Choosing the most suitable eCommerce agency is a key factor that determines the success of the eCommerce store. The process of developing an online store is based on cooperation and mutual understanding between an agency and a business owner, as this partnership ensures that the store’s vision and functionality align with the client’s business goals and target audience. However, choosing a suitable eCommerce development agency for our business may not be easy without paying attention to several factors.
In this blog, we will provide guidance on choosing the best eCommerce development agency for an online business and what questions to ask to determine whether the chosen agency is the right one.
The common mistake made by business owners
Unfortunately, many business owners take the wrong approach when developing an eCommerce website. For example, they send a list of requirements via email and expect the agency’s offer based solely on that. Naturally, such requirements are extremely valuable yet insufficient to get a full picture of an online store and its required functionalities.
Similarly, when a customer doesn’t have an idea for an online store and doesn’t want to engage in workshops, it’s almost impossible to estimate the price of the eCommerce project.
In such cases, the business owner would most likely choose the cheapest offer or the agency that promises the pie in the sky.
What are the consequences of this approach?
Such situations can have devastating consequences both for the business owner and the eCommerce industry. From the client’s perspective, he unknowingly chooses a solution that is not an answer to the project’s problems and requirements, negatively impacting the store’s development and the business itself. From the eCommerce side, in turn, these events encourage unfair agencies to keep practicing this approach as it clearly works, hurting the image of other eCommerce agencies that work hard for their reputation.
To better understand today’s topic, let’s proceed to the interview with Jakub Leśniewski.
Interview with Jakub Leśniewski – Business Development Representative at BitBag
To make this blog as valuable as possible, we asked our expert, Jakub Leśniewski, to participate in the interview and explain the best ways to choose an eCommerce agency.
Jakub’s work focuses on building solid relationships with our current and future clients and advising them on the best possible solutions. During his professional career, Jakub has worked with many eCommerce solutions, such as Sylius, Shopware, Magento (Adobe Commerce), Prestashop, and complementary PIM/CMS systems.

Q: Hello, Jakub. Let’s start our interview with the following question: What would you pay special attention to when considering changing or creating eCommerce platforms?
A: Whether it is migrating to another eCommerce platform, choosing new software, or entering the eCommerce with a brand new store, the decision should be based on the analysis of business needs. Oftentimes, companies want to pick a technology/software without any solid reason. The chosen technology should be a solution to the challenges and needs of the online business.
Based on my experience, businesses that are most successful in selecting an eCommerce agency typically:
- Know why they need to change the eCommerce platform (what are the issues with the current one) or know why they want to enter the eCommerce (in the case of greenfield projects)
- Know what functionalities are essential for their eCommerce business
- Acquired knowledge about available eCommerce solutions on the market before meeting with the vendor’s representatives
- Have general knowledge about the eCommerce industry and/or have experience in online sales
- Know what parts of the design should be changed and/or have already prepared a design or spreadsheets that thoroughly discuss the design and required functionalities before workshops with the eCommerce agency.
- Considered what other systems (e.g., PIM, ERP, WMS) could be necessary as the website grows
- Look objectively at available eCommerce solutions and gather feedback from multiple agencies and eCommerce specialists before making a final decision.
- Participate in the purchasing process and communicate effectively with the eCommerce agency.
Preparing documentation for potential vendors always works very well, as they spend less time on later discussions and translation. It is also worthwhile to have already clarified steps in the purchasing process and schedule time for collecting and analyzing offers from eCommerce agencies.
Companies that have a plan for the time after cooperation with an agency perform better – i.e., it is worth determining whether we will outsource the entire IT department for life, whether we have plans to hire an internal team and take over the maintenance of the website after implementation. When analyzing technology solutions, it is worth checking the availability of developers who can maintain the particular solution.
Q: What about the budget for the project? Is it worth sharing such information with the agency?
A: If we talk to an agency and tell it that we have 2 million to spend, it does not mean that the agency will prepare an offer for 2 million.
The available budget is needed for the agency to determine whether the software it sells to the company will be suitable for them. For instance, it would be hard to implement the XYZ solution if the budget limit is 10,000. In such cases, the agency can recommend other, cheaper solutions that would work well in this price range.
What’s more, the budget helps to pick optimal functionalities for the online store. If the company’s budget is sufficient, we do not have to look for simplifications in a given functionality to save on task hours. On the other hand, if we know that the customer’s budget is smaller, we can point out some simplifications that will cost him less and still, for example, meet 80% of the requirements of a given functionality.
For example, instead of investing in a large CRM system, which can be expensive and complex, consider implementing a marketing automation tool. Similarly, we can leverage out-of-the-box features in eCommerce platforms like Sylius Plus to launch the store and then develop them as the store grows to spread costs over time.
Q: From your perspective, what are the overall costs of the eCommerce store? What do you pay for during implementation?
A: Companies that have a good understanding of eCommerce costs can better select a solution and determine their budget.
