Ecommerce websites
built to turn browsers
into buyers.

FAQs

Common
questions.

What does ecommerce website development in London cost?

Ecommerce website development in London typically costs between £3,000 and £25,000+ depending on platform, complexity, and the number of integrations required. A lean Shopify or WooCommerce store with a custom design and up to 20 products starts around £3,000. A full-featured store with subscription billing, custom app integrations, Klaviyo, and GA4 ecommerce tracking typically costs £6,500–£12,000. A headless Next.js build or Shopify Plus engagement starts from £14,000. WebAnts provides a flat written quote after a free 30-minute discovery call — no hourly estimates, no scope creep.

Shopify vs WooCommerce — which platform do you recommend?

Shopify is our default recommendation for most DTC brands selling physical products. It launches faster, requires less technical maintenance, and the Shopify Payments + Shop Pay checkout combination delivers consistently higher conversion rates. WooCommerce is the better choice when you need deep integration with an existing WordPress site, complex B2B pricing structures (customer-group pricing, minimum order quantities), or a content-heavy store where WordPress's editorial capabilities are a genuine commercial advantage. We'll recommend the right platform based on your catalogue, team, and growth plans — not on what's easier for us to build.

How long does it take to build an ecommerce website?

A standard Shopify or WooCommerce store takes 3–5 weeks from design sign-off to launch. A Shopify Plus build with custom checkout logic takes 5–8 weeks. A headless Next.js ecommerce site typically takes 6–10 weeks depending on complexity. WebAnts delivers 1.8× faster than the industry average — we run design and build phases in parallel where possible, and you receive weekly staging updates rather than a single big reveal at the end.

What is headless ecommerce and do I need it?

Headless ecommerce means separating your store's front end (what customers see) from the commerce engine (Shopify or WooCommerce) that handles products, inventory, and checkout. The main benefit is performance: a Next.js headless storefront can achieve sub-second load times and near-perfect Core Web Vitals scores that are difficult to match on a traditional Shopify or WooCommerce build. The trade-off is higher build cost and more technical maintenance. For most brands doing under £2m in annual ecommerce revenue, a well-built custom Shopify or WooCommerce theme is the better investment. Headless makes sense when load time has a measurable impact on your conversion rate and you are willing to invest in the architecture to fix it.

Can you migrate our existing store to Shopify or WooCommerce?

Yes. We migrate from Magento 1 and 2, BigCommerce, Wix Stores, Squarespace Commerce, and custom-built platforms. Every migration includes products, variants, customer accounts, order history, and — critically — 301 redirects from every old URL to the new one. A missed redirect is a missed ranking. We run a full pre-launch redirect audit and monitor organic rankings for 30 days post-migration to catch any issues before they compound.

Do you set up payment gateways and VAT for UK stores?

Yes. We configure Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal, Klarna, and any other payment method relevant to your market. For UK stores, we also configure Stripe Tax or Shopify Tax for automatic VAT calculation, HMRC compliance, and correct VAT treatment on digital goods if your store sells outside the UK. For EU-selling stores, we configure OSS VAT handling so you are not inadvertently breaching distance-selling thresholds.

What ecommerce integrations do you build?

The integrations we configure most frequently are: Klaviyo (email marketing and abandoned cart), ReCharge or Bold or Shopify Subscriptions (subscription billing), Judge.me or Yotpo (reviews and UGC), Loyalty Lion or Smile.io (loyalty programmes), Gorgias (customer support), ShipStation or Shippo (fulfilment), and GA4 with enhanced ecommerce tracking. We can integrate any tool with a public API — if you have a specific integration requirement, ask about it on the discovery call.

Do you do ecommerce SEO as part of the build?

Yes — ecommerce SEO infrastructure is included in every build as standard. That means Product and BreadcrumbList schema markup, canonical tags on paginated category pages, a correctly configured XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console on launch day, and a page structure that separates category-level and product-level keyword targeting. What this does not include is an ongoing SEO campaign — if you need monthly keyword tracking, link building, and content production, we offer that as a separate service.

Do you require a deposit or prepayment?

No prepayment is required. We work on a milestone payment model: you pay as each agreed deliverable is completed and approved. Design sign-off, staging delivery, and launch are the typical milestones. This means you own every piece of work the moment it is delivered — and we earn by shipping, not by invoicing.

Do you offer ongoing ecommerce support after launch?

Every project includes two weeks of post-launch support as standard. After that, we work on an as-needed basis — new collection pages, app installs, discount logic, A/B test variants, speed optimisation, or Klaviyo flow builds. No retainer lock-in. You get in touch when you need something, we quote it, and we deliver it. If you want a predictable monthly support arrangement, we offer those too on request.