E-commerce Studio in Cologne

Stores that sell. Even if you're sitting by the lake right now.

We design and build online stores where visitors can discover, trust, and buy: using Shopify or a completely custom solution, depending on what best suits your product lineup and business processes.

  • Shopify or Custom Development
  • Checkout, load time, and product pages optimized
  • A dedicated point of contact, short lines of communication
What's usually the cause?

Three patterns that cost revenue. And how we solve them.

From almost every initial consultation with a store, we’ve identified the same three causes. Select an item on the left, and you’ll see the problem and solution displayed on the right side of the interface.

Two Ways to the Store

Shopify or a custom solution. We'll give you our honest opinion on what's right for you.

We build both on a regular basis. The decision depends on your product lineup, your workflows, and how much you want to maintain yourselves later on—not on what’s easier for us.

Quick to launch, easy to maintain

A Shopify store, custom-designed.

For traditional product lines that need to launch quickly and will be managed independently later on. We don’t build an off-the-shelf theme; instead, we create a custom design on Shopify with a clean checkout process and as few apps as possible.

  • A custom design for your product lineup—not a store theme
  • Payment Methods, Shipping, and Taxes Set Up
  • You'll manage the products and content yourself, with training provided
  • Integration with warehousing, accounting, and shipping providers
  • Live in six to ten weeks, fixed price on offer
For anything not covered by the system

A custom-built online store, tailored exactly to your workflows.

For configurators, B2B pricing logic, subscription models, or online stores that need deep integration with your inventory management system. We develop without the limitations of a modular system, and the code belongs to you.

  • No Limits on Product Logic, Pricing, and Workflows
  • Configurators, Tiered Pricing, Customer Groups, Subscriptions
  • Direct integration with ERP, PIM, and inventory management systems
  • Control Loading Time and Structure Without Third-Party Apps
  • The code, design files, and access credentials belong to you

Not sure what's right for you? We'll figure it out in a 30-minute initial consultation, with no pressure to buy.

What We Do for You

Eight building blocks for creating a store that sells.

From the initial concept to ongoing support. We include what your store needs and leave out anything that just slows down loading times.

Store Concept and Structure

Categories, filters, product logic, and navigation tailored to your product lineup—so visitors can find the right product in just three clicks.

Product Pages That Win Customers Over

Images, price, reviews, variants, and call-to-action buttons in the right places. The page where the purchase decision is made gets the most attention.

Checkout and Payment Methods

Guest checkout, Apple Pay, PayPal, Klarna, invoice. A one-page checkout process with shipping costs visible from the start.

Load Time and Mobile

Less than a second on a cell phone. Compressed images, streamlined apps, clean code. Because most people shop on their phones.

Integration with the ERP System

Inventory, shipping, accounting, and CRM are all integrated with the online store. Orders are processed without anyone having to manually enter data.

E-commerce SEO

Category and product pages that appear in Google search results: structure, content, structured data, and a migration without losing rankings.

Reviews and Trust

Genuine reviews, quality seals, and clear return and shipping policies. These are the things that put your mind at ease when it counts.

Evaluation and Support

Conversion rate, shopping cart abandonment, revenue per visitor. We measure what matters and continuously improve the store—with no strings attached.

That's how it works. It's the same for every store project.

The Beginning

Initial Consultation and Concept

We understand your product lineup, your customer base, and the processes behind your store. Based on this, we determine the system to use, develop a concept, and provide a quote with a fixed price and delivery date.

You can see everything

Design

Homepage, category page, product page, shopping cart, and checkout as drafts. You'll see several design options and provide feedback before anything is built.

No Black Box

Development and Integration

The online store, payment methods, shipping, and inventory management are being built in clear stages and tested with real products. You can check in at any time.

From here on, he's selling

Go-Live and Support

We'll go live, hand over access credentials and documentation, and train your team. After that, we'll continue to monitor and improve performance as requested, with no obligation.

Numbers that matter in day-to-day store operations.

1

Page in the checkout process. Every step you cut out means more revenue

1s

Mobile loading time as a goal for every online store we build

175+

Projects we've completed, ranging from small craft businesses to large corporations

100%

Handover: Assets, design files, and documentation belong to you

Case Studies

Built, not just claimed.

A store that embodies exactly this kind of work. More projects are on the way.

