Having an online shop isn’t enough anymore. Every platform from Shopify to Squarespace makes it easy to put products online — but easy to set up and built to sell are two very different things. Most small business ecommerce sites in Ireland are leaking sales every day because they’re slow, hard to navigate on a phone, or simply not showing up on Google.
I’m Eugene, and I build WooCommerce stores for small and owner-run businesses across the North East — Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan. Not template shops, not cookie-cutter solutions — proper online stores built around how your customers actually shop.
Why WooCommerce?
I build ecommerce sites on WooCommerce, which runs on WordPress. It’s the most widely used ecommerce platform in the world for good reason — it’s flexible, powerful, and you own it completely. Unlike Shopify, there are no ongoing platform fees eating into your margins, and you’re not locked into someone else’s system. You get a store that works exactly the way your business needs it to, and you can manage it yourself without needing to call a developer every time you want to change a price or add a product.
A real example
TFI Local Link Louth Meath Fingal (locallinklmf.ie) isn’t a traditional retail shop — they’re a public transport and training organisation based in Navan. But they needed an online shop to allow customers to book and pay for training courses directly through their website. We built that into their site using WooCommerce, keeping it clean and straightforward for their users. It’s a good example of how ecommerce isn’t just for product-based businesses — if you’re selling anything online, whether that’s physical products, services, bookings or courses, the same principles apply.
What makes an e-commerce site actually work
Most online shops that don’t perform well have the same underlying problems. Here’s what I focus on when building a WooCommerce store:
Speed. Slow online shops kill sales. Studies consistently show that even a one-second delay in load time reduces conversions significantly. Every store I build is optimised for speed from the ground up.
Mobile first. The majority of online shopping in Ireland now happens on a phone. If your checkout is fiddly on a small screen, people abandon it. I design for mobile first, desktop second.
Simple checkout. Every extra step in your checkout process costs you sales. I keep it as short and frictionless as possible — fewer fields, clear buttons, no unnecessary distractions.
Product pages that convert. Good product pages do more than list features — they answer questions, handle objections and give people confidence to buy. I’ll help you think through what needs to be on each page.
Local SEO for your shop. If you’re selling locally as well as nationally, your store needs to show up for local searches too. A Drogheda gift shop should be showing up when someone searches “gift shop Drogheda” — not just relying on people who already know you exist.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a WooCommerce store cost? A straightforward e-commerce site typically starts from around €1,500 and goes up depending on the number of products, complexity of the shop and any custom functionality needed. I’ll give you a clear quote before anything starts.
Can I manage it myself after launch? Yes — that’s one of the main reasons I use WooCommerce. Adding products, updating prices, managing orders and processing payments are all straightforward once I’ve set it up and shown you around.
Do you set up payments? Yes. I’ll set up your payment gateway — typically Stripe or PayPal — and make sure everything is tested and working before launch.
How long does it take to build? Most ecommerce projects take six to eight weeks depending on the size of the catalogue and how quickly we can get everything together. Larger shops with lots of products naturally take longer.
Can you migrate my existing shop to WooCommerce? Yes — if you’re currently on Shopify or another platform and want to move, I can handle the migration including products, categories and customer data.
Do you offer ongoing support? Yes. Ecommerce sites need more ongoing attention than standard websites — security updates, plugin compatibility, payment gateway changes. I offer maintenance plans for clients who want peace of mind.
Let’s talk about your shop
If you’re thinking about launching an online store or you have one that isn’t performing the way it should, I’d love to have a conversation about what’s possible.
