Jaipur's D2C scene has grown fast. Jewellery, block-print textiles, handicrafts, skincare, tea, you name it. With that growth has come a lot of people offering Shopify development, from college freelancers to full agencies. Some are excellent. Some will cost you six months and a rebuild.
We're a Shopify team in Jaipur ourselves, so yes, we have an interest here. But this is the same checklist we'd give a friend, and it works whoever you end up hiring.
Start with a one-page brief
Before you call anyone, write down a few things: how many products and collections you'll launch with, the features you can't live without (COD, WhatsApp chat, reviews, international shipping), two or three websites you like and why, your budget range and your launch date. Also note who'll provide product photos and copy.
This takes an hour and saves weeks. You'll get more accurate quotes, and you'll quickly notice which developers ask good questions and which just send a price.
Freelancer, agency or in-house?
A freelancer is usually cheaper and you talk to them directly. The risk is capacity: if they fall ill or take on too much, your project waits.
An agency gives you design, development, SEO and support in one place, with backup when someone's on leave. It costs more than a freelancer.
An in-house developer only makes sense once your store genuinely needs full-time development work. For most brands that's years away.
Look at their work properly, not just the screenshots
Open their live client stores on your own phone, on mobile data. Do they load quickly? Is the menu easy to use? Can you get from homepage to checkout without friction? Then Google a couple of those brands and see how the listings look. Missing or messy titles tell you SEO wasn't part of the job.
It also helps if they've worked with brands like yours in category or size. And ask for a couple of client references. Then actually call them; most people don't. You can see our own work on our portfolio page.
The questions worth asking
- Will you customise a theme or build custom sections? Which theme, and why?
- What mobile speed score will the store have at handover?
- What SEO setup is included: meta tags, headings, alt text, redirects, sitemap?
- How many rounds of revisions do I get?
- Which apps will you install, and what will they cost me each month?
- Who owns the store, domain, theme code and design files?
- What happens after launch, and is there a support period?
- Will you train my team to manage products and orders?
Good developers answer these easily. If someone gets defensive, that's useful information too.
Red flags we'd walk away from
- A quote far below everyone else's. It's usually a template with your logo dropped in.
- No written scope. If it isn't written down, assume it isn't included.
- 100% payment upfront for a big build. Fifty percent to start and fifty before go-live is fair and common.
- The store being created in the developer's account instead of yours.
- Promises of guaranteed Google rankings. Nobody can honestly promise that.
What a decent proposal includes
You should see a page-by-page scope, a timeline with milestones (and what you need to supply at each stage), the number of revision rounds, the payment schedule, ownership and handover terms, and what support looks like after launch, including the cost of extra work.
Think about month two, not just launch day
Launch is day one. The stores that grow keep improving: new collections, regular SEO content, speed checks, small fixes. Ask whether your developer offers ongoing maintenance and SEO, or whether you'll be hunting for someone new in three months.
Does it help to hire someone local?
It isn't essential, but it helps more than people think. Sitting together for the discovery session, shooting product content in the same city and sorting problems face to face tends to make projects smoother, especially for first-time founders.
Quick answers
What does a Shopify developer in Jaipur charge? It depends on scope. For reference, our Shopify packages start at Rs 45,000, and our cost guide explains what drives the price.
How long should it take? Around three weeks for most stores, if content and feedback arrive on time.
Should my developer handle SEO too? At the very least, the basics should be set up at launch. Growing your traffic after that is ongoing work.
If you'd like to talk it through, see our website packages or drop us a message. Even if we're not the right fit, we'll point you in the right direction.