Clap Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president of a wholesale distribution company that also has retail and an an e-commerce business all in one.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clap Creative, and what were your goals?

We were with another larger company that built our website about 5 years ago and when the money was rolling in from the build their service was very good. However, once all the big money was made they became lazy and their very good service went to very poor service. All communication slowed, attitudes changed and their service and employees became useless to my organization. I looked for another company that knew the Big Commerce platform and found Clap Creative. I work with DK. He is reasonable, responsive, and a great communicator. So far we have done 4-5 custom projects with DK and they have all been done in a very timely manner and to my liking. I have been very happy with their work and hope we can keep this relationship growing for the long term.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Communication was number one for me. Speed for the scope of work I wanted and at a fair price.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Implementation of Static Banners, Mobile Apps, custom coding.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked exclusively with DK

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Everything we have done with Clap Creative is still very new for us but it is all working properly now and we hope to see success with what they have done.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They are very good communicators.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Communications skills, fairly priced and the ability to finish a project within the time estimated.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Happy with what they currently do

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We design and manufacturer network equipment for the major carriers. We have over a million products installed worldwide helping to maintain the backbone of the Internet voice and data traffic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clap Creative?

Our outdated website focused on legacy products that were being phased out. We needed a new look and feel to complement our re-branding as a premier supplier of 5G network switching equipment.

What were your goals for this project?

We desired a quick and easy transition from one template-based WordPress site to a newer one. we also desired to change hosting companies to reduce costs so the site needed to be transportable.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We queried ten highly-rated website developers and digital marketing companies in Southern California. All but one responded. Each provided a formal quotation which was reviewed by our website steering committee. We chose Clap Creative based on their promise of rapid development time and because their price was the lowest.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We gave the designer access to our existing website. They reviewed the design and the technical aspects of the site - templates, plugins and themes. They selected a new theme, provided new modern and clean graphics, and developed the site to match our mock-up specs.

What was the team composition?

We worked with DK as the project manager and one developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The site was developed and delivered in about a month. The initial engagement process took a little longer than expected, but only because we had to weed out the other proposals. Once engaged, the communication was constant. We gave direction, they implemented it and we provided feedback. We fine-tuned the site over several weeks. In the end, the delivered product matched what we had requested.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was well-managed. DK was involved from beginning to end. Although we dealt directly with the developer as we fine-tuned the site, DK stayed in the loop and made sure communications were smooth and we were getting the results we had requested.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

DK claimed they could do the job in less than a month and he kept his word. The site went through a dozen sessions of edit and corrections, with 2-3 days at the most between edits. Each batch or changes was ready for us when we arrived at work in the morning, the work being done overnight - one of the advantages of an overseas developer.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Clap Creative was easy to work with, delivered an excellent product in record time and provided great value. There were a few issues with communication due to language, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with a few clarifying emails. In fact, this entire project was conducted and completed via email - never once spoke to DK although he did leave some voice mails to provide updates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a retail store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

I hired Clap Creative to build our e-commerce website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clap Creative designed and built our Magento e-commerce platform. They added custom features into the site. Their team handles the security, hosting, and update needs for the platform.

What is the team composition?

DK (President, Clap Creative) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

I followed a referral from another web developer.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $40,000–$50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2017 and they continue to provide support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Everything has been completed on time and we successfully launched the website. We’re satisfied with the work they’ve produced for us.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They are excellent communicators. We primarily use email and phone calls to speak. They use PowerPoint for their presentations and we share screens to work together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time is second to none.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They know exactly what they’re doing, so there’s nothing I suggest they improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get in touch with DK and seek his advice on what you’d benefit from.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of an e-commerce company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

We needed help migrating a platform from Magento 1 to Magento 2, and with its maintenance. Initially, someone else was handling the maintenance but they had trouble keeping it secure, and our in-house developer wanted us to do the migration but couldn’t do it himself. We needed to get the site back online with proper security measures in place.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a lot of orders, customers, and data on the site that needed to be dealt with, as well as a frontend that had to be kept in the same layout. They migrated the backend and kept the frontend as we wanted. They oversaw the process dealt with any issues or surprises that arose, doing any customization that we required.

We have a month-to-month maintenance plan, as well as an SEO package, customizations, and migrations.

What is the team composition?

I work with two people and my direct contact is DK (President, Clap Creative).

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

I looked online for someone local and saw that Clap Creative had good reviews. A lot of the people I called claimed they had experts but didn’t have people in-house. Most of them are offshore companies too. I needed someone local that I could reliably call.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We didn’t lose any data in the migration. They were able to handle it in a timely manner and kept the process professional. When a site moves from one platform to another, the extensions can have issues here and there, but Clap Creative was patient with cleaning up everything and getting it back to normal. A lot of companies aren’t willing to migrate custom information, but they did it for us, which I appreciate. It was a success.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is professional. We outline the steps and prioritize them, which keeps it pretty organized. We know what we need and what needs to be changed. They don’t skip any steps, and always deliver on time.

