Seven questions worth asking any e-commerce service provider

Why this list exists

Choosing a service provider is difficult because the pitch is easy and the work is invisible until it is too late. Most of the differentiation claimed on agency websites — ours included — is unverifiable at the point where you actually have to decide.

These questions are useful because they are hard to answer well without actually operating the way the answer describes.

The questions

• What exactly will you do in week one, and who does it? Vague onboarding answers usually mean nothing specific has been planned.
• Who is my point of contact, and how many other accounts do they hold? “Dedicated manager” means little without the second number.
• What does your weekly report contain? Ask to see a real one with the client details removed. If it is a dashboard screenshot, ask what decision it supports.
• What access do you need, and why that much? A good provider asks for the minimum and can explain each permission.
• What happens to my data when we stop working together? There should be a written answer with a timeframe attached.
• Tell me about an engagement that did not work. Everyone has one. An answer that blames the client entirely is informative.
• What are you not good at? The most useful question on the list.

Two answers that should concern you

First, any guarantee of specific sales, revenue or ranking outcomes. Those depend on pricing, stock, competition and marketplace conditions that no provider controls. A guarantee is either meaningless or a sign that someone plans to hit a number in a way you would not approve of.

Second, a request for your marketplace password. Every serious platform offers an official authorisation mechanism precisely so that credential sharing is unnecessary. A provider asking for a password is either unfamiliar with the platform they claim to specialise in, or indifferent to your account security. Neither is something you want to buy.