A shop is not a brochure with a basket
A normal website tells people about your business. An online store has to take payments, track stock and get orders to the right place, and it has to do it reliably, because money is moving. That’s why it deserves a few decisions before anyone starts building.
Decide these first
- What are you selling, and roughly how many products? Ten products and ten thousand are different projects.
- Do products come in variations? Sizes, colours and options change how the catalogue is set up.
- How will customers pay? Card, bank transfer, or both. This has to be tested end to end, including that the money actually arrives.
- How do orders get delivered, and what does delivery cost? Flat rate, by weight, collection, or free over a certain amount.
- Who looks after stock and orders day to day? If the answer is “whoever has time”, write down who it will really be.
You don’t need perfect answers. Rough ones are enough to start, and we’ll ask about all of them early, so nothing surprises you halfway through.
Think about the phone
Most online shopping now happens on a phone, so the store should be designed for it first. If the product pages and checkout are awkward on a small screen, people leave before they pay.
Being found, not just posted about
Social media is good for showing products, but a lot of people still start with a search. Basic SEO, so products can be found on Google and not just Facebook, should be part of the build.
If you already manage stock somewhere else
Many businesses keep stock in a spreadsheet or another system. That doesn’t have to stay separate. Often a small piece of custom software can connect the two, so a sale on the website updates your own records in one step. It’s worth raising before the store is built, so both are designed to work from the same data. See business automation for what that looks like, or our guide on spreadsheets and custom apps.
What it costs and how long it takes
Our Online Store package starts from €3,000 as a one-off, live in four to six weeks. It includes unlimited products, payments and checkout built in, and stock and shipping set up properly. Gold hosting (10 GB, unlimited mailboxes) is included free for the first year. Anything extra, such as a booking system, is quoted according to your needs and agreed in writing first. Compare it with the other tiers in our guide to website costs in Malta.
How it goes
- You tell us what you sell and how you want to sell it.
- We agree scope, price and timing in writing.
- We build the store and load your first products, then you review it.
- We test the whole path from browsing to paying before launch.
- You go live, with hosting, your domain and email set up.
Next step
Planning an online store?
Tell us what you sell and how you want to sell it. We agree scope, price and timing in writing before we start, and you see it working before you go live.
Let us know how we can help
Tell us what you need and we will come back within one working day with a clear proposal, pricing and timeframes.