How to Build an Online Store in 2026: A Practical Guide for Businesses

Before choosing WooCommerce, Shopify or another platform, it is worth creating three simple business process maps.

They do not need to be a technical specification. The goal is to understand which data, actions and systems will need to be brought together in the online store.

Product and data map

Determine where the key product information originates and is maintained:

• product name;
• SKU;
• price;
• sale price;
• stock level;
• category;
• attributes and variations;
• images;
• description.

The most important question is - which system is the main source of data?

In one company, everything may be managed in WooCommerce. In another, prices and stock levels may sit in an ERP, images and descriptions in a different system, while the online store only displays the product information.

Order map

Describe what happens after the customer chooses a product:

product → cart → delivery → payment → order → warehouse → invoice → shipping → customer communication

This helps you see where automation is needed and where data has to be passed to another system.

Exceptions map

The third map covers situations where things do not go according to the ideal scenario.

What happens if:

• the payment fails;
• the item is no longer available;
• the stock level changes during the purchase;
• the order is cancelled;
• a refund is needed;
• the ERP is temporarily unreachable;
• the payment or delivery system does not respond?

These three maps often reveal the true complexity of a project much faster than a list of platform features.

A few dozen simple products and several thousand items with sizes, colours, materials, stock levels and different prices are two completely different e-commerce projects.

Before development, you need to define:

• categories and subcategories;
• product attributes;
• variations;
• SKUs or other product identifiers;
• regular and sale prices;
• images;
• stock status;
• related products;
• B2B or customer group pricing, if needed.

If you sell courses, digital products, subscriptions, bookings or rentals, you need to think not only about the product page, but also about what process begins after the purchase.

The product structure also affects SEO. Categories, variations, attributes and filters later determine the URL structure, indexing and how easily both users and Google can find a specific product.

In a small online store, products, prices and stock levels can be managed directly in WooCommerce, Shopify or another e-commerce platform.

In a larger company, this data may already be stored in:

• an ERP;
• a warehouse management system;
• an accounting system;
• a supplier data feed;
• another product information system.

This is where you need to define the main source of data.

The same data should not have to be maintained manually in several systems. First, determine which system is the main source of data.

If the current stock level is held in the ERP, you should not create a second, independent stock level that someone regularly corrects by hand in the online store.

This becomes especially important if the company has:

• several warehouses;
• a physical shop as well as e-commerce;
• several online stores;
• sales on marketplaces;
• frequent price or stock changes.

The platform should be chosen based on the project requirements, not just its popularity.

In Brandsite e-commerce projects we often use WooCommerce, but custom development is also possible for more complex solutions.

For a detailed comparison of prices and platform costs, see the article How much does online store development cost in Latvia in 2026?.

Payments and delivery are part of the order process, so before choosing integrations you need to know how this process should work.

Payments

You need to define:

• countries and currencies;
• the payment methods your customers need;
• the invoicing process;
• payment statuses;
• refunds;
• what happens if a payment fails.

An important detail - Apple Pay, Google Pay, Revolut and bank payments do not always mean a separate integration for each payment method.

Depending on the payment service provider, a single integration can offer bank payments, cards, Revolut, Apple Pay, Google Pay and other payment methods.

For example, the MakeCommerce WooCommerce module currently offers bank and card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and several digital bank payment methods. The module also includes a number of delivery features. makecommerce.net

Delivery

You need to define:

• parcel lockers;
• couriers;
• in-store pickup;
• delivery zones;
• free delivery conditions;
• delivery of oversized items;
• delivery to multiple countries;
• what happens to the shipment after the order is received.

What matters is not only the delivery method the customer chooses at checkout, but also the process on the company’s side.

Not always.

If products, orders and stock levels can be managed efficiently within the e-commerce platform itself, additional integrations may not be needed.

They become relevant when the company already uses other systems and employees regularly have to transfer information between them.

