"How to choose your e-commerce agency" is certainly one of the first questions you ask yourself when you want to create an e-commerce site. You also most certainly, if you want to create an e-commerce site, whether it is your first site or the tenth, you have certainly considered going through an e-commerce agency to have your merchant site created.
This is the simplest and most often practiced solution for future e-merchants. Because even if creating your eshop site on your own may seem like a good idea, time and lack of knowledge can be a serious handicap to your project.
An E-commerce agency has the advantage of knowing the sector well and being able to support you in your project in order to bring a certain professionalism to it.
Now, choosing a web agency is not easy as the offer is so plethoric and can be disconcerting. So how do you not make mistakes and choose the right web agency that will create the site of your dreams? Here are some tips for a successful choice of E-commerce agency!
Know how to explain your project
Before choosing your agency, a little advice. Spend some time preparing your project upstream so that you can be relevant in the choice of agency and explain your project well.
Without going as far as writing the specifications, it is important to collect/write the information you have about your e-commerce project in a summary document.
With us, Shopify Pikka agency , we call for a brief. But it can be a powerpoint, a simple word document, which explains who you are and why you are creating this e-commerce site.
It may seem obvious but explain how many people are working on the project, the budget, your expectations, a presentation of your company or your background, your strengths, etc.
All of this allows an agency to fully understand your needs and who you are. This allows us to be more relevant and to be able to offer you appropriate answers. Everyone saves time and even you, it will allow you to better filter the agency proposals according to your needs.
And very often, we tend to underestimate the difficulty of writing a synthetic presentation of your project. This will generally allow you to take stock of your priorities and your objectives.
The more figures, the better, but we all know that it is not always easy to determine hypotheses, so do the best you can.
If you are afraid to share confidential information then you can absolutely sign an NDA, confidentiality agreement, with the agencies with whom you discuss.
Overall, you should know that the more information you share, the more relevant feedback you will get and the more you can target the right agencies. Understand: the agencies adapted to your situation.
Talk about your budget without filter
This is certainly the most important and yet the most “sensitive” point. It is quite rare that an e-merchant likes to share its budget with an agency. And yet, it is extremely important to address this point from both sides:
What is your planned / envisaged / possible / validated budget . Or at least a budget range.
But also what are the budgets regularly made by the agency.
Indeed, there is no point in discussing with an agency that creates sites for 300,000 € if your budget is 15,000 €. You will waste your time and the agency too and you will only be able to get a quote that will not meet your needs.
But why are the prices so different from one agency to another?
This is a small subsidiary question but one that is often asked by the prospects we have at Pikka.
Each E-commerce agency has its own economic model, its own life and sales cycle and its objectives. Some are well organized, others less, others more qualitative, others more rigorous etc…
There are therefore as many models of agency organization as there are agencies themselves. And each model influences the agency's fixed costs and business model. Here are some elements that can vary an e-commerce site creation budget:
- The choice of the e-commerce solution
- Technical mastery of the solution by the agency
- Developer's Award
- The amount of things to be done in the agency's quote
- The notoriety of the agency
- The target of the agency (Luxury, for example, requires more rigor in design and therefore time)
- Agency availability
- The agency's target margin
- The quality of the information provided by the prospect. The better the information, the finer and more detailed the quote will be. The more vague the project, the higher the price will be.
So yes, it's hard to define a budget and we are always afraid of being fooled if we give too high a price.
But that's where the third tip comes in.
Compare prices and offers between agencies
There are still many e-merchants who do not produce quotes to compare prices. If you contact an agency for a site redesign or other, this is the opportunity! Compare the quotes, understand what is expensive in one and inexpensive in the other and try to obtain as much information as possible on the content of the services.
Nothing abnormal there. You are going to commit to a project that is generally quite expensive and will last over time, so you have to understand what you are going to buy.
Of course, the choice of an e-commerce agency is rarely based on price alone!
For example, it must be understood that a Shopify partner agency is more interesting, even if more expensive, than an uncertified agency. Why ? Because your project will be in better hands with an expert.
Comparing means requesting between 3 and 4 agency quotes and building an analysis grid to determine them.
The criteria should be objective as much as possible even if many subjective elements come into play.
After all, an e-commerce project is a collaboration between several actors and the human remains essential, even fundamental, for the success of the project. Choosing an agency because you have the best “feeling” is completely normal … if you have checked that it is capable of delivering what it promises.
So on what criteria do we compare the agencies with each other? Here are some pointers:
- The price of the project and each section (separation of design, dev, project management etc…)
- Is the content of the estimate clear and precise?
- What are the deadlines announced by the agency?
- What is the proposed project methodology? Agile ? in V? Classic project mode?
- What is the perceived skill level?
- Has the agency managed similar projects in the past?
- Did the agency try to find out more about the project, its values and its objectives?
- Are the points of the specifications in the estimate?
Call old customers
Taking references is a “must have” in the Anglo-Saxon world where it is almost impossible to sign an estimate without providing the contact details of several clients so that the future client can talk to them.
It is quite time-consuming and not very widespread in France and yet it is a very good practice.
Many agencies do indeed display client logos on their website, but what is it really? Are these logos there to look good or are they real projects? What are the missions carried out for these clients?
Very often, the agency will not be able to answer you, not because it does not want to, but simply because it is under a confidentiality agreement. This is our case at Pikka with all our customers and partners.
But nothing prevents to put a future customer in relation with a current customer so that they exchange.
Of course, this meeting must take place without the presence of the agency concerned. Otherwise it obviously loses its interest.
Already, if the agency cannot give you any coordinates, it is surely that there is eel under rock.
Asking for customer details is much stronger than a simple notice left on a site or on a Google My Business listing and will allow you to better understand the agency.
Of course, this will take you quite a bit of time. It is therefore to be avoided if you only have a small quick project to do.
Do not hesitate to ask this to all the agencies, you will certainly be surprised at their reaction, not always very receptive to this kind of request.
Most agencies indeed like to control their image and two clients talking to each other without their control is, for some, too much to ask.
Choose an agency that suits you
Once again, we fall back on the human. Your company is a human adventure, the agency with which you will work too.
Choose an agency with whom you will enjoy working and building great projects. Do you love design and graphic creation? So work with people who have the same fiber as you but complementary skills!
Do you love art and an agency has many paintings in its offices? Maybe even if the estimate is a little less good, you are made to get along?
The choice of an e-commerce agency to create your merchant site is a little more than the choice of a simple supplier.
An agency is going to have to understand your business to make it shine online. This can only be done if there is an understanding between the different actors.
At pikka, our vision of things is to find solutions and to improve continuously, which means a capacity for change and a desire to always move forward.
We get our hands dirty and deliver the projects. This is the guarantee that we offer to our customers.
It's not suitable for everyone, but it works great with entrepreneurs.
In short, you might as well work with people who share your values and with whom you will grow together.
So which e-commerce agency to choose?
I think you understood it after reading this article. If there are so many commercial site creation agencies in France, it is because each one is unique. Defining one that would suit everyone would be a mistake.
Of course, we're still here to talk business, so if you're looking for “ Shopify enthusiasts”, a motivated team who masters e-commerce like the back of their hands, don't hesitate to contact Pikka for a quote!
