Command C

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Brooklyn Brewery is a regional craft brewery located in the northeastern US. We have an international footprint of close to 30 states and over 30 countries. 

I’m a content marketing manager, so I handle pretty much everything that’s brand-related, visual, or prints, seen in the marketplace. A good amount of my position in particular involves handling our digital platforms, including our website, and giving some assistance to social media and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We had a several year-long partnership with them as a “troubleshooting helpline.” When it was time to update to Magento 2, they were the clear choice for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They assisted us with our Magento 2 migration, which was really our biggest project for our store platform in the past couple of years. The Command C team matched our existing themes from Magento 1. They were able to get that rolling at the end of 2019 and were able to launch in mid-2020. 

We had just completed a full site overhaul with another agency before the migration started, so they did a lot of work in matching up pattern libraries to make sure that the entire site looks like one piece even though it was technically on two servers. We have an ongoing relationship for technical support, plugins, and other technically-involved rollouts that I might not be able to handle myself. 

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Kristi (Account Manager), and our lead developer. I've also worked with other members of the team during onboarding, but most of my communication as the project continued has been through Kristi to keep things simple. 

How did you come to work with Command C?

They started working with another member of our organization prior to my work with them. In the end, I decided to keep them because they felt like a great fit. They were doing great work for us. Above all, they were responsive and responsible. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship for support and implementation. Our Magento 2 migration project ran from December 2019–June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They are great at providing instructions for some of the ins and outs of Magento. When I went into issues on my own work for the migration, their instructions have been a handy structure because there are a lot of moving parts and quite a bit of development that went into it. Magento is not the simplest platform to tackle, especially during COVID-19 when we've had quite a bit of business changes, but Command C has made the process seamless. 

The simplest anecdotal feedback I could give is simply that the site works and that I’m able to maintain the site with relative ease, which is somewhat rare in the Magento space. I've spent a lot of time with fellow Magento users who were either experts or intimidated by the platform. Command C has done a great job of getting us to speed and the team made the site a functional piece of our business instead of it being a burden.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

We maintain a Basecamp environment for our ongoing projects. It has been very handy for us to be able to go back and reference our work done in the past. Basecamp is very helpful, user-friendly, and keeps everything organized than usual. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We ran into some small issues and places where things didn’t quite match up, and the platform seemed insurmountable — but they've been great not only about solving those things — but making it a transparent process during the end. They've communicated well on what they're doing and have given us the functional insights that we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have any comments about their work. I would love to believe that our work was always most important. I would’ve love for things to get done overnight, but that’s just a completely unrealistic thing to ask of people. Other than superhuman time management, I couldn’t give any real feedback there.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of the Basecamp platform and what they could offer. Make sure that every piece of the relationship is really set out — and that things are clean, clear, and easy to search. Basecamp may end up becoming such a useful knowledge library and not just a communication platform, which could be a huge asset especially for newer users of the platform.

Being able to go back and reference things can be helpful. Overall, Command C does a great job of breaking stuff out to make it perfect. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of brand partnerships at ByHeart. We’re an infant nutrition brand that’s a year away from launching our product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We needed help with making a landing page.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our industry has a lot of opportunity for storytelling, community, conversation. Our company, in particular, has a multifaceted brand story. While we were waiting to launch the product, we wanted to build a landing page to get our brand out there without revealing too much. 

It wasn’t a complicated build: Command C created a single page with three tabs. It was both consumer- and investor-facing, as we were fundraising at the time.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people: Sara (Founder), a project manager, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Command C?

