You send the same project to three Shopify agencies. One quotes $8,000. Another quotes $35,000. The third asks for a 45-minute call before they’ll even ballpark a number. This happens constantly, and it’s rarely because two of the three agencies are ripping you off or lowballing. It’s usually because they’re quoting three different projects, because the brief left too much open to interpretation.
A good brief doesn’t need to be a 20-page document. It needs to remove the guesswork that forces an agency to either pad their quote to cover unknowns, or lowball it and hit you with change orders later. This post gives you a structure you can fill in directly, plus the Shopify-specific details that generic “how to brief an agency” advice usually leaves out.
If you’re about to send out requests for quotes on a new build, a migration, or an ongoing engagement, spend thirty minutes on this brief first. It will save you far more time than it costs.
Why Vague Briefs Lead to Wildly Inconsistent Quotes
When a brief says something like “we need a new Shopify website that converts better,” an agency has to fill in every gap with assumptions. Different agencies fill those gaps differently, which is exactly why quotes end up so far apart:
- One agency assumes you’re on Shopify already and quotes a redesign; another assumes a full migration from your current platform.
- One assumes you’ll supply copy and photography; another builds a full content production cost into their number.
- One assumes three rounds of revisions; another assumes unlimited revisions until you’re happy, and prices accordingly.
- One assumes your existing apps and integrations stay as-is; another assumes everything gets rebuilt.
None of these assumptions are unreasonable on their own. The problem is that you can’t compare quotes that are secretly answering different questions. A brief’s real job is to make sure every agency you talk to is pricing the same project, so the differences in their quotes reflect differences in their approach and value, not differences in what they think you’re asking for.
There’s a second, quieter cost too: a vague brief tends to attract vague answers. Agencies that ask sharp clarifying questions back are often a better signal than agencies that just quote a number off a half-page brief without blinking.
What a Good Shopify Agency Brief Actually Needs
Before the template itself, it’s worth understanding what separates a genuinely useful brief from a document that just looks thorough. A good brief:
- States the business problem, not just the deliverable (“our mobile conversion rate is weak” rather than just “redesign the homepage”)
- Gives a realistic budget range, even an uncomfortable one to share
- Is specific about your current tech stack, not just “we use Shopify”
- Separates must-haves from nice-to-haves
- Names who actually makes the final decision
You don’t need to have every answer polished before you write it. Agencies expect some fields to say “not sure yet, open to guidance here.” What matters is that you’ve thought about the question, even if the honest answer is “we don’t know.”
The Shopify Agency Brief Template
Copy this structure into a doc and fill in what you can. Leave a placeholder note for anything you’re genuinely unsure about, that’s still more useful to an agency than silence.
1. Business Context & Goals
- What does your business sell, and who’s the customer?
- What’s the specific problem you’re trying to solve (not the solution, the problem)?
- What does success look like in 3-6 months? Be as concrete as you can (a conversion rate target, a launch date, a revenue goal, an operational pain point removed).
- Any past agency or freelancer experience worth mentioning, what worked, what didn’t?
2. Current Tech Stack & Integrations
This is the section most generic briefing templates get wrong, because it’s written for ecommerce in general rather than Shopify specifically. Be precise here:
- Current Shopify plan (Basic, Shopify, Advanced, or Shopify Plus), or your current platform if you’re migrating to Shopify
- Current theme: is it a stock theme, a customised stock theme, or a fully custom build?
- Apps currently in use, especially anything doing heavy lifting (subscriptions, reviews, personalisation, custom pricing)
- Integrations that must be preserved or connected: your ERP, accounting software (Xero, MYOB), CRM, email/SMS platform (Klaviyo or otherwise), shipping and fulfilment tools, POS if you sell in person
- Whether you’re considering, or already on, Shopify Plus, this materially changes what’s technically possible and how a quote should be structured
3. Scope of Work
- List what you know needs to happen: new build, redesign, migration, ongoing support, a specific feature
- Explicitly call out anything you know is out of scope, if you know it
- Flag any hard technical requirements (multi-currency, B2B/wholesale functionality, subscriptions, multi-location inventory)
4. Budget Range
- Give a real range, even a wide one (“$15,000-$30,000” is far more useful than leaving it blank)
- Note whether this is a one-off project budget, an ongoing monthly retainer budget, or both
- If you genuinely don’t know what’s realistic, say so directly, a competent agency would rather tell you honestly than have you guess
5. Timeline & Key Dates
- Target launch or completion date, and whether it’s flexible or fixed (a sale event, a wholesale season, a lease start date)
- Any dependencies on your end that could affect timing (internal approvals, content production, other vendor deadlines)
6. Success Metrics
- How will you know this project worked? Conversion rate, page speed, reduced support tickets, successful migration with no ranking loss, on-time launch
- Who reviews these metrics, and how often
7. Decision-Making Process & Stakeholders
- Who is the final decision-maker on choosing an agency?
