Parvessh Agarwal
Founder & CEO
An entrepreneur at heart. He links business analysis, strategy, clear goals and ROI to practical technology.
LinkedIn →Hire eCommerce developers
who help you choose the right platform first.
A dedicated eCommerce developer, or a small team, for when you have not yet chosen a platform. It also suits a store whose rules must work the same on any platform. Each developer is vetted on real stores on more than one platform before they touch yours. They work inside your codebase and stand-ups, and you can scale up or down monthly without a hiring cycle. You interview the actual developer and hear their platform view before anything is signed.
Interview before signing · Scale monthly
14-day trial
Try before you commit
Start Your 14-Day Risk-Free Trial
Work together on a real brief for up to 14 days, then decide whether to scale.
What you get
Hiring an eCommerce developer through PixelCrayons gets you a vetted store engineer who works on any platform, inside your team. They work across Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and headless stores. If you have not chosen a platform, they write a recommendation before any code. A named coordinator and escalation contact back them. You interview the developer first and scale monthly.
- Vetted on live stores on several platformsEvery developer has shipped live stores on more than one platform, held to our review standards.
- Platform advice based on your storeAdvice rests on your catalogue and the connections you need, not on what is easiest for us to staff.
- Working inside your teamYour code, Slack, stand-ups and board, with a named second developer briefed from day one.
Our work
See what we've built
and the results it brought.
Real projects for real clients, with results we can show.
2004
Established
500+
Agencies served
4,500+
Projects delivered
340%
Revenue growth · 7 months
eCommerce
+127%
Organic traffic · 5 months
SaaS
85%
Faster delivery · backlog cleared
via agency partner
Technologies we work with
- Commerce and web
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Magento
- WordPress
- Webflow
- Next.js
- Marketing
- Google Ads
- Meta Ads
- GA4
- Klaviyo
- Cloud
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud
- AI models
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- Build and deploy
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- GitHub Actions
- CRM and automation
- HubSpot
- Salesforce
- Zapier
- n8n
Product names and marks are trademarks of their owners. Naming a technology means our teams build with it. It does not mean a partnership, certification or endorsement.
Monthly rate for this hire
From $2,800per month, 160 hoursSenior specialists from $4,000, quoted per person.
Direct prices for brands and companies buying for themselves.
What they cover
eCommerce skills
that match the platform to your store.
This is not a developer who knows one platform and uses it whatever the fit. Their job is how your store works: catalogue, checkout and payments. The platform is chosen to serve that, not the other way round.
Work across platforms
- Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento, matched to whichever your store already runs
- Headless commerce architecture: a decoupled frontend against any of the above as the commerce backend
- Platform advice based on your catalogue, checkout needs and number of connections, not habit
- Catalogue and product-data modelling that survives a platform migration if one ever happens
- Checkout and payment design that works on any platform underneath
Payments, tax, stock and orders
- Payment gateway integration and PCI-aware configuration, platform by platform
- Tax and shipping logic for multi-region, multi-currency stores
- Inventory and order-management integration with ERP and fulfilment systems
- Search, merchandising and personalisation wiring across storefront types
- Subscriptions and repeat billing where the platform cannot do it itself
Moves, peak checks and handover
- Migration between platforms, with catalogue and order history preserved and verified
- Pre-peak load and checkout readiness review, regardless of platform
- A written handover to a platform specialist once the choice is made
- Client-ready release notes and change documentation
- Honest estimates and scope talks, with no invented precision
In practice
What an eCommerce developer
works on once your store is live.
Store work rarely ends at launch. This is what the role looks like after it.
Launch is the start of the work
Once a store is live, the work moves from building pages to protecting the order flow. A typical week might start with a payment gateway update to test before customers see it. A shipping rule may charge the wrong rate for one region. An ERP product import may have dropped some variants. Marketing may want a merchandising change before a campaign. The developer should read order and error logs as a habit, not wait for a customer email. Checkout changes go through a staging store first, every time, however small they look.
Signs of a strong candidate
Ask them to walk through an order from basket to delivery on a store they built. They should name each system it touches. Strong candidates talk about tax, stock holds, failed payment webhooks and orders when the ERP is down. Then ask which platform they would not recommend for your catalogue, and why. A developer with real experience on several platforms knows where each one struggles. Be cautious of anyone whose answer to every need is another app or plugin. Each one adds cost, load time and something else to keep updated.
