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Written by:
Asad Abdullah Zafar
- Published
- 12 min read
- Shopify
Quick answer: Before you sign with a Shopify agency, ask who will actually build your store, what the fixed scope includes and leaves out, who owns the store, theme and code, what access the agency needs, how it will protect your search traffic at launch, and what support you get afterwards. Get every answer in writing. Walk away if an agency asks for your owner login, cannot show live stores it built, or has no plan for redirects.
Most Shopify projects that go wrong were set up to go wrong at signing. The scope was vague, nobody wrote down who owns the theme, or the agency planned to handle SEO later and the store launched without redirects. None of that comes up on a sales call unless you ask.
We run Loop2Tech, a Shopify agency based in Karachi, Pakistan, that works with brands worldwide. This is the list we would want a careful client to use on us. The questions are grouped by the part of the project they protect, and each one says what a good answer sounds like.
Check these before the first call
Some answers you can find without asking anyone:
- Live stores. Open three stores the agency built on your phone, not on their laptop. Check how quickly product pages load and whether checkout offers the payment methods your customers use.
- The Shopify Partner Directory. Agencies listed in the Shopify Partner Directory show their services, the price ranges they quote, their partner tier and reviews from merchants. A listing is not proof of quality, but if an agency is not listed, ask why. Our analysis of the prices 248 Shopify Partners publish shows how widely those ranges vary.
- What they publish. An agency that writes about Shopify speed, SEO or migrations in specific detail has usually done the work. One whose website is all adjectives may not have.
Questions about the team and the work
- Who will actually build my store? You want names and roles: who designs, who writes the theme code and who tests. If the person selling to you will not be involved, ask to speak to someone who will.
- Is any of the work subcontracted? Subcontracting is common and not always a problem, but you should know who will have access to your store and your customer data.
- Have you built stores like mine? Like yours means a similar catalogue size, similar integrations and similar markets, not just any Shopify store. A brand with 2,000 variants and an ERP sync needs different experience from a ten-product launch.
- Can I speak to a client whose store launched in the last year? A recent client remembers how the project actually ran: whether deadlines held and how problems were handled.
- Who is my day-to-day contact, and when can I reach them? If the team works in another time zone, agree the hours that overlap with yours and how quickly messages get answered.
Questions about scope and price
- What exactly does the quote include? Ask for a written list of pages, templates, features, apps and integrations. "Custom Shopify store" is not a scope.
- What is not included? Design, copywriting, product uploads, photography, app subscriptions and support after launch are the usual gaps. Each one becomes an extra invoice if nobody wrote it down.
- Is the price fixed or hourly, and what happens if the work runs over? For a build with a clear finish line, a fixed price against a written scope puts the risk of overrunning on the agency. If you pay by the hour, ask for an estimate and a cap. Our guide to Shopify developer hourly rates shows what each level of experience costs.
- How many rounds of revisions are included? Unlimited revisions sounds generous and usually means nobody has defined what finished looks like.
- How are payments tied to progress? Milestone payments should follow work you can see, such as an approved design or a working staging theme, not dates on a calendar.
Questions about ownership and access
- Whose account is the store in? The store should be on your account, billed to you, with you as the owner. If the agency starts on a development store, agree in writing when ownership transfers to you.
- Will you work through a collaborator account? Shopify's collaborator accounts let an agency work on your store with only the permissions you approve. You give the agency a 4-digit request code, you can remove its access at any time, and collaborators do not count towards your store's user limit. There is no reason to hand over your owner login.
- Who owns the theme code and the designs? Ask for the answer in the contract. The US Copyright Office's guide to works made for hire explains that work created by an independent contractor generally belongs to its creator, and only counts as a work made for hire in limited categories and with a signed written agreement. Rules differ by country, so the safe default everywhere is a written assignment of the code and designs to you.
- Will I get the code in a repository I control? A theme kept in your own GitHub account, or at least exported at handover, means the next developer can pick it up without starting again.
- Which apps will you install, and who pays for them? Every app adds a monthly bill and often extra code on every page. Ask for the list, the monthly cost of each app and the reason for each one.
SEO questions, and the red flags in the answers
This is where many agencies are weakest, and where a bad answer costs you for longest. A store that launches without its search traffic can take months to win it back.
- How will you protect my current rankings at launch? If you are moving from another platform or changing URLs, the answer should include a redirect map: every old URL matched to its new one with a permanent redirect. Google's guidance on moving a site is built around exactly this. Shopify sets its own URL structure, with products under /products/ and collections under /collections/, so almost every move to Shopify changes URLs. Shopify has a built-in URL redirect tool, so ask who will build the list and check it with them before launch. Red flag: "Shopify handles that automatically" or "we will do SEO after launch".
- How fast will the store be, and how will you measure it? A good answer separates lab tests, such as a Lighthouse score, from field data: the Core Web Vitals that Google collects from real visitors and reports in Search Console. Shopify requires themes sold in its Theme Store to reach an average Lighthouse performance score of at least 60, which shows how low the floor is. Our Shopify speed optimisation guide explains what to aim for. Red flag: a promised perfect score, or no mention of real-visitor data.
