Hire a WooCommerce Developer in the UK
Find experienced WordPress ecommerce developers who build fast, flexible, and fully customisable WooCommerce stores for UK businesses of every size.
What Does a WooCommerce Developer Do?
WooCommerce developers specialise in building online stores on the WordPress platform — the content management system that powers over 40% of the web.
WooCommerce and the WordPress ecosystem
WooCommerce is a free, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It transforms any WordPress website into a fully functional online store with product management, checkout, payment processing, and shipping calculations. Because it sits on top of WordPress, WooCommerce inherits all the strengths of the platform: an intuitive content editor, thousands of themes and plugins, a massive developer community, and excellent search engine optimisation out of the box.
A WooCommerce developer works across the full WordPress stack. This includes PHP for server-side logic, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front end, MySQL for database management, and the WordPress and WooCommerce APIs for extending functionality. Senior developers also work with REST APIs, headless WordPress configurations, and tools like WP-CLI for efficient site management.
When is WooCommerce the right choice?
WooCommerce is an excellent fit when your business needs deep customisation without the high licensing costs of enterprise platforms. It is particularly well suited if:
- You already have a WordPress website and want to add ecommerce functionality
- Content marketing, blogging, or SEO-driven traffic is central to your strategy
- You want full ownership of your site files, database, and customer data
- You need bespoke functionality that goes beyond what hosted platforms offer
- You sell digital products, subscriptions, bookings, or memberships alongside physical goods
- You want to avoid ongoing platform transaction fees
WooCommerce is used by hundreds of thousands of online stores worldwide, from small independent retailers to well-known brands. Its flexibility makes it suitable for B2C, B2B, and hybrid business models.
What to Look for in a WooCommerce Developer
Not all WordPress developers are WooCommerce specialists. Here is what to check before you hire a WooCommerce developer or agency in the UK.
- WooCommerce-specific experience — building and maintaining live WooCommerce stores, not just general WordPress sites
- Custom plugin and theme development — the ability to write bespoke PHP code rather than relying solely on off-the-shelf plugins
- Performance optimisation — experience with caching, image optimisation, database tuning, and CDN configuration
- Security knowledge — keeping WordPress and WooCommerce secure through updates, hardening, and secure coding practices
- Payment gateway integration — Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay, Klarna, and UK-specific providers
- Hosting and server management — recommending and configuring appropriate hosting for WooCommerce workloads
- Post-launch support — ongoing maintenance, plugin updates, security monitoring, and performance checks
Typical WooCommerce Project Costs in the UK
WooCommerce itself is free to download and use. However, a professional online store involves several cost components beyond the plugin. Here is what UK businesses can expect to invest.
Starter Store
£2,000 – £6,000
A WooCommerce store built on a premium theme with standard configuration. Includes product setup, payment gateway, shipping zones, and basic SEO. Ideal for small businesses launching their first online store.
Custom Store
£8,000 – £25,000
A bespoke WooCommerce build with custom theme design, tailored functionality, third-party integrations (ERP, CRM, accounting), data migration, and advanced SEO. Suited to established businesses with specific requirements.
Advanced / Headless
£25,000 – £60,000+
Complex WooCommerce projects with custom plugin development, headless front-end builds, multi-site configurations, wholesale and B2B functionality, or extensive API integrations. For businesses with ambitious technical requirements.
Ongoing costs to budget for
Beyond the initial build, WooCommerce stores carry ongoing costs that differ from hosted platforms like Shopify. These typically include:
- Hosting: Quality managed WordPress hosting costs between £20 and £100 per month for most stores. High-traffic sites may require dedicated servers at £150 to £500+ per month.
- SSL certificate: Often included with hosting, but standalone certificates cost £50 to £200 per year.
- Premium plugins: Annual renewal fees for plugins like WooCommerce Subscriptions, booking systems, or advanced shipping modules typically run £50 to £200 each per year.
- Maintenance and updates: WordPress and WooCommerce require regular updates. A maintenance retainer typically costs £100 to £500 per month depending on the scope.
