Hesitating between a showcase website and an online shop? It's the most frequent question from our customers. The answer depends on what you sell and how you want to sell it.
The showcase website: your premium business card. It presents your business, services, projects and contact details. Its goal: build trust and get customers to contact you (phone, WhatsApp, form). The ideal choice for service professions: lawyers, architects, hotels, restaurants, clinics, salons...
The e-commerce shop: your 24/7 sales person. Beyond the showcase, it displays your products with prices, cart and online checkout. Ideal for: clothing, cosmetics, food products, crafts, electronics... In Morocco, cash on delivery is a decisive conversion factor.
The key question: do you sell online or not? If customers contact you before buying (hotel, service, custom-made), a showcase website suffices and costs less. If you sell standardized, shippable products, e-commerce is an investment that pays for itself.
How much does it cost? With the current promotion: showcase website from 2,499 MAD, e-commerce Business at 5,400 MAD (up to 30 products). The gap is justified by the cart, payment and order-management modules.
Our advice. Start with a polished showcase website if you're just starting. Many of our clients move to e-commerce after 6 months, once demand comes. We can grow your site without rebuilding everything.
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Get a free quote → ← Back to blogThree figures that settle the question
When hesitation persists, three figures are usually enough. The average basket: below a few hundred dirhams, many purchases close via message. The number of references: beyond thirty, a catalog becomes necessary for the customer to find their way. The targeted order volume: if you expect fewer than ten per month, an online shop isn't profitable yet.
These three answers live in your sales history, not in an intuition. One month of records is enough to decide.
The case of businesses that sell without selling
Riads, renters, spas, photographers: these businesses ship nothing, but they need a calendar, a deposit and a confirmation. That's exactly the ground of our intermediate plan — a showcase's presentation pages, plus a booking or order module.
In this case, the stake is financial before being technical: every booking taken directly rather than through an intermediary saves a commission taken off the margin.
What to prepare in both cases
These five points weigh more on the result than the choice of plan. A simple site with accurate content does better than a complex site delivered with mediocre visuals.
What an online shop costs over time
Building it is only the first expense. An online shop then includes recurring costs: adequate hosting, maintaining payment extensions, security updates, and the time to manage orders, returns and customer service.
| Job | Showcase website | Online store |
|---|---|---|
| Creation | From 2,499 MAD, delivered in 7 days | From 5,400 MAD, delivered in 14 days |
| Annual hosting | About 500 to 900 MAD | About 800 to 1,200 MAD, depending on traffic |
| Technical maintenance | Low: few modules | Regular: payment, delivery, security |
| Management time | A few hours a month | Several hours per week once it's running |
| Tracking included | 12 months | 12 months |
For a small business, management time is often the heaviest cost — and the most underestimated. It appears on no invoice.
The middle case often forgotten
Between showcase and full shop there's a third way: a presentation site with a simple order or booking module. This format suits businesses selling few but high-value references — a service, a stay, a rental — that don't need a full cart.
The customer picks a date or a plan, leaves their details, and confirms with a deposit. That's enough to lock a booking, and it costs far less than maintaining a full shop.
The decision in five questions
- Do you sell more than thirty distinct references? If not, a showcase is probably enough.
- Do your customers buy on their own, or need to talk first?
- Does your average basket justify an online-payment commission?
- Can you process orders within a week of them receiving?
- Do you have photos and descriptions ready for each product?
Three negative answers out of these five questions indicate a showcase, or a site with a booking module, is the right starting point. Nothing stops you from adding online sales later, on a base that already works.
How to start without getting it wrong
A cautious progression suits most businesses: start with a clear presentation site, measure for two to three months where inquiries come from, then open online sales if volume justifies it. This approach avoids investing in a full shop before knowing whether customers find the business.
The second phase then costs less: design, copy and SEO are already in place, and only the catalog and order part remains to be added.