- Who else needs to be involved in reviews (marketing, ops, a franchise or head office team)?
- What’s your expected process and timeline for choosing an agency itself?
Shopify-Specific Details Worth Getting Right
A handful of details in that template consistently make the biggest difference to quote accuracy, so they’re worth calling out again on their own.
Your current plan and theme. A migration from a heavily customised Shopify Plus theme with dozens of metafields is a completely different job from moving a simple stock-theme store. Saying “we’re on Shopify” without this detail is one of the most common causes of quote mismatch we see.
Whether Shopify Plus is on the table. If you’re weighing up Shopify Plus for the checkout customisation, B2B functionality, or higher API limits, say so even if you haven’t decided. It changes both the technical approach and the realistic budget an agency should be quoting against. If you’re not sure whether Plus is actually necessary for your size, it’s worth reading through a genuinely honest breakdown of when Shopify Plus is worth it before you brief anyone.
Integration requirements. ERP, CRM, and email integrations are frequently where projects blow their timeline and budget, because they weren’t scoped properly upfront. If you know you need to connect to Xero, NetSuite, HubSpot, or Klaviyo, name it in the brief rather than assuming it’s implied by “we need everything to work together.”
App dependencies. If your current store relies on a specific subscription app, a custom pricing app, or a heavily configured reviews platform, flag it. An agency needs to know whether they’re working around existing app logic or replacing it.
A Note on Getting Quotes You Can Actually Compare
Even with a solid brief, it helps to send the exact same document to every agency you’re evaluating, and to ask each one to structure their quote the same way (a breakdown by phase or deliverable, not just a single lump sum). That makes it much easier to see where quotes genuinely differ in scope versus where they differ in price for the same work.
It’s also worth being upfront that you’re comparing multiple agencies. A good agency won’t be put off by this, it’s a completely normal part of choosing who to work with, and it tends to produce sharper, more honest answers from everyone involved. When you’re ready to talk through a brief like this in more detail, or want a second set of eyes on scope before you send it out, you can book a call and we’ll help you sanity-check it against what’s actually realistic for a Shopify project like yours.
Common Mistakes When Briefing a Shopify Agency
- Leading with the solution instead of the problem (“build us a new homepage” instead of “our homepage isn’t converting mobile traffic”)
- Omitting the budget entirely, which forces every agency to guess and often pushes quotes to the high end to cover risk
- Not mentioning Shopify Plus if it’s genuinely being considered, which skews the whole technical approach
- Forgetting integrations until after a quote is accepted, which is one of the most common sources of scope creep and budget blowouts
- Sending different versions of the brief to different agencies, which makes quote comparison meaningless
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a Shopify agency brief actually be?
Long enough to answer every section in the template above, even briefly, often one to three pages is plenty. Length isn’t the goal; specificity is. A short brief with real detail on your tech stack and budget beats a long brief full of generic goals.
Should I share my budget range with a Shopify agency?
Yes. Withholding budget doesn’t get you a better price, it usually gets you a wider range of proposals that are hard to compare, because each agency is guessing what you can afford. A realistic range lets an agency tell you honestly what’s achievable within it.
What if I don’t know whether I need Shopify Plus?
Say that directly in the brief rather than guessing. A competent agency can help you work out whether Plus is justified based on your order volume, catalogue complexity, and B2B needs, but only if you flag it as an open question rather than leaving it out entirely.
Do I need a developer or technical person to write this brief?
No, most of this template is business and operational detail you already know: your goals, your budget, your current apps and integrations, your timeline. You don’t need to understand Liquid or theme architecture to fill it in accurately.
How many Shopify agencies should I send this brief to?
Three is usually a practical number, enough to compare approaches and pricing without turning the process into a part-time job. Sending the identical brief to each one is what makes the comparison meaningful.
Ready to Scope Your Project Properly?
If you’ve drafted a brief using this template and want a second opinion before you send it out, or you’d rather talk through your goals and get straight to a realistic scope and quote, book a call with our team. We’ll help you work out exactly what your project needs, and what it doesn’t.
