How to Hire Spryker Developers: Choosing Your Next E-Commerce Expert

E-commerce constantly evolves, requiring businesses to adopt flexible, scalable, and customisable platforms to maintain competitiveness. Spryker is a modular and innovative e-commerce solution meticulously designed to meet rapidly changing requirements faced by e-commerce businesses of all sizes. 

This article will discuss how Spryker compares to competing e-commerce technologies, what makes it stand out, and how you can find and select the right talent for your Spryker development projects.

Understanding Spryker: History, Architecture, and Capabilities

Spryker was founded in Berlin in 2014, with the aim of creating a flexible and agile e-commerce solution to address the needs of complex and scalable businesses. 

Spryker is based on PHP and heavily relies on the Symfony framework, which is used as the backend technology for its web applications. It distinguishes itself through a modular architecture and an API-first approach. This inherent flexibility makes it an ideal solution for B2B and B2C operations, as well as headless commerce and composable commerce. 

Spryker is used by hundreds of companies, including major brands such as Siemens, Toyota, Aldi, Ricoh, and Metro.

Spryker’s Key Features and Benefits

Let’s examine what differentiates Spryker from other e-commerce solutions and what makes it an attractive alternative to Magento. 

The Spryker Commerce Operating System architecture comprises three main applications: Storefront (Yves), Back Office (Zed), and Storefront API (Glue). 

Storefront is the customer-facing presentation layer, while Back Office contains all the business logic and GUI. Both are based on Symfony components. The Storefront API handles customer interaction and relies on REST or JSON. The Back Office processing backend uses Elasticsearch to push updates to the shop front end and can utilize PostgreSQL or MySQL databases.

The separation between the front-end and back-end application layers enables faster performance, as the front end uses key-value storage instead of a relational database. As relational databases are decoupled from the frontend presentation layer, scalability and security are improved too.

In practical terms, this offers a number of advantages for Spryker e-commerce platforms:

• Modularity: Businesses can leverage Spryker’s modular system to select and integrate only the components they need, enabling the creation of highly tailored and efficient e-commerce solutions.
• API-First Approach: Spryker's API-driven design ensures smooth integration with third-party systems, fostering a cohesive digital ecosystem.
• Performance and Scalability: Designed for high performance, Spryker effortlessly manages high traffic volumes and complex transactions, making it a perfect fit for businesses with demanding requirements or high seasonal spikes in traffic.
• Customization and Flexibility: Spryker empowers businesses to craft highly customised e-commerce solutions that seamlessly adapt to their specific needs and workflows.
• Headless Commerce: Decoupling the front-end and back-end enables headless commerce, offering businesses greater flexibility and customisation in crafting user experiences.

In summary, Spryker stands out thanks to its potential for endless customisation and increased efficiency. 

Spryker vs. Magento: How Does it Compare?

Magento is the most popular e-commerce solution of this type on the market, so how does Spryker compare? While Adobe’s Magento is more popular, these key differences make Spryker a viable alternative in certain niches and industries:

• Architecture: Spryker boasts a modular architecture, whereas Magento leans towards a monolithic structure.
• Features: Magento offers extensive out-of-the-box features. In contrast, Spryker provides core functionalities, with additional features built through modules.
• Approaches: Spryker prioritises flexibility and scalability, while Magento focuses on a broader feature set and a vast marketplace.

Spryker emerges as a robust alternative for businesses seeking a more modern, flexible, and scalable e-commerce platform.

Hiring Spryker Developers: Finding and Choosing the Right Talent

As Spryker adoption rises, demand for Spryker development services is experiencing a parallel surge. Businesses are facing a competitive landscape in recruiting and retaining skilled Spryker developers.

Skills to Look for in a Spryker Developer

Identifying the right talent hinges on assessing both technical and soft skills. The Spryker talent pool is fairly limited compared to more popular platforms such as WooCommerce or Magento, making recruitment somewhat more challenging.

Spryker Technical Skills:

• PHP and Symfony Expertise: Proficiency in PHP and Symfony is paramount, given Spryker's foundation on these technologies.
• Understanding of Spryker’s Architecture: A profound understanding of Spryker's modular architecture and API-first approach is crucial for effective development.
• Experience with E-Commerce Technologies: Familiarity with related e-commerce technologies like payment gateways, shipping integrations, and CRM systems is highly desirable.

Depending on the type and scope of your project, you may need to expand this list. For example, if you are migrating from a different e-commerce solution or transitioning to a new database, you will need to focus on candidates well-versed in the relevant technologies, e.g. Magento, PostgreSQL, and so on.

Soft Skills

Strong communication skills are indispensable for seamless teamwork and clear client interaction, especially if you are looking for remote Spryker developers or consultants. Developers should be able to analyse complex problems and arrive at creative and effective solutions. Like all software engineers, Spryker specialists need to be committed to continuous learning and display a high degree of adaptability.

Where to Find Spryker Developers?

Locating Spryker developers requires a targeted approach, mainly due to the limited supply of qualified and experienced talent.

• Niche Job Boards: Specialised platforms focusing on connecting businesses with qualified Spryker developers offer a focused talent pool.
• Spryker Partner Network: Exploring Spryker's partner network provides access to reputable agencies and development firms with proven Spryker expertise.
• Developer Communities and Events: Engaging with Spryker developer communities and attending industry events offers opportunities for networking and talent scouting.
• E-commerce staffing agencies: Specialized agencies can help businesses identify and hire skilled Spryker engineers with a proven track record. 

