Key facts
- £1 a day + VAT for small and medium shops; high-traffic stores quoted
- WooCommerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart, CubeCart, Magento and older platforms
- PHP 5.6 to 8.5 available per site for older shop software
- Hosted payment pages keep card data off your server and simplify PCI DSS
- Basket, checkout and account pages excluded from caching
- Free migration with a final order sync at switch-over
What shops need that brochure sites don't
- Uncached checkout: product and category pages can be cached, but baskets, checkout and account pages must always be live.
- Reliable cron: stock syncs, abandoned basket emails and order exports run on schedules.
- Transactional email that arrives: order confirmations sent through authenticated SMTP with SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
- Careful backups: restoring a whole database can wipe recent orders, so restores need thought. See website backups.
- Payment gateway callbacks that aren't blocked by firewall rules.
Payments and PCI DSS
If you take card payments, PCI DSS applies. The simplest way to keep your obligations small is to use a payment provider's hosted payment page or secure embedded fields, such as those from Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay or Opayo, so card numbers never pass through or get stored on your server. Avoid old modules that collect card details on your own checkout page. If your shop still does that, we'd recommend changing it as a priority.
Selling online in the UK: the basics
UK online shops need to give clear pre-contract information, including total prices with any mandatory charges included up front, delivery costs and the right to cancel. For most goods bought online, consumers have a 14-day cancellation period under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. If you're a limited company, show your registered name, number and office on the site. Hosting can't write your terms, but we make sure those pages stay online and fast.
Older shops welcome
Plenty of profitable shops run on software that's a few versions behind: an older OpenCart, osCommerce or Zen Cart store, or a PrestaShop 1.6 install with modules that never got updated. Our server runs PHP 5.6, 7.0 to 7.4 and 8.0 to 8.5, chosen per site, so we can keep it trading while you plan an upgrade. See OpenCart hosting, PrestaShop hosting and legacy PHP hosting.
Moving your shop without losing orders
We copy the shop, test checkout on our server, then at switch-over do a final database sync so no orders placed in between are lost. Migration is free with dijitul Complete Hosting. If your shop gets heavy traffic or runs big sales events, ask about high-traffic hosting. Order at clients.dijitul.uk/order.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best hosting for a small online shop in the UK?
A managed host that keeps checkout fast and uncached, backs up daily, delivers order emails reliably and supports your platform's PHP version. dijitul hosts small shops for £1 a day + VAT, with free migration, and quotes for busy stores.
Do I need to be PCI compliant to sell online?
If you accept card payments, PCI DSS applies. Using a provider's hosted payment page or secure fields means card data never touches your server, which greatly reduces what you need to do. Your payment provider will tell you which questionnaire applies.
Can I move my WooCommerce shop without losing orders?
Yes. Copy and test the shop on the new server, then do a final database sync at switch-over so recent orders come across. dijitul does this as part of its free migration on £1 a day + VAT hosting.
My shop runs on an old version of PHP. Can it still be hosted?
Yes. dijitul's Plesk server has PHP 5.6, 7.0 to 7.4 and 8.0 to 8.5 installed, chosen per site, so older shop software can keep trading while you plan an upgrade.
Why are my order confirmation emails going to spam?
Usually because the shop sends mail without authentication and your domain has no proper SPF, DKIM or DMARC. Sending through authenticated SMTP and fixing DNS records solves most cases. dijitul does this for shops it hosts.
When does an online shop need more than shared hosting?
When it slows during busy periods, has a large catalogue with heavy searches, or runs big sales and campaigns. Then dedicated resources, Redis and tuned PHP-FPM help. dijitul quotes high-traffic hosting for those shops.
Related
Set it up and forget about it
Managed hosting, Plesk, Cloudflare DNS, daily backups and your domain for £1 a day + VAT. We move your site for you.