How to Identify and Recruit High-Performing Ecommerce Development Talent

Need help finding and hiring ecommerce developers?

Attracting quality ecommerce developers is one of the biggest headaches for online stores. Hire the wrong person and you’re quickly wasting thousands on unproductive time, buggy code and lost sales. But when you find someone who can really deliver — watch your store transform overnight.

It doesn’t have to be so difficult. Below is everything you need to know about finding, vetting and recruiting ecommerce development talent.

What you’re about to learn:

• Why ecommerce development talent is so difficult to find
• Key skills every strong developer must possess
• Effective ways to vet developers before you hire them
• Best sources for finding ecommerce development talent

Why Ecommerce Development Talent Is So Hard To Find

There’s a massive shortage of skilled ecommerce developers out there.

The ecommerce industry is booming — global ecommerce sales will reach more than $8 trillion by 2027. Every online store wants cutting edge websites, functionality and performance. That means competition between stores for developers is fierce.

The trouble is… There just aren’t enough developers to go around.

Statistically speaking, ecommerce employment is only going to get more competitive as time goes on. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment of web developers to increase 7% between 2024 and 2034 — much faster than the national average.

Not only is ecommerce development a different ball game than traditional web development, but finding talented BigCommerce developers or specialists on other platforms who also understand website maintenance is incredibly rare.

If you don’t have someone on hand that knows how to properly manage your online store’s website maintenance your store is going to suffer. Websites break. Speed slows. Checkout errors start popping up. The longer these issues go unresolved the more money you’ll lose.

Needless to say it can be pretty daunting trying to find someone who has the skills you need.

But fear not — Here’s exactly how you go about finding and hiring top ecommerce development talent.

The Key Skills Every High-Performing Developer Needs

Finding developers with matching skillsets can be difficult.

Regardless of what ecommerce platform your store runs on there are several key technical skills and abilities every ecommerce developer should have.

Let’s take a look.

Platform Expertise

It should go without saying that you want someone who has practical experience building and maintaining ecommerce sites on your platform of choice. Whether it’s BigCommerce, Shopify or Magento you want a developer that already knows the platform inside and out.

Front-End And Back-End Experience

The best ecommerce developers are proficient in both front-end and back-end technologies. Not only do they need to create eye-catching product pages, they also need to know how to work with server-side programming languages and configure logic.

Security Experience

Who you hire needs to take website security seriously. Everything from SSL, PCI compliance, security patching and everything in between should be second nature.

Performance Experience

Page speed matters. Anything that impacts your website’s loading speed should be a top priority when hiring. Your developer should know how to optimise images, minify code and optimise databases.

Problem-Solving Skills

Development problems aren’t going to stick to business hours. Any developer you hire needs to be able to quickly resolve issues under stressful situations.

Looking Beyond Technical Abilities

When evaluating potential candidates, don’t forget about soft skills. Can they communicate effectively with your team? Do they manage their time well? How do they work with others?

Knowing How To Hire The Right Developers Takes Research

So you’ve compiled a list of developers that match the skills you need. Great! Now what?

How do you know which candidates are actually good before you hire them and which ones you should run far away from?

Follow this process to know exactly who to hire.

Review Their Portfolio

Portfolios should speak for themselves. Find developers that have completed credible ecommerce projects in the past and take a look at the finished sites yourself. If their previous work isn’t impressive it’s unlikely their work on your project will be.

Assign A Realistic Technical Challenge

Everyone lies on their resume. Instead of taking their word for it give candidates a realistic technical challenge that they would likely face while working for you.

You can test their knowledge by debugging a production checkout issue, optimising a page speed heavy product page or even configuring a tricky platform-specific feature.

Ask For References… And Then Call Them

Speaking with former clients or coworkers is an often overlooked vetting step. When you reference check don’t be afraid to ask specific questions about the developer.

How did they handle website maintenance? Were they good at meeting deadlines? How did their communication skills hold up?

Sure, you may find a stellar developer on paper. But how they work in the real world is what really matters.

It wouldn’t hurt to assess cultural fit either.

Where To Look For High Performing Ecommerce Developers

Finding ecommerce developers is only half the battle. Knowing where to look is just as important.

You can find great ecommerce developers by checking out:

Ecommerce Agencies

Agencies allow you to work with pre-vetted developers who have a proven track record of performing website maintenance and hitting deadlines. Not only does this save you time vetting developers yourself it also allows you to access some of the best ecommerce talent out there.

Freelance Websites

Freelance websites like Upwork and Toptal are great resources for finding qualified ecommerce developers. Be sure to filter your search down to freelancers who have verifiable experience on ecommerce platforms and read their reviews.

Developer Communities

Online communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow and language specific forums are a great place to find passionate developers. And if they’re active in online communities they probably know their stuff.

Not only that but some platforms like BigCommerce even have their own vetted partner directories.

Job Boards With Niche Focuses

Job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed and Monster are great but extremely broad in terms of the type of developers they reach. Consider looking through ecommerce specific job boards or ones that focus on specific platforms instead.

Referrals

Some of the best developers are often found through referrals from others you trust. Reach out to your network and see if anyone can recommend anyone.

Wrapping Things Up

The demand for ecommerce developers far outweighs the supply. But if you know what you’re looking for, where to look and how to vet candidates you should have no problem attracting quality candidates.

Here’s a recap of what you should remember:

• There are more stores looking for developers than there are developers available
• Technical skill matters. Soft skills matter.
• Vet candidates by giving them a technical challenge related to your project
• Ask former clients for references
• Check out agencies, freelance sites, developer communities and niche job boards

Finding and hiring ecommerce developers takes time. By putting in the leg work upfront you can save yourself weeks or even months of headache down the road.