Plenty of people ask me for an online shop when what they need is to show what they sell and have someone get in touch. They're very different things, and the difference isn't in the website: it's in the work that comes afterwards.
What a real shop brings with it
A shop takes payments on its own, which means somebody has to be behind it: packing and sending orders, handling returns, keeping stock current so you don't sell what you haven't got, and answering the person asking where their parcel is. The website is the easy part.
When a catalogue is enough
- 01You sell few units and every sale is discussed first.
- 02Your prices change depending on client, quantity or project.
- 03You work to order or to measure.
- 04Your product needs explaining before anyone buys it.
In those cases a well-made catalogue with a contact button on each product converts better than a cart, costs considerably less and doesn't force you to build a logistics operation.
When you do need the shop
When you sell many units of the same product at a fixed price, and answering every order by hand is already eating your hours. At that point the cart isn't a luxury: it's what gives you your time back.
The useful question isn't «do I want to sell online?», it's «how many orders am I handling by hand before automating it pays off?».
A middle ground almost nobody suggests
Start with a catalogue and add the cart later. If the site is properly built, that step doesn't mean redoing anything. And by then you'll know what sells, at what price and with what questions people arrive — exactly what you need to build the shop right the first time.