NOTE: Yes, we develop websites for retailers. This advice, though, is useful to any local small business retailer. You can trust it. Whether you choose Tower or not, this advice will help you get the website you love.

For any small business retailer, a professional and effective website a fundamental business asset. It's vital.

A good website as your digital storefront, a vital tool for reaching new customers, and a platform for growth. However, the web development industry is unregulated, making the choice of a partner a critical and complex decision.

The current landscape can feel like a gold rush: full of opportunity, but also fraught with risks for the unprepared. Many retailers have been left with broken websites and broken promises. This guide provides a framework to help you navigate the process, avoid common pitfalls, and select a web development partner who can truly contribute to your success.

Our advice is that you approach creating a website for your business as a start-up business in itself, something on which you may in the future rely on as your sole source of income.

A Step-by-Step Process for Vetting Your Web Developer

A methodical approach is your best defence against making a poor choice. Take control of the process from the very beginning.

1. Define Your Requirements: Before you approach anyone, document exactly what you need and want from your website. This written brief will be your most important tool for assessing proposals and holding your chosen developer accountable. Keep this short and to the point.
2. Scrutinise the Proposal: A developer's proposal is their first piece of work for you. Does it inspire confidence? It should be professionally laid out, well-written, easy to understand, and complete. Most importantly, it should reflect a genuine understanding of your business and your specific goals.
3. Insist on Direct Conversation: Do not conduct the entire process over email. Insist on a phone call and, ideally, a face-to-face video meeting. This allows you to build rapport and gauge their professionalism. Shonky operators often hide behind typed words.
4. Test Their Communication Skills: During your conversation, tell them if you don’t understand the technical jargon they use. A good partner will be patient and willing to explain concepts in plain English. Their job is to meet you at your level of understanding, not to impress you with complex terms.
5. Secure a Watertight Contract: Demand a formal, written contract that clearly specifies all deliverables, timelines, and a payment schedule. The ideal arrangement involves paying the final balance only when you are satisfied that the work has been completed as agreed.
6. Stay in Control: You are the customer. Do not be rushed or pressured into a decision. A developer who pressures you on timing may be serving their own sales targets, not your business's best interests. Move at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

Always ask: Where is the Work Actually Done?

As a local retailer, you understand the value of supporting your community. This principle should extend to your choice of service providers, especially for a role as crucial as your web developer.

Currently, many businesses presenting themselves as local Australian web developers are fronts for offshore teams. While there is technical talent across the globe, this model presents specific risks for Australian retailers:

• Cultural and Commercial Gaps: An offshore developer may lack a nuanced understanding of Australian consumer behaviour, local business practices, and cultural terminology. This can lead to a website that looks functional but fails to connect with your target market or support your commercial goals.
• Contractual Loopholes: We have seen situations where a retailer signs a contract with what they believe is a local firm, only to discover in the fine print that the local entity is merely a sales agent with no contractual responsibility for the final product. When issues arise, there is little to no accountability.
• The Price vs. Value Equation: If a web development proposal seems exceptionally cheap, it is crucial to ask why. Lower costs are often achieved by cutting corners or leveraging lower-cost offshore labour. Remember the adage: you get what you pay for. Investing a bit more in a quality, local partner can save you from the immense cost and frustration of fixing a broken or ineffective website down the track.

Avoid these 7 Common Retail Website Mistakes

Drawing from experience in fixing websites for retailers, we see the same avoidable mistakes time and again. By being aware of them, you can steer your project towards success.

• Not Knowing Your Online Customer: The target customer for your website may be completely different from your regular foot traffic. Your site's primary goal should be to reach people who would otherwise never discover your store. Define this new audience first.
• Replicating Your Physical Shop: Creating an online catalogue of everything you sell in-store is a missed opportunity. The most successful retail websites focus on a niche. Stand for something specific online to make your site more appealing and easier to find via search.
• Thinking the Work is Done at Launch: A website is not a "set and forget" project. Think of it as a hungry beast that needs to be fed constantly with new content, products, and updates to remain relevant and visible.
• Assuming the Developer Knows Best: Web developers are experts in technology, not necessarily in retail. Your business strategy should lead the project. Partner with a developer who shows a genuine interest in understanding your business and your industry.
• Ignoring the Total Cost of Ownership: The initial development fee is just the beginning. Before you sign any contract, ensure you have a clear, documented understanding of all ongoing costs, including hosting, maintenance, security updates, and support.
• Using Generic Supplier Content: It is tempting to save time by using stock images and product descriptions from your suppliers. However, search engines penalise duplicate content. Creating your own unique photos and descriptions is hard work, but it pays off enormously in search rankings and brand identity.
• Viewing Your Website as a Final Destination: Your website is a milestone, not an endpoint. It will need to evolve constantly, and eventually, it will need to be rebuilt. Go into the process knowing this is one important step on a longer digital journey.

Ultimately, choosing a web developer is about choosing a business partner. Take your time, do your homework, and trust your instincts. The carpenter's adage "measure twice, cut once" is perfectly suited here. The effort you invest upfront will ensure the final result is a powerful asset that helps your retail business thrive.

Footnote: a website is a hungry beast. It will need to be fed daily for it to be successful. This means doing the work. There is no way to avoid this.

Tower Systems is a POS software company specialising in specialty retail for independent small business retailers. We are not right for everyone who considers us. If we think we are not right based on the needs outlined to us, we will say so, and wish you all the best.