8 Critical Things to Know before You Hire Ecommerce Developer

Are you looking to hire eCommerce developers? No surprise. It's nearly impossible to picture a world without eCommerce nowadays. It's a sector of the digital economy that continues to expand year after year and has no bounds.

Today, having a strong online presence and creating websites on eCommerce platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce is just as important as having an innovative product. You'll need to hire eCommerce developers to help you with that.

Do you want to stand out from the crowd, take advantage of all the benefits of having a wonderful custom online retail eCommerce platform, and increase your revenue? Do you want your platform to be used by customers worldwide? If the answer to all these questions is a "Yes," it's high time that you hire eCommerce experts who have the right skills and mindset to build scalable and efficient solutions.

In this blog, we will walk you through all the details you need to know before you hire an eCommerce expert.

Let's go!

Who is an eCommerce developer?

An eCommerce developer is a specialist/expert with a specific understanding of the technologies and platforms commonly used for building eCommerce solutions. To ensure the smooth operation of the business, a development expert provides years of knowledge, resources, and assistance in a variety of key areas. While the most well-known digital retail markets are giants like Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist, you can hire eCommerce developers to build platforms for small and medium businesses looking to raise brand exposure.

Now, you know who exactly is an eCommerce developer. Let’s discuss why you should hire them.

Why should you hire an eCommerce expert?

According to a report by SaleCycle, smartphone traffic in 2020 was 68% for mobile and 32% for desktop globally. Obviously, the pandemic had a huge impact on conversion rates. When you can establish an E-store yourself or have an in-house team that can accomplish it, why hire an eCommerce developer?

When you're small and just starting, you may not need any outside help at all. However, as your business expands and more customers come on board, the platform becomes more complex, requiring more attention, time, and money to keep it up to date. And, regardless of the size, it could be difficult if you don't hire eCommerce developers.

Web development is becoming increasingly sophisticated because of the complexity of programming technologies, each with its own set of programming languages, integration tools, and development methodologies. Since assembling a team of "full-stack" programmers is quite challenging, many businesses prefer to hire eCommerce developers expressly for their projects. If you can't find specialists in your niche, you can outsource eCommerce web development services from a software development company.

When should you hire dedicated eCommerce developers?

Do you want to create a fully functional website from the ground up but lack the workforce for that? Then it's time to hire an eCommerce developer. The truth is that if you want to build your site from the ground up, you need a team that is well-versed in various programming technologies;

Thankfully, when you hire eCommerce developers, there will be experts who can take care of your website from start to finish, saving you time and headaches. When you already have an idea of the brand, the overall concept of the site, a list of responsibilities to accomplish, and established simple objectives, it's the perfect time to hire an eCommerce developer for your team.

Even if you currently have a functional website but want to add new features, revamp it, wrap up a code, or migrate it to a different platform, these are the first signs that you need to hire eCommerce developers. It's foolish to rely solely on your own skills when you have access to a professional. In the end, blind decisions can harm your project, and you'll find yourself back where you started.

Services offered by dedicated eCommerce developers

A full-time eCommerce developer can handle many tasks while also meeting your expectations. When you hire eCommerce developers, you can get the following services:

UI/UX design

The UI/UX design deals with the product's functionality, adaptability, and consumer emotions. The more simple and direct the interface, the easier it is for the user to navigate and take the required action. When you hire eCommerce designers in your team, they will work on the graphical part of the interface, such as animations, graphics, buttons, menus, sliders, photographs, and fonts.

Front-end design

When you hire an eCommerce developer, the professional will help you build a part of the web page visible to the user. They design and develop the structure of a web page using technologies such as HTML, CSS, React.js, Angular, Vue.js, and others.

Back-end web development

Back-end development includes writing the server-side logic, integrating with APIs and third-party libraries, defining & developing the database schema, and more. You must hire eCommerce developers who are familiar with programming languages such as Java, Python, along with knowledge of databases and APIs. Mobile app design

Evaluation, analytics, design, development, testing, issue fixing, release, and post-release support are all part of the mobile app development process. It's no secret that smartphones are playing an increasingly important role in eCommerce. Therefore, hire eCommerce developers who can help you build top-notch mobile applications.

Custom software development

Custom software development is the process of developing software to meet your particular requirements that aren't covered by commercial off-the-shelf software. Check for the candidate's experience in custom software development while hiring eCommerce developers.

Skillset of an experienced eCommerce developer

If you want your website to be famous among clients, you'll need a wide range of technical skills to build a solid eCommerce platform. Since eCommerce developer responsibilities are unique, it's better to hire an eCommerce developer rather than a general software programmer.

