Should an e‑commerce agency master just one tool?
A client with tens of thousands of products and plans for seven markets asked eleven companies which platform to choose. I was the only one who started from the problem instead of a ready answer. Why I believe an e‑commerce agency should not limit itself to a single tool.
I recently spoke with a client who wanted to launch online sales 🛒
They have a catalogue of tens of thousands of products and eventually want to sell them in six foreign markets as well as in Poland.
The platform question asked right at the start
During our very first contact I was asked: “Which e‑commerce platform do you recommend for our store?”
To start with, I named a few platforms I would recommend, making it clear that I could only give a final recommendation after a needs-discovery conversation - and ideally after business workshops. I didn’t want to propose a solution without understanding exactly how the client’s business works and what it needs.
How other companies answered
Imagine my surprise when I learned that, out of ten other companies the client had approached, I was the first one who decided to start from the problem instead of proposing a platform straight away 😲
All the others named their chosen e‑commerce platform and showered the client with a list of its advantages, knowing only the client’s industry and the size of the product catalogue 😱
Choosing the platform after discovery
After the discovery conversation, the choice fell on Magento - and in the long run it proved to be a very good move. The company grew, and the platform was ready for that growth 🚀
For the client this was not only cost-effective: much more important was the fact that the platform’s flexibility did not hold back the organisation’s growth as it scaled its e‑commerce channel.
One thing is certain: we would not have made such a good decision if we had suggested a platform without getting to know who it was being built for.
Why it doesn’t pay to master just one tool
That is why I personally believe that an e‑commerce agency should not be a master of just one tool.
Sure, it can be the best at one, but it definitely shouldn’t limit itself to only one. If it does, there is a serious risk that it will use that tool everywhere - even where it is ineffective.
It’s like the saying: if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail - it simply limits you 🔨
What do you think?
What’s your take on this - is it better to be a master of one platform, or a master at matching platforms to the problem they need to solve?