Elfloraart website, designed and built by Marschfahrt

Elflora Species

UI/UX Design, Web Development, Online Store

/ Testimonials(08)

What Our Customers Say

5/5

"Working with the team was absolutely professional, creative, and reliable from the very beginning. Our YouCook website was not only designed to be modern and appealing, but it was also technically well-executed."

Karola Kentner-SchützMarketing @ YOUCOOK GmbH
5/5

“Great, open, and honest collaboration—together, we created two websites for my companies in 2025. Customer feedback on my website has been exceptionally positive.”

Andreas RüppelFounder, Pflegegerecht
4.5/5

"We've been working with Marschfahrt for several years now and have been very satisfied throughout. They are a very reliable partner with a strong focus on service and a great deal of dedication."

Daniel JarkGenève Invest Europe S.A.
5/5

"The team at Marschfahrt professionally redesigned our entire website. Top-notch service, top-notch results!"

Lucas BalsamUPA PACK GmbH
Studio Instead of Agency

One point of contact. One team. One store that sells.

A theme from the Store, customized with your logo.

Fifteen apps installed; the store takes six seconds to load.

The checkout remains as the system provides it.

Inventory management and shipping are your problem.

The ticketing system will go live after the launch.

Read more

What You Need to Know Before You Inquire.

Three articles that address the most common questions asked during initial consultations about online stores.

Recommended tools: Speed Check · SEO Check · Design Check · Accessibility Check · Website for €999

Featured image for the article: Why You're Not Getting Any Inquiries Through Your Contact Form
Web Design & UX

Why You Aren't Getting Any Inquiries Through Your Contact Form

Visitors come, but inquiries don't. Here's why that usually happens—and what you can do right away to fix it.

Read the article
Featured image for the article: More inquiries rarely result from more traffic
Strategy & Growth

More traffic rarely leads to more inquiries

Same traffic, twice the results. The difference is almost never due to reach.

Read the article
Featured image for the article: How Much Will a Website Really Cost in 2026? An Honest Assessment.
Relaunch & Projects

How Much Will a Website Really Cost in 2026? An Honest Assessment.

What Factors Determine the Price of a Professional Website, and Where Do the Differences Lie?

Read the article

What you're probably wondering right now.

The questions that always come up during the initial consultation about stores. Here are the answers.

Shopify or a custom solution: which is better?

It depends on you. Shopify is a great choice if you have a standard product lineup and want to get started quickly. Custom development is worth it for configurators, specialized pricing logic, B2B workflows, or if your store needs to integrate deeply with your existing systems. During our initial consultation, we’ll give you our honest opinion on what’s best for you.

How much does an online store cost with you?

That depends on the product range, system, and integrations. Based on the proposal, you'll receive a fixed price with a delivery date. We'll openly explain how the price is calculated during the initial consultation.

Can we manage products and content ourselves?

Yes, that's the standard procedure. You can update products, prices, images, text, and promotions on your own. Training is part of the handover, whether you're using Shopify or a custom-built solution.

Do you integrate inventory management, shipping, and accounting?

Yes. We'll integrate your warehouse, shipping provider, accounting, and CRM systems so that orders can be processed without having to re-enter data. We'll determine which systems you have as part of the planning phase.

We already have a store. Is it worth building a new one?

Not always. Sometimes the checkout process, product pages, and load time are enough to significantly boost conversion rates. We take a look at your existing online store and let you know whether it’s more cost-effective to fix it or build a new one.

How soon will the store go live?

A Shopify store with a well-defined product lineup can be set up in six to ten weeks; a custom-built solution may take longer, depending on the scope. The delivery date is specified in the quote, and we’ll meet it.

What happens to Google rankings when you move?

We make sure to preserve these before the move: addresses, redirects, category descriptions, and structured data. A store relaunch without SEO migration often loses half its visibility.

Who ends up owning the store?

You. Access rights, design files, documentation, and—in the case of in-house development—the code will be transferred in full. There is no obligation to continue working with us.

Should we check out your store?

Send us a quick note explaining what you're selling and where you're having trouble. We'll take a look at your product pages, checkout process, and loading times, and give you our honest opinion on whether it makes more sense to fix what you have or build something new.

Request a Shop ProjectA response within 24 hours, personalized and with no sales pressure.
The Marschfahrt team is working on two laptops in the studio in Cologne