Design in service of the sale
Ecommerce
An ecommerce site is a website whose whole job is the sale: the product, the cart, the checkout, and everything that gets a stranger to the buy button. I'm Chad, I've been building websites for 20 years, and I've run stores from artisan shops to a multi-million dollar manufacturer. I build the store around your products and how you actually fulfill orders, not around a theme.
Ecommerce, at a glance
A store earns its design differently: every page is judged by whether it moves someone toward checkout.
I've run ecommerce for businesses from artisan jewelers to a multi-million dollar manufacturing company.
Platform chosen for your business, not mine: WooCommerce when you need control, Shopify when you want the upkeep handled.
The store, the product data, and the customer list end up in your name. No platform hostage situations.
Why ecommerce builds fail
Most stores are themes wearing a business's logo.
The typical store is a purchased theme with products poured in: generic photo grids, a checkout flow nobody questioned, and product pages that read like spec sheets. It works right up until a customer compares it with a store designed to sell.
Product pages carry the weight. Real photography presented properly, the buying question answered before it's asked, and the add-to-cart visible without hunting. Amateur product images turn buyers off faster than price does, and I'll tell you if yours do.
Checkout is where stores quietly bleed. Every extra field and surprise cost loses real money. I build the shortest honest path from cart to paid, on rails your fulfillment can actually keep up with.
The platform bill deserves honesty. Shopify's base price looks small, and the monthly bill can add up as apps stack on. WooCommerce trades that for hosting and upkeep you control. I lay out both costs before you choose, because you'll live with the choice monthly.
Whichever platform wins, the store ends up yours: the products, the customers, and the accounts, all in your name.
How I build it
- 01
Start with the catalog and the fulfillment
How many products, how they vary, and how orders actually leave your building. The store gets shaped around those answers, not the other way around.
- 02
Pick the platform honestly
WooCommerce or Shopify, chosen on your catalog, your team, and your tolerance for upkeep, with the real monthly costs of each on the table.
- 03
Design for the sale
Custom design over the platform: product pages that present, a checkout that doesn't leak, and a brand that doesn't read as a theme.
- 04
Launch on your accounts
Payments, shipping, and the store itself configured in your name, with a real handover so your team can run daily operations.
The two store routes
Both end in a store that sells. The split is control versus upkeep.
Proof, not promises
Real stores, real volume
I've used Shopify for a multi-million dollar manufacturing company and run WooCommerce for product businesses shipping today.
Walk through live builds and judge the craft with your own eyes.
What it costs, plainly
Store builds are priced on what they win for your business, from the $3,200 floor with most landing near $6,200. Catalog size and custom flows move the number, and you'll see it in writing before anything starts. The platform's own monthly costs get laid out at the same time, because a store bill you didn't see coming is the oldest trick in this industry.
Straight up: if your product photos are weak, I'll tell you before we build, because no design rescues a store from amateur images. People will be turned off by them, and fixing that first is worth more than any feature.
Get a straight answerIs this the right fit?
This is for you if
- You sell real products and want a store designed around them.
- You want the platform decision made honestly.
Probably not if
- You want a theme filled in as-is. That's buyable for $60 elsewhere.
- The lowest bid matters more than whether the store converts.
Ecommerce FAQs
The questions buyers ask about store builds, answered the way I'd answer them on a call.
Tell me your catalog and your team and I'll tell you straight. Shopify wins when you want the platform headaches handled for a monthly bill. WooCommerce wins when you need control, custom flows, or to escape per-month app costs. Both are real answers; the wrong one is just expensive.
Yes. Products, customers, and order history migrate, and the cutover is planned so the store doesn't go dark mid-business. I've moved stores between hosts and platforms without dropping a sale.
All configured as part of the build, in your accounts: the payment processor, the tax settings, and shipping rules that match how you actually fulfill. You're not left googling 'how to connect Stripe' after launch.
Yes, that's non-negotiable for a store. You get a real handover on adding products, processing orders, and running daily operations, and I stay reachable after.
Longer than a marketing site, usually by a few weeks, and the real variable is product content: photos, descriptions, and prices coming from your side. I scope the timeline with you up front so nothing is a quiet surprise.
Why it's safe to start
- The store, product data, and customer list live in your accounts.
- Every build includes two weeks of free fixes after launch.
- Platform monthly costs are on the table before you choose one.
- You get a real operations handover, not a goodbye email.
What happens after you reach out
- 1
You reach out
Tell me what you sell through the form here. I usually reply within a day.
- 2
A straight answer
Platform, costs, and whether your catalog needs anything special, stated plainly.
- 3
A scoped plan
Written scope, number, and timeline before any payment.
- 4
Build, launch, handover
The store goes live in your accounts, and your team learns to run it.
Ready to sell like you mean it?
Tell me what you sell and how orders leave your building. You'll get a straight answer on the right platform, the real costs of each, and what a store designed to sell would take.