Wary from lots of horror stories, we wanted a web developer whose abilities we could have confidence in. Command C came highly referred to us by our web designer. We also looked at their past work, which had a lot of examples.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project got started in March 2020 and remains ongoing. We planned to start earlier, but there were delays on our side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality is A+. Our brief contained a lot of uncertainty, and Command C has made strong suggestions for us. For example, they recommended that we use WordPress for flexibility. The execution has gone perfectly as well.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication has been awesome. We use Basecamp and have direct access to Tim (Director of E-Commerce Technology), our developer. Every member of the team is extremely available. The project managers switched partway through the project, but it was seamless and had no impact on the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Communication is not something you get from all developers, but we’ve gotten it from Command C. We also appreciate their willingness to hold our hand. Tim is really patient when I ask really basic questions about WordPress. Overall, they’re easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If the scope were more robust, I might have more feedback. But it was a relatively small project, and they handled everything perfectly.

Any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have an answer to that, to be honest.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of everythingsummercamp.com. We are a manufacturer and a retailer of summer camp supplies and apparel. We manufacture a lot of products on our own, but we also carry large national brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

Our old platform was limited in which features we could integrate, and it was expensive to manage. We contracted with Command C to develop a new e-commerce website that would address these problems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We relied on Command C to set us up with a Shopify Plus website that allows us to try out new features quickly and with less financial risk. Our site hosts the packing lists for campers at an extensive selection of summer camps across the country. All items are hyperlinked to that specific product category to make shopping easier. We also sell branded apparel for summer camps that needed to be arranged online so that campers at one camp do not see the branded merchandise for a different camp. Realistically, we could have created a Shopify website on our own, but we needed a partner like Command C to program those special features and arrange our site correctly.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of about four people, which included a project manager, a technical team, and sometimes the founder.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We originally spoke with a Shopify representative, and they provided a list of agencies they recommended. After researching several of those firms, we settled on Command C because of their honesty. Several companies boasted that they could easily accomplish what we were asking. Command C was forthright in saying they weren’t sure exactly how they would accommodate our unique features, but they were excited for the challenge presented to them. Command C was much more invested in the project. Their honesty was refreshing.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement spanned April–September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We intentionally launched during our slowest time of the year so that we had time to fix any problems if any came up. That said, our sales have increased relative to the time of the year. Customers are prompted to leave a review of our site at checkout, and we have yet to receive a negative review since switching to Shopify.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication efforts ensured that we never waited to hear back from them. We worked primarily through Basecamp. We tried to hold each other accountable so that we would be at our best.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did a good job of setting appropriate expectations and then exceeding them. And, again, the communication was almost flawless.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were wonderful to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Command C will work quickly, so any future clients will have to be prepared to work quickly alongside them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the e-commerce and digital marketing manager for YouCopia®. We create storage and organization products for the home.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We recently completed a refresh of our brand. Not only was Command C responsible for helping us launch our first DTC site on the Shopify Platform, but they were challenged with creating a brand experience that was consistent with our new look and feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We recently refreshed our brand positioning. They not only helped us launch our first B2C site, but they were also challenged with creating a brand experience that was consistent with our new look-and-feel.

Command C was responsible for custom theming that delivered on new style guide and brand position. Additionally, they completed numerous application integrations on the back end to support Marketing, Analytics and Operations

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Amanda Bernsohn (Project Management Lead, Command C), and Tiffany Kuchta (Tech Lead, Command C). Prior to kickoff we mostly worked with Sara to hammer out the scope.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We evaluated quite a few development agencies including Command C who specialize in Shopify. Ultimately, we felt like they were the best fit for the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–April 2018. They continue to help us with maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working within a tight timeline, Command C delivered a beautiful site that met all of our project goals and stayed within the scope of our project. I enjoyed the experience. I’m extremely pleased with how the site is performing so far.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was solid. They used Basecamp, which worked well for this engagement. Amanda, our project manager, was always quick to respond, and I never felt in the dark.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our project required a lot of knowledge of Liquid and the restrictions of theme customization. Tiffany (Tech Lead, Command C) did a great job of providing answers and helped guide us in the right direction. She made sure that we didn’t head down the wrong paths when considering the customization options because of the limitations of Liquid.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to go into detail for large deliverables within the statement of work during planning. Command C has a brilliant team and will lead you down a different and better path if they are fully aware of what you are trying to do. They have no problem being transparent regarding actual scope which leads to fewer surprises down the road.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of an amateur baseball governing body. Our day-to-day work is comprised of placing athletes on the field as well as ensuring the health and proliferation of the sport at the grassroots level.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We work with various partners on aspects of our organization such as business services, web development, and revenue-generation. We needed the ability to extract the JSON feed from a database in real time and generate its output into a user-friendly format to enhance UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Command C developed a site from scratch. They’ve built a content-heavy site using WordPress CMS, incorporating external integrations like Instagram Carousel. A key part our project scope was ensuring our JSON feed generated output into a user-friendly format. Since site development, we’ve added content such as a blog. 

