Agency Brief

How to Brief a Shopify Agency Before a Website Rebuild

What to include in a Shopify website brief so agencies can quote accurately and the rebuild solves a commercial problem.

A Shopify rebuild should begin with a business problem, not a theme demonstration.

Start with the reason for change

State what is not working and provide evidence. Examples include poor mobile conversion, slow merchandising, unreliable integrations, high support volume or a brand experience that no longer fits the customer.

Include these ten parts in the brief

  1. Business context: products, markets, channels, seasonality and team.
  2. Customer: who buys, why, objections and common questions.
  3. Current performance: traffic, conversion, average order value, repeat rate and mobile share.
  4. Goals: measurable outcomes rather than “a modern website”.
  5. Scope: templates, content, migration, international markets and integrations.
  6. Requirements: payments, fulfilment, subscriptions, search, reviews and reporting.
  7. Content ownership: who writes, supplies, approves and uploads.
  8. Technical ownership: domains, accounts, analytics, apps, code and licences.
  9. Timing and constraints: launch windows, stock events and internal capacity.
  10. Acceptance: testing, training, documentation, warranty and handover.

Give agencies access to evidence

Share analytics, customer questions, support themes, returns, site-search terms and current app costs. Remove or mask personal information that is not required.

Ask for assumptions and exclusions

A clear quote should identify what is included, excluded and dependent on your team. Confirm change-request rates, revision limits, post-launch support and who can modify the theme after handover.

Protect continuity

Keep Shopify ownership, domain access, analytics and core apps in business-controlled accounts. Document integrations and require an export or handover plan.

Use the full supplier and agency questions before contracting. If you need independent help defining the brief or reviewing the commercial logic, see Ecommerce, Shopify, SEO & AI support.

This article provides general business information, not financial, legal, tax, employment or technology advice. Obtain advice appropriate to your circumstances.