How to Choose an E-commerce Store Contractor in 8 Steps? Practical Advice

Too low performance of the existing solution, outdated graphics, no RWD solutions?

Or perhaps a brand new e-commerce store? Whatever your reasons for looking for an e-commerce store contractor, it's worth entrusting its creation to professionals with experience in many areas. Damian Sinior, Sales Director at Media4U, advises on what to look for when choosing an e-commerce store provider.

Assess whether you have a partner to talk to

As in any other case, efficient communication between the parties is the key to success. It doesn't have to be love at first sight, but it's important to see a partner to talk to in the company building the store from the very beginning: on the one hand listening, on the other – inquisitive. Because the more questions they ask, the better – in the course of further work, each of them will prove justified.

Talking about specifics is one thing, but remember that you're talking to a professional who also plays an advisory role. Expect from them not only openness to your requirements and visions, but also their own ideas and proposals for implementing improvements. After all, they have experience behind them – certainly during the first conversation they'll be able to assess the chances of success of specific solutions or suggest others for consideration.

Regardless of whether you're changing the tool or choosing it for a new implementation, the most important question you should hear from the provider is the question about the goal of your actions. Information about why you're doing this and what you want to achieve by choosing a sales platform will allow the contractor to design the best tool for achieving the indicated goal, and all activities will be subordinated to this overriding idea.

Guarantee yourself performance

Now that you know you're playing for the same team, talk about performance. This is one of the most common reasons why companies decide to change platforms. The new solution must not only guarantee handling current traffic, but also – and perhaps above all – anticipate its growth in the future. This is particularly important in the face of planned marketing activities aimed at increasing traffic and sales. Therefore, on the one hand, the platform itself must be prepared to handle greater traffic, and on the other – the provider should demonstrate how they will secure this process both on the server side and on the application side.

Remember ergonomics

Your employees will work on the designed tool, so already at the design stage they should actively participate in conversations and meetings. The contractor should ensure that the tool is friendly to them, helpful in everyday work and allows intuitive and simple management of many areas, including promotions, order processing or the product itself.

Yes, it's already time for SEO

If you get an answer from the contractor to your question about the SEO aspect that it can wait until the platform launches, it's time for you to… start asking more of them. Remember that from the very beginning of the project, an SEO specialist should oversee the construction of the new platform. A significant portion of e-commerce traffic
is generated by Google users, which today is essentially an independent sales channel. Therefore, the new platform must meet the requirements set by the global giant. Whether the applied solutions are search engine friendly will largely determine the commercial success of the venture. The ease of managing editable elements, which are needed in the SEO specialist's daily work, will also be significant.

Are we in control of emotions?

It's well known – the eyes buy. In today's e-world, a strong visual side of the store is an asset that cannot be overestimated. On the other hand, weak, undistinguished graphics or unintuitive solutions can bury even the best product. But it's not just about getting an A in drawing. Well-thought-out information architecture should be accompanied by positive emotions of the recipient. They will make the user frequently return to the new store. Therefore, a contractor who has many different implementations from various industries in their portfolio should be a master of playing with emotions. After all, it will depend on them whether customers remember us.

Focus on accessibility and reach

Keeping in mind that customers increasingly make purchases using mobile devices, assess the contractor's capabilities in this area. It's worth examining the company's experience in creating stores based on the mobile first design model, as well as in creating solutions available also on foreign markets.

Ask what's next

Actually, you should ask this question during the first conversation. What further cooperation and support after project implementation may look like is a very important aspect of the business relationship – both in terms of settling subsequent projects and securing resources for their execution. In fact, choosing a store contractor is inevitably the beginning of a long-term relationship, which is why it's so important to establish its rules at the very beginning of cooperation. Even the contractor's response time in emergency situations will be significant for the further shared path – situations which, when they cause a break in store operation, generate financial and image losses.

The second important element, besides post-implementation support, that should be proposed by the contractor is support in marketing activities and content management. Undoubtedly, outsourcing these activities to a single entity, and one that already knows our specifics and provides tool support, will be an additional benefit and bring measurable savings – in time, staff and finances.

Portfolio and references

Let the provider's clients speak for them and don't be afraid to ask them questions. They won't be able to answer some of them due to commercial confidentiality, but you can always ask about the exact scope of the order, completion time or the proprietary solution that the contractor implemented in a given project.

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Damian Sinior – Sales Director, Media4U. Since 2005, he has been successfully expanding the client portfolio with brands such as: Endo, Ryłko, ING, Redan, Taimen, Lilou, Scania. Responsible for project development, substantive client support and managing sales teams. He specializes in the development of mobile technologies, user usability and user experience, and e-marketing. A graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Sociology at the University of Łódź.