If we have any uploading issues or an update that’s needed, I contact them day or night. If we’re doing some customization, I might be in communication for the whole day. It varies and it depends on my schedule as well; some weeks we work really closely and some weeks we don’t have to because there’s nothing wrong with the site.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have the skills that we need, as well as good communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they perform to our expectations. We can rely on them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Discuss what you’re looking for in detail and be aware of the whole scope of your project. Do your own research so you can understand what you want and what your expectations are. Communicate clearly, using examples from previous work if possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of an online marketplace called Patriotic Online Marketplace, https://PompUSA.org. We are a dedicated marketplace for the military community to sell their goods to the public. All of our vendors are Active, Reserve or National Guard Service Members, Veterans or their immediate family members.

We sell a huge variety of items that have mass appeal. I want to help the military community start their eCommerce store without listing fees or membership fees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

They are building the technology behind the marketplace. They are responsible for all web development and the construction of the website.

The technology behind the site is very difficult. We are a software-as-a-service at our core. We are just a startup but we are similar to Shopify, Amazon or eBay. The technology behind those companies is expensive but it's becoming cheaper. Small startups like myself can now develop similar technology.

I worked with two other developers in the past that couldn't execute. I then searched for other developers and hired Clap Creative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They also work on a little bit of SEO. They provide some ideas and consulting. Their CEO is very responsive. We often talk and bounce around ideas. I've had bad experiences with developers. As a group, they overpromise and under-deliver. 

I was scammed by my first developer and the second wasn't good. Working with Clap Creative, we mostly focus on function but also design. We are switching gears to more marketing.

The core of the website is functional and works. We are pushing updates today. We are starting to get some sales and looking at analytics and marketing now.

They had to take over other developers' code. It was a problem looking back. I was ripped off for $12,000 by a scammer developer first. The second developer also had problems after charging me $80,000. My website wasn't very good after his work.

Clap Creative works with several external organizations to extend our tool and make sure the different tie-ins work properly together.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

I found them online. I discovered their website when we were in a really bad situation. I just returned from two combat tours in the Middle East. We were transitioning away from the developer that cheated us. We were ready to call it quits in August 2016. We decided to give it one more shot with Clap Creative.

I did a ton of due diligence after I got scammed the first time. I still chose the wrong person for my second developer. Since I was so cautious, I talked to Clap Creative three times before hiring them for a small project. I then was confident enough to get rid of my second developer and go with Clap Creative exclusively.

How much have you invested with Clap Creative?

Initially, it was $3,200 per month. There were some months early when I doubled that budget. It's now at $800 per month for maintenance work. I would say it probably has averaged about $4,000 per month for the past twelve months.

What is the status of this engagement?

It is ongoing. We initially started in August 2016. They really didn't take over until September 2016. From there, our work is based on my budget. We can only invest so much every month. We worked with them on a monthly plan that allowed for a different budget every month.

I was very involved with the work in the early days. I would send them changes for the website two to three times per month. We were able to fix all the bigger problems at that time.

We are now in the marketplace and getting some sales. We are past the initial launch stage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I'm pretty satisfied because I know what I'm going to get and they are responsive. I have learned to handle bad news. Other developers aren't responsive and will do whatever they want to do.

Overall, I like my relationship with Clap Creative. I think I'm getting what I'm paying for so it's a fair value. It's a fair and honest relationship.

Our customers have provided positive feedback on the website. We heard from one that we have the simplicity of Etsy with the function of a solid website. The more that I learn about the technology, the more exciting it becomes. I continue to be more impressed with what we've done together.

There have been dozens of others that have tried to do military community marketplaces. All of them have failed miserably because they do it in a directory format or on a cheap Wordpress website. Those startups all failed.

Our strategy was to build the right foundation. We took our time to build a solid platform. We are now building our network. Most of our customers are satisfied with our service. We are rarely down for maintenance. We can say that we are a true marketplace dedicated for military entrepreneurs that is secure and scalable. No one else has done that before.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They only work a few hours away from me. That was another reason that I chose them. I am stationed at a base in the middle of the Mojave desert. We are about three hours from Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas. They are near San Diego so we've met for coffee to discuss the project.

We generally communicate by email. If it's high priority, I just call the CEO. He always picks up the phone even though he travels a lot and keeps odd hours. I can call him at 2 PM or 2 AM, he always picks up the phone. He said I can call him anytime. He is responsive.

What distinguishes Clap Creative from other providers?

The main thing is really their responsiveness and how they are fair. We get what we pay for, this is unusual in this industry. I don't know why this is. I like how their CEO acts as a project manager. He is fair and honest and he cares. He can speak in my language and doesn't use technical speak.”

