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E-commerce development in Dubai and Sharjah

E-commerce development for UAE retailers in Dubai and Sharjah: Shopify or custom stores with card and BNPL payments, VAT invoices and local delivery.

What this involves

We build online stores for retailers in Dubai, Sharjah and across the UAE, whether you are launching your first store or moving off a platform you have outgrown. That can mean a tailored Shopify build, a WooCommerce store, or a custom or headless storefront when you need unusual workflows or deep integration with your back office. Whichever route, the UAE specifics are handled properly: Arabic and English catalogues priced in AED, card payments and wallets through your chosen gateway, buy-now-pay-later options where you hold merchant accounts, VAT-compliant invoices, and delivery partners connected for tracking. The priority is a store that loads quickly, does not oversell stock and gives your team a back office they can run without calling a developer, with stock and orders synced to your ERP or POS so the shop and the warehouse agree.

Questions

Shopify is the right answer for many retailers: it is fast to launch and the platform handles hosting and security. WooCommerce suits businesses that want a WordPress site with full control of hosting and plugins, at the cost of more maintenance. A custom or headless build makes sense when you need unusual workflows, deep ERP integration, very high performance or full control over checkout. We recommend based on your catalogue, team and roadmap.

Buy-now-pay-later providers such as Tabby and Tamara, and wallets such as Apple Pay, offer integrations for the main platforms and for custom checkouts. You open the merchant accounts, which involves the provider’s own onboarding and approval, and we integrate and test them in your checkout. Plan for that onboarding time in your launch date.

Yes. We configure prices, tax settings and invoice templates so invoices carry what the FTA requires, including your TRN, the date, a sequential invoice number, a description of the items, and the VAT rate and amount. Edge cases such as exports and free-zone sales are set up deliberately rather than left to default settings.

Yes. We connect the store to your ERP, inventory or POS so stock levels, prices and orders flow automatically, which stops overselling and removes manual order entry. If you use Muhasib, the store can feed it directly.

Yes. We work with retailers across the UAE, including Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman and Abu Dhabi. Most of the work runs through shared staging stores and regular reviews, and we meet on site where that helps.

It depends on the platform, the size and quality of your product data, the number of integrations and how quickly payment providers approve your merchant accounts. A theme-based Shopify store is much quicker than a custom headless build. We give you a dated plan after scoping.

We plan replatforming around your existing URLs: product and category redirects, metadata, structured data and image migration. Some ranking movement after a migration is normal, but careful redirects and testing keep it to a minimum.

Choosing a platform: Shopify, WooCommerce or custom

Platform choice drives cost, flexibility and how much maintenance you take on. We do not have a favourite; we match the platform to the business.

Shopify
Subscription plus app fees. Quick to launch, hosting and security handled by the platform, a large app ecosystem. Less flexible checkout and data model. Best for most retailers with standard catalogues.
WooCommerce
Open source on WordPress, with hosting and plugins you manage. Very flexible and content-friendly, but needs regular updates and security care. Best for content-led stores with in-house or retained support.
Custom or headless
Higher upfront build cost, full control of the storefront, checkout and integrations, and the fastest possible pages. Best for complex catalogues, B2B pricing, marketplaces or stores tightly coupled to an ERP.

What is included in a UAE store build

Catalogue, Arabic and English, AED pricing
Product structure, variants and filters designed for how customers shop, with bilingual content, right-to-left layout for Arabic and prices shown in AED inclusive of VAT.
Payments
Card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay through your gateway, buy-now-pay-later options such as Tabby and Tamara where you hold merchant accounts, and cash on delivery if you offer it, using hosted payment pages to keep card data out of scope.
VAT-compliant invoices
Invoices and credit notes that carry the details the FTA requires, with correct handling for refunds, exports and free-zone customers.
Delivery and fulfilment
Shipping rules by emirate and order value, courier integration for labels and tracking, and order status notifications by email, SMS or WhatsApp.

Connecting your store to inventory, ERP and POS

The store is only as good as the stock data behind it. If your shop and warehouse run on separate numbers, you will oversell, and someone will spend hours re-entering web orders into the back office.

We integrate the store with your ERP, inventory system or POS so that stock levels and prices flow to the store, orders and customer details flow back, and invoices and payments reconcile in your accounts. Where the back office has a usable API we sync in near real time; where it does not, we schedule regular exchanges and build checks that flag mismatches.

Process and launch

1. Scope and platform choice
Catalogue, payments, delivery, integrations and growth plans agreed, and a platform recommended.
2. Design
Home, category, product, cart and checkout designed and tested on mobile first, since most UAE shoppers browse on their phones.
3. Build and integrate
Store, payment, courier and back-office integrations built on a staging store you can test.
4. Content and migration
Products, images and customers imported; for an existing store, URLs mapped and redirects prepared.
5. Launch checklist
Test orders through every payment method, VAT and invoice checks, redirects, analytics and speed checks before going live.

Performance, SEO and security

Speed affects both conversion and search visibility. We build to Core Web Vitals targets: optimised images, minimal scripts, sensible caching and server-side rendering where the platform allows. Product and category pages get clean URLs, structured data and editable metadata.

On security, using the gateway’s hosted payment page or secure fields keeps card data off your servers and reduces your PCI scope. We follow OWASP practice for any custom code, keep platforms and plugins updated, and treat customer data with care, since the UAE Personal Data Protection Law applies to the personal data your store collects.

Support after launch, in Dubai, Sharjah and beyond

An online store needs ongoing care: platform and plugin updates, new payment methods, seasonal campaigns, and changes as your catalogue grows. We offer support arrangements covering fixes, updates and improvements, and if you are already on Shopify or WooCommerce we can review your existing store and recommend what to fix first.

E-commerce Development by industry

All solutions

Other services

All services

Web Application Development

Custom web application development in Dubai and the UAE: portals, dashboards and internal tools, connected to your ERP, CRM and payment gateways.

Mobile App Development

Mobile app development in Dubai for iOS and Android: Flutter and React Native apps with Arabic support, UAE payments and App Store publishing handled.

Custom CRM Development

Custom CRM development in Dubai for UAE businesses: built around your sales process and connected to WhatsApp, email, your ERP and accounting system.

ERP Software Development

Custom ERP software development for UAE businesses: finance, inventory, sales and operations in one system, ready for FTA VAT and UAE e-invoicing.

Custom Software Development

Custom software development in Dubai for UAE businesses: internal systems, automation and integrations, scoped in stages, documented, tested and supported.

UI/UX Design

UI/UX design services in Dubai and the UAE: research, wireframes, prototypes and design systems for web and mobile, with proper Arabic and RTL support.

API Development & System Integration

API and system integration services in the UAE: we connect your ERP, CRM, e-commerce, payment and courier systems so data flows without manual re-entry.

Cloud, DevOps & Hosting

Cloud, DevOps and hosting services in the UAE: deployment pipelines, cloud infrastructure, backups and monitoring that keep production stable after launch.

Software Maintenance & Support

Software maintenance and support in the UAE: bug fixes, security updates, monitoring and improvements, including for systems another vendor built.

AI Integration

AI integration services for UAE businesses: document extraction, search, assistants and classification added to the systems you use, with PDPL in mind.

SaaS Development

SaaS development in Dubai: multi-tenant products with subscription billing, VAT-ready invoicing, onboarding and cloud hosting, from the team behind Muhasib.

Customer Portal Development

Customer portal development in Dubai for B2B firms: self-service ordering, statements, invoices, tickets and document exchange, connected to your ERP.

Business Process Automation

Business process automation services for UAE businesses: approvals, data entry, invoicing, reconciliations and reporting automated across your systems.

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