Hi
I have 10 years of experience as an application and web developer in the UK, mostly in London.
I recently started my own software development firm with developers team in the UK and in India. We are a group of experienced and passionate developers.
Few suggestions:
* I would recommend you to use WordPress or Magento CMS. So that you can use existing plugins for shopping cart. Also, it will be easier to expand your website and sell your products on Amazon or ebays if you wish to do so.
* I would avoid using credit card API if possible. There are 3rd party services ( e.g. Paypal, SagePay) who can handle all types of payments. It is ideal not to store or handle credit card detail. And of course if we have to, we can follow industry standards for handling financial details and transactions.
With regards to SEO, if you want to achieve high ranking, it is lots of ongoing work. Of course we need to develop SEO friendly website, but it'll need great contents, cross links, visibility in social media, online directories etc.
I am based in London and I think it will be good to catch up for a coffee and we can discuss about various options for website design, SEO and selling.
Regards
Nitin