Is there anything Clap Creative could have improved or done differently?

I think our admin panel on Magento is an issue. I wish they would teach us how to update this panel. My team or I could figure it out if we were trained. I'm sure we could do it ourselves if he taught us. We would like to avoid paying developers to update these basic things.

Also, I've allowed some bad habits to creep into the project. This is mostly my fault. The project management has become very casual. I am trying to right the ship currently. I was surprised by the current update. I told them to do it at 2 AM EST but I was unaware that it was pushed during the day.

There are some improvements that could be made around telling me when something will be finished. We almost have a friendship now. I've allowed the relationship to change so I don't want to blame them. It's largely my fault.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on April 10, 2019, by the client. The original star ratings were: Overall - 4, Quality - 4, Schedule - 4, Cost - 5, NPS - 5. New content is below.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Patriotic Online Marketplace, or PompUSA. We offer a multi-vendor platform for service members, veterans, first responders, and immediate family members to sell products as shop owners. We currently host 170 shops.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

We engaged Clap Creative to make our Magento-based website more user-friendly for shop owners.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clap Creative built features to make sure that users with limited computer skills can easily set up and run a shop on the site’s frontend. The team integrated specific areas and isolated others to make processes like shipping and payment easier to handle. They now do periodic design updates to make the site more visually appealing

What is the team composition?

I work primarily with DK (CEO, Clap Creative). He leads a team of 3–4 people behind the scenes.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $80,000–$90,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2016, and our partnership is ongoing. 

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve received nothing but praise from our site users on the updates and design changes. People believe we’re a much larger business than we are because of the professional look and feel. We have a by-project contract with Clap Creative now to make further tweaks to the design. I’m satisfied with their work.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

DK excels at translating technical language to layperson’s terms. He is conscious of my budget, and I can reach out to him for requests at any time. He also pushes back when he knows my priorities won’t achieve the results I want. The team does timely work, and we communicate at least once a week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their responsiveness, patience, and seriousness in handling my business. They understand how much time and money I’ve invested in the site, and it shows throughout our communication and collaboration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything in particular. I appreciate all the help their team can provide me with.

Any advice for potential customers?

For any engagement, it helps to become knowledgeable in the field that you want to start a project in. Overcommunicate your vision to your vendor. Go with Clap Creative, and you’ll be happy with their work. They’ve demonstrated integrity and the ability to follow through on every request.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm creating a website for my company, Outcome Tutoring. We created a software and website in which we can add tutors who can then, on their own, adjust their own hours and availability, and in turn, let users book online.

I’m the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

The goal was to create a better process that was more direct and more convenient for booking a tutor while allowing students to see tutors and ratings as well. It’s also for tutors to be able to have control of their own availability. We figured out what we wanted on our original site, but we've been using a basic starter page. Clap Creative did a complete upgrade and added all the features we needed to make it good for a small business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clap Creative was responsible for the creation of the site and translating what we then wireframed to a complete functioning website that we can use to have tutors to operate fully. They did SEO [search engine optimization] as well, which had great results.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

I actually found them on Clutch, and I thought I had to return the favor with a review.

How much have you invested with Clap Creative?

It cost $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from Mid-June 2016 to October 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website that Clap Creative developed automatically made us into a more sophisticated company. We were initially just completely bare bones, all hustle, and all grind. Now we have a complete, functioning website. Because of that level of sophistication, we also have a lot more viewership of our site and more bookings. With bare bones, people won't trust your company as much. Now that we have a way to let people know that we have a good, functioning company, they trust they can spend their money with us. Our client return rate is much higher now.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Very well. I think they did everything we wanted. Sometimes it took some back-and-forth to communicate just because it was my first time creating a website, and didn't have any knowledge or expertise on the subject. It's a language barrier there, in a sense. Clap Creative were very responsive, always responded to my emails, and met the timeline we had agreed on. Whenever we emailed, they shot right back with the current process, current updates, and never let hours tick by without emails being returned. We also got calls pretty often. They’re really good in that sense.

Are there any areas Clap Creative could improve?

The only issue I had was that it went over the timeline, and we had to do extra testing at the end, but that happens with every site. Beyond that, it was really good project management.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an adaptive test prep platform. Our first foray in the market will be the exam that helps students get into law school, known as the LSAT. We are a machine learning course.

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

We wanted a working front-end system. We use them for JavaScript, CSS3 and HTML5 work as well as very light implementation of some of those pieces of code into our backend.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

It was all front-end coding. We do the back-end coding in house. It was a little bit of integration but I would say the lion share of their work was to code the front-end in those three languages I mentioned.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

We met DK [Clap Creative’s Chief Executive Officer] here in California since he was recommended to us by a friend of a friend with whom he had done some work. Our friend was one of his first clients.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We spent under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

He’s finished the project. We want to maintain the relationship with him and his staff in case we need some change orders in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It was a fairly sophisticated job and there was a lot of back and forth, but Clap Creative dealt with it well. We don’t have beta users in the system yet. We had done our own internal review of the code and so far it seems to be working well. Once we launch formally, we’ll have metrics.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

DK acted as a project manager in the sense that he had a team of programmers and he was our only liaison between the development team on his end and our Chief Technology Officer.

