If you sell standard products with standard delivery, a hosted platform like Shopify is hard to beat: you can open a store in days, and the platform handles payments, hosting and security. It is the right choice for many businesses, and we say so when it is.
When a platform is the right choice
- Your products fit the usual pattern of items with sizes, colours and stock
- Delivery and taxes follow standard rules
- You want to start selling this month and test demand
- The monthly fee and the fee on each sale are small next to your margin
When a custom store earns its cost
A custom store makes sense when the way you sell is the thing a template cannot do:
- Bookings, appointments or rentals with availability
- Made-to-order products with options that change the price
- Prices or delivery that depend on the client or the region
- A catalogue that must stay in sync with your stock or accounting tools
- Platform fees and apps that now cost more than the store earns
Ownership and the cost over time
On a platform you rent the store: the monthly plan, the paid apps and the fee on each sale add up as you grow, and moving away later takes work. A custom store costs more to build and less to run, and the code and the customer data are yours.
Start small either way
Whichever you choose, start with the part that brings in money: the catalogue, the checkout and the confirmation. A showcase website can also grow into a store later, once you are ready to sell.
If your way of selling does not fit a template, that is the kind of store we build in our Ecommerce service.