How to Pick the Best Shopify Agency for Your Online Store?

As we close the book of development on our previous blogs, it's time to shift our focus to the importance of choosing the best shopify agency and how they can make smart decisions, offer valuable insights, and shape your online store's success.

With the rise of e-commerce, the success of an online store highly hinges on the right development partner.

As the saying goes, "teamwork makes the dream work," and in the world of development, this couldn't be more true. But how do you choose the right shopify agency that is suitable for your online store development?

There are over 6,312,392 Shopify Plus stores in 2023 (Source). Shopify merchants run over 1,000,000 businesses in 175 different countries and 3300 partners alone in India. With so many development partners out there, finding the best shopify developers for your business can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Fear not! Let's analyze the essential criteria that can help you make a confident choice.

Validating the Credibility of a Shopify Partners

When it comes to selecting an agency to handle your business's technical needs, it's essential to ensure that you're partnering with a credible and reliable team. With so many options available, it can be challenging to determine which development agency/partner will deliver the results you need.

Fortunately, there are certain indicators you can look for to help gauge an agency's credibility and expertise. Now let’s explore these indicators in detail, so you can make an informed decision and feel confident in your choice of agency.

• Are they responsive with their reasonable time frame that they commit and maintain effective communication thereafter?
• Is the agency experienced in handling similar businesses as yours or have they worked on similar projects in the past?
• Are there social channels active and up to date giving you an idea of their workstyle and latest works?
• Is the agency able to help you with real time customer details to check the engagement? This can also be checked with positive reviews on social platforms or testimonials from previous clients.

These are the telltale signs that can guide you towards choosing the ideal agency for your online store development project. Luckily, we've got the answers to all of your burning questions right here.

Communication Style and Approach

The response time of an agency during the initial communication stage is an important indicator of its credibility. An agency that responds timely demonstrates that they regard their clients and treat their work with respect. 

Let's say you are looking for India's best shopify partners to build your company. You come across two suitable agencies and decide to contact both of them through their store contact forms.

If Agency A responds within a few hours with a personalized email, acknowledging your request and offering to schedule a call, it shows their commitment to providing quality service. In contrast, if Agency B takes several days to respond with a generic email, it raises doubts about their professionalism and suitability for the project. By evaluating an agency's response time, merchants can determine their reliability and credibility.

In this scenario, it's clear that Agency A is more responsive and committed to providing quality service compared to Agency B. Their quick response time and personalized approach demonstrate their reliability and credibility. On the other hand, Agency B's slow and generic response raises doubts about their professionalism and suitability for the project.

Therefore, by evaluating an agency's response time, you can get a sense of their level of commitment and reliability and use this information to make an informed decision about who to work with.

Experience

Consider an agency's experience in handling similar businesses or projects to ensure that they have the necessary skills and expertise to deliver high-quality work. Look for examples of their previous work or case studies to evaluate their capabilities. A successful track record in your industry or niche can give you confidence in their ability to deliver satisfactory results.

Updates 

Consistent media updates can demonstrate an agency's knowledge, expertise and viewpoints in their field or on particular topics.

• For example, an agency's LinkedIn profile can be updated with posts that showcase their work experience and company culture. These posts include industry insights, news updates, thought leadership content and helpful tips that demonstrate the agency's expertise and establish them as a trusted authority in their industry. 
• At the same time, their regular blog release provides regular updates on their current technologies, highlights case studies, and offers their perspective on industry trends. 
• Additionally, platform updates like web and push notifications can also help you stay updated of the agency's latest projects, achievements and milestones.
• Ultimately, evaluating an agency's online media channels can help potential clients make informed decisions when choosing an agency to work with.

Engagement

The engagement with customers is crucial in evaluating an agency's credibility. Real-time customer engagement details can be provided by the agency or you can find through positive reviews on several online platforms.

For example, as a merchant, you may come across two agencies, let's say agency A and agency B with similar services but different levels of customer engagement on social media platforms like Twitter, Google Reviews, and Google My Business. Agency A that regularly responds to customer queries and complaints, even if they are negative, and tries to solve them in real time is a more credible and trustworthy choice. In contrast, agency B with a poor track record of responding to customer queries and complaints may leave their customers frustrated and feeling ignored.

In this scenario, it's clear that the agency A with better engagement with their customers is a more credible and trustworthy choice. They will likely be more responsive to your needs and deliver better results because they care about customer satisfaction.

When to Consider Working with a Shopify Expert?

