E-commerce website design
An online shop built to sell: clear product pages, quick checkout, and everything UK law expects a shop to show. You see it working before you pay anything.
Branding
£499 no build fee
→The short answer
E-commerce website design is building an online shop that turns visitors into orders: product pages that answer every question, a short checkout, and the information UK consumer law requires. We build yours with no build fee: £499 for your branding, then a 5% contribution built into your product prices. You see the shop before paying.
(01)What the law requires
General information, not legal advice. Every shop we build covers it.
What a UK online shop must show
Selling online to consumers in the UK is covered by the Consumer Contracts Regulations1. They decide much of what has to be on your shop, and some of it changes how the checkout must work.
- Who you are: your business name, a geographic address and how to contact you2.
- What you're selling: the main characteristics of each product, clearly.
- The full price: including any taxes, and delivery charges shown before the customer orders.
- How delivery and payment work: when the goods will arrive and how to pay.
- The right to cancel: customers can cancel up to 14 days after delivery without giving a reason, and you must tell them so. If you don't, the cancellation period can stretch to 12 months2.
- An order button that's unmistakable: it must make clear that pressing it means paying, such as "Order with obligation to pay" or "Buy now"1.
- A confirmation: of the order and the key information, sent in a form the customer can keep, such as an email.
- Refunds on time: once you're told of a cancellation and the goods are back, refunds are due within 14 days3.
(02)Platforms and costs
Published UK prices. We'll recommend one for your shop, with reasons.
Which platform, and what it really costs
| Platform | Monthly cost | Card fees | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify (Basic) | £19, billed yearly4 | 2% + 25p per online order with Shopify Payments4 | Shops that will grow; many products; selling on social too |
| Squarespace (Core) | £17, billed yearly5 | Set by your payment provider | A small range of products alongside a strong brand site |
| Wix (Core) | £16, billed yearly6 | Set by your payment provider | A first shop with a handful of products |
| WooCommerce on WordPress | Free plugin, plus hosting at around £5–£607 | Set by your payment provider, e.g. Stripe from 1.5% + 20p8 | Full control, if someone will look after updates |
Prices exclude VAT where the platform adds it, and are the published rates on the day we checked. Apps, paid themes and domains are extra on every platform.
(03)The product page
Where the sale is won or lost.
What a product page needs
Photos that answer questions
The product from every useful angle, in use, and to scale. Customers can't pick it up, so the photos have to do it for them.
A name and price you can read at a glance
With delivery cost or a "free delivery over" line right beside the price, not hidden until checkout.
What it is, in plain words
Size, material, what's in the box, care instructions. Written for your customer, not copied from the supplier.
Stock and delivery dates
"In stock, ordered by 2pm ships today" sells better than silence, and saves you emails.
Proof
Real reviews of that product, if you have them. Never invented ones: since April 2025, fake reviews are banned outright in the UK9.
One clear button
Add to basket, with the options (size, colour) chosen just above it. Nothing else competing for attention.
The answers to the usual questions
Returns, sizing, delivery times, guarantees, close to the button.
(04)Payment fees
Every card payment costs you a slice. Here's how big.
What taking a card payment costs
| Payment provider | Card type | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Standard UK cards | 1.5% + 20p8 |
| Stripe | Premium UK cards | 2.8% + 20p8 |
| Stripe | European cards | 2.5% + 20p8 |
| Stripe | Other international cards | 3.15% + 20p8 |
| Shopify Payments (Basic plan) | Online cards | 2% + 25p4 |
On a £40 order, 1.5% + 20p is 80p; 2% + 25p is £1.05. Small differences add up over a year of orders, so we work them into your prices from the start.
(05)Build costs
What an online shop costs to build in the UK
Startups.co.uk reckons adding e-commerce to a WordPress site costs £300 to £2,000 on top of the site itself7, and bespoke shops cost far more. On a platform like Shopify you can build a basic shop yourself for the monthly fee, if you have the time to set it up, photograph everything and write every product page.
Our way is different. There's no build fee: you pay £499 for your branding, and we're funded by a 5% contribution built into your product prices, so we only do well when your shop does. The e-commerce partnership works it through in pounds and explains who it suits and who it doesn't.
(06)How it works
See your shop before you pay
You tell us about your business
A short call or a WhatsApp chat: what you do, where you work, who you want more of.
We build your preview
A real working preview of your website or logo. Free, and no card needed.
You ask for changes
We make a reasonable number of changes until it's right.
You give it the nod. Then you pay.
We launch it and keep improving it every month under your plan.
(07)More for online shops
Questions
(08)Questions
Anything from a monthly platform fee if you build it yourself, to several thousand pounds for a designed shop and far more for a bespoke one. Startups.co.uk puts adding e-commerce to a WordPress site at £300–£2,000 on its own7. With us there's no build fee: £499 for branding and a 5% contribution built into your prices.
For most new shops, Shopify: it's built for selling, handles payments, and grows with you. Squarespace or Wix suit a handful of products alongside a brand site. WooCommerce gives full control but needs someone to look after it. We'll recommend one for your products and explain why.
You must give customers certain information before they buy, including how to cancel and get a refund, and most shops put this in their terms, delivery and returns pages. We set these pages up as part of the build; for anything unusual, take legal advice.
Yes. Many shops do both: the marketplaces bring buyers, your own shop keeps more of each sale and lets you build a customer list. We can link your shop to the channels you already use.
No. Customers pay your shop directly through the payment provider set up in your name, such as Shopify Payments or Stripe. Money from sales goes to you.
Sources
(09)Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked on the date shown.
- 1The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, legislation.gov.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 2Online and distance selling for businesses, GOV.UK. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 3Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law, GOV.UK. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 4Shopify pricing (UK), Shopify. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 5Squarespace pricing, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 6Wix pricing explained, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 7How much does a WordPress website cost?, Startups.co.uk. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 8Pricing and fees (UK), Stripe. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 9Fake reviews: guidance on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (CMA208), Competition and Markets Authority. Checked 26 October 2026.
(10)Start a project
Let's build your
free preview.
Tell us about your business. We'll come back with a plan and start on your preview. You pay nothing until you give it the nod.