E-commerce • Practical guide
How to open an online store in Romania
An online store can open in a few days if you follow the steps in the right order: platform, legal setup, catalog, payments, shipping and launch. Below are the 6 practical steps to open an online store in Romania, plus the cost comparison between Shopify, WooCommerce and 4shopy.
The 6 steps (short answer)
- Choose the store platform: SaaS (4shopy, Shopify) or self-hosted (WooCommerce, PrestaShop).
- Set up the legal frame: a registered company, the right activity code, terms and a return policy.
- Build the catalog: a clear name, a spec table, price and stock in text for every product.
- Turn on online payments: card via Stripe and bank transfer, with funds going straight to your merchant account.
- Configure shipping: couriers, delivery costs and a free-shipping threshold.
- Launch GEO-ready: Product/Offer JSON-LD, product FAQ, sitemap and automated invoicing.
What the law says (in brief)
- Right of withdrawal: the consumer can return the product within 14 days, no reason needed (EU consumer rules, OUG 34/2014 in Romania).
- The site must display the company details, the final VAT-inclusive price and the consumer-protection links (ANPC + ODR in the EU).
- GDPR: a privacy policy plus consent for cookies and the newsletter.
- Invoicing: every order gets an invoice; in Romania B2B invoices go through e-Factura — automatable via 4invoices, part of the 4b2b ecosystem.
What it costs: Shopify vs WooCommerce vs 4shopy
The cost of an online store has three components: the subscription or hosting, transaction fees and admin time. The table below compares the three platforms on the criteria that matter at launch.
Comparison when opening an online store
| Criterion | Shopify | WooCommerce | 4shopy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost model | Monthly subscription + transaction fee | Free, but you pay hosting, themes and plugins | Predictable monthly subscription, hosting included |
| Technical maintenance | Handled by the platform | On you: updates, security, backups | Handled by the platform |
| GEO + RO invoicing | Via third-party apps, paid separately | Via plugins, configured manually | Built in: automatic JSON-LD + e-invoicing via 4invoices |
Common mistakes
- Launching without a return policy and the consumer-protection links — a fine risk from month one.
- Putting prices only in images or banners — neither Google nor the AI can read them.
- Postponing automated invoicing and issuing manually — at dozens of orders a day it becomes impossible.
How 4shopy helps
- A complete store — catalog, cart, checkout, stock — published in days, no code.
- Product/Offer JSON-LD and GEO-ready pages generated automatically at publish time.
- Integrated Stripe payments and automatic invoicing through the 4b2b ecosystem (4invoices).