Questions to Ask When You’re Interviewing a New E-commerce Agency

Choosing an e-commerce agency is one of the highest-leverage decisions you'll make for your brand. The right partner accelerates growth, protects your margins, and frees you up to focus on other parts of your business. The wrong one costs you months, momentum, and money you won't get back. Before you sign anything, come prepared with the right questions. Here's where to start.

What Does Your Service Coverage Actually Look Like?

E-commerce success isn't won on one channel or one tactic. It's the product of advertising, SEO, content, creative, catalog management, and operations all working toward the same goal. If an agency only offers PPC management or only handles listing optimization, you're left stitching together multiple vendors and hoping they stay in sync.

Ask directly: What services do you provide in-house, and what do you outsource? 

A full-service partner should be able to walk you through how paid media, organic strategy, and catalog health inform one another. If ACoS climbs on a listing, does the team look at conversion rate and content quality, or just the ad account? The answer tells you whether you're getting a strategic partner or a single-service vendor with a broader-sounding pitch.

Who's Actually on Your Account Day to Day?

The sales team that sells you the contract usually isn't the team that runs your account. Ask who you'll work with once onboarding wraps: Will you have a dedicated account manager? How many other brands are on their plate? What does the reporting cadence look like, and who do you call when something breaks on a Friday afternoon?

A confident agency will name names and describe the team structure without hesitation. Vague answers here, like "you'll be assigned a team," are a signal to dig deeper. You want a partner who treats your brand as a priority, not a line item.

Can You Show Me Real, Public Results?

Anyone can claim they drive growth. What matters is proof. Ask for case studies, client references you can actually call, and specific numbers: revenue scaled, ACoS reduced, market share captured. "We helped a client grow" means nothing. "We scaled a home goods brand from $2M to $7M in annual sales in 14 months while cutting ACoS by 30%" means everything.

Push further and ask about results across categories similar to yours. Amazon strategy that works for a fast-moving CPG brand may not translate to a considered purchase like furniture or electronics. A strong agency will have relevant, verifiable proof points and won't flinch when you ask to see them.

How Do You Approach Strategy vs. Execution?

Some agencies are excellent at execution: launching campaigns, adjusting bids, updating listings. Fewer are strong on strategy: understanding your category, your competitors, and where your next dollar of growth actually comes from. Ask how they build a quarterly roadmap for a new client and how that roadmap connects to your specific business goals, not a generic playbook applied to every account.

What Happens When Something Goes Wrong?

Suppressed listings, account health flags, sudden ACoS spikes; these happen to every brand eventually. Ask how the agency has handled a client crisis in the past and what their response process looks like. Their answer will tell you whether you're getting a partner who stays calm and communicates, or one who disappears when things get hard.

Choosing the Right Agency Matters

The right e-commerce agency should feel like an extension of your own team: strategic, transparent about who's doing the work, and backed by results you can verify yourself. If a prospective partner can't clearly answer these questions, that's information too.

At AO2, we're an Amazon-first, omnichannel agency built for brands that want a true growth partner, not just another vendor. If you're ready to see what full-service, data-driven e-commerce management looks like, let's talk.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many e-commerce agencies should I interview before deciding? 

Talk to at least three. That's enough to spot real differences in strategy, team structure, and pricing without dragging the process out for months. If every agency gives you the same generic pitch, use the questions above to press for specifics until the real differences surface.

What's a red flag during an agency interview? 

Vague answers. If an agency can't name who's on your account, won't share verifiable results, or describes their approach only in generalities like "we drive growth," that's a sign you're getting a sales pitch instead of a strategic partner.

Should I choose an agency that specializes in Amazon, or one that covers every channel? 

It depends on where your revenue actually comes from. If Amazon is (or should be) your primary growth engine, an Amazon-first agency with omnichannel capabilities will typically outperform a generalist spread thin across platforms. Ask how they prioritize channels for a brand with your specific mix.

How long does it take to see results from a new e-commerce agency? 

It varies by category and starting point, but you should see early signals, like improved ACoS or listing visibility, within the first 60 to 90 days, with meaningful revenue growth building over two to three quarters. Any agency promising overnight results deserves a follow-up question.

Is it normal to switch agencies if the first one isn't working out? 

Yes. Brands change agencies more often than people assume, especially when growth stalls or communication breaks down. A clean transition plan, data handoff, and account access included, should be part of your contract from day one, regardless of which agency you choose.

‍