Retail website design
Not every shop needs to sell online. Plenty of independents do best with a website whose job is to get people into the shop: what you stock, when you are open, where you are and why you are worth the trip. Others really do need an online shop. The expensive mistake is building the wrong one.
hosting and edits included
- No long-term contract
- You own your domain
- Edits included
If most of your sales happen in the shop, you need a site that drives footfall: what you stock, the brands you carry, opening hours, location and events. We build that for £449 setup and £39 a month (Launch). If you want to sell online and ship orders, you need an ecommerce site, usually on a platform like Shopify, which starts at £19 a month on yearly billing plus card fees. We scope online shops on a call rather than publishing a shop price. Our ecommerce cost guide covers the numbers.
Footfall site or online shop: how to tell
A footfall site is right if
- most sales happen at the till, and people come for the experience or the advice
- your stock changes too fast, or is too one-off, to photograph and list
- nobody has time to pick, pack and post orders every day
- you want to be found by people nearby searching for what you sell
An online shop is right if
- customers already ask whether you post
- you sell products that ship well and can be photographed once and sold many times
- your stock is in a till or stock system that can sync with a shop
- the margin still works after platform and card fees, packaging and postage
A halfway house works for many shops: a footfall site with a small range of best-sellers or gift vouchers online. If you are weighing it up, read ecommerce websites for small business.
What gets people through the door
- What you stock. Categories and brands, with photos of the shop and the shelves, so people know the trip is worth it.
- Opening hours that match Google, including Sundays, bank holidays and late nights in December.
- Where you are. Map, parking, the nearest bus stop or station, and what is nearby.
- Events and new arrivals. A reason to come back, and a reason for Google to see the site is current.
- "Call to check" or "reserve and collect". A simple form or phone link for people who want to know an item is in before they travel.
If you do sell online: costs and rules
On Shopify, plans run from £19 to £259 a month on yearly billing, and online card rates start at 2% plus 25p on Basic. If you want your shop till and website to share stock, Shopify's POS Pro adds £69 a month per location. Squarespace Core, at £17 a month on annual billing, suits a small range with no store transaction fee. See Shopify vs Wix vs Squarespace for the side by side.
Selling online also brings rules. A summary, not legal advice: GOV.UK's distance selling guidance says you must tell customers they can cancel up to 14 days after their order is delivered, deliver within 30 days unless you have agreed otherwise, and give the total price and delivery costs before they order. The CMA's guidance also expects the price you show to include unavoidable charges.
What we build for shops
- Pages for your main categories and brands, written for people searching nearby.
- Opening hours, map and travel details, matching your Google Business Profile.
- Events, new arrivals and seasonal pages kept current as edits.
- A "reserve and collect" or "call to check stock" form.
- Links to your gift vouchers or a small online range where you have one.
Our tiers are on our prices page, and the wider market is in what a website costs.
Example: an independent gift shop or boutique
- Five pages: home, what we stock and brands, visit us, events and news, contact
- Opening hours and map matching your Google Business Profile
- A reserve and collect form
- Seasonal updates as edits, up to 4 requests a month
Fixed price for a footfall site. A full online shop is scoped on a call. No long-term contract.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Shopify UK pricing; Squarespace 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 a retail website cost?
Ours is £449 setup and £39 a month for a site that brings people into the shop. An online shop is a different job: we scope those on a call. Shopify itself starts at £19 a month on yearly billing, plus card fees.
Does my shop need to sell online?
Not necessarily. If most sales happen in person and nobody has time to pack orders, a site that drives footfall may earn more. If customers already ask whether you post, it is worth testing a small online range first.
Can my website show what is in stock?
A footfall site usually shows categories and brands rather than live stock. Live stock needs an online shop connected to your till or stock system, which we scope on a call.
Do you build Shopify shops?
We scope online shops on a call and quote a fixed price for the shop you need, rather than publishing one price that would be wrong for most shops.
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