How to choose a Shopify agency?

Find the agency that matches your project

With over 1.7 million online stores worldwide, Shopify is experiencing phenomenal growth. Naturally, this growth in the e-commerce sector is also accompanied by a growth in the ecosystem of service providers and Shopify expert agencies: developers, integrators, web designers, app creators… Many are taking a keen interest in the Shopify movement.

With the multitude of Shopify agencies and experts currently emerging across France, it can sometimes be difficult to identify the right profile. Who is reliable? Who will understand my problems? Who charges reasonable rates? These are some of the questions you may be asking yourself.

Each project (small, medium, or large) corresponds to a specific type of service provider. The difficulty, therefore, lies in identifying the best Shopify agency for your project.

Here are the main criteria to consider when making your selection:

Technical skills

In e-commerce, the level of technical complexity varies enormously from one store to another. The required skills also vary depending on the merchant sites, the level of customization, and the number of features to develop: web design, UX, application development, connector development… there are many specialized profiles.

Make sure that the selected service provider has the necessary technical and/or creative skills to carry out your project. However, it is not always relevant to systematically hire the most technically proficient Shopify agency. An e-commerce site is a mix of technology, experience, and marketing.

The development team should at least master the following languages: HTML, CSS, Liquid, Javascript...

Experience and achievements

Technical issues and needs in e-commerce vary greatly depending on the industry. The more Shopify sites an agency has built, the more it will have been exposed to different issues and challenges. It is primarily by building sites that one learns to master Shopify and understand its possibilities and limitations.

Experience in developing diverse online stores is therefore a significant asset.

Take the time to browse the stores built by the agencies, try to find the added value, or imagine your own store.

Expertise(s)

Each web agency has its talents and unique qualities. Some focus on design and UX, others on performance (number of online sales, SEO optimization, etc.) or digital marketing (social media, emailing, etc.). It all depends on the agency's background. Therefore, identify the agency with the essential expertise(s) for you.

Business acumen

Even if it is impossible for an agency to be expert in all sectors of activity, it is probably relevant to entrust your project to an agency that at least shares your sensibility and aesthetic requirements.

Furthermore, major functionalities also vary by sector (sampling in beauty, subscription offers in the pet food sector, returns management in fashion, etc.). Therefore, make sure that your e-commerce agency masters the tools that are important to you.

Agency size and contact(s)

The larger an agency, the more stakeholders are involved. Account director, technical director, Lead developer, front-end developer, back-end developer, project manager... All these resources represent a cost that, inevitably, is reflected in the quotes. It is very important that the size and type of the agency correspond to the scope and complexity of the project. Entrusting a small project to a large agency (and vice versa) is rarely the right solution.

Having a good point of contact within the agency is also an important criterion for the successful execution of a project. In smaller structures, it is quite common to work directly with the manager(s), whereas in large agencies, you will likely deal with a sales manager or a junior project manager.

All structures have their advantages and disadvantages, so the key is to find the right match for you and your project.

Availability

E-commerce is booming. The number of requests for e-commerce store creations is disproportionate to the number of qualified Shopify agencies.

Before embarking on a project, ensure the availability of your service provider and the proposed deadlines.

Costs

The cost of an agency depends on multiple factors: technical skills, the agency's reputation, the size of the structure. To learn more about the cost of an e-commerce project, read our article How much does a Shopify agency cost?

There are numerous solutions and certified experts to migrate your online store to Shopify. The key is to find the right technical and human match.

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How much does a Shopify agency cost?
List of Shopify agencies