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Complete guide

Online stores and ecommerce for companies: choosing a platform and making it sell

Opening an online store is easy; turning it into a profitable sales channel that does not create extra work for the company is another matter. Ecommerce stores that perform have sound decisions behind them: which platform to use, how to connect it to stock and invoicing, how to serve trade customers and how to grow into other markets. This guide walks through those decisions one by one, the way we approach them in our online store services for companies.

What sets apart an online store that sells

An online store is not a catalogue with a payment button. It is a system that has to show the right product at the right price with the right stock, take payment securely, create the order, notify the warehouse, issue the invoice and tell the customer where the parcel is. When any of those steps is done by hand, the store grows only as far as the patience of whoever is typing, and stock or shipping errors end up costing customers.

That is why, before talking about design, an ecommerce project starts with the business: who you sell to, how many items you handle, where prices come from, who prepares the orders and which systems you already use. Design and the buying experience matter a great deal, but they rest on that foundation. A store that is fast, clear on mobile and well ranked on Google is the result of having sorted out the rest first.

Platform or bespoke development: how to decide

The first major decision is whether to build on an existing ecommerce platform or commission a bespoke development. Neither is better in the abstract. This comparison sums up what changes between the two:

For most companies selling products, a PrestaShop online store is the most sensible starting point: it is open source, the store belongs to you and it supports almost any integration. When the sales model departs from the norm, with configurable products, calculated prices, rentals or approval workflows, a custom online store avoids forcing a platform to do something it was never designed for. And if what you need is to test a channel with little upfront investment, the monthly subscription model lets you start now and decide later.

Online stores by sector

Ecommerce stores are less alike than they might seem. Each sector has a point where the project is won or lost:

• Retail and commerce: stock shared between physical shop and online store, click and collect, returns through any channel and promotions coordinated with the point of sale.
• Industry and manufacturers: sales to distributors at agreed prices, technical catalogues with downloadable documentation and repeat orders in a few clicks.
• Logistics: connection with the warehouse or logistics operator, automatic carrier labels and shipment tracking with no manual steps.
• Services: sale of bookings, vouchers, courses or subscriptions, with recurring billing, a private customer area and automatic invoicing.
• Transport: online booking of services, spare parts sold by reference or model and a customer area with their documentation.

Integrations with ERP, point of sale and logistics

Integration is the least visible part of a store and the one that most affects whether it is profitable. An isolated store creates work; a connected store removes it. These are the connections we consider in almost every project:

• ERP and invoicing: items, prices, stock, customers and orders synchronised with Gestinity or another ERP, so a web order reaches the back office without retyping.
• Point of sale in physical shops: one inventory for counter and web, with customers and loyalty shared across both channels.
• Payment gateways: card payments through Redsys or Stripe, Bizum, PayPal, bank transfer or deferred payment, with reconciliation of receipts.
• Carriers and warehouse: shipping costs calculated by weight and destination, automatic labels and a tracking number sent to the customer.
• Marketplaces and acquisition: catalogue published on marketplaces and Google Shopping, conversion analytics and abandoned-cart emails.

Migrations, B2B sales and international expansion

Many of our projects do not start from zero: they are stores that have become too small, too slow or unsupported. Migrating a store means moving the catalogue, customers and order history and, above all, preserving the search rankings already earned. To do that we keep URLs where possible, set up 301 redirects for those that change and review the outcome in Search Console after launch. A well-planned change of platform need not show up in your traffic.

Business-to-business ecommerce has rules of its own: price lists and discounts per customer, a catalogue visible only after login, minimum orders, payment on account with a credit limit and reorders based on previous ones. Selling outside Spain adds languages, currencies, country-specific taxes and international carriers, along with content that is properly translated rather than machine-generated. Both the B2B channel and international expansion can be tackled in phases on the same store, without duplicating catalogues or systems.

Signs that your online store needs a rethink

Hardly any of these situations means scrapping the store and starting again. The usual course is to fix integration and performance first and then decide whether the current platform has more to give.

Online stores for companies across Spain

We provide our online store services to companies all over Spain from our offices in Murcia and Madrid, working on site or remotely as each project requires.

Why Grupo Unifema for your ecommerce project

We are a software development consultancy with more than 20 years of experience, not a design agency that also sets up stores. We develop our own ERP, Gestinity, and that gives us a specific advantage in ecommerce: we know how orders, stock and invoices have to flow between the store and the back office, which is exactly where most projects fail.

We work with PrestaShop, with bespoke development and with the subscription model, so our recommendation does not depend on what we know how to do but on what your business needs. Every project starts with an analysis of your catalogue, your systems and your goals, and continues with maintenance that keeps the store fast, secure and up to date.

Tell us about your online store project