E-commerce Development in Kharkiv, Ukraine

E-commerce development in Kharkiv — from Shopify storefront to headless platform

An online store is not "a site with a Buy button" — it's a working sales engine. In Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region, the e-commerce market grows year after year: local brands move into social, open online storefronts, and compete with national chains and marketplace builders such as "Khoroshop" or "Prom". To compete effectively, it's not enough to "build a store on a template": you need thoughtful architecture, integrations with Nova Poshta and LiqPay, Google-friendly optimisation and an honest focus on conversion. I'm Alex Filiuk, Senior UI/UX designer and developer with 15 years of experience, designing and launching online stores for Kharkiv businesses since the 2010s. My portfolio includes 30+ launched e-commerce projects from compact Shopify storefronts to full headless platforms on Next.js + Strapi.

This page brings together everything a business owner or marketing lead should know before commissioning e-commerce development in Kharkiv: how the platform is chosen, how much it costs, which integrations are required from day one, how to avoid typical mistakes, and why it pays off to talk to a specialist who understands the Kharkiv-region market, rather than going to a global SaaS "box" or to a freelancer who'll "do it cheap".

Why an online store is more than a site with a cart

In a city of 240,000+ residents and a strong small-and-medium business sector, competition in every product category is no longer local. Even if you sell coffee, pet food, or furniture only in the Kharkiv region, your customers compare you with "Rozetka", Amazon and regional shops in Lviv and Kyiv. An online store in this context performs three functions at once:

• Sales channel — direct revenue, independent of the brick-and-mortar opening hours on Sumska street or Pushkinska.
• Marketing tool — collected email list, customer behaviour data, baseline analytics for ad campaigns.
• Brand carrier — the customer sees your store in search, on social, in ads — and forms a brand impression by UX, design and speed.

That's why I always start not with "design" but with economics: what's the average order value, the margin, the traffic sources, the cost per customer. Without these numbers any store is just a website. With them — it's an investment project with predictable ROI.

How I choose the platform — Shopify, WooCommerce, OpenCart or headless

There's no "best" platform. There's the one that fits your business. Here's how I approach the choice for Kharkiv clients:

• Shopify — optimal for brands wanting fast launch (4–6 weeks), minimal technical maintenance, sales outside Ukraine (Stripe, PayPal, multi-currency). Best for D2C brands in apparel, beauty, accessories, niche food.
• WooCommerce — flexible, WordPress-based platform. Ideal when you already have a WP brochure site and want to add commerce. Many free extensions, integrates well with NP, LiqPay, KeyCRM. For Kharkiv-region businesses — a frequent choice due to low entry barrier.
• OpenCart — Ukraine-popular platform with many ready modules for local realities (NP, PrivatBank, LiqPay, Bitrix24). Technologically older, but for typical electronics, auto-parts, appliances stores — a working option.
• Custom headless — Next.js (front) + Strapi or another headless CMS (content) + separate commerce logic. Suits brands scaling to thousands of SKUs, with complex UX (configurators, B2B portals, marketplace mechanics), needing speed and full control over code. It's not "trendy", it's justified — and pricier.

If you're unsure what to pick — at the brief we look together at your catalogue, traffic forecast, the team that will admin the store, and your budget. It's a 60–90 minute session, after which you have a clear understanding of the recommended platform and cost. I also recommend reading about web development and UI/UX design to understand the full context.

Integrations without which a Kharkiv store won't work

A "template store" looks like a store but doesn't sell, because critical integrations aren't configured. Here's the minimum mandatory set for the Ukrainian market:

1. Nova Poshta API — without this, nothing works. Pulling branches by city (including all Kharkiv, Sarny, Dubno, Kostopil, Chuhuiv branches), shipping cost calculation, auto-creation of TTN from the admin, label printing, tracking.
2. Ukrposhta API — for areas where NP coverage is thin (Kharkiv-region villages, remote districts). Cost calculation, shipment registration, tracking.
3. Payment gateway — LiqPay, Fondy or WayForPay. Chosen by fees, checkout UX and specialisation (LiqPay is better for the mass market with Privat, Fondy more flexible for B2B).
4. Apple Pay / Google Pay — critical for mobile. In Kharkiv 70%+ of store traffic comes from mobile devices.
5. CRM — KeyCRM (popular among Ukrainian e-commerce) or Bitrix24. Two-way sync of orders and customers so your manager doesn't switch between store admin and CRM.
6. Email marketing — Mailchimp, SendPulse, eSputnik. Sequences for abandoned carts, welcome emails, reactivation. Details on the email marketing service.
7. Analytics — GA4, Google Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, optionally Hotjar for heatmaps.