- Payment gateway fees: Stripe charges 1.4% + 20p per transaction for UK cards. PayPal and other gateways have similar rates.
Why Choose WooCommerce for Your Online Store?
WooCommerce offers a unique combination of flexibility, ownership, and value that makes it one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the UK and worldwide.
Outstanding SEO
WordPress is widely regarded as one of the best platforms for search engine optimisation. WooCommerce inherits this strength, giving you clean URLs, fast page structures, full control over meta data, and access to powerful SEO plugins like Yoast and Rank Math. For businesses that rely on organic search traffic, WooCommerce is a strong choice.
Deep Flexibility
Because WooCommerce is open-source, there are no limits on what you can build. Custom checkout flows, bespoke pricing rules, unique product types, complex tax configurations, and integrations with any third-party system are all possible. If you can describe it, a skilled WooCommerce developer can build it.
Vast Plugin Ecosystem
The WordPress plugin directory contains over 60,000 free plugins, with thousands more available as premium options. For WooCommerce specifically, there are extensions for subscriptions, bookings, memberships, product bundles, multi-currency, wholesale pricing, and virtually any other feature you might need.
Full Data Ownership
Unlike hosted platforms, WooCommerce gives you complete ownership of your store data. Your product catalogue, customer records, order history, and analytics all live on your own server. You are never locked into a platform and can move your data wherever you choose. This is particularly important for businesses with strict data governance requirements.
Content-First Commerce
WordPress is the world's leading content management system, making WooCommerce ideal for brands where content drives sales. Blog posts, landing pages, video galleries, recipe collections, lookbooks, and editorial content all sit naturally alongside your product catalogue with no workarounds required.
No Transaction Fees
WooCommerce does not charge any transaction fees on your sales. You only pay the fees charged by your payment gateway (for example, Stripe charges 1.4% + 20p per UK card transaction). This can represent significant savings compared to platforms that add their own percentage on top of gateway fees, especially as your revenue grows.
WooCommerce Development Questions
WooCommerce itself is free and open-source, but a complete store involves hosting (£10 to £100+ per month), a premium theme (£40 to £80), premium plugins (£50 to £500+ depending on functionality), and development costs. A simple WooCommerce store built on a pre-made theme typically costs £2,000 to £6,000. A custom-designed store with bespoke functionality, integrations, and migration usually ranges from £8,000 to £25,000. Complex builds with extensive custom plugin development or headless setups can exceed £30,000.
Yes, WooCommerce can handle large catalogues and high traffic volumes when properly configured. Stores with tens of thousands of products run successfully on WooCommerce. However, performance at scale depends heavily on quality hosting, database optimisation, caching, and a well-coded theme. A skilled WooCommerce developer will ensure your server environment and site architecture can handle your growth. For very high-volume enterprise operations, it is worth comparing WooCommerce with platforms like Magento.
No prior WordPress experience is necessary to manage a WooCommerce store day-to-day. The WordPress dashboard is straightforward, and WooCommerce adds intuitive screens for managing products, orders, and customers. Most developers provide training as part of the build process, covering tasks like adding products, processing orders, managing inventory, and updating content. If you can use a word processor, you can manage a WooCommerce store.
The key difference is ownership and hosting. Shopify is a fully hosted platform where you pay a monthly subscription and Shopify handles servers, security, and updates. WooCommerce is self-hosted, meaning you choose your own hosting provider and have full control over your site files, database, and code. WooCommerce offers greater flexibility and customisation with no transaction fees (beyond your payment gateway), whilst Shopify provides simplicity and lower maintenance overhead. WooCommerce is often more cost-effective long-term, especially for content-heavy sites already using WordPress.
Yes, experienced WooCommerce developers routinely migrate stores from platforms such as Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and custom-built systems. Migration typically includes transferring products, categories, customer accounts, order history, and SEO data (URLs, meta data, redirects). A well-planned migration preserves your search engine rankings and ensures no data is lost. Your developer should provide a detailed migration plan and test everything in a staging environment before the live switchover.
Looking at other platforms? Compare Shopify developers and Magento developers in the UK, or read our detailed ecommerce platform comparison to find the best fit for your business.