By 
Start with the platform decision
The platform shapes cost, flexibility and who can run the store day to day. A hosted platform such as Shopify launches quickly and handles hosting and security for you. WooCommerce gives more control for a WordPress team. A headless or custom build on a framework such as Next.js gives the most freedom and speed, and needs more engineering to maintain.
| Option | Good fit | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted platform (for example Shopify) | Small to mid catalogues, fast launch, non-technical team | Monthly fees, less control over checkout and URLs |
| WooCommerce on WordPress | Teams that already use WordPress and want control | You manage hosting, updates and security |
| Headless or custom (for example Next.js) | Large catalogues, custom pricing or B2B flows, speed-critical stores | Higher build cost and a developer to maintain it |
| Marketplace only | Testing demand before building a store | No control over the customer, fees on every sale |
Product and category pages do the selling
Shoppers arrive from search, ads and social links on individual product pages, so each needs a clear title, honest photos, price, stock status, delivery information and reviews. Categories need real introductory text and filters that do not create thousands of duplicate URLs.
Product schema lets search engines show price, availability and ratings in results. Google's Merchant Center can also list your products in free shopping results when the feed is accurate.
- Unique titles and descriptions for products, not the supplier's copy
- Product schema with price, availability and, where genuine, review ratings
- Category pages with useful text and controlled filter URLs
- Fast images in modern formats, with sizes set to avoid layout shift
- Clear delivery and returns information on the product page
Payments, shipping and tax
Customers abandon a checkout that does not offer the payment method they trust. Ask which gateways the company has integrated in your market, how refunds work, and how shipping rates and taxes are calculated. In India that often means UPI and cards through a licensed gateway; in other markets it means local wallets and bank transfers.
Ask who is responsible for payment compliance. A reputable gateway handles card data so it never touches your server, which keeps the store out of heavy security scope.
What to ask a company
These questions show how a company works with stores like yours.
- Why this platform for my catalogue, and what would make you recommend a different one?
- How will you migrate existing products, customers and URLs without losing rankings?
- What speed target do you commit to for product and category pages on mobile?
- Which payment gateways and courier integrations have you built in my country?
- Who owns the store data and customer list, and can I export it at any time?
- What does monthly support include?
Red flags
Be careful if the quote has no migration or redirect plan, if all products share one copied description, if checkout is a heavily customised template nobody can update, or if the company keeps your payment gateway or hosting accounts in its own name.
Score your shortlist
Give each company a score from 1 to 5 on every row, multiply by the weight and total the result. A scorecard stops a confident sales call from outweighing the evidence, and it gives you a record of why you chose.
| Criterion | Weight | How to score it from 1 to 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Stores they have built on your platform | 20% | 5 = live stores in your market and size; 1 = none |
| Platform advice | 15% | 5 = explains trade-offs and recommends against their own interest when right; 1 = one-size answer |
| Product and category SEO | 20% | 5 = schema, URLs and filters planned; 1 = not mentioned |
| Payments, shipping and tax | 20% | 5 = local gateways and couriers already integrated; 1 = will figure it out |
| Migration plan | 15% | 5 = URL mapping and redirects documented; 1 = none |
| Data ownership | 10% | 5 = full export of products and customers; 1 = locked in |
What drives cost and timeline
Store cost depends on the platform, the number of products and variants, custom features such as bundles or B2B price lists, the number of integrations, and whether existing data and URLs must be migrated.
A hosted store with a polished theme and standard integrations is the smallest build. Headless storefronts, custom checkout logic and ERP or inventory integrations take longer and need ongoing engineering support after launch.
Our pricing starts at USD 10–40 per hour. The final charges and timeline are set after we confirm your requirements, and depend on your budget and the team members assigned to the project, so you receive a fixed written quote within 24 hours of a short discovery call rather than an open-ended hourly bill.
Illustrative scenario: moving a growing store off a dated platform
This is an illustration of how a project could be scoped, not a client case study, and it states no results. A store with a few hundred products runs on an old theme with slow pages and no product markup.
A sensible scope: choose the target platform with a written reason, map every old URL to its new address, rewrite thin product titles and descriptions, add product schema, connect the local payment gateway and couriers, run a staged launch, and watch Search Console and orders daily for the first weeks.
Your first 90 days after launch
A launch is the start of the work. This plan keeps the first three months focused on what changes results.
- Week 1: check redirects, crawl errors and order flow daily.
- Weeks 2 to 4: fix the products and categories that lost visits after the move.
- Month 2: submit an accurate product feed and review shopping results.
- Month 3: look at cart abandonment and improve the checkout step with the most drop-off.
Common mistakes to avoid
These errors come up repeatedly and are cheaper to prevent than to fix.
- Choosing a platform because the agency prefers it.
- Migrating without a redirect map.
- Using supplier descriptions on every product.
- Letting filters create thousands of duplicate URLs.
- Storing payment accounts in the agency's name.
Sources and further reading
Related services