Checklist
Ecommerce website checklist
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What product and catalogue data needs to be ready before build starts?
Product data quality decides how smooth an ecommerce build actually runs. Before design work starts, you need clean titles, descriptions, pricing (including any B2B or wholesale tiers), variants, stock levels and category structure — ideally in a spreadsheet or export the platform can import, not scattered across supplier PDFs.
Photography and copy are usually scoped separately from the build itself. Deciding early who supplies which product images, and in what format, avoids a launch date sliding because half the catalogue has no usable photos.
What does a functioning checkout actually require?
Beyond the visual design, a working checkout needs a configured payment gateway, correct tax and GST handling, shipping rules that match how you actually fulfil orders (flat rate, calculated, local pickup, multiple warehouses), and clear policies for returns and shipping that are linked from the checkout itself, not buried in a footer link nobody finds.
Test the full path — add to cart through to order confirmation email — on both desktop and mobile before launch, using a real card in test mode, not just admin preview. Checkout bugs are the most expensive kind of bug on an ecommerce site because they block revenue directly.
What if you're migrating from another platform?
Platform migration is a redirect and SEO exercise as much as a technical one. Every existing product, category and collection URL needs a mapped destination on the new platform, and product-data quality issues that existed on the old platform tend to surface during import rather than disappearing.
Plan a trading freeze window around cutover — a period where inventory and pricing are locked so nothing changes mid-migration — and rehearse the order flow on the new platform before the old one goes offline.
What ongoing costs should you budget for beyond the build?
Platform subscription fees, payment processing/transaction fees, and paid apps for functionality the core platform does not include (subscriptions, advanced search, loyalty programs) are ongoing costs separate from the initial build — confirm what is and is not included in a build quote before signing off on it.
How long does an ecommerce build realistically take?
Ecommerce builds commonly start from approximately $15,000 AUD, exclusive of GST unless stated, with a focused build on a platform like Shopify taking around 8–12 weeks once product data is ready. Larger catalogues, platform migrations or complex fulfilment and customer-data integrations commonly need 12–24+ weeks. Product-data quality, redirect mapping and payment setup are the factors that most often move a timeline, so a firm date usually only comes after the commerce stack and catalogue are properly mapped.
