How To Hire An Expert Shopify Developer For Your eCommerce Store

Known as one of the widely-accepted eCommerce platforms, Shopify, when used perfectly up to its true capabilities, can lead to huge profits. Moreover, only the assistance of top Shopify Developers can let you explore all the efficient features and emerge as the best fit for your retail business.

On hiring expert Shopify developers for your brand, your business will experience the required push to be ahead of the curve, leading the competitive-edge.

Why Are Shopify Developers In Demand?

One of the most in-demand and widely-accepted eCommerce platforms, Shopify, suits the best for small businesses. Recently, because of the pandemic, various businesses collapsed, so, for a comeback they were in a need for an eCommerce software solution that holds everything that one wants for launching, running, and managing a successful eCommerce business. For all such demands, a name that strikes our mind is Shopify. So, not only the online business owners, even the retail businesses are moving towards eCommerce platforms, mostly Shopify, for enhancing their sales. So, to meet the increasing demand for Shopify development solutions, the demand for Shopify developers also increased.

Well, Shopify experts are talented consultants, creative designers, and proficient developers who specialize in developing successful businesses, brands, and obviously the Shopify stores. When it comes to Shopify development services, whether your job is small or big, it should be done right.

With the assistance of Expert Shopify Developers, you can:

• Increase Your Sales: Through conversion rate optimization, sales channel setup, SEO, Analytics and tracking, etc.
• Reach Enhanced Customers: Through Banner ads, email marketing, marketing & sales guidance, social media marketing, etc.
• Customize Your Store: Through custom visual elements, store design and setup guidance, logo & visual branding, theme customization, etc.
• Save Your Time: By assigning your tasks to a specialist, you can devote your time to other important business tasks that lead to nurturing your business growth.
• Quality Work: The Shopify experts make sure that the job they accomplish should be of the best-quality to catch-up with more satisfied customers.
• Constant Support: Shopify experts offer you the best support 24*7. Therefore, you get constant support and coordination that protects you from falling at any point in time.

Shopify eCommerce Market Statistics

For a clearer picture, let’s have a look at Shopify statistics.

• For Shopify Plus merchants, the average growth that’s noticed every year is 126%.
• As per a recent study, about 87% of the merchants are using the Shopify App store, resultantly, the revenue of the App Store has reached over $100 million.
• In its IPO (initial public offering), Shopify Inc. generated $131 million. Approximately, after 3 years, even less than that, the figure reached $10 billion, which was exactly similar to the size of Twitter Inc.
• Moreover, to assist its customers in resolving the security issues, Shopify has paid $850,000 and more to 300+ ethical hackers.
• Talking about the previous year, during Black Friday Cyber Monday, Shopify caught up with over $1.5 billion in sales, which means 10,978 orders every minute along with $870,000 sales per minute, which was a peak volume.

Besides, let’s check how ‘Big’ Shopify is.

• Right now, about 427,676 websites are using Shopify, and approximately 5,300 and more businesses are on Shopify Plus.
• Shopify is well-recognized as a top eCommerce platform holding 3rd position with a 20% market share.

When Do You Need To Hire A Shopify Developer To Build A Shopify Store?

For developing a successful Shopify store, being a Shopify store owner, you may get stuck with various issues that you are going to find hard to resolve. This leads to the emergence of a need for technical assistance.

Well, you don’t need to fret as you may catch up with that help just within your reach. By hiring an expert Shopify store developer, you will become able to reap lots of benefits. Let’s check out when do you need to hire a
Shopify expert.

• The merchants reach Shopify developers when they don’t have the proficiency to develop a Professional Shopify Store that their customers would love.
• Even, when they lack time being at the starting edge of a business where lots of tasks are on top priority.
• Moreover, when the business owners find themselves unable to manage various tasks because of the time shortage, and look for a leading Shopify agency that handles every aspect starting from store design, marketing, management, and more.
• When they need customized Shopify design and development services for their store.
• To meet their migration demand from another platform to Shopify.
• While seeking consultant advice regarding their better sales approaches at affordable cost.

And the list is infinite.

How To Hire An Expert Shopify Developer?

(Step-By-Step Explanation From Preparation till Feedback)

Before we hire a Shopify development agency, we should consider reviewing the fundamentals of our business and come up with the sections where we should add something more to make them appear much impactful. Let’s start then.

