An online shop that finds customers, not just serves them.
Most online shops only work once someone already knows your URL. We build yours so it shows up on Google when people search for what you sell — then makes it easy to buy.
Good for
- Gift shops, craft sellers, and specialty retailers selling products people actually search for
- Businesses with an existing shop that nobody finds on Google
- Anyone taking orders over WhatsApp who wants a proper, searchable storefront
A proper online shop, built to be found.
Custom product catalogue
Every product gets its own page, built in clean static HTML so Google can read and index each one properly — not a JavaScript-rendered grid that search engines struggle with.
PayFast checkout
South Africa's most widely used payment gateway, set up properly — EFT, credit card, SnapScan, and instant EFT in one checkout. No subscription fee beyond PayFast's standard rates.
WhatsApp order flow
For businesses who prefer to handle orders through WhatsApp — a clean catalogue with a "Order via WhatsApp" flow instead of a payment gateway, or alongside it.
Built like a website, not a platform subscription.
Shopify, Wix, and WooCommerce are platform businesses — you pay monthly, they control the hosting, and the product pages they generate are hard for Google to index properly. We build your shop the same way we build websites: static, fast, and structured so every product page can rank on its own. You own it. No monthly platform fees, no lock-in.
Priced per project.
Larger catalogues, PayFast integration, product management dashboards, and custom features are scoped and quoted separately. Everything is fixed-price, in writing, before any work starts.
What people usually ask first.
How much does it cost to build an online shop in South Africa?
Custom-built shops start from R15,000 with Horn Dev. Platform-based shops on Shopify or Wix can be cheaper upfront, but you pay monthly (R300–R600/month on Shopify) and you don't own the platform — we do. A custom-built shop has no ongoing platform fee, and because it's built the right way, it can rank on Google in a way platform shops usually can't.
What do I need to sell online in South Africa?
A PayFast account (free to register, ~3.5% per transaction), a product catalogue, a way to handle orders, and a shop that people can find. We set up all of it — you just need to have your products ready and your banking details for PayFast verification.
Can I add and manage my own products after it's built?
Yes. We set up a simple way for you to add, update, and remove products without needing a developer every time. How that works depends on your catalogue size — we'll agree on the right approach during scoping.
Will my online shop show up on Google?
That's the point of building it the way we do. Most platforms generate product pages that Google has to render with JavaScript before it can read them — that delays indexing and limits ranking. We build product pages as static HTML, the same way Google reads a standard website, so every product can rank individually for what people search for.
Can I use WhatsApp instead of a payment gateway?
Yes. Some businesses prefer to take enquiries and orders through WhatsApp rather than process payments online — we can build a full product catalogue that sends orders to WhatsApp instead of a checkout. You can also have both: a full PayFast checkout for standard products and a WhatsApp flow for custom or quote-based items.
Tell me what you sell.
A short WhatsApp conversation is usually enough to work out what kind of shop makes sense for your products and how people search for them.