Questions to ask before hiring eCommerce agency

eCommerce has become an integral part of the commerce of today’s time. There is an army of eCommerce development agencies which are out there to provide you with the services which they claim to be the best. Now, from such a significant number of options, finding someone who can complement your needs, demands and aspirations is like finding a needle in the haystack.

But Hey! There is nothing to worry about, for we are here with a list of questions which you can ask the eCommerce development agency to know whether you and your needs can go on toes with the supplies of the agency.

Have a look!

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• Costs included in an eCommerce project

Pricing is one of the essential elements to discuss before taking a plunge in any project. But before you ask for the pricing, make sure you have your budget sorted in your mind. 

Do not forget to ask for the processes hiding behind such pricing. It is necessary to know what logic have been used to craft this price.

It is not always necessary that something cheaper is not good. Ask cleverly, think judiciously.

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• Experience in creating eCommerce sites

There could be many reasons for this question. You are not just looking for an agency who has experience in doing the same work, but you are looking for someone who knows to do similar work with a similar type of business. If the agency has already worked with companies like yours, it will take less time to settle with your needs.

But another question arises that what if the agency had executed a lousy job with previous clients? In that case, you can even contact the former employers of that agency to know more about the agency.

By pondering over all these parameters, go ahead with your question to make yourself secure from any future blunders.

You may also love to read – 15 Tips for choosing an eCommerce agency

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• Time frame for the eCommerce development

A highly organised agency would always have its steps figured out. It would have the divisions for different levels of work. And through this division, they can ensure the timely completion of the task.

Make sure that you look for the agency which has separate individuals for different kinds of tasks.

Also, make sure you decide the deadlines in advance. If deadlines are too tight, there can be the chances in which the work is not executed with the highest quality.

A search paper revealed that if deadlines are set, there are more chances of work being completed on time. If an agency is not able to give you some specific periods, it would mean that either it is not experienced or is not interested in taking up the job.

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• Post production support

The costs asked by an agency are not just for the asset construction but are also for operational management. There are some agencies which might charge less in starting and ask for a castle at the time of post-production services. Make sure you double-check the costs; especially relating to the post-production support.

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• Human resource availability

This is one of the critical questions to be asked to an eCommerce development agency. This would help you know the expertise they have and the variations they have in the mindset. If there is a different person for each kind of job, it would mean more knowledge and a varied skill set. 

Also, see if the agency is understaffed or overstaffed. If it is understaffed, there would be a lot of workload on the minds of employees, creating more chances of unintentional errors which may affect your website growth. 

If an agency is overstaffed, there are high chances that you are being charged extra to cover the costs.

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• Knowledge and eCommerce certifications

In this era of cut-throat competition, you need to have aid from an authenticated eCommerce development agency. If an agency says that they have the required knowledge, ask them to prove it.

Look for the certifications of the agency and of the individual developers who would be directly linked to your job.

Another way to look into this is by analyzing their blog section. By that, you may come to know if they are using the latest technology and are following the excellent working standards or not.

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• How much emphasis is given to SEO?

Making a site is one thing, but that site should rank as well for better results. If technical works are executed after the development is done, it may hamper the appearance of the website. 

Hence, it is of utter importance that emphasis on SEO is given in developmental phase only. Ask the agency if it has required SEO personnel or not who can coordinate with the developers for the better final product.

You may also love to read – SEO for Magento store

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• Integration with the payment gateway

Online Payment is one of the most critical factors for an eCommerce website. Ask the agency if it has required skills to integrate the payment gateway with the website.

Have a look at the previous works of the agency and analyse the job done then. Not only an agency needs to integrate a payment gateway, but it also needs to ensure a robust, and high on security SSL Encryption. Check if the agency offers two-way authentication or not.

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• Communication

It is also a pivotal point to see how the agency manages the communication part. An agency should be able to provide the timely reports and can communicate the progress, strengths and weaknesses with the employees and employers. 

One way to ensure this is by organizing regular meetings, calls and textual communications through Emails, Slack, Skype and other sources of textual transmission.

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• Troubleshooting protocol

Bugs, issues and other problems are unstoppable and recurring. They can occur to any system at any point in time. Now the question arises if your agency can give timely assistance to these problems. If yes, then Bingo! You got the right agency to be in contact with. 

Also, do look after the costing factor for the solution of these minor bugs.

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Closing comments

Summing up everything, an eCommerce development agency does a lot of tasks than expected to make an entire site which may not break down through the journey. The pointers shared above are the essential drops which can cause an ocean of successful partnership of agency-client. 

If we talk about MagnoStack, it has been working in the same sector for a long time catering to the eCommerce needs of numerous variants of businesses.

Ring us a bell and let us tell you how we can help your business grow to its highest potential through the eCommerce website tailor-made just for your needs and expectations.