Ecommerce website developer in Palm Beach CountyMake the Checkout the Easiest Part
Epic Wolf is a West Palm Beach agency that designs and builds ecommerce websites for retailers and brands in Palm Beach County and beyond, on Shopify or as a custom build. An ecommerce site is a store that runs on its own: product pages, cart, checkout, payment, sales tax, shipping and inventory, set up so an order needs no phone call to complete.
Ecommerce websites
An online store is a shop with no salesperson in it. Every question a clerk would answer on Worth Avenue or Atlantic Avenue has to be answered by the page: what it is, what it costs, whether it fits, when it arrives and what happens if it is wrong. Stores that leave those answers out lose the sale quietly.
The platform question comes early and matters less than people think. Shopify suits most retailers because payments, hosting and security come with it and the catalog is easy for staff to run. A custom build earns its cost when the selling is unusual: configured products, trade pricing, deposits, bookings mixed with goods or a tie to software you already run. We build both and recommend the smaller one when it will do.
The work most stores skip is the operating setup. Tax, shipping rules, inventory counts, order emails and returns decide whether the store saves labor or creates it. We set those up with whoever will fulfill the orders, because the person packing boxes in Riviera Beach knows things the design file does not.
What it includes
Platform recommendation
Shopify or a custom build, chosen from how you sell and who will run the store day to day.
Product page design
Pages that answer size, material, delivery and return questions next to the buy button.
Catalog setup
Products, variants, collections and photography loaded and organized so staff can add more.
Checkout and payments
A hosted, secure checkout with the payment methods your buyers expect.
Tax and shipping rules
Florida sales tax, county surtax by destination, shipping rates and local pickup configured with your accountant's input.
Inventory and order flow
Stock counts, order notifications and fulfillment steps matched to how orders are really packed.
Product structured data
Markup for price and availability so listings are eligible for Google's shopping results.
Policies and order emails
Shipping, returns and confirmation messages written plainly and placed where buyers look.
Send us what you sell and how orders reach you today.
We will tell you whether Shopify or a custom store fits and what has to be decided before a build starts.
What to know
The rules behind ecommerce websites
- Florida sales tax and delivery
The Florida Department of Revenue says a business selling taxable items at retail must register before it operates. It also says the county surtax rate applies to a taxable item delivered into a county that imposes a surtax, so a store shipping across Florida charges by destination. A CPA should confirm your setup.
- Selling into Florida from elsewhere
Florida requires businesses making remote sales into the state to collect and electronically remit sales tax and any applicable surtax once their taxable remote sales exceeded $100,000 over the previous calendar year. Marketplace providers must collect on the sales they facilitate for marketplace sellers.
- Card data rules apply at any size
The PCI Security Standards Council states that PCI DSS is intended for all entities involved in payment processing, including merchants, regardless of their size or transaction volume. How much of the standard lands on you depends on whether card numbers ever touch your own systems.
- What a hosted platform covers
Shopify states that it is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and that this compliance extends by default to all stores powered by Shopify. That is a main reason a hosted checkout is the lower-risk choice for most retailers compared with handling card data on a server of their own.
Source: Shopify: PCI compliance
- The 30-day shipping rule
Under the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, a seller needs a reasonable basis to expect it can ship within the time it states, or within 30 days if it states none. If it cannot, it must offer the buyer the choice to consent to the delay or cancel for a prompt refund.
Source: FTC: Business Guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
- Product pages can show price in Google
Google's merchant listing documentation says Product markup can make a page eligible for shopping experiences in Search, and that only pages where a shopper can purchase the product qualify. The required properties are the product name, an image and an offer with a price and currency.
Source: Google Search Central: Merchant listing structured data
How the work runs
Choose the platform from the selling
We look at the catalog, how prices and options work, who fulfills orders and what other systems are involved. That decides between Shopify and a custom build before anyone falls in love with a design.
Build the store around the product page
The product page is where the sale is made, so it is designed first, with real photography and real copy. Collections, search, cart and checkout follow from it.
Run test orders before opening
We place orders the way customers will: different counties, different shipping methods, a return. Tax, emails and inventory are checked on each one. The store opens when the back room is ready too.
Questions
Ecommerce websites questions answered
Longer than a marketing website, which typically takes four to eight weeks, and the catalog decides how much longer. Twenty products with good photos is a small job. Two thousand products with variants, missing images and tax questions is a large one. We scope stores in phases so a working shop with the core range opens first and the rest of the catalog follows on a schedule.
Use Shopify unless your selling does something it handles badly. It includes hosting, a secure checkout and tools your staff can learn in a day, which covers most retailers. A custom store makes sense for configured or made-to-order products, account-based trade pricing, deposits and unusual fulfillment, or when the store must share data with software you already run. Platform fees and build cost trade off differently in each case.
Generally yes, if you sell taxable goods to Florida customers. The Florida Department of Revenue requires businesses selling taxable items at retail to register, and county surtax follows the county where the item is delivered. Sellers outside Florida must collect once their taxable remote sales into the state pass $100,000 in the prior calendar year. Exemptions and other states' rules vary, so have a CPA confirm before launch.
Yes, and it should if you sell the same stock in both places. The store and the register need one shared count, or you will sell an item online that left the shelf an hour ago. Whether that connection is built in or needs custom work depends on the point-of-sale system you use. Tell your developer what runs the register before the platform is chosen.
Running costs come from a short list: the platform or hosting, payment processing on each sale, any paid apps or integrations, and maintenance. Processing is usually the largest because it scales with revenue. A custom store swaps platform fees for hosting and upkeep. Ask for these to be itemized before the build, since a cheap build on an expensive stack is not cheap.
Keep reading
Go deeper before you decide
- What Does a Website Cost in Palm Beach CountyPublished market ranges for a business website plus what drives the price: page types, content, ecommerce, integrations, software and ongoing costs.
- Custom Website vs Website BuilderWix, Squarespace, Shopify and WordPress compared with a custom build: what each platform's own documentation says about export, ownership and limits.
- Website Accessibility and the ADA for Florida BusinessesWhat the ADA, the Department of Justice and WCAG say about website accessibility, why Florida businesses get sued and a practical checklist to start with.
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