When you hire eCommerce developers, check for the following technical skills in candidates:

1. Skills: HTML, CSS, Javascript (React.js, Vue,js), jQuery

Purpose: For front-end development

2. Skills: Node.js, Laravel, Symfony, Ruby on Rails, .Net

Purpose: For back-end development

3. Skills: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Axure

Purpose: For UI/UX design

4. Skills: Flutter, React Native, Ionic

Purpose: For mobile app development

A good developer must be proficient in all of the tools available in this vast sea. For instance, 3dCart is a widely utilized platform while developing an online marketplace. It supports over 17,000 e-stores and includes several features (such as numerous payment gateways and secure transactions). So, if you want to take advantage of this platform, you'll need to hire eCommerce developers who have done it before to make it easier and faster.

For e.g., Woocommerce, a WordPress marketplace plugin. It is one of the most popular eCommerce solutions on the market, with over 5 million installations worldwide. Woocommerce is a fantastic tool for creating online stores, but only when utilized properly. Even though Woocommerce is user-friendly, you will need to hire an eCommerce developer with a specific skill set and, again, preferable expertise to fully use all of its potential and create your marketplace.

Now, it is difficult to hire eCommerce developers who are proficient in all of the above-mentioned programming languages and tools. Yet, you want only the best to work on your platform. That's why we advocate hiring a development team to build and launch your website and then hiring one or two eCommerce engineers to support and upgrade it after that. You may also hire eCommerce developer remotely to grow your development team quickly. You can overcome this difficulty by hiring remote eCommerce developers from a global talent pool.

Responsibilities of eCommerce developers

Depending on your requirements, the list of responsibilities of a potential eCommerce developer may differ. However, to help build your site, you need to hire an eCommerce developer who can perform the following tasks:

• Identify your platform's requirements and potential solutions. Use their knowledge to investigate and recommend new methods.
• Configure, design, and build scalable and responsive eCommerce solutions based on your specifications.
• Perform integration with numerous payment gateways, ensuring transaction security, easy cart operation, and other shopping-specific features for your marketplace are part of this.
• Help with developing and implementing a digital marketing strategy for your business.
• Providing post-release support, including adding new functionalities and integrations and resolving any bugs.

Tips to hire dedicated eCommerce developers

Whether you choose to hire an eCommerce developer remotely or locally, finding an experienced programmer can be difficult.

Define your goals

Remember that you are hiring a completely new person who, while an expert in designing eCommerce systems, will be unfamiliar with your business in the early phases. Therefore, you must first outline the aims and functionality of your prospective E-store. Be careful to settle on the platform's specifics.

For example, if you want to integrate your platform with payment systems, it would be easy if you hire eCommerce developers who have prior knowledge in this field. This can also assist you in avoiding a situation where you hire eCommerce app developers who specialize in Shopify to create a WordPress website. It would be ideal to choose the platform that will power your site (pricing, security, checkout procedures, integration with payment gateways, and accessibility are all factors that can influence this). Still, even if you are unsure, you should hire an eCommerce developer who can analyze your request and assist you in making your decision.

Make a financial plan

Developing your eCommerce platform is a very successful and long-term source of revenue, but it also necessitates a considerable initial investment. Thus, a budget must be established.

Fortunately, as the IT industry is growing rapidly, there are a plethora of eCommerce developers available for recruitment. You can even hire an eCommerce developer remotely and assemble a global team if you want to save even more money.

Don't forget to check relevant skills while you hire an eCommerce developer

What is an eCommerce developer, if not a person who possesses the necessary set of hard skills?

• Match a potential employee's skills to your objectives when you hire eCommerce developers.

• Examine the programmer's portfolio to ensure that they have prior experience developing online eCommerce platforms.

• Also, don't be afraid to assign a technical task to evaluate their skills; this will help you hire eCommerce developers who will be the best fit.

But, before you hire an eCommerce web developer, think about the pros and cons. Let's jump right into it.

Pros and cons of hiring eCommerce developers

Let’s begin with the cons.

Cons

It is time-consuming

If you want to hire eCommerce developers, you'll need to devote a significant amount of time and attention to the process. The good news is that if you discover the right companion, your problems will be solved once and for all.

Lack of control

When working with an in-house team, you can choose your own developers. But when you hire eCommerce developers from an outsourced firm, you may not have the same amount of control. That is why it is critical to maintaining open lines of communication throughout the project.

Now, it's time to know the pros.

