A mid-market ecommerce brand usually gets more senior attention, faster delivery and a lower total cost from a boutique AI consultancy, and more breadth, governance and change-management capacity from a large one such as Accenture, Deloitte or KPMG. The large firms rarely publish commercial prices, but their government rate cards show what their people cost by the day. This comparison is from Brand Media Works, an AI consulting and marketing data engineering firm for ecommerce brands, which is itself a boutique.
What do the large consultancies charge?
Large firms file rate cards to sell to government, and those cards are public. They are framework rates for public-sector buyers, not commercial quotes, but they are the clearest published view of what a large firm's people cost.
| Firm and rate card | Published rates | Card dated |
|---|---|---|
| Deloitte, UK government G-Cloud 15 framework | Standard rates of £765 to £2,125 a day across its main grades, specialist rates of £845 to £2,340, and offshore rates of £355 to £840. Cyber roles are priced separately. Expenses, travel and subsistence are extra. | January 2026 |
| KPMG, UK government G-Cloud 14 framework | £400 a day at the most junior level to £2,855 at the most senior, the same across every service line, including strategy and architecture. | April 2024 |
| Deloitte Consulting, US federal GSA schedule | Hourly ceiling rates; the highest we found was $472.66, for Strategy Engagement Leader II. Ceilings are maximums; task orders can come in lower. | Contract runs to November 2027 |
The cards let a buyer price a team. On Deloitte's G-Cloud 15 card, a six-week engagement with a senior lead one day a week and three consultants full time, one at Grade 7 and two at Senior Executive Officer level, comes to £135,150 at standard rates before VAT and expenses (our arithmetic). A similar team on KPMG's G-Cloud 14 card, with its most senior level one day a week, one consultant at level 4 and two at level 5, comes to £194,880 (our arithmetic). Both figures are for six weeks of people, before anything is built.
The scale behind those rates is large. Accenture reported revenue of $74.18 billion for fiscal 2026. A $20M ecommerce brand is a very small client for a firm of that size, which shapes who is assigned to the work.
What do boutique AI consultancies charge?
Boutiques publish more prices, and they tend to sell smaller phases. Firms in the Brand Media Works competitor register, read 18 October 2026, give these reference points:
- Hourly bands. One AI software and strategy firm puts 2026 rates at $150 to $450 an hour for boutique firms, against $300 to $900 for Big Four practices and $500 to $1,200 or more at elite strategy firms. The same firm says boutique specialists typically cost 50% to 70% less for comparable scope.
- Short first phases. Published assessments take one to four weeks, and one firm commonly prices a standalone assessment at $7,000 to $35,000.
- Large-firm scoping by comparison. One AI development firm describes a large consultancy's AI scoping engagement as 8 to 12 weeks of preliminary scoping, priced at $250,000 and up, with associates running the day-to-day and partners present at the framing and the readout.
These are figures firms publish about the market and themselves, not audited benchmarks. AI consultant cost in 2026 sets out the full list of published prices.
What does a mid-market brand actually get from each?
| Large consultancy | Boutique AI consultancy | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | A leveraged team: senior people at the framing and readout, more junior staff day to day | Smaller teams, with senior people closer to the build |
| First phase | Weeks of scoping, often priced in six figures | A one to four week assessment, then a bounded build |
| Breadth | Strategy, technology, change management, risk and audit across many functions and countries | One or two problems, usually on a defined stack |
| Ecommerce stack | Varies by team; ask for projects on Shopify, Klaviyo and the ad platforms | Varies by firm; check for projects on the brand's own systems |
| Speed to a live system | Set by the program plan | One boutique puts a first live version at week six of a twelve-week build |
| Independence | A firm that audits the brand may be restricted from consulting for it; KPMG's rate card makes work subject to a conflict of interest and independence check | Rarely an issue |
When is a large consultancy the right choice?
- The change spans many countries, brands or functions, and needs a program office, change management and training at scale.
- The work is regulated or audited, and the board wants a recognized name on the risk and governance work.
- The brand is being prepared for a sale or listing, where buyers and auditors expect large-firm sign-off.
- An existing relationship already covers the work, and adding AI to it is simpler than a new procurement, provided independence rules allow it.
When is a boutique the better fit?
- The brand has one or two problems to solve, such as reporting that disagrees across Shopify, Meta and Klaviyo, or support replies that take too long.
- The budget is a first build, not a program. Six weeks of a large firm's time can cost more than a scoped first build at a boutique.
- The brand wants senior people doing the work and a working system within weeks, then a decision on the next step.
For an ecommerce brand of $5M to $200M, the second list usually applies. How to choose an AI consulting firm covers the checks to run on any firm, and what an AI implementation consultant does explains the difference between buying a plan and buying a working system.
How do you compare quotes like for like?
Ask every firm, large or small, for the same breakdown:
- The team by name and level, with the days each person will spend on the work.
- The day or hourly rate for each level, so the quote can be turned into a blended rate and compared.
- What is fixed and what is estimated, including expenses, travel and tools.
- What the brand will have at the end of each phase, and where either side can stop.
A quote that will not show the team and the days is hard to compare with anything. Custom AI tools describes the builds Brand Media Works scopes this way.
Frequently asked questions
Do large consultancies work with mid-market brands?
Yes, but the economics favor larger programs. At the published day rates above, a six-week team costs well into six figures before anything is built, so mid-market work at a large firm tends to be scoped as strategy or as part of a wider relationship.
Are government rate cards what a private company would pay?
Not necessarily. They are the rates the firms filed for public-sector buyers on each framework, and the US figures are ceilings. Private-sector quotes are negotiated case by case, but the cards show the relative cost of each level of staff.
Can a brand use both?
Yes. Some brands use a large firm for audit, risk or a group-wide strategy and a boutique for the first builds. Ask for the strategy output in writing, so the team that builds can work from it.