Prepare Your Business First (Needs, Goals, Budget)

Assess Your Project Requirements

Before we kick-start, we should prepare a list of our project’s needs. It will include the tasks that we need to perform, the processes we need to follow, and much more that may lead to the successful completion of our project. Such needs will clear the image of our jobs that should be performed.

Define Goals To Achieve

At the beginning only, you should set the targets you want your business to achieve. Moreover, let every member of your project team know the objectives. Communicating with your Shopify developer holding your goals and objectives will help you ease your way to success.

Decide Your Budget

Undeniably, hiring an outside-help would consume a considerable amount of your budget. So, before you sign a contract, you should be ready with a solid plan that may prove to be best for investing in your business.

This demands a better understanding of business finances, the amount you need to pay, and everything you need to handle in financial terms. By making your developer know about your decided budget you will be able to make everything clear before you kick-start.

Hiring Models

Next, you should hire dedicated specialists by picking any of the hiring models. For example: you may choose among the managed dedicated team, extended team, product development team, or onsite development team.

Engagement Model

The Shopify development firms have flexible engagement models for offering you the best Shopify development services. Such engagement models are customized as per your specifications. They offer a fixed price model, dedicated model, and time & material model to meet the distinct needs of their clients.

Project Timeline

Apart from the budget, a timeline is also important while communicating with your Shopify developer. You may let your development team know your required timeline. If your and their estimate match, you can give your developer a chance to work with you.

Choose Reporting Tools

When you hire a leading Shopify development agency, it will offer you reports and analytics that will bring the needed metrics to you related to your customers, sales, and visitors.

Payment Schedule

Well, the payment schedule for every brand varies with their needs. So, before you hire a Shopify development company, be sure that you discuss the payment schedule with them. By clearing your company policies, you will be able to avoid any miscommunication ahead.

What Kind Of Shopify Developer Are You Looking For?

Shopify Front-End Developer

The Shopify front-end developers perform closely with the team of software developers, product managers, and designers to develop perfect products and tools. They use the latest technologies and frameworks along with advanced web standards to build large front-end web apps that perform and scale well on all devices. Moreover, they develop human-focused experiences, work closely with the content development team, build Shopify awareness, and communicate the stories about the role of Shopify in commerce to audiences all over the world.

Front-End Developer Skill Sets

• Expertise in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Working experience with the Shopify platform.
• Handle and prioritize concurrent responsibilities; self-directed.
• Follow a collaborative and flexible approach.
• Offer insights and thoughts all through the development process.
• Contribute to constructive technical feedback on various projects to the team.
• Learn and take the right direction on many projects and tasks.
• Experience in SVN, Git, or CVS.
• SCSS/LESS experience.
• Special Platform Working experience: WebSphere Commerce, Hybris, or Demandware.
• PSD-to-CSS execution.
• Working knowledge with JS Frameworks, like Node, JQuery, Angular.
• Good at Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign).
• Experience in responsive design & development.
• CommonJS/AMD and/or MVVC JS patterns.

Shopify Backend Developer

A Shopify back-end developer solves tough issues with performant code and performs as a team to deliver the best quality work. The developers deploy new code that leads to a massive production scale. They constantly enhance the codebase to get even better. They collaborate with developers and designers to come up with creative and fast code that enhances the codebase. They write well-tested code using test-driven development. Moreover, the Shopify back-end developers fix the bugs faster and take time to resolve tough issues also.

Backend Developer Skill Sets

• Experience of working with the frameworks and technologies, like some mostly used languages – PHP, Ruby on Rails, Python, GraphQL, Node.js, Java/JEE.
• Go at SQL and relational databases.

Full-Stack Shopify Developer

He/She is responsible for the Shopify Plus development of themes, platforms, corresponding apps, and liquid programming language. He/She also contributes to open-source software development and builds smooth multi-channel experiences through the integration of common web technologies and JS/HTML5/CSS. Moreover, he performs UX-based designing based on the standards and style guide of the brands. Also, he implements the system integrations that lead to the success of the brand. The Shopify Full Stack developers also hold the knowledge of SEO principles. They develop testing plans and troubleshoot the issues relevant to eCommerce. Furthermore, they conduct root cause analysis, and also develop/determine corresponding action items. The experts also implement advanced debugging techniques and the use of browser developer tools.

