Two radically different approaches
A brochure site presents your company, your services and your contact details. It generates leads: phone calls, contact forms, visits to your physical shop. An ecommerce site, on the other hand, lets you sell directly online: product catalog, cart, secure payment, stock management and deliveries.
The choice between the two is no small matter: it affects your budget, the time you spend running things, and your sales strategy.
When to choose a brochure site
A brochure site is the ideal solution if:
- You sell services (rather than physical products)
- Your customers get in touch before they buy (consultation, quote, appointment)
- You have a physical point of sale and want to draw in local foot traffic
- Your budget is limited and you are just starting out online
- You work in a regulated profession (lawyer, doctor, chartered accountant)
Examples: a tradesperson, a restaurant, a medical practice, a real estate agency, a coach, a consultant, a nonprofit.
When to choose an ecommerce site
An ecommerce site is the obvious choice if:
- You sell physical or digital products
- You want to generate revenue without any prior human interaction
- You want to reach a national or international customer base
- You have the logistics to handle orders and deliveries
Comparing the costs
A professional brochure site is cheaper and quicker to set up than an ecommerce site. The complexity of an online store (catalog, cart, payment, stock, deliveries) means a significantly larger budget and significantly more time spent running it.
Here are the orders of magnitude we see in 2026. A professional brochure site starts at around €1,500 with a freelancer and climbs to €4,000 to €8,000 with an agency; on an all inclusive subscription, allow €59 to €109 a month. An online store rarely starts below €3,000 and quickly passes €10,000 once the catalog fills out; on a subscription, it sits more in the range of €109 to €230 a month.
The gap is not only down to development. An ecommerce site adds permanent costs that a brochure site never has: payment fees (roughly 1.4% + €0.25 per transaction in Europe), product photography and product pages, stock management, order preparation and shipping costs, after sales service, and a far heavier obligation to be available. It is this running cost, more than the upfront bill, that makes the real difference between the two formats.
| Plan | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Site Web Start | One page WordPress site, copywriting included, domain name, SSL certificate, content delivery network, hosting, automatic daily backup, SEO groundwork, 1 support ticket a year | €59/month or €639/year |
| Site Web Essentiel | Brochure site, blog or store up to 10 pages and 15 products written for you, SEO strategy applied, quarterly report, 2 support tickets a year | €109/month or €1,178/year |
| Site Web Premium | Advanced site or store up to 20 pages and 30 products, monthly strategic review, anti DDoS protection, monthly report, 5 support tickets a year | €230/month or €2,484/year |
Add a €99 registration fee, paid once. No minimum term, and the site is yours after twelve months. Amounts in euros, VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French tax code.
The hybrid solution
Many companies opt for a brochure site with a small shop built in. WordPress with WooCommerce allows this hybrid: a presentation of your services, an SEO blog, and the sale of a few products in the same interface.
It is an excellent way to test online selling without committing to a full ecommerce infrastructure.
If the scales tip toward selling online, our ecommerce website in Pau page sets out the scope and the timescales.
Questions to ask yourself before deciding
- Do I sell products or services?
- Do my customers need to talk to me before they buy?
- Do I have the capacity to handle online orders?
- What monthly budget do I have available for digital?
- What is my short term priority: local reputation or online sales?
Conclusion
There is no universal right or wrong answer. It all depends on your business, your business model and your resources. For the majority of small companies starting out online, the brochure site is the logical starting point: cheaper, simpler, and already very effective at bringing in leads and local customers.
Still torn between the two? Tell us how you sell and we will tell you which of the two formats matches your reality.
Also see our guide to launching an online store, step by step for support tailored to you.