- How will you set up collections for search? Collection pages often match buying searches better than single product pages, so their structure, headings and text matter. Our guide to Shopify collection page SEO explains why. Red flag: collections treated as a menu and nothing more.
- Will the theme output structured data for products? Product structured data, such as price, availability and reviews, helps search engines and AI assistants read your catalogue. Ask what the theme outputs and whether apps will add duplicate markup on top of it.
- Who writes the product and collection copy? If the answer is you, plan the time for it. If the agency writes it, ask who checks it for accuracy.
Questions about launch and after
- What happens in launch week? Ask who tests checkout, tax, shipping and customer emails before the store goes live, and who is available on the day it does.
- Is there a warranty period for bugs? A set period after launch in which the agency fixes its own defects at no charge is normal. Get the length in writing.
- What does support cost after that? Ask for the monthly or hourly price now, while you are still comparing agencies, rather than after launch, when you have no alternative.
- What will you hand over at the end? Expect admin training, notes on any custom code, the app list, the redirect list and the removal of the agency's access once the work is done.
Red flags that should end the conversation
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Asks for your owner login | Collaborator accounts exist so you never have to share it. An agency that wants owner access either does not know Shopify well or wants control you should keep. |
| Cannot show three live stores it built | Mock-ups and screenshots prove design skill, not delivery. |
| No written scope before a deposit | Without a scope there is no agreed definition of done, so every disagreement becomes a negotiation. |
| SEO after launch | Redirects, URL structure and speed are decided during the build. Fixing them afterwards costs more and loses traffic in the meantime. |
| Guaranteed rankings or a guaranteed speed score | Nobody controls Google's rankings, and lab scores change from one test to the next. A guarantee means the agency is selling, not measuring. |
| A vague answer on who owns the code | If the contract says nothing, you may not own the theme you paid for. |
| A quote far below every other | When one quote is a third of the rest, something is missing from it. Find out what before you choose it. |
How to compare the answers
Send every agency the same written brief and the same questions, then put the answers side by side. Score each answer on three things: whether it answers the question you asked, whether it is specific to your store, and whether the agency will put it in the contract. Compare prices last, once you know the quotes cover the same work.
If the agencies on your list are very different, our comparison of Shopify agencies for complex builds explains the capability tiers and how to tell which one an agency belongs to. If you are considering a team in another country, our guide to hiring offshore Shopify developers covers time zones, contracts and payment.
How Loop2Tech answers these questions
We would rather be judged against this list than against a sales pitch, so here are our answers to the questions clients ask most:
- Price: fixed and published on our pricing page. Store setup on a premium theme is US$650, a custom Online Store 2.0 store is US$1,800, and custom apps and migrations start from US$1,200, quoted against a written scope. AEO, GEO and SEO after launch is US$450 a month.
- Access: we work through a collaborator account with only the permissions the job needs, and never ask for an owner login.
- Ownership: the store stays in your account, and you own the store and the theme code.
- SEO: redirects, collection structure, speed and structured data are part of the build, not an add-on after launch.
Our Shopify development agency page sets out the process step by step, with timelines for each package.
Sign the agency that answers in writing
The right Shopify agency is the one whose answers you can put in a contract: a named team, a written scope, a clear price, your ownership of the store and the code, collaborator access and a plan for your search traffic. Ask every question on this list, and treat a vague answer as an answer.
If you want to test us against it, read how our Shopify development service works, then send us your brief along with these questions. We will reply in writing with a scope and a fixed price.
Frequently asked questions
What questions should I ask a Shopify agency before hiring it?
Ask who will build your store, what the written scope includes and excludes, whether the price is fixed, who owns the store and theme code, whether the agency will use a collaborator account, how it will protect your search rankings at launch, and what support costs afterwards. Get each answer in writing.
What are the red flags when hiring a Shopify agency?
The clearest red flags are an agency that asks for your owner login, cannot show three live stores it built, starts work without a written scope, plans SEO for after launch, guarantees rankings or a speed score, or gives a vague answer on who owns the code.
Should I give a Shopify agency my store login?
No. Shopify collaborator accounts let an agency work on your store with only the permissions you approve. You share a 4-digit request code, you can remove access at any time, and collaborators do not count towards your store's user limit.
Who owns the theme code when an agency builds my Shopify store?
Whoever the contract says. Under US copyright law, work by an independent contractor generally belongs to the contractor unless a signed agreement makes it a work made for hire or assigns it to you. Ask for a written assignment of the theme code and designs before you sign.
Does a Shopify agency need to be a Shopify Partner?
No, but a listing in the Shopify Partner Directory gives you a public profile to check, with services, price ranges, partner tier and merchant reviews. Treat it as one signal among several. Live stores the agency built, and a conversation with a recent client, tell you more.
