Ecommerce websites for small businesses
Selling online can mean a few gift vouchers on your existing site or a full shop with hundreds of products, stock syncing and daily dispatch. The right setup depends on what you sell, how much and who will run it. This guide lays out the options from cheapest to most involved, with published prices for each.
Most small businesses sell online through a platform: Shopify from £19 a month on yearly billing, Squarespace Core from £17, Wix Core from about £16, or WordPress.com Commerce from US$45 a month on annual billing. On top come card fees, typically from 2% plus 25p a sale, apps, and your time. A designer can build the shop on one of these platforms for you; we scope online shops on a call rather than publish a shop price, because shops vary too much for one figure to be honest.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources at the end of the page.
Ways to sell online
- Add selling to the site you have. If you sell a few products, vouchers or bookings, Squarespace Core and Wix Core both take payments. Cheapest and quickest, as long as the range stays small.
- A platform shop you build yourself. Shopify, or the higher Squarespace and Wix plans. Good templates and checkout, and you do the products, photos and setup.
- A platform shop built for you. A designer sets up the same platform, design, products, payments and shipping, and you run it day to day. You pay the platform directly.
- A custom or heavily customised build. For businesses with unusual products, trade pricing, complex integrations or high volume. Priced as a project.
What the platforms cost
| Platform and plan | Per month (annual billing) | Card rates and sale fees |
|---|---|---|
| Wix Core | about £16 | Check Wix for your location |
| Squarespace Core | £17 | From 2.0% + 25p, no store transaction fee |
| Squarespace Plus | £29 | From 1.7% + 25p |
| Shopify Basic | £19 | From 2% + 25p online, or 2% extra with a third-party provider |
| Shopify Grow | £49 | From 1.7% + 25p online, or 1% extra with a third-party provider |
| WordPress.com Commerce | US$45 (excluding taxes) | Check WordPress.com |
Squarespace Basic (£12 a month) can sell too, but adds a 2% transaction fee on store sales, so it costs more than Core once sales are regular. Wix Light cannot take payments at all. For the full plan-by-plan comparison and a worked year of fees, read Shopify vs Wix vs Squarespace.
The costs beyond the platform
- Card fees on every sale, which usually outgrow the plan price once you are selling regularly.
- Apps and extensions for reviews, shipping labels, subscriptions or marketing.
- Product photography and descriptions, for every product, kept up to date.
- Packaging and postage, and the time to pick and pack.
- A till that shares stock with the website, if you also have a shop. Shopify POS Pro is £69 a month per location.
For designer and agency prices for building a shop, read what an ecommerce website costs.
The rules for selling online
A summary, not legal advice. GOV.UK's guidance on online and distance selling says you must:
- give a description of what you sell, the total price or how it is calculated, and delivery costs before the customer orders
- list the steps to place an order and let customers correct mistakes
- give your email address, and your VAT number if you are registered
- tell customers they can cancel up to 14 days after their order is delivered, without giving a reason
- confirm the order, and deliver within 30 days unless you have agreed otherwise
The CMA also expects the price you show to include unavoidable charges, so a compulsory fee cannot appear for the first time at checkout. Most platforms have the checkout parts built in. Your terms, returns policy and product pages are still your job.
How we handle online shops
We scope online shops on a call and give you a fixed price for the shop you need. We do not publish a shop price, because the work depends on how many products you have, whether you need stock syncing with a till, shipping rules, and what you are moving from. A single figure would be wrong for most shops.
If you only need a site that brings people to your shop or takes enquiries, our published tiers apply:
| Our tier | What it is | Setup | Monthly | First year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | A five-page site plus the Google groundwork, so local customers can find you. | £449 | £39 | £917 |
| Grow | 10+ pages and the local SEO foundations, for a business that wants to rank, not just exist. | £949 | £59 | £1,657 |
| Scale | 20+ pages for a business with a team or more than one site, so every service and location can be found. | £1,950 | £129 | £3,498 |
See everything included, or retail website design for independent shops deciding whether to sell online at all. The wider picture is in what a website costs in the UK.
How to choose
- A handful of products, vouchers or bookings: add selling to a Squarespace Core or Wix Core site.
- A real product range you will run yourself: Shopify, built yourself or set up by a designer.
- A shop with a till, or a large catalogue: Shopify with POS, set up properly, or a custom build.
- Not sure people will buy online: test a small range first before paying for a full shop.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Shopify UK pricing; Squarespace pricing; Startups.co.uk on Wix pricing; Wise on Wix pricing in the UK; WordPress.com pricing; GOV.UK: online and distance selling for businesses; GOV.UK: online selling rules; CMA: providing clear and accurate information about prices. Platforms change prices and run offers, so check before you buy. Some prices exclude VAT.
Questions people ask
How much does an ecommerce website cost for a small business?
On a platform you set up yourself, from about £16 to £19 a month on annual billing for the entry selling plans, plus card fees from 2% plus 25p a sale, apps and your time. A designer-built shop adds a build cost; see our ecommerce cost guide for published prices.
What is the cheapest way to sell online?
Adding a few products to a Wix Core or Squarespace Core site. Squarespace Basic is cheaper to subscribe to but its 2% transaction fee makes it dearer once you sell regularly.
Do you publish a price for online shops?
No. We scope shops on a call and give a fixed price, because the work varies too much between shops for one figure to be honest.
Do I need to offer refunds when I sell online?
GOV.UK's guidance says customers can cancel up to 14 days after their order is delivered, without giving a reason, with some exceptions. Check the guidance for what applies to your products.
Keep reading
Want a fixed price instead of a range?
Tell us what your business does and what the site needs to do. We'll come back with the tier that fits and the exact price, including when the answer is the cheapest one.
- Fixed price, published
- No long-term contract
- You own your domain
- Edits included