E-commerce

What These Agencies Do

E-commerce agencies build and maintain online stores. The work includes storefront design, product catalog setup, payment and tax configuration, shipping rules, and connecting the store to whatever runs the rest of the business, such as inventory software, accounting systems, or a warehouse. Most build on established platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce rather than writing a store from scratch, because payments and security are problems those platforms have already solved.

In the Midwest this category serves a wider range than the typical direct-to-consumer brand. Agencies here regularly work with manufacturers adding online ordering, wholesalers building dealer portals with negotiated pricing, and established retailers in cities like Kansas City and Minneapolis moving a physical catalog online. Those projects involve real complexity, thousands of SKUs, freight shipping, customer-specific pricing, and an agency that has only built small boutique stores may not be equipped for them.

When to Hire One

A do-it-yourself store on a hosted platform is fine for many businesses. Bring in an agency when the store itself becomes a real operational system:

• You are moving from in-person or phone orders to online sales for the first time
• Your catalog is large or complicated, with variants, bundles, or customer-specific pricing
• Orders need to flow automatically into inventory, fulfillment, or accounting software
• You are replatforming an existing store and cannot afford to lose order history or search rankings
• Cart abandonment or checkout errors are costing you sales you can measure

What to Ask Before You Sign

Store builds are priced by complexity. A straightforward storefront on a hosted platform may cost a few thousand dollars, while builds with integrations and data migration commonly run into five figures, plus platform and app subscription fees that continue every month. Make the agency spell out both the build cost and the ongoing costs.

• Which platform do you recommend for my catalog and volume, and why that one?
• What are the total monthly costs after launch, platform fees, apps, hosting, and support?
• Who migrates my products, customers, and order history, and how is that verified?
• How will the store connect to my inventory or accounting system, and is that integration in the quote?
• What happens to transaction fees and payment processing, and do you take any percentage of sales?
• Can you show me stores you have built that are still running two or more years later?