When you start an online store, there are a lot of moving parts to analyze, plan, and set up. In times when consumers are choosing to shop online, it’s become more important than ever to start an online store. But starting an online store isn’t just about setting up a website. There’s a lot that goes into analyzing the market, setting up the products online, marketing and selling them, and establishing a name for your brand in the market.
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a small team, things can go from exciting to overwhelming all too soon. That’s where Shopify experts come in.
In this article, we’re sharing all about who these Shopify experts are, why and when should you start looking for them, and how to choose the right expert who can actually help your business grow.
Who are Shopify Experts?
Shopify experts are certified professionals who provide every possible service that an eCommerce merchant needs and are vetted by Shopify for their expertise. They have their own field of speciality— design, development, branding, etc— and use their experience to assist merchants to start an online store and help them grow, covering the 4 pillars of taking your business online and towards success - start, sell, market and manage.
For instance, if you want a customized design for your Shopify store, you can hire a Shopify web design agency to build this for you. Similarly, if you want someone to help you with marketing, you could reach out to one that is specifically experienced in marketing.
So you can either reach out to an agency that specializes in one area, or you could choose to hire separate experts to help you out with different things.
Note: Shopify experts are third party companies/ agencies/ individuals who have experience in using the eCommerce platform to help merchants start an online store. They’re not a part of Shopify.
When should you hire a Shopify Expert?
With Shopify’s intuitive build and easy features, most merchants are able to do things themselves when starting an online store. Right from the design of their store to installing apps to enhance the experience for their shoppers, the budget constraints lead them to manage similar tasks in-house - until they grow.
The two main reasons why we see merchants reach out to Shopify experts are:
- They don’t have the expertise to build a “professional” Shopify store that their customers begin to expect
- They don’t have the time as starting a business is much more than just launching a website
But other than that, as your online business grows, your day to day tasks increase and so do the expectations of online shoppers. Here are a few more reasons why you, the merchant, should choose to then work with Shopify experts and agencies:
- You don’t have time to manage multiple tasks and want to outsource it to a full-service Shopify agency that can handle all aspects of your store design, marketing, and management
- You require customized Shopify design and development for your store
- You need to migrate their site from another platform
- You want to outsource their marketing to a specialist to optimize their spends
- You want a consultant to help them with their sales strategy to avoid spending too much
- You need professionally shot photos of products or are struggling to make them look enhanced on the product pages
And the list just goes on!
Why should you hire a Shopify Expert?
1. Saves time and your take to market is faster
Outsourcing the work to an expert can help you save time. For instance, instead of spending a large part of your week setting up marketing activities, you can outsource this task to a specialist who will not only save time but provide assured results.
2. Quality work that helps your brand stand out
With Shopify experts, you're sure to get quality work delivered to you. Experts will help you achieve the results you were looking for with the kind of quality that only they would be able to provide.
3. Ongoing help as your store’s needs change
Once you've worked with a Shopify expert, you can reach out to them and get support for the work they did. This way, you don't have to worry about getting stuck with your work. For instance, when you hire a Shopify developer for a custom store, you can later reach out to them to make tweaks and changes to the store.
4. Outsourced instead of hired is cost-effective
When it comes to the amount of resources (money) you need to spend, a Shopify expert agency is cheaper to hire than a full-time specialist. Imagine having someone in-house who needs to be paid on a month on month basis, as compared to someone you need to pay only when you avail a service. When you’re starting out, you need to optimize your monthly expenditures to accommodate spend on growth-focused activities.
How Can You Hire a Shopify Expert?
Finding the right Shopify expert for you is easy when you have a process in place. With just 5 steps, we’ll help you find a Shopify expert for your needs.
Step 1: Create your requirement brief (optional)
Although not compulsory, knowing what you need help with before you reach out to someone can save you a lot of time.
If you’ve been researching similar brands and what they’re doing, and have a list of expectations or needs, remember to document them and write a brief of your requirements. This can become a conversation starter with the agency or expert you reach out to, and they can further help you refine it.
Here’s a templatized example to help you start. You can copy this structure and create your own brief:
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Category |
Marketing |
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Requirement |
Would require a marketing specialist or a Shopify agency to work on the following functions:
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Objectives |
|
|
Ongoing or one-time |
Ongoing |
If you’re not sure where to begin, you can simply reach out to an expert and ask for a consultation first.
Step 2: Browse Shopify Experts from the Marketplace
Now that you have your requirements, you can start looking through the Shopify experts and find experts that match your needs. The profile of each Shopify expert includes the range of services they can provide, their cost, the rating and testimonials they have received from other merchants on Shopify.
Pay attention to two things when you’re shortlisting experts to reach out to - ratings and testimonials, to ensure authenticity.
Depending on the category, you can also see a portfolio of the expert’s work! It’s a great way to see if they have been able to deliver something similar to what you’re looking for.
If you want to filter Shopify Experts to include just the ones based in India, you can click here to view them.
Step 3: Understand your budget
Once you’ve looked through a few profiles, you’ll understand the cost of hiring a Shopify expert. You can then finalize your budget or a budget range which you can allocate to this.
Step 4: Contact shortlisted experts
Contact your shortlisted experts and arrange a call to understand their expertise on the topic and how they can deliver.
Step 5: Finalize the expert based on your conversation
Based on the conversations, you can finalize the Shopify expert you want to hire. And voila! You’ve successfully found the right Shopify expert for your requirements.
Work with Shopify Experts and Get Assured Results!
When you’re figuring out how to start an online store or when you’re trying to troubleshoot or scale your growth, you sometimes need a helping hand. We hope this guide helps you understand the reasons to hire a Shopify expert and what you can expect from them.
Whether it’s Shopify design and development, marketing needs, or you need a full-service Shopify agency to handle every aspect of your store, you can find the specific Shopify expert/agency to do the job for you!
To get started, you can browse from a range of Shopify experts on the Shopify Experts Marketplace.