Pros

No hustle and bustle

When you hire eCommerce developers who are very experienced and highly self-sufficient, it allows you to focus on your main business while a professional manage your eCommerce platform.

There's no need for your in-house workers to get additional training, and there's no need to wait for hours. After all, when you hire an eCommerce developer, it brings with it a fresh perspective and creative flair.

Furthermore, working with hired developers is much simpler - simply select the engagement model that best matches your needs (based on the rate/hours ratio, overall cost, responsibilities, and certification) to eliminate unnecessary risks.

In the next section, let's go through the main challenges hiring managers face while they hire eCommerce developers.

Hiring challenges and solutions

Challenge 1: Getting the right people to apply

You will understand how limited the talent pool is when you start your recruitment. You might end up hiring a moderate eCommerce developer, and not the outstanding candidate for the job.

However, it's not always about the number of applicants; in many cases, the ideal method to hire eCommerce developers who will be the best fit is from a smaller pool of more competent applicants.

Solution: In your job advertisements, be specific about the prerequisites and provide a concise overview of the function. Use an application form with 'knock-out' questions to immediately address your primary concerns. For instance, does the job role need someone who is a pro in a particular skill? Include a yes/no question that will get you the answer from the candidate. When you hire eCommerce developers, it's a quick technique to eliminate candidates who aren't a good fit for the job.

Challenge 2: Finding and retaining qualified candidates

This is a very common challenge recruiters face when they hire eCommerce developers. Hiring managers frequently contact the best candidates, making it difficult for your email to stand out.

Also, individuals with top-notch skills always explore many job offers simultaneously. You'll have to go above and beyond to persuade passive applicants to choose your organization over your competition.

Solution: Before you hire an eCommerce developer, research what inspires and makes a passive prospect happy in their job before contacting them. Use your findings to create sourcing emails to focus on the benefits of working with your company rather than what they can do for your firm.

Challenge 3: Fast hiring

The entire recruitment process may be excessively lengthy, or hiring teams may not compromise in negotiations, causing the best eCommerce developers to seek a job in other companies.

Solution 1: Before you hire an eCommerce developer, examine your hiring process and ask yourself if all of the stages are truly necessary. And, are you searching for the right candidates at the right places? Recruiting analytics from your applicant tracking system can help you answer all of these questions (ATS).

Solution 2: When you hire eCommerce developers for difficult-to-fill positions, it's natural to take a long time to hire. Explain this to the hiring teams and establish expectations from the start before you hire developers. Let them know what a reasonable deadline is, and emphasize the necessity of hiring carefully for positions where a bad hire could result in a significant financial loss.

Challenge 4: Using data-driven recruitment to hire eCommerce web developers

Recruitment data and metrics help businesses to improve their hiring process and hire the best professionals. But, analyzing data can be a daunting task. Spreadsheets are a way to keep track of recruiting information. But, they require manual labor, are prone to human mistakes, and are inflexible. This is a barrier to precisely tracking data and trends. Hiring teams want methods for compiling and organizing data in a streamlined and efficient way.

Solution: Before you hire eCommerce developers, use tools like an ATS, Google analytics, or recruitment marketing software to store data and export useful reports. You don't need to keep track of every single recruiting metric available. Discuss with top management to come up with a few KPIs that are meaningful to you and your firm.

Challenge 5: Creating a powerful employer brand

You can hire an eCommerce developer effectively with a strong employer brand. Employer branding makes it more probable for a company to make good hiring.

Solution: Always respond (courteously) to negative and positive online reviews. Let your employees express their feedback about their working experience (for example, through blogs and videos). Above all, be a good employer, and it will reflect when you hire an eCommerce developer.

That's it about the things you need to keep in mind before you hire an eCommerce developer. Let's sum it up.

Conclusion

It's nearly impossible for businesses to run without eCommerce nowadays. You would need to hire an eCommerce developer when you want to create a fully functional website from the ground up or need to modify the existing website. Define your goals, make a financial plan, and don't forget to check relevant skills before hiring the candidate.

The main challenges while hiring developers are getting the right people to apply, fast hiring, using data-driven recruitment, and creating a powerful employer brand. That’s when Turing enters the picture.

Turing is a deep jobs platform powered by data science that connects the best remote software developers with world-class organizations. At half the cost, we help organizations recruit experienced remote software developers who have been pre-vetted for a Silicon Valley bar. Our process is simple: we identify the top software developers by evaluating their skills in different areas and matching them to your specific requirements.

Spin up your engineering dream team with Turing and hire the best remote eCommerce developers in 3-5 days.