The technical part of an online store is usually the easy part. What eats the schedule is payment integration, delivery logic and filling the catalogue. Here is the order that works in Armenia.
1. Choose a platform
There are three realistic options:
- An off-the-shelf CMS (WooCommerce, OpenCart) — a fast start with plenty of ready modules. Comfortable up to a few thousand products.
- A website builder (Shopify, Tilda) — the quickest route, but integration with Armenian payment providers is limited and the subscription is a permanent cost.
- Custom development — for non-standard logic: size grids, a configurator, B2B pricing, synchronisation with 1C.
If the first option covers the job, do not start with the third. Custom development earns its price from the moment a ready-made solution starts getting in the way.
2. Connect payments
This step almost always takes longer than people plan for. In Armenia you will be working with:
- ArCa — the Armenian card system. It is connected through an acquiring bank (Ameriabank, Inecobank, Ardshinbank and others).
- Visa / Mastercard — through the same bank acquiring agreement.
- Idram — a widely used e-wallet, with its own contract and API.
- Telcell — payment terminals and a wallet.
A practical note: start the bank paperwork in parallel with development, not after it. Document checks usually take two to four weeks, and that is what becomes the bottleneck at launch.
In nearly every case the bank will want the site to already carry a public offer, return terms and contact details. Write those pages early.
3. Work out delivery
Delivery on the site comes down to three decisions:
- Zones. Yerevan, the regions, abroad — different rates.
- Calculation. A flat fee, by weight, or free above a certain order value.
- Partner. Haypost, a private courier service, or your own courier.
Do not over-engineer this at the start. Two zones and one flat rate will carry you through the first months.
4. Fill the catalogue
This is the most underestimated part of the project. For 300 products you need a name, a description, a price, at least one decent photograph, a category and specifications. If there are variants — colour, size — the count multiplies.
Decide in advance who does it. If the answer is "we will", budget five to ten minutes per product and see what that comes to in hours.
5. Sort out the accounting side
Online sales come with tax requirements, cash documentation and return rules. Those rules change, and a blog post is not the authority on them: talk to your accountant before launch, not after the first order.
Timeline and budget
A realistic picture for a mid-sized store:
- Design and development — 4 to 8 weeks.
- Payment integration — 2 to 4 weeks, running in parallel.
- Catalogue entry — depends entirely on the number of products.
- Budget — from 1,200,000 AMD, depending on how many integrations are involved.
For a starting estimate, use the calculator on the home page, then get in touch so we can work out what your case actually needs.