The cost of implementation involves not only the hours of developers’ work, but also includes:
- The cost of plugins – depending on the platform, it is worth to ensure that the cost of extensions is included in the project estimate
- Maintenance costs after the project’s completion
- Costs related to SLA depending on the client’s needs
- Marketing costs
- Hosting costs
- Payment provider and payment processing costs
- The cost of all other systems around the eCommerce website. – PIM, ERP, WMS, etc.
It’s also important to ensure that the project itself will generate enough revenue to maintain the platform.
Q: Are there any particular technological aspects to consider when choosing a platform?
A: From my perspective, technology is just the answer to the client’s needs and should be suited to the challenges that the business may face. For example, when planning a more complex eCommerce system, make sure that it allows for flexible development and further scaling – e.g. it is not a closed software, where it is difficult to implement changes. It is also worth detailing the various stages of the project, like how the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version should look like, but also the plans for the future, including, e.g., changing the website into a marketplace, adding several more sales channels, implementing cross-border sales, etc.
That said, let’s choose a solution that not only provides a great MVP but will also scale with our online business.
In the case where an eCommerce store is selling simple products, we should not complicate our operations by choosing a complex solution that would rather suit more advanced stores. In the case of a standard eCommerce website, it is worth considering SaaS platforms, which offer many features out-of-the-box and meet most standard eCommerce needs. In turn, Open-source and dedicated solutions are great for businesses that require customization and unique functionalities.
In addition, it is worth making sure that the chosen solution will work well on mobile devices – especially at the stage of implementation design and when selecting front-end technology, as well as investigating how the implementation agency approaches testing on the project, as this aspect is often overlooked. It’s also crucial to find out what are the criteria for accepting functionalities in a project and what the agency’s project management process looks like.
Q: Got it. What do you think businesses should pay attention to when choosing an implementation agency?
A: When choosing an eCommerce agency, it’s worth paying attention to several key aspects, such as experience and portfolio, reviews and testimonials, technologies offered, work model, and scope of services.
However, in addition to these elements, it is also worth paying attention to the organizational culture and how the agency approaches the client. At this point, speaking somewhat colloquially, we can talk about the “red flags” and “green flags” of an implementation agency.
Red flags:
- The agency shows no interest in exploring the client’s in-depth needs during discussions and tries to offer only its solution, technologies, and competence.
- The agency fails to meet deadlines at the sales stage – for example, it does not send offers on time or promised materials and is not responsive to emails/phone calls.
- The agency does not confirm its competence in the topics it sells at the stage of sales talks, nor does present previously completed projects or references.
- The agency does not take a transparent approach to the form of cooperation and makes it difficult to see the current status of the project and its status/level of progress.
- The agency does not take a transparent approach in discussing the possible risks in the project and does not present how the project is managed and who is responsible for the implementation of the project.
- Despite its lack of complete knowledge of the project and implementation details, the agency declares an implementation deadline.
Green flags:
- The agency is an expert in its field and employs people who have experience in implementing projects in a specific technology – this is confirmed by case studies and references
- The agency is responsive and delivers all materials on time.
- The agency is transparent about the presentation of implementation costs and risks in the project, informs about what areas should be investigated, offers workshops before the start of the project.
- The agency helps the community of a particular technology or area in which it specializes.
- The agency proposes a stationary meeting while discussing the project and informs the client about the possibility of getting to the client’s premises.
- The agency is involved and proactive in the sales process and tries to learn about all the challenges/problems that may be encountered during the project.
Q: Wrapping up our talk, what questions should you ask an eCommerce agency to determine if they are a suitable partner for your project?
A: Great question. When talking with an eCommerce agency about potential cooperation, do not be afraid to ask many questions about the project. First of all, familiarize yourself with the pricing model that the agency uses. If it is the fixed price model, how do they approach the fixed pricing, and if it is Time and Material, how do they approach situations where the project budget can be exceeded. Also, they should explain what functionalities can carry the greatest risk of going over budget during the implementation process. The other questions certainly worth asking are as follows:
- How does the agency run the project? Who is part of the project implementation team? How do they approach testing? How are individual functionalities accepted in eCommerce?
- How are crisis situations handled in projects?
- What experience does the company have in implementing similar projects?
- What are the company’s core values?
- Why should they be the ones to implement an eCommerce project for us?
- What are the expectations of the implementation company if the cooperation or further discussions begin?
- Can the company provide bespoke contact/references to clients it has worked with?
The more questions we ask the agency, the broader our understanding of them will be. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask as many questions as needed.
Summary
As shown above, choosing a suitable eCommerce agency is certainly not an easy task, and require some research and thorough discussions about the project with potential eCommerce partners. While making a decision, take your time and choose the agency that can prove its expertise in the field and is eager to share knowledge with business owners, instead of the one that promise you the most at the lowest cost.
Let’s talk about how we can help you!
