Starting an eCommerce business? Decide who packs orders.
Before the website comes a plainer question: where the stock lives and who packs each order. DIGITALON builds WooCommerce stores on the Sunshine Coast, set up around the way you fulfil orders, from a spare room to a warehouse.
The dispatch routine sets the rules.
An eCommerce business is a website and a dispatch routine. Whether you pack orders at the kitchen table, at the back of a shop, in a storage unit, through a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse or by having a supplier ship direct, that choice decides your costs, your dispatch times and what the store has to tell shoppers before they pay.
We build stores on WordPress and WooCommerce, and the fulfilment model changes the set-up: where stock counts come from, the dispatch times shown on product pages, the address orders ship from and returns go back to, and who receives each new order. Choose the model that suits your first year, and plan the move to the next one before you need it.
Who packs each order.
Five ways to get orders out of the door, each with its own costs.
- Home, shop or storage unit
- A third-party logistics provider
- Dropshipping or made to order
Where orders really go.
The website has to match the way orders are actually sent.
- Stock counts that stay accurate
- Dispatch times that hold true
- A returns address that works
Five ways to fulfil online orders.
Many new businesses start with the first and move down the list as orders grow. Each one changes what the store needs.
Packing at home or in a shop
The simplest start: you hold the stock, pack each order and drop parcels at the post office or book a pickup. Stock counts live in WooCommerce, dispatch times are yours to promise, and a shop can offer local pickup at checkout.
A storage unit or small warehouse
When stock outgrows the house, a unit keeps it together and lets someone else help pack. The store stays the same, but the return address, pickup point and dispatch times change, and stock counts need a routine as more people handle them.
A third-party logistics (3PL) provider
A 3PL stores your stock, packs orders and sends back tracking numbers. The store has to pass each order to its system and take stock levels back, usually through an extension or connection we scope and quote, and the 3PL's cut-off times set your dispatch promise.
Dropshipping from a supplier
The supplier holds the stock and ships each order to your customer. You never touch the product, so delivery times, packaging and returns depend on the supplier; how orders and stock pass between store and supplier is covered in WooCommerce dropshipping.
Making each order to order
Products made after the order arrives need a lead time on the product page and in the order email, and sometimes a limit on how many orders you take each week. WooCommerce can hold made-to-order items as backorders; a weekly cap is quoted work.
Packages for the business you are starting.
One-off build prices with GST included. Connections to a 3PL, supplier systems or couriers are quoted on top, once we know which ones you use.
Basic
A simple online shop with everything it takes to sell properly.
$4,990One-off build price
- 6 pages: home, about, contact, shop, cart and checkout
- Mobile optimisation
- Card and PayPal payments
- Flat-rate or free shipping
- WordFence firewall and SSL certificate
- Links to your social media
- Nightly backups
Standard
A professional store for a real catalogue, with accounts and automation.
$5,990One-off build price
- 10 website pages
- Everything in Basic, plus
- Search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Customer accounts and order history
- Product filters and categories
- PDF invoices and packing slips
- Wish list and discount coupons
- Advanced shipping rules
- Google Analytics
- 1:1 website training
Premium
For stores pushing on sales: more ways to pay, find and follow an order.
$7,990One-off build price
- 20 website pages
- Everything in Standard, plus
- AI search optimisation (GEO)
- Mega menu
- Apple Pay, Google Pay and Afterpay
- Shipping cost calculator and order tracking
- Live product search and product compare
- Blog
- Your CRM integrated
Hosting, your domain, your payment provider’s transaction fees and ongoing maintenance are separate. The page counts are website pages, not a product limit: catalogue size, product imports, migrations and custom integrations are agreed and quoted before work starts. Compare every inclusion and the optional features on eCommerce pricing, or see website design packages if you do not need a shop.
Your store, your hosting, your login.
Every DIGITALON store is a custom WordPress and WooCommerce build. WooCommerce is free and open source, takes no commission on your sales and runs on hosting you choose, with the administrator login yours from day one.
The shop and the pages that bring shoppers to it live in one WordPress site, edited the same way. You can run it yourself, or hand the updates to the team that built it.
No platform commission
Your payment provider charges its transaction fee. WooCommerce itself takes no percentage of your sales and has no monthly platform fee.
Hosting you choose
Keep your own host, or use our managed WordPress hosting, sized for the catalogue and the traffic you expect.