FullStack Developer Skill Set

• Proficiency in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
• Deep understanding of DOM.
• Have experience of Shopify theming system and Liquid templating
• Perfect understanding and have working experience of vanilla JavaScript, ES2015/ES6, jQuery, and modern JS frameworks.
• Able to communicate well, offering proactive feedback to team and peers.
• Have good communication skills.
• Have experience in debugging/implementing 3rd-party Shopify apps and creating custom solutions if required.
• Well-experienced with working with Storefront API.
• Thorough debugging and testing skills with external tools and browser console.
• Working knowledge and experience with properties/objects of Shopify, Meta fields, and AJAX API.
• Best at 3rd-party APIs and services, specific Shopify plugins.

Other Skill Set Required For Shopify Developers

However, we have covered the essential skill sets that a Shopify developer should have. Let’s check out some more that would prove to be an add-on.

• In-depth knowledge of the Shopify platform & its versions: Well, a skilled Shopify developer is required to have thorough knowledge of not only the Shopify platform but its versions also.
• Required programming skill sets: Before hiring an expert you should ensure that he is well-versed with the programming skill sets that are essential to develop a successful Shopify store.
• 3rd Party API Integration experience: Well, the use of 3rd-party API strengthens an integration of business with other business apps or web service. So, your chosen developer should have experience of third-party integration.
• Custom Shopify app development knowledge: Well, every business holds distinct needs so, to meet them, your developer should be a specialist in developing custom Shopify apps.
• Shopify theme integration skills: To come up with the required look and feel of the online stores, the Shopify developer should be proficient in Shopify theme integration.
• Knowledge of database technologies: Moreover, a professional Shopify developer should have perfect knowledge of database technologies as these are important when it comes to storage and management of the store information.
• Other platforms to Shopify migration execution skills: In Shopify store development, Shopify migration execution plays an important part. Shopify migration includes migration of data from the source store to Shopify store, the target one. So, your chosen expert should know about Shopify migration also.

Also Read: How To Migrate from Magento to Shopify: Complete Guide

Things To Consider Before Finalizing An Expert Shopify Developer

Now, we will move onto the things that we should incorporate while shortlisting a Shopify development company.

Conduct An Interview

If you are unable to meet a Shopify expert one-to-one, you can at least plan a call with the team. As they hold ultimate experience, you can expect them to come well-prepared. They will let you know if they can help you with your business needs or not.

Go Through Reviews & Feedback

Before you finalize an expert Shopify developer for your Shopify project don’t forget to check the reviews and rating as this will offer you a clear picture of the candidate, its profile, professionalism, and working proficiency.

Check Out The Portfolio & Feedback

Well, to check the past working experience and the performance, you should review the portfolio of the Shopify development agency and its clients’ feedback. This will give you an idea regarding the results the brand offers.

Ask Previous Clients For References

To make the scenario clearer, you can also ask for the past references of their clients. This will make you doubly-sure before picking the best.

Discuss Project’s Specific Requirements

Well, to make your chosen Shopify developer lead the expected path towards the expected results, you should discuss your project needs before you start.

Allocate A Sample Test Project

To ensure that you have picked the best, ask your developer to provide you with a paid coding test. Ahead, if you find it satisfying, you can allow them to move.

Communication Skills Must Be Good

Maybe this is the last point, but this is the first thing that you should find in your Shopify expert before choosing. Apart from having technical expertise, he should be good at communication skills also.

Where To Find Best Shopify Experts & Developers?

Below, in this section, we will cover the top places where you can find the best Shopify developers.

Hire Through Research Firms (Clutch.co, Extract.co, Goodfirms.co)

There exist various directories that are dedicated to listing top-ranked digital agencies that are running all over the globe successfully. These are data-driven field guides that assist in hiring decisions. They hold a plethora of agencies with numerous categories.

A dedicated eCommerce development agency holds the caliber to sketch and develop your project successfully even from scratch. Usually, they have various professionals onboard who are specialized in their specific fields of design and development.

Hiring an agency will offer you more comprehensive and better service and will cost you substantially more as compared to hiring a freelancer.

Hire Through Shopify Platform

At the Shopify platform, you will find top freelancers and agencies, from marketing to store setup, to meet your business needs. At this spot, every expert is reviewed before they are allowed to join the marketplace. They are the entrepreneurs who help the other entrepreneurs.

Be it small or big, the agencies and freelancers here will get your job done successfully within a timeline and hold the best quality.

Hire Through Freelance Portals (Upwork, Freelancer, Toptal)

At the freelance platforms, you will get various high-standard freelance Shopify developers. It will not take much of your time to come up with a quality developer. You will be required to post your job with your project goals, target audience, summary of the project, deliverables, timeframe, etc.

