What to look for when choosing e-commerce web developers

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As stores move online, having a great eCommerce website is vital to your business. A web store with your distinct brand voice sets you apart from competitors. It’s not only about the look and feel, though: secure payment transactions and synchronization with the inventory databases are equally essential. Support, maintenance, updates, and making sure your online store complies with privacy regulations and security standards is another reason why you need to think of eCommerce development. 

If you’re not looking to hire an in-house team, you need to partner with experienced third party professionals. Here’s when things get tricky: how do you navigate across the sea of resumes and choose great eCommerce web devs? The checklist below should set you on the right track. 

How To Choose eCommerce Web-Developers: 5 Things to Consider

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The web developers you hire will largely determine the quality and success of your web store. Here’s what you should pay attention to when sifting through CVs to fill your pool of candidates:

1. Proven track record of successful projects

Prospective candidates should have at least three successful projects featured in their Portfolio section. Make sure you visit these web stores and take a closer look at their usability and features. Your ideal candidate should maintain a working relationship with these Clients and work on regular website support and upgrade. This kind of eCommerce website developer is most likely to have a good command of the latest trends and technologies.

2.  Familiarity with your eCommerce platform and payment processor type

Your ideal candidate should have expertise in developing for exactly the type of platform you use to modify and manage your web store content. For example, if you’re using Shopify, a candidate with vast experience in Magento is probably not the best choice. If you will be building a web store from scratch, ask a candidate which eCommerce platform would suit your project best in their opinion. Ask them to give reasons for their choice.

The same goes for the payment processor – your ideal eCommerce website developer should be familiar with your payment processor type and be able to confidently communicate about its features and functionality.

3. Communication and soft skills

Your eCommerce web developers will be on the receiving end of communication with your company decision-makers, web content managers, inventory controllers, and the payment processor staff. How well does your prospect handle these interactions will have an immense impact on your online store operations. For eCommerce website developers, excellent communication skills are mandatory. 

Ask your prospects about how they have dealt with complicated situations in the past. Talk about hypothetic conflicts that could arise and ask them how they would resolve them. 

Most importantly, though, talk to the contacts on their reference list. Don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions: how well had the candidate handled communication in the past? What is their opinion of the candidate’s interpersonal skills and resilience?

4. Development costs and payment model

Price arbitrage is inarguably one of the most attractive things about outsourcing eCommerce web development. But don’t let low prices tempt you into hiring developers with skills below average. Strike a delicate balance between optimal price, experience, and skillsets. Furthermore, discuss the payment model that you will be choosing to pay your eCommerce web developers. Most of the eCommerce developers would like to receive at least part of the payment in advance or upon reaching a primary milestone. If you’re building a web store from scratch, think about further support and maintenance, and include these costs into your contract.

Surely, the search, the assessment, and the negotiation process may take weeks or even months, depending on your requirements. Unless you’re building a complex, large-scale eCommerce website, you will probably look for experienced freelancers on platforms like Upwork. If you’re building a large-scale project, though, you need a dedicated team to handle both front-end and back-end web development, ensure integration with a range of payment processors and gateways and provide 24/7 tech support. 

At QArea we have hands-on experience in choosing web-developers with excellent eCommerce expertise. We employ top talent in Ukraine across 3 R&D centers in Eastern Europe and conduct in-depth technical interviews to check the candidate’s level of familiarity with different e-commerce platforms.  

Although we use the best recruitment practices, the average time-to-hire is considerably shorter than in countries where tech talent is scarce and expensive. We are also completely transparent in our recruitment process and let the client have a final word when it comes to the choice of eCommerce web developers.

The takeaway: Regardless of whether you choose to look for eCommerce professionals by yourself or have a tech partner hire a dedicated team for your web store, one general rule of thumb is not to rush. Even if you’re pressured by deadlines, make sure your web developers meet most of your requirements in terms of skills and expertise. Take your time to carefully evaluate each prospect. In will pay off in the long run.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Editor’s Note: Qarea is a leading outsourcing company that provides dedicated teams of top-notchprofessionals. Our team helps startups, SMBs, and big enterprises to build custom and scalableproducts that bring their business to new heights.