The site was developed in conjunction with a baseball-bat certification program. Its main function is to allow visitors, particularly baseball coaches and parents, to see which bats we have certified or approved for use. We needed a user-friendly database listing the bat model, weight, length, manufacturer, and other key aspects users would like to review. They manage site development as an ongoing project. Over the next six months, their team will implement various changes to improve the functionality and UX of our online shop. We will also be working with them to update our MailChimp platform.

What is the team composition?

Sara (Founder, Command C) has been our main point of contact. We also have two liaisons for daily site work.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We initially engaged with them regarding an RFP to build our e-commerce site. Although we hired a different partner for the project, I kept an ongoing dialog with Sara and her team. Another project came up about 12 months ago, and we decided to use them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent around $10,000–$20,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2017 and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website they’ve built for us is brand new, so it’s hard to provide concrete metrics. Once we’ve launched our redone e-commerce site, I can better gauge their impact. Feedback from users on the bat certification site has been extremely positive.

They populated the site data in a user-friendly way, creating a functional layout that a coach, parent, or player can utilize. The site they’ve built has served our needs more robustly than we could have imagined.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

Sara is an outstanding person to work with. She’s served as a resource even for internal questions regarding SEO or other topics. They use Basecamp for project management, which we’re very familiar with. We receive daily updates and communication has been great. They’re very easy to work with; they’ve become a great partner for us.

There have been times when we needed to urgently complete a task. They were always transparent and clear with managing our expectations. They often replied that they could complete the request, but it would take twice as long to do correctly. 

We appreciated their candid response. It was more important for us to have the work done correctly within a realistic time period rather than face unexpected delays.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Command C has been a great partner and our relationship continues to strengthen and grow. One of their biggest strengths is their ability to effectively communicate. We’re not an organization involved with technical work, but they’ve done a fantastic job translating development work into something we can grasp.

They’ve been able to implement our feedback and comments despite our lack of technical terminology. This isn’t something all agencies are able to do. They can take the narrative we provide and deliver exactly what we want.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they could improve on. If I did have a suggestion, I would be comfortable mentioning it to Sara; I’m sure I would receive immediate feedback as well.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Having a well-defined project scope is important for development work, which was the main takeaway we learned from our initial conversation with Sara three years ago. The developer needs to know what you’re looking for. Put your ideas down on paper to save time during development. If you don’t clearly lay out your specifications, they will spend time analyzing and interpreting what you want to do instead of building the product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and chief creative officer of Tom Bihn, a designer, manufacturer, and online retailer of bags. We have about 50 employees and are based in Seattle, Wash.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We needed help migrating our e-commerce store to a Shopify platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to transitioning our e-commerce platform over to Shopify, we saw working with Command C as an opportunity to achieve some additional functionality that wasn't possible with our previous shopping cart. 

