Service
Ecommerce websites
From a chocolatier selling gift boxes to a farm shop near Malton shipping hampers, an online store has to make buying feel as easy and trustworthy as walking into the real shop. We build stores that small teams can actually run.
Who this is for
York has a long confectionery history: Terry's and Rowntree's made the city a centre of chocolate making, and KitKat is still produced here. That tradition carries on in the city's smaller chocolatiers and confectioners, and across North Yorkshire there is a wide food and drink scene, with Malton in particular known for its food market and festival. Our ecommerce clients are mostly these kinds of businesses: producers, makers, independent retailers and gift shops who sell well in person and want an online store that carries the same character.
Shopify or WooCommerce?
| Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Shops where selling is the main job of the site | Content-led sites with a shop attached |
| Upkeep | Hosted and maintained for you | You (or we) maintain WordPress and plugins |
| Costs | Monthly plan plus transaction fees on some plans | Hosting and paid extensions; no platform fee |
| Flexibility | Very good within Shopify's structure | Almost unlimited, at the cost of more upkeep |
For most small food and gift shops, Shopify is the lower-stress choice. WooCommerce suits businesses with a lot of editorial content, such as recipes, stories or events, or unusual product logic.
What is included, step by step
- Operations workshop. Before design, we map how orders are packed, posted, collected and refunded, and what can and cannot be shipped.
- Catalogue structure. Collections, product types, variants, gift options and how customers will browse.
- Design. Home, collection, product, basket and checkout, phone first.
- Delivery rules. Zones, chilled or fragile items, local delivery and collection, dispatch days and seasonal cut-off dates.
- Build and product loading. We load your range or a first set and train you to add the rest.
- Payments and legal pages. Payment methods, VAT settings, terms, returns and privacy pages reviewed with you.
- Test orders. Real end-to-end orders, including refunds, before launch.
Product pages that answer questions
For food, a good product page shows clear photos including one that shows scale, a short description of taste and what makes it different, full ingredients with allergens highlighted, weight, shelf life and storage, and the delivery options for that product next to the buy button. Mandatory food information, including allergens, must be available before the customer buys, just as on your labels. If you are unsure what applies to your products, your local trading standards or environmental health team can advise.
Seasonal peaks
For many York sellers the year is lumpy: Christmas, the St Nicholas Fair in the city centre, Easter, Mother's Day and the summer visitor season. We set up collections and landing pages you can switch on for each peak, with clear dispatch cut-off dates, and make sure the store and its apps hold up when traffic jumps.
How long it takes and what drives the cost
A focused Shopify store usually takes six to ten weeks. Costs are driven by the number of products and variants we load, delivery complexity, custom design versus an adapted theme, integrations with stock, accounting or wholesale systems, and data migration from an old shop. If you plan to launch for Christmas, talk to us by the end of the summer.
Common mistakes
- Delivery costs revealed only at the last step of checkout.
- Chocolate posted in a heatwave with no summer shipping rules.
- Product photos taken on a kitchen counter at night.
- Dozens of apps installed for small features, slowing every page.
- No plan for trade customers, who end up emailing for prices.
- Christmas cut-off dates added on 20 December.
Search and product feeds
Product pages are built with structured data so search engines can show price and availability, and we can set up a product feed for Google Shopping if you plan to advertise. Pages for occasions, such as gift boxes or hampers delivered in York, give searchers somewhere useful to land.
A worked example
Consider a small producer selling jams, chutneys and hampers from a market stall and a farm shop. A sensible first version of their online shop would include perhaps twenty products that post well, with full labelling information on every page; two delivery options, standard post and local delivery within a set radius; collection from the farm shop; a hamper builder for gifts; and a Christmas collection with a clear last order date. Chilled products would be left out until the operation could handle them. Once the shop ran smoothly, the range could grow.
How we measure it
We track the numbers that matter for a shop: sessions, conversion rate, average order value, basket abandonment and where in checkout people drop out. After launch we review them with you at one and three months and suggest specific fixes.
Questions
Shopify or WooCommerce?
Shopify suits most small shops that want low maintenance. WooCommerce suits sites that are mainly content with a shop attached, or that need unusual product logic.
Can you move my existing shop?
Yes. We migrate products, customers and order history where the platforms allow it, and redirect old product addresses so you keep search traffic.
Can I offer local collection and delivery?
Yes. Both platforms support collection points and local delivery zones with their own rules and charges.
Can trade customers see different prices?
Yes, using a trade login or a separate wholesale order form, depending on the platform and your volumes.
Do you take product photos?
We can brief and work with a local product photographer, and design the pages around the photos you have.