Do you need an eCommerce website and have been looking for a website designer or developer to build your online store?
Before you hire any eCommerce designer for your website development, here are a few things to check first.
#1 Experience in Ecommerce Website Development
Before hiring an eCommerce website developer and awarding your project to him/her, check out their experience in website development, especially in eCommerce website building.
How can you ensure that they have got required experience?
A. Checkout their portfolio (recent eCommerce websites)
B. How many years of experience have they got in web development?
C. Confirm with them if they have worked with 3rd party tools integration with eCommerce websites.
D. Make sure that they have got experience in web designing too (apart from just development).
#2 How Responsive Is Your Web Developer
How responsive is your web developer toward all the queries, concerns, and suggestions that you share with them during the shortlisting process?
Does he/she takes a few hours to reply or do you have to wait for days to hear from them? The faster they are in responding to your queries, the better it is.
Because you will definitely want to hire a web developer who is prompt in response, especially after launching your eCommerce store.
Recommended post: 5 Essential skills that your eCommerce website developer should have
#3 Ecommerce Platforms That Your Web Developer Can Work On
Choosing an appropriate eCommerce platform is very essential to the success of your online business. You must know the pros and cons of every platform before you decide to go with any.
For example, if you are looking for an easy-to-control eCommerce platform that provides full-fledged shopping website features, you may choose WordPress. You may like to read more benefits of choosing WordPress for your eCommerce website development here.
Once you decide on any of the best eCommerce platforms for your website development, you must ensure that your hired website designer is able to build your online store on your preferred platform.
Recommended post: 5 Best open-source CMSs to build an eCommerce website
#4 Website Development Cost
Of course, the cost to develop your eCommerce website matters a lot for hiring a website designer. Having said this, it’s not true at all that the cheapest website designer or developer should be suitable for your project or that the most expensive eCommerce developer will build your website well.
The cost to develop your eCommerce website entirely depends on the features & functions that you will be requiring. If you want to know the important determinants of your eCommerce website design & development cost, you may like to read one of my previous blogs where I’ve shared about the website development costs.
Again, there is no fixed cost to develop an eCommerce website and it varies depending on your needs.
Recommended post: How much is the website design cost in Singapore?
#5 Does Your Web Developer Provide Warranty & Maintenance
Maintenance & warranty of a website is equally important as its existence, especially in the case of eCommerce stores.
Before you hire an eCommerce web developer to build your website, do make sure that you get a minimum warranty period of 3 months so that if you face any issue post-launch, your website developer must be there with you to fix it.
By the same token, you must ensure that your website designer must be able to support you with your website maintenance, even if it’s paid.
#6 Reviews & Testimonials
Have you checked the credentials of your website developer before awarding your eCommerce project to him or her?
If not, then you must ask your shortlisted web developer to provide you with his/her client’s testimonials and if required, you can also demand the contact details of their clients. In order to double-check the credentials of your eCommerce website designer, you may call or email their past clients and ask about the quality & support of this developer.