If you're thinking about selling online from Northern Ireland or Ireland, your choice of e-commerce platform will shape everything from setup costs to daily operations. Here's a straightforward comparison of the options that actually make sense for NI businesses in 2026.
The platforms worth considering
There are dozens of e-commerce platforms available, but for Northern Ireland businesses, three stand out: WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Shopify. Each has genuine strengths, and the right choice depends on your specific situation—product count, technical confidence, growth ambitions, and budget.
WooCommerce: best for most NI small businesses
WooCommerce is a free plugin that turns any WordPress website into an online store. It's the most popular e-commerce platform in the world, and for good reason.
Why it works for NI businesses. If you already have a WordPress website (or plan to get one), adding WooCommerce is straightforward and cost-effective. You get a single platform for your entire web presence—marketing pages, blog, and shop—all managed from one admin panel.
Best for: businesses with fewer than 500 products, those who want full control over their site, and businesses where the website does more than just sell products (services pages, portfolio, blog, team profiles).
Typical cost: £3,000–£8,000 for a professionally built WooCommerce store, plus hosting from £15/month. No transaction fees beyond your payment processor.
Watch out for: WooCommerce needs regular maintenance—WordPress and plugin updates, security monitoring, backups. A care plan handles this, but it's an ongoing cost to budget for.
PrestaShop: best for larger catalogues and cross-border selling
PrestaShop is a dedicated e-commerce platform—it's built specifically for online selling, not adapted from a blogging tool. For businesses with larger product catalogues or more complex requirements, it's often the better choice.
Why it works for NI businesses. Northern Ireland's unique position means many businesses sell into both the UK and Irish markets. PrestaShop handles multi-currency (GBP and EUR), multi-language, and complex tax rules particularly well. Its product management tools are more powerful than WooCommerce's out of the box.
Best for: businesses with 100+ products, companies selling across NI and the Republic, businesses that need advanced stock management, and stores with complex product variations or pricing rules.
Typical cost: £5,000–£15,000 for a professional build. Hosting from £20/month. Like WooCommerce, no platform transaction fees.
Watch out for: PrestaShop has a smaller developer community than WordPress, so finding developers and add-on modules can be more limited. The admin panel has a steeper learning curve than WooCommerce.
Shopify: best for simplicity and speed to market
Shopify is a hosted platform—you pay a monthly subscription and everything is managed for you. No hosting to arrange, no updates to install, no security to worry about.
Why it works for NI businesses. If you want to start selling online quickly with minimal technical involvement, Shopify gets you there fastest. It's polished, reliable, and handles payments, shipping, and tax with minimal configuration.
Best for: businesses that want a no-fuss solution, those without technical knowledge or interest, pop-up shops and seasonal sellers, and businesses testing online sales before committing to a bigger investment.
Typical cost: £29–£299/month subscription plus transaction fees of 0.5–2% on every sale (on top of payment processor fees). Professional design customisation: £2,000–£5,000.
Watch out for: You don't own your store—it lives on Shopify's servers and you're locked into their ecosystem. Transaction fees eat into margins, especially at scale. SEO flexibility is more limited than self-hosted platforms. And if you need your website to do anything beyond e-commerce (detailed service pages, portfolio, complex layouts), you'll find Shopify restrictive.
Side-by-side comparison
| WooCommerce | PrestaShop | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | £3k–£8k | £5k–£15k | £2k–£5k |
| Monthly cost | £15–£30 | £20–£40 | £29–£299 |
| Transaction fees | None | None | 0.5–2% |
| Own your data | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi-currency | Plugin | Built-in | £79+/mo |
| SEO flexibility | Excellent | Very good | Limited |
| Ease of use | Good | Moderate | Excellent |
The cross-border question
One factor that's specific to Northern Ireland businesses: if you sell to customers in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, you need a platform that handles dual-currency pricing, different VAT rates, and potentially different shipping zones gracefully. PrestaShop does this best out of the box. WooCommerce can do it with plugins. Shopify charges extra for multi-currency on lower-tier plans.
Post-Brexit trade rules have added complexity for NI businesses selling goods across the border. Your e-commerce platform needs to handle this correctly, and your developer needs to understand the specifics. This is one area where working with a local NI developer rather than a remote agency makes a real difference.
Our honest recommendation
For most NI businesses starting out with e-commerce: WooCommerce. It's flexible, affordable, and integrates seamlessly with a WordPress website that handles all your marketing and content needs.
For businesses with larger catalogues or cross-border complexity: PrestaShop. The upfront investment is higher, but the platform is built for serious e-commerce.
For businesses that want absolute simplicity and don't mind ongoing subscription costs: Shopify. Just be aware of the long-term costs and the trade-offs in flexibility and ownership.
Not sure which is right for you? We've built stores on all three platforms and we'll give you honest advice based on your specific needs — not based on which platform earns us the biggest fee.