Do I Need a Shopify Developer for My Online Store?
It’s a beast, Shopify, both in terms of its growing market share and the range of features available to all users. Whether first-time site owners or seasoned online professionals – Shopify is an e-commerce option that is almost impossible to ignore. Given its built-in features and customisable themes, ask yourself: Do I need a Shopify developer?
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a user-friendly e-commerce platform that assists small businesses in creating an online store and selling online through a single streamlined dashboard. Shopify merchants can build a modern online store and sell on social media sites, seller marketplaces, other blogs and websites, as well as via email, text, and chat.
Why Wouldn’t I Need a Shopify Developer?
Shopify is a hosted service. Effectively you ‘rent’ a website from Shopify – they manage the hosting and many of the default e-commerce functions. Make no mistake; this is not simple. A lot of developer hours are spent creating and maintaining e-commerce systems. There are a lot of moving parts in even a basic e-commerce store: managing products, user interaction, basket management system, security, payment gateways and delivery.
Shopify takes care of all of these for you.
Shopify attempts to be an all-in-one e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create an online store, manage products, and handle payments. It is user-friendly and attempts to obviate the need for technical skills to set up a basic store.
Nonetheless …
To get the most out of the platform, some level of ‘web smarts’ will help you get a lot more out of your store. Knowledge of web design fundamentals, customer journeys, responsive design and image formats will all help even the simplest store look good and make money.
So Do I Need a Shopify Developer?
As your business grows and your needs become more complex, you may need more than just the basic features offered by Shopify.
This is where a Shopify developer comes in. These are just some of the scenarios where we reckon some developers might be useful.
Customisation
While Shopify offers numerous templates and themes, they may only sometimes align with your brand’s unique identity or specific requirements. A Shopify developer can customise your store’s design to match your brand aesthetics and functionality needs.
Shopify’s template language: .liquid is easy for even relatively inexperienced developers to understand – modest changes are quite easy to make. The documentation online is top amongst the best of any platform and built-in .git integration make it a powerful development solution.
Bear in mind, though, if you make a mistake in a liquid template, you may well break your whole website. If you’re not confident – get yourself a developer.
Additional Functions
Sometimes Shopify will trip you up – something you might have expected to be there just isn’t. Recently a client asked for an Amazon-style ‘recently viewed’ panel … just not there.
Shopify has a lively ecosystem of apps – the platform can be extended through a wide array of official extensions.
But sometimes these apps are expensive, sometimes they are slow and sometimes it’s just much, much simpler for a developer to add a small snippet of code.
Integration
Shopify works best when it works simply, and at scale. If lots of people want to do the same thing, it is likely Shopify will support it.
As your operation grows or you are more likely to develop specific requirements. Integrating your store with third-party applications or systems (like a ERP or CRM). In that case, you’ll need the expertise of a developer. A good Shopify developer can ensure seamless integration without disrupting your operations.
Even where an app exists, configuring the options can require developer-style thinking. We have configured delivery rule sets with hundreds of conditions.
Advanced Features
Shopify developers can also add advanced features like custom search filters, advanced product options, custom checkout processes, etc., which might not be possible with standard templates.
Troubleshooting
While running an online store, you might encounter technical issues that could disrupt your business operations. Having a dedicated Shopify developer ensures these issues are quickly resolved without causing significant downtime.
Shopify servers are fast and powerful. But, all those apps and customisations can slow a site down. Speed optimisation affects your SEO rankings. If you’re worried your site is underperforming – you might want to contact a developer.
The Benefits of Hiring a Shopify Developer
- Expert Guidance – professional developer brings their expertise in understanding how the platform works at its core level. They can guide you on the best practices to optimise your store, improve its performance, and enhance user experience.
- Saves Time – By hiring a Shopify developer, you can focus on other important aspects of your business like marketing and customer service. The developer takes care of all technical aspects, saving you time and effort.
- Custom Solutions – Every business is unique, and so are its needs. A Shopify developer can provide custom solutions tailored to your business requirements, ensuring your online store stands out.
