In today’s modern business world, having an online presence for your business can never be overemphasized. According to statistics from Statista, about 82% of the UK population (55.2 million Brits) made an online purchase in 2022. Essentially, an eCommerce agency has the diligence, expertise, and resources to help position your online business for long-term success. This is why your choice of agency matters.
Screening and Selection Questions
What Platforms Do You Specialise In?
Naturally, you’ll want an agency with proven competence in your platform of choice. Also, if you’re yet to decide, you’ll want to speak to industry experts who can provide all you need to make an informed decision.
Furthermore, be sure to compare the answer you get with the number of developers on their payroll. For example, if an agency with just a handful of developers claims to be equally competent on all platforms, they’re likely jacks of all trades and may not provide the excellent service you desire.
Can You Share Some Projects You’ve Worked On?
Any agency you’re considering should be proud to showcase its portfolio. When requesting previous projects, pay extra attention to the businesses they’ve worked with in your industry so you can better appreciate their style and capabilities. Moreover, an agency with ample experience in your industry is more likely to be aware of the specific customisations and integrations you need to run a successful eCommerce business.
How Do You Measure Your Effectiveness?
Many eCommerce agencies love to boast about the number of big brands they’ve worked with or how many projects they’ve worked on. While these may be enough to make them worthy of an interview, you should look deeper into the stats before choosing to work with them.
Additionally, seek to know how much ROI they’ve generated for their business partners and how their solutions have positively impacted conversion, average order value, repeat purchase rates, and other related metrics. Importantly, look out for reviews on independent forums to get the truth about what their customers think of them.
How Do You Maximise Conversion?
Optimising your eCommerce website for search engines is crucial to the success of your business, and it all starts at the web design stage. You should ask your prospective partners about search engine optimisation strategies like site structure, product page optimisation, mobile-friendliness, keyword research, etc.
Beyond search engine optimisation, design strategies like streamlining the checkout process and implementing persuasive calls-to-action also go a long way optimising user experience. Ask the agency what they think about these and how they plan to incorporate these elements on your website.
What Integration Do You Recommend?
Effective eCommerce websites typically come with a wide variety of integrations, such as inventory management systems, payment gateways, SMS/email marketing platforms, etc. You’ll want to seek their advice on the features that are crucial to your niche and how they plan to implement them. Their response would also provide additional insights into their knowledge of your niche.
Do You Offer Post-Launch Support?
There are several tales of eCommerce businesses whose designers go missing after the website launch. And believe me when I say you never want to be in those shoes. Ask if the agency has a dedicated support team and how much post-launch support they’re willing to provide.
However, be wary of companies with no distinction between their development and support teams. Too often, they may get swamped with new projects and start paying less attention to existing clients who need support services.