Hire Through Social Media (Linkedin, Facebook)

On social sites also you can find a trusted professional to complete your Shopify project. All you need to do is go through the profiles of the professionals you shortlist and then discuss your project with them. Soon, you will get flooded with various replies relevant to your project.

How Much Does It Cost To Hire Shopify Developers Across The Globe?

Now, let’s just know how much it will cost you to hire a proficient Shopify developer.

Generally, the cost depends on the complexity and the size of your Shopify project.

When estimating the cost for your project, a Shopify developer will include your sales targets, traffic, functionalities, and the features required. A fully customized design will cost you more as compared to a simple template that one needs to start with.

Custom integration, SEO, product or customer data import, or copywriting requirements will add-up to your development cost.

• Small Projects usually cost between $3,000 to $5,000.
• Medium-Sized Projects will reach $10,000.
• Larger ones will set your budget between $10,000 to $100,000.

Factors Affecting The Cost To Hire A Shopify Developer

The cost to hire a Shopify developer depends on various factors. Let’s talk about a few below:

Type Of Online Store

Well, the cost depends on the type of the eStore you want to have, its features, functionalities, and more you want to include. Needless to say, as the number of parameters increases, the cost-estimate for hiring a Shopify expert also increases.

Type Of Shopify Expert

If you are considering a well-experienced professional who has worked with top Shopify stores will charge you more as compared to one who has experience of a few months or years.

Geographical Location

The cost of hiring an expert also relies on his living location. The price varies with the geographical location.

Type Of Hiring Model

As explained above, there are various sorts of hiring models among which you may choose while hiring a professional Shopify developer.

Type Of Engagement Model

Again, as mentioned above, your choice of engagement model will decide the cost of hiring, like fixed price model, time & material model, etc.

Timeframe

The time required to complete a Shopify project also finalizes the cost of hiring. If you need 3rd-party integration or more, it will demand an extended timeline to meet the required end. And, obviously, ‘time is money’, with the time, the cost also increases.

Hiring Freelance Shopify Developer Vs Hiring From Agency

Hiring a freelancer will prove to be a cost-effective option as compared to hiring from an agency. Moreover, you will find a freelancer hard to manage. When talking about scaling, usually they present various issues. Also, when it comes to support and maintenance service, the freelancers are tough to stick around. Besides, their quality assurance is also variable.

On the contrary, when you hire a developer from a leading agency, it assists in lowering the risks that we face with freelancers. The top agencies offer proper support and maintenance and are always ready-to-scale.

So, are you also looking for a company to hire a professional shopify developer? EmizenTech, as a leading Shopify development company, has a team of experts who can help you with your project. We have completed many projects for some of the best companies. So wait no more, and contact us today to get your hands on the best company experts for your business.

Checklist For Hiring A Shopify Expert for Your eCommerce Project – Quick To-Do List

• Have an idea of the results you want to accomplish.
• Perform deep research, browse industry forums, find recommendations, check out reviews, and testimonials.
• Shortlist best candidates.
• Schedule a meeting or a call.
• Once you finalize, discuss the whole project.
• Set a milestone and fix a payment schedule.
• Kick-start your project and review every milestone on completion.
• Approve the payments after you get satisfied with the result completely.

Time To Wrap The Project (Process, Feedback)

Now, as you are near to the project’s end, you would be excited to attain the results of your hard work. So, at this phase, you need to wrap your project so perfectly that everything just goes seamlessly.

Stick To Crucial Process & Timelines

Having close attention to the steps that lead towards the ending of the project, you may keep a critical eye on key jobs and deliveries.

Offer Feedback

Once everything is done as per the words, there are still some aspects left that should be expressed. Being a client, the most valuable and best gift you can give to your development team is helpful feedback on how you find the outcome of your project. To offer extra effective feedback even if you are not from a technical background, you may try offering visuals examples. For example: you may provide websites you like, screenshots, and more that have accordion functionality.

After Support Services

Being a client, you should ask your Shopify development service provider for post-development support services. This support and maintenance service will help your Shopify store keep up and running.

Wrapping Up

Well, in the end, we hope you have found our post helpful for hiring the best Shopify developer to complete your project successfully as per your expectations. If you ask us we would recommend you to hire an expert from a leading agency to reap all the benefits and meet the desired end of your project that is quite hard with a freelancer. You may share your insights with us in the comment section below, we would be more than happy to hear from you.