The e-commerce market has been steadily growing which means the number of online stores is dramatically increasing year over year. According to statistics, in the United States alone, e-commerce retail trade sales were worth over 870 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. Moreover, e-commerce sales are expected to push to over 1.3 trillion dollars by 2025.
In this competitive market, creating an outstanding online store to grab the customer’s attention and satisfy their needs is one of the main keys to success. Shopify, one of the leading e-commerce platforms around, has been empowering millions of businesses around the world to expand their borders by selling products and services online.
Why Do Businesses Choose Shopify?
There are several reasons why businesses worldwide, including such famous brands as Gymshark and Penguin Books, prefer Shopify.
Firstly, Shopify offers extensive e-commerce functionality for different business needs. You’ll find efficient tools for order management, payment processing, inventory monitoring, etc. It’s also possible to set shipping and delivery options for selling worldwide.
Secondly, you’ll find a nice pricing plan structure on Shopify that caters to most every level that a business might need. The bigger your business is, the greater your needs will be and the more you’ll have to pay, however, pricing for smaller-sized businesses is still very reasonable.
Thirdly, being a growing online platform, Shopify really cares about consistently making improvements and introducing new features. Notably, in the summer of 2022, Shopify announced a collection of more than 100 product updates. For instance, Shopify Audiences brings to light new ways to target the right customers and now you can even use Twitter Shops to highlight your goods.
Why You Might Need a Shopify Development Partner
Shopify features numerous tools to create and run an online store effectively. So in what type of cases would Shopify development services be needed?
To Launch An Online Store
If you run a business and want to have an online store, hiring an experienced Shopify web developer would be a smart move. This lets you skip the hard part of mastering the skills to create a website and allows you to get directly to promoting your products or services. Here are some specific examples.
Shopify Theme Customizations
With numerous free and premium Shopify themes available, it’s possible to choose something of your liking and adjust the design to fit your needs. A professional developer will be able to speed up this process and get the desired outcome you are looking for super fast. A point to consider is that experienced developers can advise you on the functionality specific to your niche so you won’t have to throw darts trying to find the right solution.
Custom Shopify Development
If you want to have a website with a one-of-a-kind design, professional developers can implement any ideas you have. With Shopify themes development, you’ll get a store that looks exactly like you imagined to the tiniest details.
Extending Functionality
You may also need professional assistance if you managed to customize the theme but got stuck while implementing some necessary features. Want to display a list of blog posts on your page? Need to add price ranges to your product pages? In these and many other cases, Shopify development partner can add the required functionality, test it, and ensure your store works as expected.
Tweaking the Store
Showcasing numerous products in the store means adding several images for each product. If you have 100 products and 3 images for each, you’ll need to upload 300 images. The more your store grows, the more images you will need to add. Thus, image optimization becomes a must if you want your online shop to load fast. Professional Shopify developers can save you time and keep your server space at a minimum to ensure quick website load times. This helps keep your customers happy and your sales funnels flowing.
To Scale Your Agency
Not only do businesses that are creating their online stores need a reliable developer. A trusted Shopify development partner is your key to success if you are a web designer and/or development agency.
Outsourcing Projects
Sometimes developers can fail to do their job due to unforeseen circumstances. We are all human and team members can be down with a cold or need to take some unplanned days off. To keep your business humming and clients happy, finding a reliable method of outsourcing your Shopify web development work can help you save the day.
Extending Your Services
In peak busy times, your in-house team may lack the resources to process all the requests and start new projects. Saying ‘No’ to potential new customers negatively impacts your reputation and income. By choosing a reliable partner to outsource work to, you can keep your business running smoothly.
Another big advantage is the scope of knowledge that the right team can provide. They can help you fill in any knowledge gaps as well as open the door for your agency to take on more complex projects.
How to Select Your Shopify Development Partner
Now that we have discussed the reasons for hiring a Shopify developer, let’s look at the essential points you should consider when choosing a partner.
1. Checking Their Shopify Expertise
First and foremost, you have to be sure that you are going to work with experts who know Shopify like the back of their hands. Check to see whether your potential partner can provide you with theme customization and custom theme development. Even if you wish to create a store with a premade theme, custom solutions can be required to adjust the website to any specific needs.
Creating online stores means the implementation of numerous features such as:
- adjusting online payment variations
- creating multi-language pages and adding different currencies
- modifying shipping and delivery options
- fulfilling accessibility requirements
- adding marketing campaigns tools
Mainly, Shopify developers utilize APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to add necessary features and functionalities to the store. Consequently, profound knowledge of Shopify APIs is a must for your potential Shopify development partner. You can search for the names of necessary APIs on the official Shopify website and discuss them with the developers. By doing so, you’ll get an idea of how deep the developer’s knowledge is. If you feel like there is a lack of experience, then pick another developer.
A good idea is to ask for a portfolio of the person’s or company’s work. When you see their completed projects, you can get a better idea of the scale of work and the results achieved. Keep in mind, however, that the absence of a portfolio doesn’t necessarily mean a complete lack of expertise. Companies will often sign NDAs with their clients and are not legally able to display finished projects publicly.
2. Request a Quote
Shopify development companies with considerable experience know exactly how much time and effort is needed to complete projects of varying complexity. Thus, you can simply request a quote describing your wishes and requirements. If you get an ETA within 1-2 business days, you are good to go.
Additionally, the more detailed the quote is the better. If your potential partner can evaluate and predict various aspects of the project in advance, you’ll get a more precise project cost without any hidden fees. Experienced companies will clearly explain why specific project steps require more time or effort. The faster you get a quote and an ETA, the quicker the developers will start working on your project. This allows the process of creating an online store to take only days or weeks and not months.