Decisions to make before they start
Some choices shape the whole build and are hard to undo later. Decide which system holds the master product data: the platform, a PIM or the ERP. Decide which regions and currencies you sell in at launch, and how tax is worked out. Agree your payment providers and who holds the merchant accounts. Share your peak trading dates so no big change lands the week before one. Give access to the current store, analytics and your fulfilment partner's documents. If any of this is still open, say so in the brief. Working it out is part of the job, but only if it is planned.
Handing over to a platform specialist
Once the platform is set and the build is large, a specialist often takes over the daily work. That might be a Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento expert. That handover goes well when the eCommerce developer leaves written decisions behind. Why was the platform chosen? How is the catalogue set up? Which connections exist and what does each one do? It goes badly when that knowledge lives in one person's head. Ask for the handover document before the specialist starts. Keep the generalist involved in anything that crosses systems, such as payments, tax or the ERP link. A walkthrough call helps, but it does not replace the document.
How it works
Brief to embedded,
interview before signing.
Start
Brief and a call
We sign an NDA and you describe the catalogue, the platform question (open or decided) and the gap.
Once the brief is complete
Proposal and interview
We propose the developer whose delivery history fits. You interview them before anything is signed, and if the fit isn't right, we propose again.
Your decision
You sign off
You confirm the scope, the payment and the access we need. Nothing starts before this.
Typically 2 to 3 business days later
The developer starts
If the platform is open, a written recommendation comes first. If it's decided, store and repo access are granted and the first working session follows.
Every month
Scale either way
Add a specialist once the platform and scope are locked; step down once the build settles. Commerce capacity tracks the store roadmap, with no headcount call.
You make requests, give approvals and see the weekly review in your Prism workspace. Each decision is written down with the result it was meant to bring. See how Prism runs the work →
Get a Proposal
Meet the people who will do the work before you sign
Why through us
Why hire through us:
the developer and honest platform advice.
Hiring a developer on your own gets you their code. Hiring through a company that delivers this work every day also gets you fair platform advice. Nobody gains from steering you to the platform that is easiest to staff.
Vetted on live stores on several platforms
Every developer in our team has shipped live stores on more than one platform. Those stores met our own delivery standards. Code was reviewed weekly against the same release standard your store will get. An interview cannot show you whether platform advice is fair. A track record on more than one platform can.
Platform advice based on your store
Our team is not tied to selling one platform. Advice here rests on your catalogue and the connections you need. It does not depend on which platform is easiest for us to staff. If Shopify or WooCommerce fits better, that is what you will hear.
Working inside your team
They commit to your code and work in your Slack, stand-ups and project board. Dedicated means working to your release cycle. Store tickets never get lost in an outside agency's queue. A named second developer is briefed on your store from day one. If the first developer is away or leaves, the second steps in without a slow start.
Quality checks you can see
You get a weekly written review in Prism, tied to what shipped. The reasons for a platform choice are written down before you commit. Load checks before peak weeks are logged. If you want to know what the monthly fee buys, the release notes and review log tell you first.
Side by side
Hiring on your own,
compared with hiring through us.
An in-house hire is still right when your store is a permanent, full-time, central job. We will say so when it is. This page covers every other case.
| Hiring it yourself | Through PixelCrayons | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to a working developer | A full recruiting cycle: sourcing, interviews, notice periods and onboarding | Eligible engagements can typically start two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed |
| Platform choice | Decided by whichever agency or freelancer you happen to ask, leaning toward what they already know | A developer who works on several platforms recommends one based on your catalogue and connections, not their own taste |
| Management work | All yours: goals, reviews, career growth and cover | A named PM and escalation path are included; you set the catalogue priorities, not the admin |
| Scaling for peak (Black Friday and beyond) | A new hiring cycle each way: months to hire, severance to let go, often too late for peak | Resize monthly: add a developer before peak, step down once it is over |
| Risk when it doesn't work | A platform chosen for the wrong reasons costs a migration eighteen months later | If the fit is wrong, we propose someone else; leaving takes a handover call, not a negotiation |
Who is accountable
The people responsible
for your work.
Saundaraya Gupta
Technical Manager
Brings technical work, client updates and project management together, so work moves smoothly from brief to launch.
LinkedIn →Every engagement
A named coordinator and escalation contact
Know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Before you sign
Our commitments
Each one says where it applies and links to its full terms.
14-Day Risk-Free Trial
For eligible managed specialists. Up to 14 calendar days or 80 logged working hours, whichever comes first. End within the trial and pay nothing for eligible trial hours. Continue beyond it and those hours are billed at the agreed rate. Unpaid trial work remains ours if you stop.
