eCommerce Consulting
The cheapest moment to find a mistake is before the invoice. A few days of review costs little beside a rebuild, a replatform or a year on an extension that never quite worked.
We examine stores, plans and quotations and tell you what we find in writing. Sometimes the finding is that the plan is sound and you should proceed. Sometimes it is that a smaller piece of work would do. Either answer is worth having.
What people ask us to look at
A review answers one stated question. These are the common ones.
Is this quotation reasonable
You hold a proposal from a developer or agency. We read the scope, look for what is missing, and say whether the hours match the work described.
Why is the store slow or unstable
We profile pages, read server and error logs, list extensions and find where the time and the failures come from.
Should we change platform
We set your complaints against what the platform can do. Many are configuration or code problems that would follow you to the next system.
Can this code be maintained
We read the theme and custom modules, check for edits to core files, and judge whether another developer could take it over.
Where do buyers give up
We walk the route from landing page to order confirmation on several devices and compare it with your analytics funnel.
Is the store safe to update
We list versions, overdue patches and abandoned extensions, and estimate what an update would break.
How a review runs
Short and bounded. You know the cost before we begin.
Agree the question
We turn your concern into a question a report can answer, and fix the number of hours.
Read-only access
Admin, code repository, analytics and hosting panel, with accounts that can look and not alter. We change nothing on a live store during a review.
Investigation
We gather evidence: screenshots, log extracts, timings, code references. Opinion is kept separate from fact.
Report and call
You receive the document, then we go through it together and answer questions from you or your developer.
What the document contains
Written for an owner to act on, with the technical detail in an appendix for whoever does the work.
- A one-page answer to the question asked
- Findings ranked by risk to revenue
- Evidence for each finding
- What to fix now and what can wait
- An estimate in hours for each fix
- Matters we could not check, and why
- Questions to put to your current supplier
- Work we would advise against doing
Findings that come up often
Every store differs. These turn up regularly enough to mention.
Extensions nobody uses
Installed for a campaign long ago, still loading on every page and still needing updates.
Core files edited
A quick fix made directly in platform code. The next update will overwrite it or fail because of it.
No staging copy
Every change is tested on the live shop, in front of customers.
Backups never restored
A backup exists on paper. Nobody has tried to bring the store back from it.
Analytics counting twice
Two tracking snippets, or a purchase event that fires again on page reload, so reported revenue is wrong.
Accounts in the wrong name
Domain, hosting or payment account registered to a former developer instead of the business.
Is a review worth paying for?
It is useful when
- You are about to approve a large piece of work.
- Two suppliers have given you opposite advice.
- The store has a problem nobody has been able to explain.
- You are taking over a shop and want to know its condition.
It is not needed when
- The fault is known and the fix is small.
- You have already decided and want agreement, not an opinion.
- Nobody can grant access to the code or the data.
- The store is new and has no history to examine.
About second opinions
Will you criticise our current developer?
We report what we find in the code and the configuration. We do not comment on people. Most problems have ordinary causes such as deadlines and changing requirements.
Will you then quote for the work?
Only if you ask. The report is written so that any competent developer can act on it.
How long does a review take?
The hours are agreed at the start and depend on the question. A quotation review is shorter than a full code audit.
Do you give legal or tax advice?
No. Where a finding touches privacy law, consumer law or tax, we flag it for your own adviser.
Is what you see kept confidential?
Yes. A confidentiality agreement is signed before any access is given.
Put the question to us
Write down the decision in front of you and what worries you about it. Attach the quotation or the store address if there is one. We reply within one business day.