If your Kharkiv business already has a warehouse or ERP — we add an integration to sync stock. That's a job for a full CRM/ERP project, but you can start with CSV/Google Sheets imports.

UX and design that sells, not just "looks nice"

Over 15 years of e-commerce work I've developed UX principles that work in 90% of stores regardless of fashion:

• Clear catalogue. Categories are intuitive, filters help find products fast. In stores with 500+ SKUs, conversion drops by half without quality filters.
• Strong product page. Big gallery (minimum 5 images + video), variations, clear CTAs, reviews, stock availability. Cross-sell and upsell blocks for AOV growth.
• Fast checkout. One or two steps, guest checkout, NP address autocomplete, visible progress indicator.
• Mobile-first. I start design from the mobile mock, not desktop. Touch targets 44+ px, sticky cart, easy search.
• Trust signals. Reviews, return guarantees, support contacts, warehouse photos, shipping info — all visible.

These aren't theory. They're confirmed by data from dozens of stores I've launched. At the design stage we go through the prototype on mobile and desktop together, test key flows, fix metrics (CVR, AOV, time-to-purchase).

SEO for an online store — how to win organic traffic

Paid traffic is expensive and finite. SEO is an investment that delivers 50–70% of a mature store's traffic. Key SEO work for e-commerce:

• URL structure — human-readable slugs (/catalog/coffee/colombia-supremo), categorisation, breadcrumbs, canonicals. The base, without which Google can't grasp the store hierarchy.
• Schema.org — Product, Offer, AggregateRating, BreadcrumbList, Organization, LocalBusiness. Drives rich snippets, prices and reviews in Google's SERP.
• Meta tags for categories and products — generated by template with manual override for top pages.
• Hreflang for UA/EN versions if you plan export.
• Local SEO — Google Business Profile integration, LocalBusiness microdata with the Kharkiv address, reviews.
• Semantic core — I gather queries factoring in the local market: "buy X in Kharkiv", "Y with delivery across Kharkiv region".
• Content plan for blog/guides — for long-term traffic.

Details on the SEO service page. If you need a fast sales start, in parallel with SEO I recommend Google Ads and remarketing.

Store speed and Core Web Vitals — a critical factor in 2025–2026

Google officially counts Core Web Vitals in ranking. A store with LCP > 4 seconds loses on SEO and loses up to 30% of mobile visitors closing the tab. Here's what I do for speed:

• Image optimisation — WebP/AVIF instead of JPEG/PNG, lazy loading below the fold, responsive srcset for retina screens.
• CDN — Cloudflare, BunnyCDN. Static assets are served from the edge nearest the customer, which for Kharkiv saves ~150–300 ms.
• Code splitting and tree shaking in JS — we don't ship code to the browser that the page doesn't use.
• Server-side rendering for SEO pages (categories, products) in the headless variant on Next.js — boosts both speed and SEO.
• Caching — Cloudflare Workers, Redis, edge caching. Categories and products served from cache in 50–100 ms.

Targets: LCP < 2.5 s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200 ms. Measured before and after launch, documented in a tech report.

Common mistakes when commissioning an online store

Over 15 years of work I've seen dozens of cases where a Kharkiv (and Ukrainian) business overpaid or got an unworkable result. Here are the most common mistakes:

• Cutting corners on the brief. You describe the store in two sentences, the designer starts drawing — and a month later it turns out you wanted a B2B portal with price lists, not B2C. A quality brief is 30% of project success.
• "Make it like Rozetka." Rozetka is a marketplace with thousands of SKUs and a 100+ team. Copying its UX without its processes is a guaranteed bad result. You have your own scale and your own customers.
• A $50 marketplace template. You bought a ThemeForest theme that "looks like Apple". Turns out it's from 2018, not optimised for Core Web Vitals, has no payment scheme, and a freelance from a marketplace has been "finishing" it for 3 months.
• Ignoring mobile. The client says "mobile isn't critical, we're B2B". Then it turns out 50% of traffic is managers checking on the go from their phones. I always start design with mobile.
• Disconnected CRM. Store separately, CRM separately. Manager copies orders manually. Errors, slow service, lost customers. Integration is mandatory from day one.
• SEO "later". You launch the store — a year later you remember about SEO. But the basic URL structure and schema.org weren't laid down, so it's rework. SEO must be in the architecture from scratch.

