What Skills Should You Look for When Hiring a BigCommerce Developer?
Expanding a BigCommerce store requires more than adding new products or updating its design. As store requirements grow, having a developer who can handle customization, integrations, and performance improvements becomes equally important.
While evaluating developers, I think these are some of the key skills worth considering:
1. Strong Knowledge of BigCommerce
A good developer should understand the BigCommerce platform, Stencil framework, themes, APIs, and checkout customization. Basic platform knowledge isn't enough when a store needs advanced features or custom functionality.
2. Understanding of eCommerce SEO
They don't need to be SEO specialists, but they should understand technical SEO fundamentals such as page speed, clean URLs, structured data, redirects, and mobile optimization. These elements can directly affect search visibility.
3. Experience With Third-Party Integrations
Payment gateways, shipping providers, CRM systems, inventory tools, and marketing platforms are common parts of an eCommerce setup. A developer should know how to integrate these systems without disrupting existing store operations.
When planning to hire BigCommerce developers, it's worth checking their practical experience with these integrations, customization requirements, and technical troubleshooting.
4. Mobile-First Development Approach
A store should offer a smooth shopping experience across smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Developers should be comfortable with responsive design and optimizing product pages, navigation, and checkout for mobile users.
5. Security and Checkout Knowledge
Online stores handle customer information and payment transactions, so security cannot be overlooked. Knowledge of SSL, secure API communication, access controls, and relevant PCI DSS requirements is important.
6. Store Performance Optimization
Slow-loading pages can frustrate shoppers and affect conversions. Look for developers who understand image optimization, script management, page loading performance, and Core Web Vitals.
7. Problem-Solving and Communication Skills
Technical knowledge is important, but developers should also be able to identify problems, explain possible solutions, and communicate progress clearly. This makes collaboration much easier throughout the project.
EmizenTech brings experience as a BigCommerce development company, handling store customization, API integrations, and feature enhancements to create seamless shopping experiences and improve overall store performance.
What other skills would you add to this list? Is hands-on BigCommerce experience more important to you than general eCommerce development experience?