Working with an agency can be beneficial for merchants in many ways. Here are some situations where it makes sense to consider working with an agency:

1. Lack of in-house expertise

Working with a development agency can provide access to professionals with the necessary skills and experience to execute the project successfully. This may include areas such as logical thinking, UI/UX design, conversion optimization, speed optimization, technical proficiency, and strong coding skills.

2. Complex project requirements

When a project has complex requirements, such as building a custom integration or implementing a complex feature, a development partner can provide the necessary expertise to execute the project successfully.

3. Scalability needs

If a merchant is experiencing rapid growth and needs to scale their online store this means they have to experiment with a lot of tools and integrations. A development agency can help from their experience to go the most successful route. 

4. Conversion rate

It is another important performance metric that development agencies can help improve through their expertise in online store development.

5. Innovation and creativity

Best shopify developers may bring a fresh perspective and innovative ideas to a project, which can help differentiate an online store from its competitors.

6. Access to latest technologies

The best shopify developers are usually up to date with the latest technological advancements and can help merchants leverage these technologies to improve their online store's functionality and user experience.

7. Access to new markets

Best shopify agency with experience in the merchant's industry can provide valuable insights and can help merchants enter new markets by building an online store that is optimized for the target market's preferences and needs.

8. Performance metrics

The Best shopify agency can execute projects more efficiently due to their expertise. Since they are longer in the game of store development the chances of them meeting performance metrics is higher.

• Speed is an essential metric to measure the performance of your online store.
• Tools such as FCP, LCP, TTI, CLS, and TTFB can be used to measure speed and provide insights into how your web page is performing.
• FCP measures the time it takes for the first piece of content to load on a web page.
• LCP tracks the loading time of the largest element on a page.
• TTI gauges the time it takes for a page to become interactive.
• CLS measures the visual stability of a page by tracking how much the content moves around during loading.
• TTFB measures the time it takes for a server to respond to a request.
• Conversion rate is another important performance metric that development agencies can help improve through their expertise in online store development.

Identifying the best shopify agency from the Shopify partners list is only half the battle won. Merchants must shoulder their share of responsibility by being proactive, transparent, and responsive throughout the project lifecycle.

Pre-requisites for Shopify Merchants

Here are some prerequisites that merchants should carry before engaging with an agency:

Business Requirement Document (BRD)

The merchant should have a BRD handy to share with their development partners. A BRD is a document that outlines the objectives, scope, and specifications of a project. It understands the merchant's business needs. A well-written BRD will provide the agency with the necessary details to approach the project correctly and help meet the merchant's goals.

Budget and Timeline

Merchants should clearly convey their budget and timeline of their budget and timeline for the project. This will help the agency determine how to approach the project which meets budget, timeline and also the objectives of the online store.  

Asset List for Seamless Project Delivery

Merchants should share a comprehensive list of assets with the agency is crucial for ensuring a smooth project delivery. This includes brand guidelines, product information, images, videos, and other marketing collateral. By providing the agency with a clear list of assets, you can help them plan and execute their tasks effectively. For instance, if you have high-quality product images ready, the agency can focus on creating engaging product descriptions and other marketing content. 

Team Structure

It's important to communicate the roles and responsibilities of your existing team to the agency. This will help them understand the level of support required from their end. For instance, if you have an in-house team that can manage certain aspects of the online store, the agency can focus on other areas that require their expertise. 

Available Bandwidth

It's important to be realistic about the amount of time and resources you can dedicate to the online store. The agency should be aware of any other projects or initiatives that may be competing for your attention. This will help them schedule tasks accordingly and set realistic timelines. For example, if you're in the process of launching a new product line, the agency can schedule the store updates and content creation around that timeline.

Relevant Data

Merchants should also provide the agency with relevant data related to their business, such as customer demographics, sales data, and store analytics. This data will help the agency to make informed decisions and recommendations about the project.

Nutshell

In conclusion, selecting the best shopify agency for your online store development requires careful consideration and evaluation of various factors such as experience, expertise, quality of work, communication, and overall fit with your business needs. By taking the time to do your research and evaluating potential India’s best shopify partners based on these criteria, you can ensure that you partner with an agency that can deliver high-quality work and help you achieve your business goals.

At Marmeto, we aim to ensure the e-commerce store we build supports the objectives of your business. Knowing that the strategy you've chosen for your online store is of the highest caliber and that we'll provide an excellent user experience that leaves a lasting impression with effective conversion rates. 

Get in touch with us now!