Care after launch
Our maintenance packages cover plugin and WooCommerce updates, backups, security checks and support.
One Australian team
The people who scope, design and build the store are the people who answer your questions, from Wurtulla on the Sunshine Coast.
From brief to first order.
A basic store usually takes two to three weeks. Extra features and integrations add time, and we tell you how much before we begin.
Scope and price
We agree the pages, catalogue, features and search work, then confirm the package, any extras and the payment stages in writing.
Design
You see the design and sign it off before the build starts, while changing a layout is still quick.
Build and test
Products, payments, shipping and tax are set up in WooCommerce, then tested with real orders on a phone and a desktop.
Launch and hand over
We go live and hand over your administrator login. Standard and Premium include one-to-one training on your own store.
Online stores we have built.
These are stores and online sales sites our team designed and built. They show completed work, not a promise of the same result for every business.
Beauty & skincareNatural Skincare Shop
FurnitureOffice Furniture Shop
Made to orderCustom Vinyl Lettering
Books & consultingLegal Consulting & Author
Retreats & coursesHoffman Process Australia
CoursesOnline English TeachingThe client view.
I was very impressed as they were very responsive and helpful as I was a newbie. Good communication with Sabrina who took the time to explain all the process and gave some tips.
Questions about fulfilment for a new business.
Packages, GST, packing at home, 3PL connections, mixed stock, dispatch times, returns, timing, search and support.
Ask us about your storeIs Basic enough when we pack and post every order ourselves?
For a small range sent at flat or free rates, yes. Standard adds shipping rules by weight, location and cart value, plus PDF invoices and packing slips, which help once orders arrive daily; Premium adds a shipping calculator and order tracking. All three are one-off prices on eCommerce pricing.
Are your prices quoted with GST for a business not yet registered?
Yes. Our build prices of $4,990, $5,990 and $7,990 include GST, and our tax invoice shows it. Whether your new business registers for GST is a separate question for your accountant or the ATO; the store is set to charge GST on your own sales only if you are registered.
Can we start by packing orders at home and change later?
Yes. The store does not mind where parcels are packed at first. When you move to a storage unit or a 3PL, we update the dispatch times, ship-from and returns addresses, pickup options and any connection the new provider needs, without rebuilding the store.
How does a store send orders to a 3PL warehouse?
Usually through a connection: the 3PL's own WooCommerce extension, an integration service or a custom link. Orders flow out as they are paid, and stock levels and tracking numbers flow back. We check which method your 3PL supports and quote the set-up before work starts.
Can one store sell stock we hold and products a supplier ships?
Yes. Products can be tagged by who sends them, with shipping classes for their different postage. When an order mixes both, your team packs its part and the supplier is told about theirs, by email or through a quoted connection, and the product pages show each item's own delivery time.
How do dispatch times differ between packing ourselves and using a 3PL?
When you pack, the dispatch time is whatever you can keep up in a busy week. A 3PL works to its own daily cut-off, so orders after it ship the next working day. Show the time you can always meet on product pages and in order emails, and update it when the routine changes.
Where should returns go if we don't hold the stock?
To whoever can check and restock the item: you, your storage unit or the 3PL, depending on the model. The address goes in your returns policy and order emails. With dropshipping, agree returns with each supplier before listing their products, because shoppers return to you, not to them.
Does a 3PL or supplier connection add to the build time?
Yes. A basic store usually takes two to three weeks, and packing orders yourself adds nothing to that; a 3PL or supplier connection adds time for its set-up and testing, which we schedule when we quote. Test orders run through the whole route, from checkout to the parcel leaving.
Which search work suits a business in its first year?
Standard includes keyword and category research and on-page SEO, so product and category pages match what people search for; Premium adds AI search optimisation (GEO). A new business still takes time to become visible, and no one can promise rankings. Our SEO packages continue the work after launch.
Who helps when an order goes wrong between the store and the warehouse?
We look after the store side: the order data, the emails and any connection we built. Our maintenance packages cover updates, backups and security checks, with eCommerce site updates in the Advanced and Premium levels. The 3PL or supplier handles the parcel itself, so keep their contacts beside ours.
Plan the store around your dispatch.
Tell us how you plan to store and send orders now, and where you expect to be in a year. Our team at Wurtulla on the Sunshine Coast will recommend a package, scope any warehouse or supplier connection and give you a written quote before work starts.
