The number of online sales shops designed with the Shopify CMS is estimated at 1,000,000. This figure undoubtedly shows that this tool is beginning to occupy a place of choice in the hearts of e-merchants. Many web agencies quickly understood and started by building offers around this solution. A lot of these companies that specialize in building Shopify stores rightly or wrongly call themselves a “Shopify agency”.
At their core, these agencies promise individuals and businesses responsive, engaging, and high-performing online sales platforms.
However, faced with the ease of handling offered by the publisher of Shopify, users are able to ask themselves questions about the real importance of these agencies.
In this article, we provide clarification on the benefits of working with a Shopify agency. We will also be happy to help you sort out the good and bad service providers.
What is a Shopify Agency?
A Shopify agency is a legally registered business that solely builds and deploys Shopify stores. It is made up of platform experts, able to support you on all facets of setting up an e-commerce (consulting, design, UI / UX, dev, etc.). At Minima, it puts you in touch with the right service provider for the facets that it does not control.
Before a business deserves to be called a “Shopify agency”, it must have a Shopify publisher certification. This is a certificate issued to any agency with at least five Shopify stores created for its customers. In addition, it must justify the construction of a site at least per year.
Internally, these structures are characterized by the increased specialization of their team and the plurality of talents. It includes in particular:
- Web developers specializing in the implementation of SaaS solutions and coding in HTML, CSS and “Liquid” (a variant of Ruby On Rails used by the publisher of Shopify). Their skills are essential for advanced customization of sites designed with this CMS.
- Graphic designers and web designers who specialize in creating an effective and relevant visual identity for your site.
- Web marketers who specialize in online marketing. They have a better understanding of targeting techniques and digital communication strategies.
- SEO specialists who master the functioning of search engine algorithms and social platforms.
A Shopify agency also uses methodical approaches to specific work. The agency guarantees a certain efficiency in the face of complex problems that can be encountered when developing a Shopify site.
What are the advantages of entrusting the design of your Shopify store to a specialized agency?
The guarantee of quality and tailor-made site
The advanced skills of the teams that make up a Shopify agency are factors that guarantee the quality of the work. With developers trained in the use of the “Liquid” language and experienced designers, you are guaranteed to obtain a professional and personalized store that meets your expectations. These talents will not only serve to create a nice platform but also avoid bugs.
Clearly, they are able to offer you the best template optimized for both search engines and user experience. With its specialists, page loading speed, intuitiveness and responsiveness will be there.
The guarantee of a complete service
With Shopify agencies, the logic is not to just create a site and that’s it, the customer is on their own. Above all, they do substantive work that allows them to advise customers on the best market trends in relation to the use of Shopify. Thus, the client is more aware and better informed about the choices that are made. The latter also benefits from training in handling his shop. Better still, support is offered for:
- Optimizing the performance of the various extensions and tools integrated into the store.
- Automation of orders
- Optimization of page loading speed in the event of increased traffic
- Fixing any bugs
The guarantee of better control of available resources
The quality of the service offered allows the control of resources. At first, the agency relieves you of long hours of configuration and handling. Secondly, the care given to the codes and configurations avoids errors and the eternal restarting of work. Controlling these factors also helps you keep your budget for creating and deploying Shopify stores within your budget.
Work with an agency or make your site alone?
It is undeniable that Shopify is one of the easiest e-commerce store creation solutions to use. That said, for a business that is starting up, the idea is simple:
- or you have time and little money, in which case it is more interesting for you to learn how to use Shopify and create your store yourself.
Disadvantage:
You are neither a dev nor a designer… you will be developing your site alone for several months. Eventually, it might feel like a pile of features and might be very slow or even riddled with bugs. Apps should be installed sparingly!
Advantage:
When your shop is running and you have to find a service provider to do an overhaul because you will have reached the limits of the tool, you will know your shop and its back office by heart!
- either, you have little time, but money to invest, in which case you can approach a Shopify expert agency, who can speed up the launch process, and avoid errors by advising you of the tools the most suitable and guiding you in your choices.
