NUZM builds online stores on Shopify and WooCommerce, and custom storefronts where neither fits. A store is finished when payments work, stock is correct, and someone in your office can add a product without calling us. Everything before that is a website with a basket attached.
Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom?
The honest comparison, including where the cheaper answer is the right one.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits | Standard retail catalogues where you would rather not think about hosting or security. | Stores needing local payment gateways, unusual pricing rules, or full control of the stack. | Rules a platform will not bend to: subscriptions, quotations, complex stock, deep integration. |
| Ongoing cost | Plans start around $29 a month, plus apps and per-transaction fees. | No licence fee. Hosting from roughly $25 to $35 a month at low volume, rising with traffic. | Hosting plus maintenance. Highest to build, lowest per sale at scale. |
| You are responsible for | Content and products. Shopify handles the rest. | Updates, backups and security, usually through a support arrangement. | Everything, which is why it is only worth it when the rules demand it. |
| Main risk | App subscriptions accumulate quietly and transaction fees scale with success. | An unmaintained plugin becomes a security problem. | Building something a platform already does well. |
Most first stores in Pakistan should be WooCommerce or Shopify, and the deciding question is usually payments rather than price. If a custom build is not clearly justified by a rule your business cannot bend, it is the wrong choice, and we will say so.
Payments, the way they work in Pakistan
Cash on delivery still carries the majority of online orders here, so it is treated as a first-class payment method and not an afterthought. That means order confirmation by phone or message, a status for cash collected, and reporting that separates a delivered order from a paid one.
Digital collection is normally through JazzCash and Easypaisa, or a gateway such as PayFast or Safepay for cards and bank transfers. Selling abroad needs a separate international processor, and that requirement often decides the platform, which is why it belongs in the first conversation rather than the last.
What we set up on every store
Built into every store we hand over
Working payments
Cash on delivery, JazzCash and Easypaisa, or a card gateway, tested with a real transaction before launch rather than assumed to work.
Stock that stays correct
One stock figure across the website and anywhere else you sell, so the same last item is not sold twice.
Returns and refunds
Handled as a normal path with partial refunds and restocking, because a return process bolted on later is where accounting stops matching reality.
Delivery and tracking
Courier integration, delivery charges by area, and an order status the customer can see without telephoning you.
Search visibility from day one
Product structured data, clean URLs, fast pages and a sitemap, so the store is indexable the day it opens rather than after a separate SEO project.
Training for your team
Someone in your office is shown how to add products, change prices and process an order, because paying an agency to do that is a waste of your money.
Questions before building a store
Shopify or WooCommerce for a Pakistani store?
Shopify if you want hosting, security and payment plumbing handled and are comfortable with a monthly fee plus per-transaction charges. WooCommerce if you want to own the stack, run local payment gateways freely and pay for hosting instead of subscription. Published comparisons put a production-ready WooCommerce store at roughly $25 to $35 a month at low volume, rising substantially with traffic, while Shopify plans start around $29 a month before apps. The deciding question is usually payments, not price.
Which payment methods can a Pakistani store accept?
Cash on delivery still carries the majority of Pakistani online orders, so it is built in first. Digital collection is normally handled through JazzCash, Easypaisa, or a gateway such as PayFast or Safepay for card and bank transfers. A store selling abroad needs a separate international processor, and that decision affects which platform makes sense.
How long does an online store take to build?
A configured store on Shopify or WooCommerce with your branding, a real product catalogue and working payments is normally a matter of weeks. What extends it is rarely the storefront. It is product data that has to be cleaned, stock that has to sync with a system you already run, and delivery rules that turn out to have exceptions nobody wrote down.
How much does a project cost?
Price follows scope, not page count. The three things that move a quote most are how much of the work is custom rather than configured, how many systems the software has to talk to, and how much of your existing data has to be migrated and cleaned. Published market surveys put development rates in Pakistan between $25 and $75 an hour depending on seniority and stack. NUZM quotes per project instead, so the number you approve is the number you pay.
What happens after the site or app goes live?
Defects found in the first thirty days are fixed at no charge. Beyond that, support is a monthly arrangement covering updates, security patches, backups and a set amount of change work. You are also trained to run the parts you should be running yourself, because paying an agency to publish a blog post is a waste of your money.
Tell us what you sell
How many products, whether you sell abroad, and how customers pay you now. That is enough for a platform recommendation and a fixed quote.