Once you’ve managed to identify promising candidates, it’s time to prepare for the interview stage. If you already have Spryker developers on your team, try to involve them in the hiring process early on. They will help you narrow down your requirements and help craft relevant interview questions. 

Tips for Interviewing Spryker Developers

Effective interviewing techniques and carefully crafted Spryker interview questions will help you assess technical and soft skills.

Assess Technical Proficiency: Prepare sample interview questions that gauge a candidate's architectural understanding of Spryker and their problem-solving capabilities. Test their PHP knowledge, familiarity with Symfony, and understanding of data structures and algorithms. Evaluate their familiarity with relevant database technologies and the rest of your stack. 

When possible, inquire about specific professional experience related to your project, e.g. migration from Magento and vice versa, or ask technical questions about Spryker-specific APIs such as Glue API and Zed API.

Evaluate Soft Skills: Behavioural interview questions and collaborative coding exercises can provide valuable insights into a candidate's soft skills. Make sure they are a good fit for your team and don’t forget to consult their future peers and managers.

Check References and Portfolios: Thoroughly verify a candidate's experience and skills by checking references and reviewing past work. This step is crucial when hiring freelance software engineers on a job board or via a talent network that does not vet its members.

Remember that Spryker’s adoption beyond Western and Central Europe is somewhat limited, as is the talent pool, especially if you are looking for on-site talent, or talent fluent in non-EU languages. Likewise, finding inexpensive remote developers halfway across the globe might not be as easy as with more popular e-commerce technologies such as Magento or WooCommerce.

Spryker in Action: SMB Success Stories

We already mentioned major brands that adopted Spryker, but what about smaller high-growth companies? The efficacy of Spryker is best illustrated through real-world success stories:

SLV: This lighting expert migrated from Magento to Spryker, going live with their MVP in a mere four months. The result was a significant enhancement in customer experience and an impressive 45% sales growth in the subsequent year.

Certeo: This vendor of business equipment and office furniture also realised significant benefits after adopting Spryker. Their transition enabled flexible brand development, shorter release cycles, and ultimately led to 94% of their customers recommending their services.

FOND OF: This fashion and accessories brand migrated from Magento 1 to Spryker, completing its relaunch in approximately 100 days. They achieved the remarkable feat of creating seven brand shops under one roof and realizing four times faster page speed.

These cases demonstrate Spryker's impact across various industries and its particular strength in B2B commerce, marketplaces, and unified commerce.

Why Headless and Composable E-Commerce Matter

Spryker’s adaptability and prowess in headless and composable commerce platform development make it stand out in the crowded e-commerce market. But why are headless commerce and composable commerce important and why are businesses turning to these models? 

Headless commerce provides unparalleled flexibility and customisation in crafting unique customer experiences by decoupling the front-end experience from the back-end functionality. Spryker, with its API-first approach and headless capabilities, is an ideal platform for businesses embracing this paradigm. Decoupling the backend from the front end brings some obvious advantages aside from customization. It can help reduce costs, allow for migration to different back-ends, and so on.

Composable commerce empowers businesses to construct modular and adaptable e-commerce solutions using the best components available at the time. Spryker's modular architecture is inherently aligned with this principle. Using the best off-the-shelf solutions to craft custom e-commerce platforms offers a lot of scalability and enables businesses to quickly and inexpensively roll out updates and implement changes that could otherwise require months of effort and a lot of resources.

While it’s not the most widely-used e-commerce technology on the market, Spryker lends itself to creating e-commerce solutions based on these paradigms. If your business is considering a headless or composable commerce approach, make sure the potential candidates have relevant experience in choosing the right stack and implementing it.

Conclusion

Spryker's strengths as a modern, flexible, and scalable e-commerce platform are undeniable, particularly for businesses with ambitious growth strategies. The ability to hire skilled Spryker developers is paramount to unlocking the platform's full potential and creating truly innovative e-commerce solutions. 

Need more help navigating the world of Spryker? Reach out for expert guidance in hiring top-tier Spryker developers or receive bespoke consulting services to maximise your e-commerce success.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a freelance Spryker developer charge per hour?

Rates typically range from $55 to $90 an hour, depending on the Spryker engineer’s experience and location. It’s possible to find lower rates on open freelance marketplaces that do not vet their talent.

How do I write a Spryker developer job description?

Include a job title, company overview, role summary, duties and responsibilities, required experience, perks, and benefits. The title should be compelling and attract attention. Specify whether you are looking for remote or on-site talent. Include a pay range, especially if you are trying to attract senior rather than junior talent.

Where do I hire the best remote Spryker developers?

Due to the limited size of the talent pool, large job boards and open talent networks are not the best places to look for skilled Spryker engineers. We suggest turning to specialized platforms and Spryker developer communities instead.

What skills should I look for in a Spryker engineer?

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in the e-commerce industry and previous Spryker experience. Aside from Spryker and e-commerce experience, an excellent understanding of PHP and Symfony are the most important technical skills to look for. A good understanding of data structures and the ability to collaborate with database specialists can be crucial depending on the project and role.