands connected and a complete storefront delivered in one project.
  • Fix what you have: you already have a store, but the data is stale, search is poor, or nothing is connected.

What the return looks like

The revenue side is orders placed when your counter is closed, which is largely incremental rather than shifted from the phone. The cost side is counter time. Scholten's Equipment recovered roughly 200 hours previously spent answering parts availability questions, across a catalog of over 3.5 million parts and five connected brands.

The quiet third benefit is accuracy. A connected catalog is correct by default, so you stop paying for the returns, credits and apologies that a hand-maintained parts page generates.

Where the effort goes in a typical parts store project

WorkstreamEffortWhy
Brand integrationsHighRepeats per brand, and data quality varies wildly
Catalog normalisationHighSupersessions, duplicates and inconsistent naming
Fitment and searchHighModel hierarchy plus a tuned search index
Storefront buildMediumLargely repeatable once the data model is settled
Freight and paymentsMediumOversized and freight rules need real carrier logic
Design and contentLowFunction beats polish in a parts catalog
Ongoing maintenanceLowMonitoring the pipeline, not re-entering data

Questions dealers ask

Cost is driven almost entirely by how many brands have to be connected and how much catalog normalisation is involved, not by page count or design. A single-brand pilot is a fraction of a full multi-brand catalog build, which is why most dealers start with one brand and expand once the pattern is proven.

Keep reading

Dealer portal and DMS integration

The workstream that drives most of the cost.

WooCommerce vs Shopify for parts

How platform choice shows up in build and running costs.

DoodleWeb pricing

How we price work across the rest of what we build.

Get a real number for your catalog.

Send us your brands and where the parts data lives today. We will scope it properly instead of guessing at a range.

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Q&A

Frequently asked questions about DoodleWeb

What is DoodleWeb?
DoodleWeb is a Seattle-headquartered digital agency (founded 2019) that designs, builds, and grows websites and digital platforms on Drupal, WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, BigCommerce, and React for higher education, government, aerospace, healthcare, nonprofit, and growing brands across the United States.
Where is DoodleWeb based?
DoodleWeb is a Seattle, WA agency headquartered at Columbia Tower, 701 5th Ave, 42nd Floor, Seattle, WA 98104, United States. We serve clients across the United States.
What services does DoodleWeb offer?
Custom web design and development, CMS builds and migrations (Drupal, WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, BigCommerce), eCommerce, headless commerce, React/Next.js engineering, React Native mobile apps, rebranding, accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA, AODA, Section 508), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and SLA-backed managed hosting and maintenance.
How much does a DoodleWeb website cost?
Marketing sites start around $12K, CMS rebuilds run $25K–$80K, and enterprise Drupal, headless commerce, and government platforms start at $80K and scale to $250K+. Every quote is fixed-fee with no hidden retainers and is returned within 48 hours of the discovery call.
How long does a website project take?
Marketing sites launch in 6–10 weeks, mid-market CMS platforms in 10–16 weeks, and enterprise Drupal, government, or commerce rebuilds in 4–6 months. Exact timeline, milestone dates, and acceptance criteria are written into the SOW before kickoff.
Can DoodleWeb get my brand cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude?
Yes. Our AEO/GEO program restructures content into Q&A patterns, ships FAQ / Organization / Article / BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema, publishes /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt, and runs weekly citation tests across all four major answer engines so engines extract and cite your brand. Initial citations typically appear within 30–60 days.
How do I contact DoodleWeb?
Email info@doodleweb.io, call +1-425-359-0168, or book a free 30-minute consultation at https://book.doodleweb.io. You will speak directly with a senior strategist, not a sales rep.