Web

E-commerce

Storefronts judged on conversion, not on screenshots

How this is usually engaged

Scope depends heavily on catalogue complexity and how many systems have to agree with each other. We scope integrations explicitly rather than assuming a connector exists.

Practice
Web Engineering
Sectors
3 served
Process
5 stages
Standard
Built and tested to WCAG 2.2 AA

Summary

Online stores and checkout experiences built around your actual catalogue, fulfilment process and tax position — with the integrations that keep stock and orders truthful.

01What this solves

The problem this addresses

E-commerce problems are rarely about the storefront. They are about stock that is wrong because two systems disagree, a checkout that loses people at the shipping step, tax rules that were correct in one country and guessed in another, and a product data model that cannot express the way you actually sell. A prettier template does not fix any of that.

02Capabilities

What is included

01

Catalogue and variant modelling

Options, bundles, kits, made-to-order items and per-channel pricing modelled properly rather than forced into a shape the platform prefers.

02

Checkout optimisation

Guest checkout, address autocomplete, clear delivery expectations and error handling that keeps entered data. We measure the funnel rather than guessing at it.

03

Payment integration

Provider-hosted card flows, wallets, and alternative methods where they matter for your market — behind a gateway layer, so changing provider later is a configuration change and not a rebuild.

04

Stock and order integration

Two-way synchronisation with ERP, warehouse or accounting systems, with a defined source of truth and a reconciliation path for when systems disagree.

05

Tax and shipping rules

Destination-based tax handling, thresholds and shipping logic implemented against your accountant's requirements, not against a plugin's defaults.

06

Merchandising tools

Search, filtering, collections and promotion mechanics your commercial team can run without a deployment.

03Use cases

Where this work usually starts

01

Outgrowing a hosted platform

Monthly fees and transaction charges have overtaken the cost of owning the system, and platform limits are now shaping commercial decisions.

Retail

02

Wholesale and retail in one place

Trade customers need account pricing, credit terms and bulk ordering alongside a public storefront.

03

Fixing a leaking checkout

Traffic is fine and the drop-off is at payment. The work is diagnostic before it is cosmetic.

04Approach

How we approach it

We start from the catalogue and the order lifecycle: how a product varies, how stock is decremented, what happens on a partial refund, and which system is the source of truth for each of those. The storefront is then built to be fast on mobile — where most of the traffic and most of the abandonment is — with a checkout that has as few steps as your fulfilment genuinely requires.

05Process

How the work runs

The order matters more than the ceremony. Stages overlap in practice, but none of them is skipped.

  1. 01

    Commercial discovery

    How you sell, ship, refund and account for it. Edge cases first — they define the model.

  2. 02

    Data and integration design

    Source of truth per entity, sync direction, and what happens when a system is unavailable.

  3. 03

    Storefront design

    Designed mobile-first against the real catalogue, including the awkward products.

  4. 04

    Build and integrate

    Payment and fulfilment tested in sandbox with real order shapes.

  5. 05

    Soft launch

    A controlled period with real orders and close monitoring before full cutover.

06Deliverables

What you receive

Everything below is handed over as part of the engagement. If you take the work elsewhere afterwards, the next team has what it needs.

  • Product and order data model
  • Storefront and checkout
  • Integration specificationsField mappings, sync direction and failure handling per system.
  • Admin and merchandising tools
  • Payment gateway configuration and test evidence
  • Launch runbook and rollback plan
07Technologies

What we use on this work

These entries are drawn from our managed technology directory, which records why each one is in our stack and what we reach for it for. Nothing outside this list is claimed for this service.

Languages & Runtimes

  • TypeScript

Frontend

  • React
  • Next.js

Data & Storage

  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis

Cloud Platforms

  • Amazon Web Services

Content & Commerce

  • Stripe
The full technology directory

Highlighted entries are used routinely on delivery work

08Security

How this is kept secure

Card data never touches our systems. Payment is handled by a provider-hosted flow, keeping the platform out of the heaviest PCI DSS scope. Order totals are recalculated server-side at capture, so a manipulated browser cannot alter a price. Admin actions on orders and refunds are logged with the acting user.

09Questions

Asked before we start

Do you store card details?

No. Payment is handled entirely by the payment provider through their hosted flow. Card numbers never reach our servers or our database, which keeps you out of the most demanding PCI DSS obligations. We store only the provider's reference for the transaction.

Can you integrate with our existing accounting or warehouse system?

Usually, yes — provided it has an API or a supported export format. We scope each integration individually and agree which system owns each piece of data, because most integration failures come from two systems both believing they are authoritative.

Should we build custom or use an off-the-shelf platform?

Often off-the-shelf is the right answer, and we will say so. Custom becomes worth it when platform constraints are dictating commercial decisions, when transaction fees have outgrown the build cost, or when your selling model genuinely does not fit the platform's data model.

How do you handle tax?

We implement the rules your accountant specifies and, where volumes justify it, integrate a tax service that maintains rates for you. We do not provide tax advice — the rules are jurisdiction-specific and change, and getting them from your accountant is the only responsible route.

START HERE

Talk to us about E-commerce

The project brief takes about five minutes and gives us enough to have a useful first conversation about E-commerce rather than a generic one. If you would rather just ask a question, the short form is there for that.

We read every enquiry ourselves. If we are not the right fit, we will say so and tell you what to look for instead.