For example:

ERP → products, prices and stock levels → online store

Online store → order → ERP / warehouse

Online store → customer → CRM

The goal of business system integration is not to connect as many tools as possible. The goal is to create a clear and manageable data flow.

Depending on the company’s processes, an e-commerce platform can be connected to various business, payment, delivery and marketing systems.

These are examples, not a universal list. The specific connection depends on both the e-commerce platform and the API capabilities of the external system.

For example, the Horizon REST documentation provides data resources and synchronisation mechanisms that allow an external system to track new, changed or deleted records. This is one of the technical principles on which data exchange between an ERP and another system can be based. horizon-rest-doc.visma.lv

When is a custom API integration needed?

A ready-made plugin does not always solve a specific company’s process.

A custom API integration may be needed if you need to synchronise:

• B2B prices;
• stock levels across several warehouses;
• specific order statuses;
• customer groups;
• custom product data;
• information between several systems.

Sending data is not the only thing that matters.

You also need to plan error handling, re-synchronisation, access rights and a clear main source of data.

That is exactly why ERP integration with an online store or CRM integration is often not simply a question of whether a WooCommerce integration or a ready-made module exists for a particular system.

In practice, the type of integration depends on the business process. In Brandsite projects we have implemented, for example:

• Addores - Omniva integration with automatic generation of parcel locker shipping labels; 
• Bluetti - product XML feeds for Salidzini.lv, 220.lv and KurPirkt.lv; 
• Swim.lv - display of up-to-date product availability across several warehouses in Latvia and Estonia;
• Vedam - CRM integration, Google API address input and automated email communication. 

E-commerce UX should not be judged only by the design of the home page or product cards.

What matters is the entire purchase flow:

product → cart → checkout → payment → confirmation → order fulfilment

On the product page, the customer needs to understand:

• what they are buying;
• what the price is;
• what variations are available;
• whether the product is in stock;
• how delivery will work.

At checkout, you should not ask for unnecessary information or create uncertainty about payment and delivery.

But a successful purchase alone is not enough.

You also need to define:

• a failed payment;
• a cancelled order;
• a refund;
• a sold-out product;
• a delivery error;
• an external system being unavailable.

It is precisely these scenarios that often reveal problems that are not visible in the store’s design mock-ups.

E-commerce SEO is much easier to plan before the store goes live than to fix after hundreds or thousands of URLs have already been created.

Google states that Product structured data can help Search understand a product’s price, availability, shipping and other information. Google recommends using product structured data, a Merchant Center feed, or both together. Google for Developers

The internal structure of the online store also matters. Google recommends making sure that products can be reached through real links from categories or other navigation elements, not only through the internal search. Google for Developers

Google AI Search does not require a separate “AI SEO” technical layer.

Google states that AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on the same SEO fundamentals as Google Search as a whole, and that no special schema.org markup is needed just for AI features. Google for Developers

In e-commerce, this means paying particular attention to:

• clear product names;
• unique product and category content;
• up-to-date prices;
• accurate availability;
• product attributes;
• structured data;
• Merchant Center information;
• indexable product and category pages.

Merchant Center and Product structured data are two complementary ways of passing product information to Google. Google states that using both together can increase eligibility for different product search result formats and help verify the accuracy of the data. Google for Developers

The goal is not to optimise the store for some separate “AI algorithm”.

The goal is to maintain clear, up-to-date and technically accessible product data.

An online store is also a distance selling environment.

The Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) states that a trader must provide pre-contractual information about the product or service, the price and any additional costs, delivery, payment terms and the right of withdrawal, and must also confirm receipt of the order. In the case of a distance contract, consumers usually have a 14-day right of withdrawal, although the regulations provide for exceptions. Consumer Rights Protection Centre

In 2026, e-commerce accessibility requirements also need to be taken into account.

