Ecommerce development for UK retailers

Choosing a platform for a UK store

There is no single right platform. The right one depends on catalogue size, how much custom logic you need, who will manage the store, and what you already use for stock and accounting. A good brief saves months.

For a side-by-side view, read Shopify vs WooCommerce. Our ecommerce solutions service page lists what each build includes.

UK specifics that every build must include

• Pricing. Consumer prices in GBP including VAT, with the VAT rate configured per product type where reduced or zero rates apply. Your accountant confirms the correct rates.
• Consumer Contracts Regulations. Pre-contract information, order confirmation and a 14-day cancellation process for most distance sales. Some goods are exempt, such as made-to-order items, so product-level rules matter.
• Delivery. Rates by zone, with separate handling for Northern Ireland, the Highlands and Islands, and the Channel Islands where you ship there.
• Address entry. Postcode lookup that matches the Royal Mail Postcode Address File through a licensed service, which cuts failed deliveries.
• Privacy and cookies. UK GDPR notices, a PECR-compliant banner, and a clear process for data access requests.

We build these into templates and settings, and your solicitor confirms the legal pages.

Accessibility deserves a line of its own. The Equality Act 2010 expects reasonable adjustments for disabled customers, and an inaccessible checkout loses sales as well as risking complaints. We build to WCAG 2.2 AA, test the full path from product page to order confirmation by keyboard, and give you a list of anything that depends on a third-party widget we cannot change.

Payments and shipping UK shoppers expect

Card payments are the base. Around them, UK shoppers often look for PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and for larger baskets, Klarna or Clearpay. Each pay-later provider has its own approval process, fees and customer checks, so apply early and test in the provider's sandbox. Strong customer authentication also applies to many card payments in the UK, and payment providers such as Stripe document how it works.

For delivery, common UK options include Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL and Parcelforce, as well as click and collect from your own premises. We connect label printing, tracking emails and returns labels. A returns portal that issues a prepaid label cuts support emails.

Peak trading is the other planning point. Black Friday, the run to Christmas and Boxing Day sales put the most load on a store. We agree a code freeze date with you, load-test the checkout, and keep a named contact available on the peak days so a broken discount or carrier rate can be fixed quickly.

Build phases and timeline

1. Scope and platform decisionA short call and a written scope: products, variants, integrations and launch date. Fixed quote within one working day.
2. Design and dataWireframes, product data import rules and the tax, shipping and payment plan.
3. BuildTemplates, checkout, integrations with your accounting, stock and email tools.
4. TestTest orders in every payment method, mobile checks, accessibility review and speed checks.
5. Launch and peak planGo live on a quiet date, with code freeze before Black Friday if you trade through it.

A typical store takes six to ten weeks. Larger catalogues and custom features add time. The dated plan comes with the quote.

Remote delivery across the time zones

Our team in India is ahead of the UK by 5.5 hours in winter and 4.5 hours in summer. That means overlapping hours from about 09:00 to 13:00 UK time. You get a single project lead, a weekly demo on a staging site and a written update after each demo. Accounts for hosting, payments, domain and the platform are opened in your company's name.

Projects start at $1,500, with extra work at $30 an hour. Catalogue size, custom features, number of integrations and migration needs move the price. See the ecommerce website cost guide and the wider UK web page.