Commerce platforms we build on
The commerce engine decides how you sell: how the checkout converts, how much of the infrastructure you own, and how deeply the store weaves into your content. We build on two, chosen by how much control versus convenience a business wants.
What a commerce platform is — and what actually matters to you
A commerce platform is the engine behind an online store: the product catalogue, the cart, the checkout, payments and tax. Every option can display products and take money — so, as with a CMS, the surface features rarely decide it. What matters is how well the checkout converts, how much of the running of it lands on you, and how freely the store can bend to your brand and your data.
Those questions pull in different directions. A hosted platform trades some control for reliability and low overhead; a self-hosted one trades convenience for total ownership and no platform fees. Getting that trade right for your business is the whole job — and it is the decision we work through with you before a line of code is written.
Hosted vs self-hosted commerce
The commerce decision is really this one. Both routes can produce a fast, bespoke store — they differ in who carries the infrastructure and how much you can change.
Hosted (Shopify)
- The platform runs checkout, payments, compliance and uptime.
- Reliable and fast to market, with a high-converting checkout.
- Transaction fees apply unless you use Shopify Payments.
- Best when you want to sell without running infrastructure.
Self-hosted (WooCommerce)
- You own the store, the data and the checkout, on WordPress.
- Endlessly customisable, with no platform transaction fees.
- Performance, security and scaling are your responsibility — so we manage them.
- Best when content and commerce belong in one system you control.
How we decide with you
One question leads: how much do you want to own versus hand off?
Convenience or control?
Want the platform to run the plumbing? Shopify. Want to own every part of it? WooCommerce.
How content-led is it?
If content marketing and commerce must live together on WordPress, WooCommerce fits naturally.
What is the ops appetite?
No appetite for hosting and maintenance points to hosted Shopify; happy for us to manage it points to Woo.
How do fees stack up?
At higher volumes, avoiding per-transaction platform fees can tip the maths toward WooCommerce.
Our chosen commerce platforms
Shopify
Hosted commerce that just works — customised, not reskinned.
Shopify is our pick when a business wants a fast, reliable store without running the plumbing. We build bespoke storefronts on it — not off-the-shelf themes — so it looks like your brand, not a template.
WooCommerce
Fully custom commerce, built into WordPress.
WooCommerce is our pick when content and commerce need to live together on WordPress — full control of the store, the content and the data, with no platform dictating how it must work.
Not sure which stack fits?
Tell us about the build and we will recommend the platforms — a reasoned recommendation, not a ranking. No jargon, no lock-in.