In Latvia, the requirements of the Product and Service Accessibility Law for certain services, including e-commerce services, have applied since 28 June 2025. Consumer Rights Protection Centre

At the same time, the law provides exemptions for certain microenterprises, so each company’s obligations must be assessed individually. The law exempts service providers that employ fewer than 10 people and meet a set turnover or balance sheet threshold. Likumi

Specific legal, tax, privacy and accessibility requirements should be assessed according to the company’s activities, markets and customer groups.

An online store should not be accepted simply on the principle that “the pages open and the buttons work”.

The full order lifecycle needs to be tested.

Online store pre-launch checklist

It is worth running this check with several products, payment methods and delivery scenarios, not just with one ideal test order.

Going live is not the end of the project.

After that, the work with real customers and real data begins.

You need to track:

• where users abandon the purchase process;
• which products are viewed but not bought;
• whether payments and delivery work correctly;
• whether integrations are synchronising;
• which organic search queries attract visitors;
• how advertising and email communication affect sales.

Further work may include technical maintenance, SEO, improving product content, checkout optimisation, email automation and developing new features.

If the project is a rebuild or migration of an existing online store, simply building the new system is not enough.

You need to assess what has to be migrated:

• products;
• categories;
• customer accounts;
• order history;
• product images;
• content;
• SEO metadata;
• existing URLs;
• integrations;
• analytics configuration.

It is especially important to preserve the existing URL logic or to plan redirects correctly.

Otherwise, a technically better store may lose some of the organic visibility it has already gained after the migration.

A good project brief is not a detailed technical specification.

It should help the developer understand the business process, requirements and constraints.

The more clearly the process itself is described, the easier it is to choose a suitable technical solution and estimate the scope of the project more accurately.

A real Brandsite example is Vedam

In Vedam’s case, a single web solution had to combine:

• booking moving services;
• moving box rentals;
• product purchases;
• online payments;
• CRM integration;
• Google API address input;
• automated email communication.

The customer can combine rental and purchased products in a single order, while on the company’s side several day-to-day processes are managed in one unified system. 

This shows well why building an online store does not always mean just a product catalogue, a cart and a payment button.

Sometimes e-commerce becomes part of a broader business system.

Where should I start when building an online store?

Start with the product and data map, the order map and the exceptions map. This helps you understand how the store should work even before choosing a specific platform.

Which platform is best for an online store?

It depends on the project requirements. WooCommerce can be a good fit for companies that value a WordPress environment, SEO and customisation, while Shopify can suit more standardised SaaS e-commerce. Specific B2B or other business logic may require a more custom solution.

How much does it cost to build an online store?

Brandsite’s professional e-commerce projects start from EUR 5,000, but the final price depends on the product structure, design, languages, integrations and the functionality required.

More details: How much does online store development cost in Latvia in 2026?.

Does an online store necessarily need an ERP or CRM integration?

No. If products, stock levels and orders can be managed efficiently in a single e-commerce platform, an integration may not be needed.

When is a custom API integration needed?

It may be needed if ready-made modules cannot handle the company’s specific data logic, such as B2B prices, multiple warehouses, specific statuses or data exchange between several systems.

Should SEO be planned during online store development?

Yes. URL structure, categories, filters, canonical logic, structured data and internal links are much easier to plan before launch.

How do I prepare an online store for Google AI Search?

No special AI markup is needed. Google recommends continuing to apply Search fundamentals - an indexable technical structure, quality content, product data and appropriate structured data. Google for Developers

What must be checked before launching an online store?

You need to test a successful purchase as well as a failed payment, a sold-out product, a refund, delivery, emails, the mobile experience, analytics and any required system integrations.

Can an existing online store be moved to another platform?

Yes, but the migration needs to be planned separately. You need to assess the migration of products, customers, orders, URLs, content and integrations, as well as how to preserve existing SEO visibility.

A successful e-commerce project is not built on the platform alone.

It is important to understand how product data moves, what happens to an order and how the online store connects to the rest of the company’s systems.

Brandsite helps plan and develop e-commerce solutions, from UX/UI and product structure to payments, integrations and further development.

Online store development. 

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