Ecommerce Platforms Compared: Shopify, Woo or Custom Build

Southern Thailand has e-commerce potential many overlook — OTOP products, processed seafood, souvenirs, halal products, eco-products. Markets both domestic and international (Malaysia, Singapore).

This article shows how to pick the right platform for your business in 2026.

5 Main E-commerce Platform Options

1. Shopify

Price: $39-$399/month + transaction fees Setup time: 1-4 weeks Pros:

• Easy to use, large App Store
• Payment gateway integrated (Shopify Payments + KBank/SCB integrations)
• Multi-currency built-in
• Hosting + security managed
• Mobile app

Cons:

• Transaction fee 0.5-2% (unless using Shopify Payments)
• Theme customization is constrained
• Vendor lock-in
• High long-term cost (3 years ~600,000+ THB)

Best for: brands that need to launch fast, small-to-mid size, international customers.

2. WooCommerce (WordPress)

Price: plugin free + hosting + premium plugins 5,000-20,000 THB/year Setup time: 2-6 weeks Pros:

• Free at core
• Fully customizable
• Large plugin ecosystem
• Full data ownership

Cons:

• You maintain it (security + plugin updates)
• Performance depends on hosting + optimization
• Plugin hell at scale
• Requires a tech team

Best for: businesses that want to own the system, have a dev team, mid-size operations.

3. Shopify + Headless (Storefront API)

Price: Shopify $39+/month + custom frontend dev 300,000-800,000 THB Setup time: 2-4 months Pros:

• Shopify handles backend (cart, checkout, inventory)
• Custom frontend with peak performance (Next.js / Astro)
• PageSpeed 95+ possible
• Best-in-class SEO for e-commerce

Cons:

• Higher starting cost
• Needs a dev team that knows React/Next.js

Best for: premium brands, international plays that need custom UX + performance.

4. Custom E-commerce (Medusa / Saleor / Custom)

Price: 500,000-2,000,000 THB build + hosting Setup time: 3-8 months Pros:

• Workflow matches business 100%
• Full code + data ownership
• No vendor lock-in
• Unlimited scaling

Cons:

• High starting cost
• Requires a dev team to maintain
• Longer time to market

Best for: B2B wholesale, multi-vendor marketplace, subscription, complex business logic.

5. Local Marketplaces (LazMall, Shopee, Facebook Shop)

Price: free → 5-10% commission Setup time: 1 week Pros:

• Built-in platform traffic
• Fast setup

Cons:

• You don’t build brand assets
• Subject to platform algorithm
• Price competition with sellers on the same platform

Best for: testing products, volume plays, not ready to invest in a site.

3-Year TCO Comparison (Southern Thailand Souvenir Store, ~200 SKUs)

Shopify Advanced

• Plan: $299 × 36 = $10,764 ≈ 380,000 THB
• Premium apps: $50/mo × 36 = $1,800 ≈ 65,000
• Theme + customization: 100,000 one-time
• 3-year TCO: ~545,000 THB

WooCommerce + Hosting

• Premium theme: 5,000 one-time
• Plugins: 20,000/year × 3 = 60,000
• Hosting (Cloudways): $35/mo × 36 = $1,260 ≈ 45,000
• Build + customization: 200,000 one-time
• Maintenance retainer: 5,000/mo × 36 = 180,000
• 3-year TCO: ~490,000 THB

Headless Shopify

• Shopify Basic: $39/mo × 36 ≈ 50,000
• Custom frontend build: 500,000 one-time
• Hosting (Vercel free tier): 0
• Maintenance: 10,000/mo × 36 = 360,000
• 3-year TCO: ~910,000 THB

Custom (Medusa)

• Build: 1,200,000 one-time
• Hosting: 5,000/mo × 36 = 180,000
• Maintenance: 25,000/mo × 36 = 900,000
• 3-year TCO: ~2,280,000 THB

Clearly: WooCommerce has the lowest TCO for a mid-size store.

E-commerce SEO

Schema Markup You Need

• Product (every product page)
• Offer (price + availability)
• AggregateRating (reviews)
• BreadcrumbList
• Organization

Read Schema Markup Guide.

Product Page Optimization

• Title: “[Product] - [Brand]” 50-60 characters
• Meta Description that converts (“Free shipping nationwide,” “100% authentic”)
• H1 matches Title
• Description 300+ unique words (don’t copy from supplier)
• Photos 5-10 different angles
• Verified customer reviews
• Related products

Category Page Optimization

• Filter / sort
• SEO-friendly pagination
• 200+ word category description
• Featured products

Local E-commerce (Selling in Province)

• Address + map in footer
• “Pickup at Phuket” option
• LocalBusiness Schema + Product Schema

Read E-commerce SEO Phuket.

Payment Gateways for Thai Sites

Local (Recommended for TH customers)

• Omise — go-to choice, 3.65% fee
• 2C2P — enterprise-tier
• K-Cyber — KBank
• SCB Easy Net — SCB

International

• Stripe — multi-currency support
• PayPal — good for international customers

Local Payment Methods (Required for Thai sites)

• PromptPay QR
• Bank transfer (mobile banking)
• TrueMoney Wallet
• LINE Pay
• ShopeePay

Shipping Integration

Domestic

• Thailand Post (via API)
• Kerry Express
• Flash Express
• J&T Express

International

• DHL / FedEx / TNT
• ePacket

Real Case: Narathiwat OTOP

Products: batik fabric, halal food, souvenirs. Before: sold via Facebook Live + Shopee only. After 6 months: Custom WooCommerce + Multilingual (TH/EN/MY) + Shopee API integration.

• Revenue +40% (from international markets)
• Repeat customer rate +25%
• Customer LTV +60%

Start an E-commerce Project

Let’s talk — discovery workshop covers:

• Product line + target market analysis
• Platform selection
• Quote in 5 business days

Specific services: Web Development | Custom Software.