Attention! Better to be alone than in bad company… sometimes it’s better to learn on your own than to work with a low-cost developer or on the other side of the world. The day there is an emergency, you may understand why the price was so low! (to the detriment of your business)
For a large-scale business or one that has a strong reputation, the time is to generate income more than to play a sorcerer’s apprentice. So you can’t afford a Shopify store with:
- A bad conversion rate
- Complex bugs to solve
- Slow page loading
- low visibility
For all these reasons, you should prioritize the professional work of a platform expert agency. And it’s certainly not your budget that would prevent you from offering visitors to your online store the best user experience.
Shopify agency or Shopify freelancer?
The choice sometimes arises to turn to a Freelancer. The budget is often the reason for this choice. This is usually far from a good reason! With a freelancer, you have the advantage of enjoying:
- of a good reagent
- a cheaper service
- easy to move the professional to your offices
- a more simplified process than in an agency
- of a more human collaboration
The downside of such a choice is to end up with a professional:
- inexperienced compared to an agency: it is obvious that he cannot combine all the experience and skills present in an agency. A complex bug quickly becomes a time-consuming task that wastes time and money.
- who divides his time between you and other clients without having reinforcements available like an agency
- whose holidays or absences leave your online store without real supervision
- who can easily disengage from your project for other longer-term assignments
How to recognize a good agency?
Low prices don’t mix well with good Shopify agencies. The best factors of choice are rather an estimate, a delivery time, references, proactivity and control of the project.
The cleanliness of quotes and commercial documents
Serious agencies always offer detailed quotes. This document is supposed to make it possible to raise all the fists of equivocation as for the various costs of the service. It can also be used to compare offers from different providers. It is therefore important that no information is omitted from the estimate.
Be careful with quotes issued without taking your specifications into account. If you receive a quote without first expressing your needs, then there is a good chance that your agency is questionable.
The reputation of the agency in the ecosystem
Significant positive reviews within the Shopify community are strong signs of how serious an agency can be. Visit Shopify-themed forums and review sites for more information. Beware of testimonials that are too propagandistic, these are most often false feedback.
Agency references
The references speak volumes about the capabilities of the Shopify agency to work effectively on your online store project. Check that there are in the references structures similar to yours. If the agency only deals with large groups and you are a startup, you are probably in the wrong place!
The recommendations
Recommendations are one of the best strategies for finding the right Shopify agency. Don’t let your guard down, however. The right recommendation is one made by someone who has experienced and is satisfied with the agency’s service.
The delivery time
Quickly you come into possession of an operational online store, quickly you will be able to generate income. It is therefore always good to choose a Shopify agency that offers you a relatively short delivery time. However, beware of agencies that will offer you delivery after a few hours. In most cases, it’s just a sloppy job. A professional, modern job can span a few weeks and requires careful planning.
Level of understanding of your project
It is almost suicide to entrust your project to an agency that does not understand the issues that motivate your initiative. Indeed, if the vision is not well assimilated by the developers, they risk creating a site totally at odds with what you are looking for.
The quality of trade
Your collaboration with the agency promises to be difficult if the commercial exchanges are sloppy. Then ask to have a technical person present during the call. Ask him all your technical questions to limit the risk of disappointment afterwards.
Even with all these criteria, you are not always out of the hostel. Indeed, an agency may prove to be a better choice according to these criteria, but its work will be summed up in a flop. Everything is also a question of feeling, common sense and luck.
The monthly support models on Shopify?
Beyond the previous considerations, don’t forget to look at how the support offer works too! Although some agencies do not even offer one (because the business model is not profitable for them), this option could be decisive in the progress of your project. In general, expert agencies on the platform offer three models:
- the “management”: the agency provides you with a member of its team to intervene permanently in your shop according to the need. The service can be provided remotely just as the professional can go on site to the client’s premises. This option is best suited for large groups or vertically growing businesses.
- monthly support, with support in case of emergency: the agency monitors the Shopify store on time or on fixed days. It can be a collaboration contract with or without commitment from both parties. This option is suitable for startups or high/moderate growth companies.
- the “oneshot” package: you accumulate tickets for X weeks or months, once the number of tickets is sufficient, you request a quote and the agency works for X days on the project. It is collaboration without commitment or emergency support. It is suitable for SMEs, professionals in the liberal sector, or very early start-ups.
You should look for the best Shopify Agency for quality work.