Eligible managed-specialist roles only, one trial per customer. Not offered for AI, chatbot, prompt, automation, API-integration or QA work. Brand and graphic designers, brand strategists, video editors, content writers, copywriters and content marketers start with a paid pilot.
Full termsTime-zone overlap
At least four hours a day inside your core working hours. Two hours plus a daily written handover for the US West Coast.
Managed specialists only; not a staffing promise for project teams.
Full termsClear IP & Ownership Terms
Your materials remain yours. Bespoke deliverable rights, licences and handover are agreed before work starts.
All engagements.
Full termsClear Delivery & Escalation Ownership
Know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Full termsWhy not just hire a freelancer?
A freelancer can be the right choice for a single, well-defined task. We are set up for work that needs an accountable team: a named coordinator, delivery reviewed by QA and a senior lead before release, and continuity arrangements written into the engagement. Confidentiality, ownership and escalation terms are agreed in writing before work starts.
How does time-zone overlap work?
Your engineers work at least four hours a day inside your core working hours. We set the window with you before the engagement starts and hold it for as long as the engagement runs. For the US West Coast the live overlap is two hours each morning, with a written handover at the end of every Indian day. We do not run night shifts: engineers who work nights leave quickly, and keeping the same people on your team matters more to us than a longer overlap.
Can we try you before we commit?
For eligible managed specialists, yes: up to 14 calendar days or 80 logged working hours, whichever comes first. Stop within it and eligible trial hours are free; continue and they're billed at the agreed rate. Unpaid trial work stays ours. Project work and other roles get a paid pilot with scope, acceptance criteria, duration and fee agreed first.
What if we want to stop?
Cancellation, notice and any renewal terms are written into your proposal or statement of work before you accept it. If an engagement ends early, we hand over completed, paid-for work and list any unfinished work separately. For an eligible specialist trial, you can stop within the trial window and pay nothing for eligible trial hours.
How we handle claims, credentials and your data: group credentials, dated ratings, how case figures are signed off, client permissions and data handling.
How we vet
How we vet an eCommerce developer
and what to ask them.
A developer who works on several platforms should know where each one struggles. They should also know what happens to an order between basket and delivery. Each stage below tests that.
- 01Shortlist on real storesWe put forward the developer whose track record fits your catalogue, your platform question (open or decided) and the gap. No generic CVs. Real store builds they have shipped are available to walk through under NDA on request.
- 02Follow one order from start to finishAsk them to trace an order from basket to delivery on a store they built, naming each system it touches. Strong candidates talk about tax, stock holds, failed payment webhooks and what happens when the ERP is down.
- 03Ask which platform they would not pickAsk which platform they would not recommend for your catalogue, and why. Real experience on several platforms comes with views on where each one struggles. Be cautious of anyone whose answer to every need is another app or plugin.
- 04The trial: advise or buildIf you take the trial, it runs on a scope agreed before it starts. If the platform is open, judge the written recommendation and its reasons. If it is decided, check that checkout changes go through a staging store first, every time.
Questions
Frequently
asked.
Once we have a complete brief, we confirm when your proposal arrives, and you interview the developer before anything is signed, with real store builds to walk through under NDA on request. Eligible engagements can typically start two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed.
That's the normal starting point for this role. We review your catalogue size, checkout and integration needs and give you a written recommendation, including when the answer is a platform we don't build on ourselves. Once it's decided, the same engineer can build directly or hand off to the matching platform-specialist page, whichever gets you moving faster.
Short and sequenced: NDA first, then store or planning access, a review of the current setup (or the requirements, if nothing's built yet) with a written summary of what they found, and agreement on the first priorities before anything changes. From week one they're in your stand-ups, so learning your store happens inside your process rather than beside it.
One is the normal starting point: a single eCommerce developer covers most stores and platform decisions comfortably. A platform specialist joins once the choice is confirmed and scope justifies it, and the monthly resize works in both directions. Staffing a full team before the platform is even chosen is money spent on a decision that isn't made yet.
Raise it early and we propose a different commerce developer. The replacement inherits the documentation the first developer kept, so a switch costs days, not a restart. Your proposal names the second commerce developer who already knows the store and whether their cover is part of the monthly rate.
Use criteria you can check, not claims. Interview the actual developer, ask to walk through live store builds they've shipped on more than one platform, and confirm there's a named project manager and a clear exit if the fit is wrong. Through us you get all three, with propose-again built in.
Interview the person,
not the pitch deck.
Brief us on the catalogue and the platform question, get a shortlist, and meet the actual developer before anything is signed. If what you really need turns out to be a fixed-scope migration rather than a person, we'll say so on the first call.
Interview before signing · Scale monthly
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