Channels
Amazon, eBay and shopping feeds
The marketplace plugins have a free tier, with paid plans for bigger catalogues.
Ecommerce,
written plainly.
Plain answers on running a UK shop: tax, postage, platforms and selling channels, from the team building Orbit. Where a post quotes a price or a rule, it says when we checked it.
- 71 articles
- Written for UK shops
- Prices and rules dated when checked
- RSS feed for new posts
Filed where you would look for it.
Four topics, newest first. Pick a chip in the search bar to see just one.
Growth
27 posts
Google Shopping, feeds, marketplaces, platforms and where the next customers come from.
- Run your online shop from ChatGPT or Claude: what it can and can’t do
ChatGPT and Claude can both work your shop’s admin through MCP. We’d let one draft products but never refund an order. Sources checked 15 September 2026.
22 Sept 2026, 9 min
- How to dropship in the UK without Shopify: a requirements checklist
Seven things a shop has to do before it can dropship, then three platforms scored against them. Shopify UK plan prices checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 9 min
- Is dropshipping worth it in the UK? An honest answer with the numbers
The famous 90% failure rate has no traceable source. Here’s a break-even model instead, with platform and marketplace fees checked 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- How to change ecommerce platform without losing your search rankings
The full replatforming process: redirect maps, what to copy exactly, what breaks silently. Checked against Google Search Central on 15 September 2026.
15 Sept 2026, 10 min
- Microsoft Shopping: the channel your competitors forgot, running on a feed you already have
Microsoft Merchant Center takes Google’s feed format directly, and will import your Google catalogue for you. Less competition, an older and wealthier audience, and about an hour of setup. Checked 21 August 2026.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- Selling on Pinterest: the channel where people are already planning to buy
Pinterest is a search engine people use while planning a wedding, a kitchen or Christmas. A product catalogue puts your items into those plans. What it suits, what it does not, and how to set it up.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- What a product feed actually is, and why GTIN, MPN and brand decide whether you get seen
Every shopping channel runs on the same thing: a machine-readable list of your products. Understand the file and its handful of important fields once, and every channel gets easier. Checked 21 August 2026.
21 Aug 2026, 9 min
- Facebook and Instagram shopping for UK sellers: what a catalogue actually gets you
A Meta catalogue turns your products into taggable, advertisable items across Facebook and Instagram. What it enables, what changed about checkout, and the honest case for a small UK shop.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- How to write product titles that actually get found on Google Shopping
The title is the single field with the most influence over whether your product appears at all. A formula that works, the words to cut, and why your favourite product name is probably costing you sales.
21 Aug 2026, 8 min
- Snapchat for small shops: who it works for, and who should skip it
A product catalogue on Snapchat opens up dynamic ads to a young, mobile audience. Honestly assessed: the shops it suits, the shops it does not, and what setup actually involves.
21 Aug 2026, 7 min
- Performance Max for small UK shops: the maths to do before you spend anything
Google’s automated campaign type can work well for small shops and can also quietly drain a budget. The break-even calculation, the settings that matter, and how to tell which is happening.
21 Aug 2026, 9 min
- How to sell on Google Shopping in the UK (2026): from zero to live listings
The complete UK guide to Google Shopping: Merchant Center setup, the product data Google actually requires, free listings versus paid ads, and the image deadline landing in January 2027. Requirements checked 20 August 2026.
20 Aug 2026, 12 min
- How to get your products on Google for free (no ads, no budget)
Free product listings put your catalogue across Google Search, Images, Lens, the Shopping tab, YouTube, Maps and Gemini without a Google Ads account. What it takes, what it will not do, and why most small UK shops never qualify. Checked 20 August 2026.
20 Aug 2026, 9 min
- 25 trending products to sell online in the UK (2026)
25 products with real UK demand: every trend checked 7 August 2026. Energy-saving home kit, padel, pet supplements, matcha, refurb tech, plus how to validate demand before you buy stock.
07 Aug 2026, 11 min
- Print on demand UK: the best suppliers with UK fulfilment, and how to start
We verified base costs, UK production sites and dispatch times for seven print on demand suppliers with genuine UK fulfilment (checked 7 August 2026): plus the margin maths most guides skip.
07 Aug 2026, 10 min
- Dropshipping in the UK: how to start legally in 2026 (HMRC, VAT and the honest odds)
Dropshipping is legal in the UK, but the VAT, customs and refund obligations sit with you, not your supplier. The real rules, checked against gov.uk on 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 11 min
- 11 best UK dropshipping suppliers with fast UK shipping (vetted, 2026)
Eleven UK-warehoused dropshipping suppliers: niches, dispatch times, fees and minimums, all checked against live supplier sites on 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 9 min
- How to price handmade products in the UK: the formula, with real numbers
The pricing formula UK makers actually need (materials, labour at £12.71/hr, overheads, ×2 wholesale, ×4 retail) with three worked examples priced 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 9 min
- Shopify vs WooCommerce for UK shops, and the question behind it
Shopify vs WooCommerce for UK shops, judged on numbers: honest yearly costs at £30k, £100k and £300k turnover, and who does the maintenance. Prices checked 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 9 min
- eBay vs your own website: what UK sellers actually keep
eBay gives you buyers on day one, and takes 17% or more of a typical business sale. Worked maths on a £30 order and a £2,000-a-month shop, fees checked 7 August 2026.
07 Aug 2026, 9 min
- The best Shopify alternatives for UK businesses (2026)
Six real alternatives compared on what a UK shop actually pays (plan prices, card fees, the surcharge small print and turnover caps) checked against every pricing page on 21 July 2026.
21 Jul 2026, 11 min
- The best ecommerce platform for a UK small business, by true cost
Seven platforms costed at £30k, £100k and £300k of annual sales (subscription, card fees, add-ons and the traps) using published UK prices checked 21 July 2026.
21 Jul 2026, 12 min
- EKM vs ShopWired vs Bluepark: the UK-native platforms compared
The three British ecommerce stalwarts head-to-head in 2026, including EKM’s quiet exit from self-serve pricing, plus where Orbit fits as the fourth UK option.
21 Jul 2026, 10 min
- Wix vs Shopify for UK sellers, and the third option
A straight UK comparison of Wix and Shopify (plans, VAT small print, card fees and caps, checked 21 July 2026) and where a UK-based platform beats both.
21 Jul 2026, 10 min
- WooCommerce alternatives for UK stores (2026)
When maintaining WordPress stops being worth it: the hosted platforms worth moving to, what each really costs against your Woo stack, and the honest migration path.
21 Jul 2026, 10 min
- The real cost of a Shopify store in the UK (2026)
Plan prices, the third-party gateway surcharge, the app stack and the staff-account squeeze: itemised in pounds against published prices, checked June 2026.
12 Jun 2026, 5 min
- SEO that ships by default
Sitemaps, structured data, and clean metadata: what Orbit handles without you thinking about it, and what you still need to do yourself.
29 Oct 2025, 10 min
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Leaving a platform? Read the comparison first.
Eight comparisons with UK prices and a check date on each page, plus two shortlists.
How this blog is written.
Who writes the posts, and how the figures in them are checked.
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