Online shops that sell, with every order in one place.
Stripe checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay, stock that matches the shelf, delivery rules and VAT done properly. From £950, with no cut of your sales.
What we build. Everything between browsing and paying.
An online shop is a website with one extra job: getting someone from a product they like to a payment that clears, on a phone, without a wobble.
A catalogue people can browse
Products, collections and filters that make sense for what you sell, whether that is twelve candles or four hundred spare parts. Options and variants (size, colour, engraving) priced correctly on the server.
A basket that remembers
Add to basket, change quantities, apply a discount code, see delivery costs before checkout. No surprise charges at the last step, which is where most baskets are abandoned.
A checkout that clears first time
Stripe Checkout handles card entry, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank approval. It is tested by millions of shoppers a day, so we do not reinvent it. We make the steps before and after it fast and clear.
Product pages that load fast
Product photos are resized for every screen and served as AVIF or WebP. Pages are rendered on the server, so the price and the Add to basket button appear first, even on a weak signal. Product schema helps Google show your price and stock in results.
One payment, end to end.
This is what happens in the 27 seconds between Pay and the receipt. Every step is logged, so if anything goes wrong we can see exactly where.
14:02:07.118Basket
Two items, delivery to DH1. Prices and stock checked on the server, never trusted from the browser.
14:02:07.402Stripe Checkout
A Stripe-hosted payment page in your brand. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
14:02:31.9503-D Secure
The bank asks the customer to approve in their banking app. Strong Customer Authentication, done.
14:02:33.281Webhook
checkout.session.completed arrives. We verify Stripe's signature before we believe it.
14:02:33.307Order
Order 1042 created once, even if the webhook arrives twice. Stock drops by two.
14:02:34.012Receipt
Receipt to the customer, order email to you, and the order in your orders list.
Card details never touch your site.
Customers type their card into Stripe's hosted checkout. Your website and our servers only ever see a payment reference and a result.
The lightest PCI DSS paperwork
With hosted checkout you qualify for SAQ A, the shortest PCI self-assessment. Stripe, a PCI Level 1 provider, carries the rest.
Strong Customer Authentication built in
3-D Secure runs when the bank asks for it, so payments meet UK rules without extra work from you.
Orders that cannot be doubled
Stripe can send the same event twice. Each order has an idempotency key, so a repeat creates nothing new.
It is the same discipline we apply to the platform we run for nine NHS Stop Smoking Services: verify every message, log every step, never process anything twice. Read the NHS case study.
Stock, delivery and VAT. The fiddly part, done properly.
This is where off-the-shelf shops get awkward. We set it up around how you actually sell.
Stock that stays honest
Stock drops when an order is paid, not when someone adds to basket. Low-stock alerts reach you before you sell what you do not have.
Delivery zones and rules
Free over a set spend, local delivery by postcode, Highlands and Islands surcharges, click and collect. Shown in the basket, before checkout.
VAT shown correctly
Prices shown including VAT for consumers, VAT broken out on the receipt, and zero-rated items marked as such if you are VAT registered.
Discounts and vouchers
Discount codes, gift vouchers and first-order offers, with limits and end dates you control.
Deposits and subscriptions
Take a deposit now and the balance later, or bill monthly for a subscription box or membership.
Returns and refunds
Refund an order, or part of one, from your orders list. The customer gets an email and the stock goes back.
Click and collect£48.00
Delivery · DH9£112.50
Delivery · NE1£26.00
Order emails and an orders list you can work from.
Every order lands in a simple list: who, what, how it is getting there and whether it is packed. Mark it sent and the customer gets a dispatch email with tracking.
- Order confirmation and dispatch emails in your brand
- Packing list you can print
- Customer history: what they bought and when
- Export orders to CSV for your accountant or Xero
Bespoke or Shopify: when each is right.
Shopify is a good product, and for some shops it is the right answer. Here is an honest comparison, so you can choose before you talk to anyone.
| Feature | Shopify | A bespoke shop from us |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low. A theme and an afternoon. | From £950, fixed and written down. |
| Monthly cost | A monthly plan, plus a fee for each app you add. | No platform fee. An optional care plan for hosting, backups and changes. |
| Payment fees | Card fees, plus an extra charge if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. | Stripe's card fees only. Nothing on top from us. |
| Design | Themes, adjusted within their limits. | Designed around your products and your customers. |
| Speed | Depends on the theme and the apps installed. | Built to pass Core Web Vitals on a mid-range phone. |
| Unusual products | Possible with apps and workarounds. | Made-to-order, bookings, deposits and custom options built in. |
| Best for | Large standard catalogues, launching this week, wanting the app store. | Distinctive brands, unusual products, shops that need to tie into their own systems. |
If Shopify suits you better, we will say so in your free plan. If you are already on Shopify and outgrowing it, a website redesign that keeps your rankings moves you across without losing your product pages in Google.
What an online shop costs.
An online shop is a business website plus checkout. Stripe checkout, order emails and an orders list add £500 to the business website price. The rest depends on your catalogue and delivery rules, and the free plan fixes it.
Online shops from £950, a business website plus checkout. No cut of your sales. Compare packages
Taking deposits for appointments rather than selling products? See clinic websites with online booking. For the wider market, read what an ecommerce website costs in the UK.
When orders grow, the back office comes next.
Most shops start with the storefront. When the stockroom, the till and the trade orders stop agreeing, the same foundations take the next step without a rebuild.
A shop that sellsYou start here
Your products, a fast checkout and an orders list. Most shops start here.
Stock and click-and-collect
One stock count across the website, the shop floor and a second site, with collection slots customers pick at checkout.
Trade accounts
Wholesale customers log in to see their own prices, reorder in two clicks and download invoices.
Online shop questions
Something else? hello@echticstudios.com
How much does an online shop cost?
Our online shops start from £950. That is a business website plus Stripe checkout, order emails and an orders list. The free website plan turns that into a fixed quote for your catalogue and delivery rules.
What does Stripe charge?
Stripe charges a fee per successful payment, set by Stripe rather than by us. At the time of writing its UK pricing page lists 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and 2.5% + 20p for cards from the EEA. There is no monthly Stripe fee. Check Stripe's current rates before you decide.
Do you take a percentage of my sales?
No. We charge for building the shop and, if you want one, a monthly care plan. Your takings go from Stripe straight to your bank account.
Is it secure? What about PCI DSS?
Card details are typed into Stripe's hosted checkout, never into our pages or our servers. That keeps you in the lightest PCI DSS category (a short self-assessment questionnaire, known as SAQ A) and leaves the hard part to Stripe, which is a PCI Level 1 provider.
Can I sell vouchers, deposits or subscriptions?
Yes. Gift vouchers, booking deposits and monthly subscriptions all run through Stripe. Tell us which you need in the free plan and they go into the fixed quote.
Can you move my shop from Shopify, Wix or WooCommerce?
Usually, yes. We export products, customers and order history where the platform allows it, map every old product URL to its new address with a 308 redirect, and keep your Google rankings intact.
How long does an online shop take?
Most shops take 2–3 weeks from go-ahead, depending on the size of the catalogue and how much product content needs writing or photographing.
Five working days from now, you could have your website plan.
A sitemap, a homepage design and a fixed quote. Free, with no obligation.