Before you hire a Shopify agency: how to set yourself up for a good decision
Most agency relationships that go wrong don't fail because the agency was bad. They fail because the brief was unclear, the budget was unrealistic, the goals shifted, or the brand picked the agency that pitched best rather than the one that fit best.
Get clear on what you actually need
Before you speak to a single agency, spend time getting specific about what you're trying to achieve. Not just 'a new website' – what does success look like in six months? Are you trying to improve conversion rate, launch into new markets, migrate from another platform, or rebuild a store that's become impossible to manage?
The more specific you can be, the better the agencies you'll attract and the easier it'll be to compare them. Vague briefs produce vague proposals. And vague proposals make it very difficult to work out who's actually right for you.
Set a realistic budget before you start
This is the one brands most often resist, usually because they don't want to anchor negotiations. But going into conversations without a budget is counterproductive – it means agencies have to guess, proposals come back all over the place, and you end up comparing quotes that aren't remotely equivalent.
You don't have to be exact, but a range helps. A custom Shopify build for a mid-sized brand typically starts from around £25,000-£35,000. Shopify Plus projects with complex integrations can be considerably more. Knowing roughly where you are helps agencies propose something that's actually scoped for your situation.
Look at portfolios properly
Most brands scan agency portfolios for visual style. That's important but it's not the full picture. When you're looking at an agency's work, go deeper.
Click around the stores they've built. Does the mobile experience feel considered? Is the navigation clear? Do the product pages build confidence and move you toward purchase? A site can look beautiful in a screenshot and perform poorly in reality.
Look for examples from brands at a similar stage and in a similar sector to yours. An agency that has built stores for enterprise retailers isn't necessarily the right fit for a fast-growing DTC brand, and vice versa.
Ask the questions that actually reveal something
Generic questions get generic answers. These are the ones worth asking:
What would you do differently if you were starting this project from scratch? This tells you whether they're capable of honest reflection.
What's the most common reason projects like mine go wrong, and how do you avoid it? This tells you how self-aware they are about their own process.
Can I speak to a client whose project didn't go entirely smoothly? This tells you everything about how they handle problems.
What apps or integrations would you recommend for my setup, and which ones would you actively avoid? This tells you whether their recommendations are genuinely considered or just default suggestions.
Think beyond the build
The most expensive mistake brands make is treating an agency search as a one-off project rather than the start of an ongoing relationship. Your store will need to evolve – new features, seasonal updates, performance improvements, integrations with new tools. The agency you choose needs to be able to support that, or at least be honest about where their scope ends.
Ask what post-launch looks like. Ask whether they offer retained support or whether you'll need to re-brief and re-scope every time you need something changed. Ask what happens if the key people on your project leave the agency.
The brief is the foundation
Everything above comes down to this: the quality of your brief will determine the quality of your proposals, which will determine the quality of your decision.
A good brief covers your goals, your current situation, your constraints (budget, timeline, technical requirements), what success looks like, and what the ongoing relationship needs to look like beyond launch.
It doesn't have to be long. It has to be honest and specific.
If you're not sure how to write one, that's something I can help with as part of a facilitated search. Getting the brief right before agencies are involved is one of the most valuable things you can do.