Competitors in Kharkiv and how to stand out on the regional market

The Kharkiv market features several typical contractor types:

• Local studios — 3–10 people, template work on OpenCart or WooCommerce, low prices but low flexibility.
• Marketplace freelancers — Upwork, Freelancehunt, Kabanchik. Fast and cheap, but no business understanding and often no post-launch support.
• SaaS builders — Khoroshop, Prom, Bitrix24. Fast start, but vendor lock-in, limited UX, no way to make a unique store.
• Kyiv/Lviv e-commerce agencies — quality but expensive, and no personal Kharkiv contact.

My offer stands apart: Senior-level experience in UI/UX and development + understanding of the Kharkiv market + fixed-price contract without surprises + full handover of code rights and accesses. You don't depend on my studio after launch — the code goes into your repo, the keys into your password manager.

Cases: online stores and e-commerce projects

My portfolio includes 130+ projects, of which 30+ are e-commerce or marketplace. Among them — clients from various categories: apparel retail, coffee and food, pet industry, auto parts, manufacturer B2B portals, services. I've worked with Kharkiv companies, with clients from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and also from the USA and Europe. This lets me see how local Kharkiv businesses compete with national and international brands — and how store architecture can become a tool of that competition.

If you want concrete examples — go to the "Projects" section or get in touch via the contact form. I'll pick 5–10 most relevant cases for your niche and show not only final screenshots but the working process — Figma prototypes, data architecture, integrations, before/after metrics.

What you receive after launch

• A working store on the chosen platform with all integrations (payment, shipping, CRM, email).
• Admin with documentation and video instructions for the team.
• Code repository on GitHub/GitLab — with your accesses as owner.
• Hosting and domain — registered to your name (for headless: VPS on DigitalOcean, Hetzner, or Vercel).
• Analytics set up — GA4, Tag Manager, Meta Pixel, Search Console.
• SEO audit after launch and a list of recommendations.
• 30 days of free support — bugs, team training, consultations.
• SLA package on choice (monthly / yearly) for long-term maintenance.

My other services for businesses in Kharkiv

An online store is part of an ecosystem. If you're planning a serious launch or a redesign, a complex approach is worth considering:

• Branding — visual identity for packaging, shipping, store emails.
• Logo design — the foundation of the store's visual identity.
• UI/UX design — for a unique conversion-focused interface.
• Web development — custom, when platforms aren't enough.
• Mobile app design — for brands with repeat purchases.
• Mobile development — for large e-commerce.
• CRM / ERP / SaaS — integration with accounting systems.
• SEO — organic traffic for categories and products.
• Google Ads — fast sales start.
• SMM — Instagram, TikTok, content for awareness growth.
• Email marketing — repeat sales and retention.
• Conversion optimisation — A/B tests after launch.
• UX audit — when the store already runs but "doesn't sell".

E-commerce development in other Ukrainian cities

I work not only with businesses from the Kharkiv region. If you have offices in several cities or are planning regional/national expansion — we'll build a store that scales. Other locations I actively work with:

• Kyiv — national brands, marketplace projects, B2B portals
• Lviv — D2C brands, gastronomy, fashion
• Odesa — retail, export, tourism
• Dnipro — manufacturing, B2B, wholesale
• Kharkiv — IT ecosystems, education, engineering

The full list of locations is on the "Service Areas" page.

Ready to discuss an online store for your business in Kharkiv?

If you have a specific request — fill in the contact form or write to email/Telegram (contacts in the website footer). The first consultation is free, up to 90 minutes long. We'll discuss your business, store goals, approximate budget, timeline and platform. After that I'll send a detailed proposal with a fixed price, phased plan and a list of risks — no surprises and no hidden fees.

I'm ready to build for your business in Kharkiv an online store that pays back its ad budget, grows together with your brand, and won't "fall apart" in a year due to technological poverty. Not "another template store", but a working commercial tool.