The verdict in three sentences
A real-time connector keeps stock and prices consistent between your ERP and your store, removing overselling and wrong-price displays. In 2026 in Toronto, budget 15,000 to 45,000 EUR and 6 to 10 weeks for an event-driven architecture with a message queue and conflict handling. The premium over a simple batch is justified as soon as data freshness has a direct impact on revenue.
Batch or real time: the real trade-off
Not every sync needs real time. Batch (every X minutes/hours) is far cheaper but leaves an inconsistency window.
| Criterion | Periodic batch | Real time (event-driven) |
|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | 6,000 - 15,000 EUR | 15,000 - 45,000 EUR |
| Data freshness | 5 min to 24 h | < 5 seconds |
| Monthly infra cost | 30 - 150 EUR | 150 - 600 EUR |
| Overselling risk | Present | Near zero |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Best for | Stable catalogues | Tight stock, dynamic prices |
If your stock turns fast or your prices change often, real time pays for itself in saved sales and avoided disputes.
What makes up an event-driven budget
A serious real-time connector is not just "pushing an event". Resilience and observability represent a large share of the cost.
| Item | 2026 cost (EUR) | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Message bus/queue | 4,000 - 9,000 | Decoupling, buffering |
| Producers/consumers | 5,000 - 12,000 | Publish and process |
| Conflict handling | 3,000 - 8,000 | Ordering, idempotency |
| Failure recovery (retry/DLQ) | 3,000 - 8,000 | Zero event loss |
| Monitoring + alerts | 3,000 - 6,000 | Incident detection |
The message queue (Kafka, RabbitMQ, or a managed SaaS) is the core: it absorbs spikes and lets you replay events if a system fails.
Mini case study
Julien, e-commerce director of a retail group in Toronto, suffered 30 to 40 oversells a month because store stock updated every 6 hours. We delivered an event-driven connector with a message queue and DLQ for 32,000 EUR in 9 weeks, infra at 380 EUR/month. Oversells dropped to under 2 a month. Each oversell cost on average 45 EUR (refund, goodwill gesture, support): about 1,600 EUR/month saved, a payback in roughly 20 months, not counting the preserved brand image.
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FAQ
Do I really need real time?
Not always. If your stock is stable and prices fixed, a batch every 15 to 60 minutes is enough and costs far less. Real time is justified on tight stock or dynamic prices.
What happens if a system goes down?
The message queue buffers events and a Dead Letter Queue catches failing ones. As soon as the system is restored, everything is replayed in order, with no loss.
What is the monthly infrastructure cost?
150 to 600 EUR depending on event volume and redundancy level. A managed SaaS (managed queue) simplifies operations for a slightly higher cost.
How do you avoid data conflicts?
Through idempotency (replaying an event creates no duplicate) and per-key ordering. You also define a source of truth per field to settle conflicts.
How long to deliver?
6 to 10 weeks for a full event-driven architecture with monitoring. A first critical flow can be live in 4 weeks.
Let's scope your project. Tell us the systems to sync, the events per day and the required freshness, and we will frame batch or real time with the associated infra cost. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
