Online store design · WooCommerce and Shopify
Online store design and development for Brisbane businesses
Selling online is a different job from having a website. A store has to take money, work out GST and postage, hold a product catalogue together and keep working on a phone in a checkout queue. We build and rebuild online stores for businesses across Brisbane and the surrounding suburbs, from our base in Ormeau.
Book a free strategy session
Leave your details and we will call to set a time, usually the same business day.
Before you build
When an online store is the right move, and when it is not
Not every business that sells things needs a full shopping cart.
If you have three or four products, sell mostly to repeat local customers or take orders over the phone, a simple product page with a request-a-quote or buy-now link can do the job without the overhead of stock management.
You need a proper store when any of these are true:
- You carry more than a handful of products
- Prices change with size, colour or quantity
- You want customers to check out and pay without talking to you
- You are already taking orders by email and copying them into invoices every week
Choosing a platform
WooCommerce or Shopify: how we choose
Both run successful Australian stores. They suit different owners.
Own it outright
Runs on WordPress, so you own the site and files. Ongoing cost is hosting plus any premium plugins. Very flexible and great for content-heavy stores and custom logic, with more moving parts to maintain.
Rent a simpler platform
A monthly subscription, plus transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments. Hosting and security are handled for you, with a simpler dashboard and less technical upkeep, but less flexibility outside Shopify’s structure.
A straight recommendation
If you publish content, want full control and can budget for a little maintenance, WooCommerce usually wins. If you would rather pay a predictable fee and never think about hosting, Shopify is often the calmer choice.
On the discovery call we work through your catalogue size, product variations, content plans, who will run the store day to day, shipping rules, accounting integration, how much upkeep you want and your expected order volume. Want to see how we work first? Read our free WooCommerce guides.
What a build includes
More than a theme with a cart bolted on
A standard DomainFX store build covers:
Store design for mobile
A design that matches your brand and works cleanly on phones, where many customers browse, compare and check out.
Product catalogue setup
Categories, variable products for size, colour or pack quantity, and product images optimised for speed.
A checkout that keeps sales
Minimal steps, guest checkout, and postage and totals shown clearly before the customer commits.
Payments, shipping and tax
Gateways connected, postage rules set and GST configured for selling in Australia.
Core ecommerce SEO
Category structure, product titles and descriptions, and the technical groundwork so Google can index your products. More in our guide to ecommerce category pages.
Staff training
So you can add products and manage orders yourself. We hand over a store you can run, not one that needs us for every product you add.
Selling in Australia
Payments, shipping and tax set up properly
This is where a lot of generic store builds fall short, because it is the part that is specific to selling here.
Payments
The gateways Australian shoppers expect, commonly cards through Stripe, PayPal, and buy-now-pay-later options such as Afterpay or Zip where they suit your margins. We explain what each costs per sale before switching it on.
Shipping
Live or flat-rate postage, Australia Post rates by weight and destination, free-shipping thresholds if you want them, and local pickup for nearby customers.
GST and invoices
GST handled correctly, prices shown clearly for Australian consumers, and tax-compliant invoices generated on each order.
Consumer law
Australian online stores must meet Australian Consumer Law obligations, and that is part of the conversation before launch.
Timeline and cost
How long it takes, and what moves the price
Each store is quoted after a conversation, because there are too many variables for an honest fixed sticker price.
A small store with products, photos and prices already organised can move quickly. A large catalogue, variable products, custom shipping rules or a platform migration needs a longer scoping conversation before we put dates in writing. The biggest factor is usually product content, so we tell you up front what we need from you.
The quote spells out the build, platform costs, plugins or apps, migration work and training separately, so you can see exactly what you are paying for. The things that move it are:
- Number of products, and whether they have variations
- How custom the design is versus a proven theme
- The complexity of your shipping rules
- Migrating from an old store, and how messy that data is
- Integrations such as accounting or inventory software
A local team
Talk to the person doing the work
DomainFX is run by Michael out of Ormeau, QLD 4208, just south of Brisbane.
You talk to the person building your store, not a call centre. We have built and supported sites for businesses across Australia, but Brisbane is home, and being in your time zone and within driving distance matters when a store has a problem mid-sale.
Who you will deal with
When you call, Michael answers
Michael started DomainFX in 2010 and still runs it from Ormeau, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. When you call, email or book a strategy session, you talk to him directly about your business, your budget and what is working.
“Michael goes above and beyond and has helped to build our business profile to the next level.”Deborah, Eternity Bathrooms · Google review
- 2010Started DomainFX
- OrmeauBetween Brisbane and the Gold Coast
- QLD & NSWClients across both states
Free strategy session
60minutes on the phone or in person around Ormeau. No obligation to go ahead.
- Whether you need a full store or something simpler
- Which platform suits your products and volume
- A realistic timeline and a clear quote
Questions
Before you build a store
What Brisbane retailers usually ask.
Keep reading
Related pages
Guides and services for online stores.
Get a clear store quote
Tell us what you sell and how you sell it now, and we will call to talk through the right platform, a realistic timeline and a clear quote.
(07) 3804 7752 · info@domainfx.com.au