Online stores
Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom store: what to build in Egypt
How we choose the platform for an online store in Egypt, based on how you sell, who runs the store and what it has to connect to.
Three options come up in almost every store project we quote: Shopify, WooCommerce on WordPress, or a custom-built store. We choose between them based on how you sell, who runs the store day to day and what it has to connect to.
Side by side
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom store | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to launch | Fastest | Fast | Slowest |
| Running costs | Monthly plan plus paid apps | Hosting plus some paid plugins | Hosting plus a support plan |
| Updates and security | Handled by Shopify | You or your agency update WordPress and plugins | Your agency |
| Flexibility | Limited to the platform and its apps | High, through plugins and code | Whatever the business needs |
| Best for | Brands that want to sell fast | Stores that want control on a budget | Unusual rules or deep integrations |
Payments and delivery in Egypt
Whatever the platform, the store has to fit the way people here pay. That usually means cash on delivery, cards and wallets through a local gateway such as Paymob, and Fawry for customers without a card. Check that the platform has a working integration for your gateway before you commit to it.
Delivery is the other half. Clear shipping prices per governorate, shown before the last step of checkout, prevent more abandoned carts than most discounts. If you sell on WhatsApp today, keep a WhatsApp button on product pages. Plenty of customers want to ask one question before they pay.
When Shopify makes sense
- You want to launch within weeks.
- Nobody on your team wants to think about servers or updates.
- Your catalog is standard: products, sizes, colours and collections.
- You plan to sell abroad as well as in Egypt.
When WooCommerce makes sense
- You already run WordPress and want the store in the same place.
- You prefer paying for hosting over a monthly platform subscription.
- You need features that are cheap as plugins and expensive as Shopify apps.
- Someone will keep WordPress, the theme and the plugins updated. An unmaintained WooCommerce store is the most common security problem we are asked to fix.
On hosting, our Hostinger review covers paying from Egypt, picking a server and what to watch.
When a custom store is worth it
A custom store costs more upfront. It pays off when the business logic is the product: wholesale prices per customer, products built from options, stock that lives in an ERP, or a mix of online orders and branch pickups. For one client we built a live sync between a Phoenix ERP and Shopify. For others, a custom store was simpler than forcing a platform to bend.
Before you launch
- Product pages that answer doubts. Sizes, materials, delivery time and returns written on the product page, so buyers can decide without sending a DM.
- A checkout that works on a cheap phone. Test the whole purchase on a mid-range Android phone over mobile data.
- Tracking for ads. Pixel, Conversions API and GA4 purchase events, plus a catalog feed for Meta and TikTok. Our guide to Meta Ads or Google Ads explains where to start.
- Shipping and returns in writing. One clear page, linked from every product.
Questions we get
How much does an online store cost in Egypt?
At Dark Media, stores start from $799 and usually take 3 to 6 weeks. Custom stores and integrations are quoted after a short call. Our website cost guide explains what moves the price, and the week-by-week timeline shows where the time goes.
Can I move from Shopify to WooCommerce later, or the other way round?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be exported and imported. Plan redirects from the old product URLs so you keep your Google rankings.
Can the store connect to my accounting or ERP system?
Usually, through the platform’s API. See our e-commerce development service for what we connect and how.