The store is software, not a theme
Ecommerce website development covers catalogue, cart, checkout, payments, stock, fulfilment and the admin work that keeps the shop honest. SJ Technologies is a UK IT agency. We implement Magento, Shopify and custom commerce when the brief matches the platform, not when we have a leftover licence.
A theme will not save a messy product data model. Start with SKUs, variants, tax, shipping and the systems that already know the order: ERP, WMS, finance.
Shopify, Magento or custom
Shopify is fast to launch for a catalogue that fits its model and a team that wants hosted checkout. Magento (Adobe Commerce) still fits complex catalogues, B2B rules and merchants who will staff it. Custom commerce fits when the purchase journey is the product, or when the platforms would be bent until they break.
Headless is a split of storefront and backend, not a strategy on its own. Use it when you need a specific front-end or many storefronts, and you can operate two systems.
Payment gateway work in the first release if you will take money. Stock and order events integrated, not exported by hand. Performance on category and product pages as acceptance tests. A content workflow marketing can use without a deploy.
What ecommerce quotes should include
Migrations of URLs, redirects and reviews. VAT and shipping rules. Gift cards if you sell them. Marketplace feeds if you sell there. Accessibility of checkout. PCI is the payment provider’s job if you never hold card data; your job is not to invent a way to hold it.
Ongoing work is normal: campaigns, catalogue changes, platform upgrades. A launch without a retainer or an internal owner is a store that will drift.
How we build shops
We pick the platform from the catalogue and the operations team, then design, integrate, test and go live. You keep the accounts, the theme code you paid for, and the data.
If you need ecommerce website development, bring the SKUs, the channels and the systems that must see the order. We will say Shopify, Magento or custom in writing.
Work with SJ Technologies
This article is about ecommerce website development. If that is the work you need, we can scope it in writing as a UK IT agency.
