How much does an order-taking app cost?

Your sales reps take orders on paper, in a spreadsheet or by text message, and someone re-enters them back at the office. An order-taking app removes that double entry, applies the right prices and sends the order immediately. Here is what it costs, item by item, and how the budget is built.

Price ranges

Amounts exclude VAT and cover a first version in production. The quote becomes fixed after the scoping phase.

For a range that fits your team, the estimator calculates a budget in one minute from the features you select.

How the budget is built

My estimator starts from a base price for a business app, adds functional modules, then applies multipliers based on the number of users. An illustrative example for a team of 25 sales reps, with offline mode, PDF order forms and an ERP connection:

With a dashboard (€1,500) and a customer map with routes (€1,500), you get to around $22,000 (€19,600)excl. VAT. This is an order of magnitude: the fixed quote follows scoping, once your ERP and pricing rules have been reviewed.

What drives the price

1. Offline mode. Essential for reps visiting customers in areas with poor coverage, in warehouses or basements. It requires reliable syncing and conflict handling. See why offline order taking matters.
2. Pricing rules. Customer-specific prices, volume discounts, promotions, free shipping thresholds: the more there are, the more testing is needed to guarantee reps see the right price.
3. The ERP connection. Pulling the catalog, stock and prices, sending orders back: often the most uncertain item, which depends on the ERP and its API.
4. Number of users. Above 10 users, my pricing applies a 1.1 multiplier; above 50, 1.2, to account for testing, load and onboarding.
5. Business extras. Customer signature on the tablet, shelf photos, competitor checks, visit reports: each one adds screens.

What the price includes

• Scoping with one or two reps and sales management: order process, pricing rules, edge cases.
• Clickable mockups, tested on a tablet or phone before development.
• Development in batches, each tested by your team.
• Go-live, the data migration planned during scoping, team onboarding and three months of support.
• Transfer of the source code and rights once the project is paid for.

You cover: hosting (a few tens to a few hundred euros a year), your reps’ devices and usage-based third-party services such as mapping or email sending.

I generally recommend building this kind of tool as a progressive web app (PWA): they install on tablets and phones, work offline and do not depend on the app stores.

When it is not the right solution

A custom app is not always justified:

• Two or three reps with a simple catalog and a single price list: the mobile module of your management software or an off-the-shelf tool is often enough.
• Your ERP already offers a suitable order-taking app: configure it before building anything.
• Most of your orders come in online: what you need is more likely a B2B portal.

Custom work makes sense when your commercial rules are complex, when re-entry costs hours every week, or when price and product errors cost margin and disputes.

How the project works

1. A 30-minute call to understand your team, your catalog and your ERP.
2. Scoping (1 to 2 weeks): scope, pricing rules, ERP flows, fixed quote.
3. Mockups (1 to 3 weeks): two or three reps test them in real conditions.
4. Development in batches: catalog and ordering first, then offline mode, PDFs and the ERP connection.
5. Rollout to a pilot group, then the whole team, with training.

Payment follows the same rhythm: a 50% deposit at the start, the balance according to the schedule in the quote. To calculate the return on investment before you start, the method is explained in calculating the ROI of a business tool.