‘Choice overload’ is a real cognitive disorder. It refers to a person’s inability to make a decision because of having too many choices. When you are tasked with having to find a good development agency for your business’s eCommerce project, you very easily run the risk of suffering from choice overload.
Of course, development agencies are everywhere. You might even be sharing your neighborhood with a few of them.
It had always been easier to start an agency – no product development, no upfront capital needed. You just needed talent and some selling skills to start attracting clients. And with the coronavirus leaving behind a legacy of remote work, the friction in starting up an agency got down a notch. This means a lot of choices when it comes to hiring an eCommerce development agency and a tougher time making a decision.
In this post, we’ve listed a few factors to look for that will make the process a tad bit easier for you.
Make Sure They Know Their Stuff
How do you know if someone has expertise? After all, nobody will say they don’t have expertise. The first place to look for expertise is the agency’s past portfolio. See what work they’ve done in the past and for what businesses.
Read their case studies and see if they seem legit. If a company is spinning up some fake case studies, you’ll find out by thoroughly reading them. You might also want to cross-check with the company they claim to have worked with and ask someone from that company about their experience.
Alternatively, you can look at independent review sites like Clutch and Good Firms and see what portfolio and reviews they’ve got over there.
Find Out How Many Years They’ve Been In Business
You might want to approach a new agency with caution. They don’t have enough background for you to check and so you can’t be sure of how well they’ll deliver. An inexperienced agency also means they’re likely in that stage where businesses make a lot of mistakes and are learning from them.
If you have budget constraints, you may go with a young agency but be prepared for some hiccups along the way. Young agencies usually have problems in their business processes. And so, you’re likely to face problems in communication and timely deliveries.
Ask for Relevant Portfolios
If you’re in the fashion industry, ask the agency to send over relevant portfolios. See what work they’ve done for other similar businesses like yours. If you’re using WooCommerce for example, ask them to show you WooCommerce projects in particular. If you’re in the B2B industry, ask them to show you examples of B2B eCommerce projects they’ve handled earlier.
Check out Client Testimonials
See what their clients are saying about them. Now, this is where it gets complicated. If they’re showing a bunch of client testimonials on their website, you can’t possibly trust those. How do you know they haven’t spun them up themselves?
To see genuine testimonials, run a google search and find out other review sites where they are listed. You’ll find real, unbiased testimonials over there. If you can find their profile on some freelancing site, that would be best. Freelancing sites usually have the most unbiased testimonials you can find.
What do their Processes Look Like?
Now, this is something you ask when you get on the call with them. Though it comes last, this part will influence your decision of whether you want to go forward with them or not. So, what should you look for when asking for details about their process? Here is a bullet list of things to ensure:
- Make sure they define a clear scope prior to starting a project. Ask them for some previous scope documents they have prepared to see how they approach it. How detailed are the scope documents? Do they include each and everything that will be included in the project or do they intentionally leave out things so they can upsell and cross-sell their services later? You’ll find out when you read some previous scope documents.
- Do they have a dedicated project manager? Project managers are important roles and they’ll ensure your project is delivered to you on time, within budget, and in a working condition.
- Do they have proper QA mechanisms? A development project involves a team of engineers where the developer writes code and a tester builds cases and tests it. A good development agency will have both team working side by side under a project manager to be able to deliver a quality product that works as expected.
Effective Communication
Now, this gets hard to assess before starting the project with them. But since its such an important factor, you should test them out by sending emails and checking how long they take to reply. If they reply swiftly, you’re in good hands.
The above is a checklist and a guide to find the best eCommerce development agency for your business.