eCommerce Agency vs Direct Merchant – The Pro’s & Con’s
Agency vs Merchant? – A question I ask all my candidates, some are open to both, most have experienced both. However, most have a strong opinion on what they prefer. I’m going to take a look into the positives and negatives for both and we will look at who comes out on top.
Let’s start with the positives;
The Pros of working Agency Side:
#1: Broaden your knowledge
Due to the velocity and wide range of projects you will work on. Naturally, you will equip yourself with more technical capabilities and will enhance your tech stack. Working at an eCommerce specialist agency you will be surrounded by some of the best developers in the world.
#2: Become Certified and Qualified
Some of the agencies Adapt Talent partners with have more Adobe Certified Devs than near enough all-other companies in North America. Agencies tend to offer certification sponsorship more than merchants do.
#3: More scope for progression
Typically agencies can scale at a faster rate, especially if they land some huge clients. This ultimately means there will be new “senior” promotions that must be made. – You can probably get to where you want to be in your career 2/3 X faster than working at a merchant.
#4: Base salary
It’s certainly not a given, but I would generally say that agencies will pay slightly more on the base.
#5: Diversified Global Brands
You will have the chance to work with numerous clients some may be your favourite brands, blue-chip powerhouses or smaller quirky-cool brands
#6: Be more hireable
Based on stats I would say the success rate for candidates with an agency background is higher than one without.
The Pros of working Merchant Side:
#1: Ownership
You work with just one merchant; this enables you to witness the whole journey of a project from scratch to launch and ultimately take pride and ownership over that.
#2: Work / Life Balance
Agencies are notorious for a work heavy balance as I will mention later. Merchants have a much better work/life balance generally. Less pressure and deadlines too. More time with family etc.
#3: Longevity & Culture
The staff turnover rate tends to be less in a merchant, this can create a better culture as you can feel much more like a family as opposed to a never stopping conveyor belt with some of the bad agencies.
#4: Better benefits
Despite sometimes being lower on the base side, I generally see considerably better. You will more than likely get a better 401k and medical, dental and vision coverage.
The Cons of working Agency Side:
#1: Work/Life Balance
Stereotypically agencies can struggle to offer a great work-life balance. You can end up working 70+ hours a week and being under intense levels of pressure to deliver on time.
#2: You don’t get to see the project to the end
Often you won’t be able to get full ownership and will only see the project for a certain period
#3: Benched
Sometimes if the agency is struggling for new projects, you can be put on the “bench”.
#4: Average Benefits
The benefits are more than likely to be on the lighter side for agencies. If moving from a merchant these can be very underwhelming.
#5: High Turnover
You may struggle to find meaningful professional relationships as the average tenure can be low.
#5: Carrying others
Teams can be unbalanced and often the more skilled developers are left to clean up the muck effectively of more junior or devs who make lots of mistakes
The Cons of working Merchant Side:
#1: Slower Progression
You are working in a naturally slower-paced environment; this can result in a delayed route to promotion and professional growth.
#2: Lower base
Not always the case but many merchants will pay maybe 5-15% less on the base salary.
#3: Bored at work?
Often if the product isn’t exciting and things are moving slow the work itself after you have been there a while can become boring and repetitive.
Weighing it all up, I don’t think there is an outright winner. I believe it comes down to personal preference for each person at that time in their lives and career. One thing I feel is important is it go into the job market with an open mind. What I have listed are stereotypes but not all agencies and merchants are the same.
At Adapt Talent we specialize in eCommerce Recruitment, Magento Recruitment and AI Recruitment.
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