Another important aspect is the process of project reviewing and approvals. Pay attention to such details as how flexible the person or company is when it comes to getting minor fixes for free before the project is considered to be completed. Experienced developers value their time so they usually lay out the scope of their work and discuss the necessary stages with clients before the project starts to get the desired result fast.
3. Establish Effective Communication
Smooth communication is a significant part of any project completion. Make sure your potential Shopify development partner can adjust to your means of communication. Before signing a contract, you should discuss:
- methods of communication (emails, Skype, video/audio conferencing, etc.) that provide the fastest and most convenient dialogue
- time zone differences and whether they influence your communication
- project status updates
If a developer is ready to communicate via your preferred channel, can answer your questions fast, and doesn’t mind updating you on the progress of your project, you are on the right track.
For agencies wishing to outsource their Shopify projects, it’s also important to discuss the workflow. If your potential partner is flexible regarding your project workflow, you’ll find it easy to finish everything on time.
4. Clarify Quality Assurance Aspects
Well-built online stores comprise numerous elements that should function together flawlessly. Thus, testing a newly-built e-commerce site is a must to ensure its quality. When hiring a Shopify developer, be sure to specify what aspects they test to provide the best functionality. Usually, Shopify development companies have a wider range of devices and testers available than freelancers who are usually a 1 person show.
We can’t help but mention the importance of mobile-friendly websites in e-commerce. Recent surveys show that 64 percent of US respondents prefer smartphones to other devices for online shopping. The global tendency is similar, as smartphones generated 61 percent of online shopping orders worldwide.
The popularity of smartphones for online shopping makes testing a new store on various mobile devices a must. Some of the most significant QA testing aspects of the store should include:
- examining various pages, including categories, product pages, product listings, etc.
- testing search options, search algorithms, and sorting filters
- checking the shopping cart, checkout processes, and payments
- reviewing compatibility, usability, accessibility, and security
So when looking for a Shopify developer, make sure that they can test your website’s interface and performance capabilities in different browsers and devices to avoid any possible bugs.
5. Discuss Website Support and Maintenance
An online store is a complicated mechanism consisting of numerous elements. It can function well for some time after your Shopify developer completes the project. However, no one is safe from facing various issues from time to time. This can happen after system updates occur and so forth.
It’s always good to know that you can address your Shopify developer and fix problems anytime you need to. Therefore, it is a good idea to check whether your potential partner provides post-production support and maintenance. As a rule, Shopify development services by trustworthy companies include free assistance for some period of time while freelancers can charge for any additional services as soon as the project is completed.
6. Check Out Rates and Reviews
You can find thousands of freelancers and companies offering Shopify web development services. When searching for professionals, it’s vital to trust those who have already established themselves as qualified specialists. Platforms such as Clutch provide unbiased reviews by real customers. Any feedback is verified by Clutch independently before being published so that you can be 100 percent sure that the reviews are genuine.
Whatever company or specialist you choose, you should remember to:
- study the list of services provided
- compare price ranges and rates
- check ratings and reviews
With a multitude of developers offering their services, it’s necessary to weed them out quickly. Pay attention to price ranges and don’t let low costs deceive you. Prices that are lower than the market average may signal a lack of experience or hidden fees ahead.
To ensure that you cooperate with a reliable partner, check out reviews provided by other people. By doing so, you’ll see what customers value most and how developers overcome any challenges.
7. Understand How To “Drive” Your Online Store
If you are an online e-commerce website owner, it’s crucial to ensure that you will be able to manage the store on your own after the project is complete. Shopify developers can bring all your desires to life but if you don’t know how to run the backend of things then the website is not going to help you achieve your goals.
Trustworthy Shopify developers will stick to your preferences and do their best to make the process of running a store as smooth as possible. For example, you may need to extend the number of product options, which is limited to 3 by default in Shopify’s settings. Professional developers will be able to advise you on the best app to increase the variant and option limits if required and can explain the specifics so that you can adjust the item properties yourself.
A great example would be the ABV group which is an online wine store. In this case, the PSD2HTML.com developers created an animated menu and provided an additional search filter which was requested by the client. It is displayed as a Featured Collections menu on the home page and allows people to look for wines using additional search filters (organic, under $25, etc.). There is also a basic criteria menu in the main search menu that makes finding the right product easier (such as country, producer, etc.).
Although this is a very cool addition, it was essential for the website owners to understand how the menus work so that they can properly organize their products. A good Shopify developer team will be more than happy to explain to their clients how features like this operate to allow for a complete hands-on experience.
After implementing the necessary criteria, the developers’ team ensured that the online store owners could adjust the collection and manage it themselves in the future. Such a case proves that your Shopify partner takes care of all your current and potential needs.
8. Test The Waters First
When you do find a reliable Shopify development partner, it is a good idea to start off small by ordering an implementation of a single feature first before handing your project to a specific developer or company.
This way you’ll get to see everything we have discussed in practice and evaluate the speed of their workflow, communication style, and the results themselves.
Then, if you are satisfied, you can proceed to the next step by signing a contract and creating a Shopify store.
Conclusion
A reliable Shopify development partner can help businesses launch the store of their dreams and assist web development agencies in growing. To select a Shopify developer you can trust, it’s necessary to evaluate their expertise, check the variety of their services, and read reviews.
Additionally, you should pay attention to the communication and the speed of getting your questions answered even before the project starts. A trustworthy partner understands any peculiarities with e-commerce websites, implements any necessary functions, values your time, and is ready to adjust to your preferred communication channels.
