Frequently asked questions

Shopify is the world’s leading ecommerce platform with over 2 million merchants using it daily. It handles everything from product catalogues and checkout to payments, shipping and analytics. No coding, no hosting headaches, no security worries — Shopify takes care of all the heavy lifting so you can focus on selling.

No. The backend is super easy to use — you can update products, manage orders and track stock from any device with no technical skills. We handle the initial setup and customisation. After launch, you’ll be able to run your store yourself, and we offer training to get you comfortable with everything.

Yes. Once your final payment is received, we transfer the store ownership to you. You’ll have full admin access — add products, change designs, manage orders, view reports, install apps. Your store, your control.

Shopify charges a monthly subscription instead of traditional hosting. Plans currently range from around $29 to $299 per month depending on features. There’s also a small transaction fee unless you use Shopify Payments. The cost includes hosting, security, updates, 24/7 support — everything you need.

Absolutely — and we recommend it. We build your store on our development account, and once you’re happy with the final version, we transfer ownership and connect your domain (yoursite.co.za) to Shopify. We handle the DNS pointing and SSL setup.

Unlimited. Whether you have 10 products or 50,000, Shopify scales effortlessly. We use CSV imports for large catalogues, and your store stays fast regardless of catalogue size.

You sell 24/7 to customers anywhere. You own your customer data (so you can remarket via email, SMS, ads). You can sell on social channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) with product sync. You don’t worry about security, hosting or updates. And you get world-class analytics built in.

For South African stores, we set you up with PayFast, Ozow, Peach Payments or PayGate — all major SA gateways that accept credit card, EFT, instant EFT, debit card and SnapScan. Customers can also pay via PayPal for international orders. We handle all the gateway setup for you.

You can use any courier — The Courier Guy, Aramex, PostNet, RAM, Pargo, Bob Go, or arrange your own delivery. We set up shipping zones (e.g. R80 to major cities, R150 outlying), free shipping thresholds (e.g. free over R500), and integrations with major courier APIs for real-time rates and tracking.

When an order is placed, you receive an instant email notification with all the customer and order details. You can also install the Shopify mobile app for push notifications. From the order page you can mark it as fulfilled, print packing slips, refund, or contact the customer.

Yes. We use apps that sync stock between Shopify and your POS (Vend, Square, Lightspeed, Yoco) in real time, hourly or daily depending on your needs. One source of truth for inventory across all channels.

Yes. We offer email hosting packages (e.g. info@yourstore.co.za, orders@yourstore.co.za) on Google Workspace or Zoho. We can also set up transactional email via Shopify or a third party like SendGrid for order confirmations.

Yes. We’ve built dozens of wholesale Shopify stores where wholesale customers see different (lower) pricing than the public, on the same store. Pricing is applied via customer tags — your wholesale buyers log in and see their tier, the public sees retail pricing.

Absolutely. One store, two pricing tiers. Public sees retail prices, tagged wholesale customers see their wholesale prices. Saves you the cost of running two separate stores and gives wholesale buyers a smooth experience.

Percentage discounts (e.g. 30% off retail), fixed wholesale prices, tiered pricing (buy 10 = 15% off), per-collection rules. We also support net 15/30 payment terms, custom shipping rates for wholesale, and hidden wholesale-only products.

Two options. (1) We bulk-import your existing customers with their tags applied, then invite them. (2) We add a wholesale signup form where prospects apply — you review and approve, they get instant access. See our B2B page for full details.

Standard Shopify builds take 4–6 weeks from briefing to launch. First design drafts are typically sent within 10 working days of the deposit. Larger or more complex stores (B2B, custom integrations) take 6–10 weeks. We give you a clear timeline in your quote and stick to it.

Fill in the quote form or WhatsApp us at +27 67 143 8596. We respond within 24 hours with a clear, itemised quote. No agency fluff, no vague estimates.

Standard Shopify builds start at R20,000 excl VAT. Pro and Advanced stores are custom-quoted based on your products, design and feature needs. Existing-store support is R600/hr. Google Ads management starts at R6,000/month. All quotes are fixed and itemised — no scope creep.

50% deposit to start, 50% on completion before we transfer the store to you. For monthly services (Google Ads, support retainers), we invoice monthly in advance.

We’ve built over 400 ecommerce stores since 2014. We’re a Shopify Certified Partner. We’re ranked #1 in South Africa for “ecommerce development” on Google. Louw personally leads every project — you’re not handed off to a junior.

Yes — full migration including products, orders, customers, blog posts and SEO redirects. Zero ranking loss. We’ve done 40+ WooCommerce→Shopify and 20+ Magento→Shopify migrations. Read our migration guide.

100%. We upload all your products to your new store, clean up the data, optimise product titles and descriptions, and show you how to add products yourself after launch. For large catalogues we use bulk CSV imports.

Yes — live online training via Zoom, Teams or Skype. We cover the dashboard, adding products, managing orders, shipping settings, basic SEO, blog posting, analytics, and general settings. R1,200/hr for 1-2 people, R2,000/hr for 3-5+ people. Training is recorded so you can re-watch.

Yes. Existing store owners can book hourly support at R600/hr excl VAT for product uploads, design tweaks, app installations, speed fixes, SEO updates and more. Free quote upfront, no surprises. We also offer monthly retainers for stores needing regular work.

Shopify handles all security and platform updates automatically. They’re certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant — the same level as major banks. Zero risk of your store being hacked due to outdated software. One less thing to worry about.

You get direct access to Louw and our small senior team. WhatsApp, email or phone — no junior account managers, no ticket queues. During projects you get regular updates by email and WhatsApp. After launch, we’re a quick message away.

Every store we build has SEO foundations: meta titles and descriptions, sitemap, structured data (JSON-LD), fast page speed, mobile-friendly design. We submit your sitemap to Google Search Console at launch. For ongoing growth we offer SEO retainers and Google Ads management.

Yes — Shopify has a built-in blog. We set up your blog structure, categories and templates. Blogging is one of the cheapest ways to drive organic traffic to your store. We can also write blogs for you as part of a content retainer.

Yes — Performance Max, Shopping, Search and Remarketing for ecommerce stores. From R6,000/month management. We average 5× ROAS for clients. See our Google Ads page for pricing.

Over 30 million South Africans shop or browse online. The SA ecommerce market is growing 15%+ year-over-year and is expected to surpass R200 billion within the next few years. Mobile commerce now accounts for over 60% of online purchases. The opportunity has never been bigger.

Email marketing (build a subscriber list from day one), social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok with product tagging), Google Ads, SEO content (blogs), influencer partnerships, and offline events. We can help with any or all of these — most clients start with email + Google Ads.