What is E-commerce?

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services over the internet. Almost anything can be sold via e-commerce nowadays. It can be a substitute for brick-and-mortar stores, however, physical and online stores can work together, so some businesses choose to maintain both.

Characteristics of an E-commerce Website

An e-commerce website features several characteristics that differentiate it from a normal website, including:

Product pages
Shopping cart and checkout functionality
The capability for customers to make online payments.

Sybiltec's E-commerce Website Service

Our e-commerce website service consists of website design and development of an online store on either Shopify or WooCommerce, depending on your preference and requirements. If you are not sure which platform is right for you, we can advise you to make the best choice. For more information, you can also read our blog post on Shopify vs WooCommerce: What are the Differences?

E-commerce Website Migration

Are you dissatisfied with your current e-commerce platform? If you have an existing e-commerce site which you're looking to migrate, then we can also support you with this. We will help you to transfer your design, products, pages and forms to the new website, which will be built on Shopify or WooCommerce.

Who This Service is Suitable For

If you are a business owner who sells or is planning to sell products and/or services on your website, then our e-commerce service would be perfect for you. If you need a website but do not plan to sell online, please see our Small Business Website service.

What the Process Involves

We will begin by getting to know your business, and your purpose for building the website. We will gather your requirements and present you with the best solution. We'll then provide you with a quote, and if you indicate that you are happy to proceed, then we will send you an agreement via email and an invoice for the deposit, which is usually 33% of the total amount to be paid. Once we have received the signed agreement and the deposit, we will begin with the work.

We will create an initial design for your website and send you a link to this design for your review and feedback. We'll revise the design according to your comments, and when we are both happy with the design, we will proceed to build the website on Shopify or WooCommerce.

Please send us the content that you wish to be uploaded to the website, including:

Company logo
Product images, descriptions* and prices
Content for pages*
Content for blog posts*
Your business address, email address and phone number
Your company number and VAT number (if applicable)
Links to social media profiles
Any other content, like videos and photos.

*If you cannot provide the written content, we offer a copywriting service at an additional cost. Please let us know during our initial consultation if you require this service.

Additional Considerations for Shopify Sites

Your Shopify website will be built on a Shopify development store. Whilst the store is in development mode, you will not pay any Shopify hosting fees, and you will not be able to take any live orders. When the store is ready to launch, you will need to choose a Shopify plan - you must do this to start making sales on your website. At this point onwards you will start paying the hosting fees. The Basic Shopify plan is currently £25/month + VAT.

Additional Considerations for WooCommerce Sites

WooCommerce is a plugin which works with the WordPress software. You will need to choose a hosting provider so that we can set up WordPress and build the site. We can help you to select the hosting service that is most suitable for your needs.

You must maintain your WordPress site on a regular basis to keep plugins, themes and WordPress core files up to date. Being a busy business owner, you probably don't have the time to spend maintaining your website, so please consider taking up our Website Maintenance service for help with managing your site.