They were very communicative. He was willing to Skype with us within a day or two’s notice. He was very responsive. If we had an issue on code or something broke he was very quick to remedy the situation. And while he may not be an expert level coder himself he understands the landscape enough to be able to translate what we wanted to his team.

What distinguishes Clap Creative from other providers?

I think they were very reasonable in their initial project rate. I appreciated when there were issues with the code and when we needed to ask for a level of development up from where they felt was in their area of expertise, they were willing to find someone else and add that person to their team in order to satisfy our request.

Is there anything Clap Creative could have improved or done differently?

I think one thing that would have been helpful would be if they would have communicated to us what was in their level of expertise before we found out it wasn’t. They were able to find someone to do that portion of the project but we didn’t know that. It would have been great for us to know they didn’t have that capability.

That’s a negative and positive at the same time because it turned out well. But that might have saved us time to know that. We’re happy with the outcome anyways.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is Advice Interactive Group. We're a full-service marketing company. We provide Web fulfillment services and, as a part of that, we have worked with D.K. [owner of Clap Creative] on a number of projects to get the technical fulfillment done.

What is your position?

I'm the director of development. I oversee all the technical fulfillment for the agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

We had a lot of turnover with some of our staff. We were shorthanded and needed some help fulfilling some projects on time. We were looking for outside developers to help us deliver them on time.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We've done various projects with Clap Creative, most of which involved Clap Creative doing WordPress beam development. They have also done some custom website development for us.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

We did some basic online research and reached out to Clap Creative. We did some small projects with them, and they turned out very well. We've had an ongoing relationship ever since.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative?

The size of this initiative is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Clap Creative in the fall of 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any results from this engagement?

I've been very satisfied with the work Clap Creative has done. I've outsourced this kind of work a number of times, and this has been the relationship that stuck. 

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

D.K. is a very able project manager. He does a good job of mediating between his team and me. My experience with a lot of these relationships is that the quality control is not always the best. He makes sure that all gets done. They can get things done quickly and intelligently.

What distinguishes Clap Creative from other providers?

The main thing is that they have D.K. sitting at the helm. That's really the big deal for me. I like that I have somebody who is always making sure that our project is successful. I don't know when he sleeps. He's available at all hours. It's amazing. He's very on top of projects and communicates well.

Are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I really can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're an e-commerce-based tile company. We manufacture tiles and sell them across the country. 

What is your position?

I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Clap Creative?

We were looking to build a website for our business. We have an e-commerce platform that we use as the foundation of our business, Bigcommerce, and we needed help creating a website of our own.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Clap creative was an end-to-end website developer for us. We designed how we wanted it to look and sent those designs to Clap Creative. They used those designs to develop our website fully, including our home page, blog, and product pages. Clap Creative also helped us with the launch of our website. They currently maintain our website and update it as needed.

How did you come to work with Clap Creative?

I did some online research and created a shortlist of suitable companies. I reached out to a few of them to get a proposal. I liked Clap Creative, and their pricing was good compared to other companies we approached.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative?

It's around $3,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them two years ago. We launched the site in December 2014, but our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our monthly sales have doubled and our traffic has increased significantly since we launched this site.

How did Clap Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Clap Creative did a great job and were very responsive.

What distinguishes Clap Creative from other providers?

Responsiveness, price, and delivering exactly what we wanted. We would send them a primitive PowerPoint with the layout and design that we wanted. They would take that and create exactly what we wanted. They were very easy to work with. I remember there was something wrong with one of our domains, and I sent them an email about it. Within two minutes, I had a response, and they had helped fix the problem.

Are there areas in which they could improve?

I wish the project had been done earlier, but they were patient with any revisions that we would send them. Overall, it's been a very successful project.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder & CEO of The Social Bubble Corporation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Clap Creative, and what were your goals?

We hired Cap Creative to build us a well designed, functional and expandable website from the bottom up.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Clap Creative based on our ability to trust DK and his ability to deliver on the services that were being promised. We also did some vetting by actually speaking with references.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

This was a full on Web Development project that required initial design from concept, design, functionality along with full managed and hosting services.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with the Developer and we're able to communicate everything that needed to be done without any challenges.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Simply said, we have a beautiful functional website that people are delighted to visit.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We communicated with simple email back and forth and worked just well. Their response has always been immediate.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Response time and attentiveness.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not really anything I can think of at the moment.