We relied heavily on their team's expertise to determine what was possible, and they developed the frontend and backend from there. For example, we added an option that allows customers to customize their bag purchases, making the addition of organizational products available.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Sara Bacon (Founder, Command C), Amanda Bernsohn (Project Management Lead, Command C), and Tiffany Kuchta (Tech Lead, Command C). Sara was great about establishing a strong client relationship and making sure we were happy throughout the whole process.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We looked through the list of developers recommended on Shopify's website and interviewed about five vendors. Among those candidates, we felt most comfortable working with Command C.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since January 2016. They continue to tweak our website as needed and we're always collaborating on new projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Command C built a simple, clean backend and user-friendly frontend. We're very pleased with the interface of the new shopping cart that allows our customers to customize purchases with ease.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team uses Basecamp, which works well for us since we use it internally as well. They're quick to respond whenever we reach out and follow up on requests with a sense of urgency.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most pleased with the way they communicate. They're respectful and pay close attention to our goals. If we have a question, they'll either respond to it right away or thoroughly research it and get back to us within a day or two.

They make us feel like equal partners. In addition to offering efficient workflows, they're affable and clear in all of their communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of a downside. They're some of my favorite people to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There are so many great possibilities that can come from working with Command C. Just be sure to ask lots of questions—don't hold back. The more communicative you are in the initial working process, the better the results will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of an online men’s clothing retailer. We specialize in high-end menswear products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We wanted to address some issues our previous developers encountered. We brought in Command C as our primary developers to build custom modules and cultivate a unique UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our current project is replatforming our Magento site to Magento 2.0. Most of the UX and functionality of the site is standard for an online retailer; however, they’ve included several custom integrations that create a distinctive experience. For example, our typical product and brand pages are a mix of retail and editorial design principles. Regarding functionalities, one module helps customers buy correct sizes by saving profiles of purchased garments to their account. This makes it easy to compare different garments while browsing and ensures satisfactory purchases. There’s also a section on the site entitled “Collective Action” where customers can vote on preferred aspects of upcoming products. In addition to those features, they optimized the site for mobile and enhanced its backend architecture.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with their founder and a product manager.

How did you come to work with Command C?

A combination of looking at their past work and having conversations made us feel comfortable working with them. They’re focused on developing for e-commerce and had the skills to make our website standout.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$199,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2014 and relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most significant result we’ve seen is a sudden increase in mobile conversions after they made the UX mobile-friendly. Now, that number is almost equal to that of traditional web conversions. Most improvements have been incremental, so it’s difficult to pinpoint specific results. However, revenue has consistently gone up since the engagement began. Their work to improve some of our backend processes has given us a better grasp on internal operations. As a result, the increased efficiency saves us a lot of time.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

We interact via weekly calls regarding questions and concerns but mostly communicate through email or Basecamp. They keep us informed when they receive ticket requests and on how they’re working through an issue. They’re transparent when estimating time to allocate to projects. Overall, I’d rate their communication skills very highly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work very precise instead of trying to complete tasks as quickly and cost-effective as possible and that’s a good approach. Additionally, their UX focus is useful and they offer valuable insight on how to execute our ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They tend to be busy, so completing a task that isn’t urgent may take slightly longer than it should. However, it’s also up to us to let them know when something needs to be done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One of their strengths is being flexible and working with customers. It’s not a standardized approach, so consider how often you want to communicate and they’ll be accommodating to that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Outlier Inc., an online clothing seller.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

I needed an update to my Magento website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our old website was made in house. We found Command C and asked that they update it from Magento CE 1.3.2.4 to the newest version. They migrated the database, products, and customer data. They were also involved with various integrations.

They rebuilt all of our code. It was a complete restart because we hadn’t kept up with the Magento updates over the years. We had made some changes to the Magento core so we had to do a complete rebuild instead of just going through an update.

Command C also set up new hosting for us and integrated our payment gateway to facilitate better functionality. We display products on the website and use PayPal for purchases in order to sell merchandise directly to the customer. We’re now able to achieve better efficiency on our customer service output.

We have an ongoing project to continue building out the site. We’re adding better analytics, full Zendesk integrations, and third-party logistics. They’re also providing ongoing maintenance to our site. We recently upgraded the server again and have seen a great increase in our both site and checkout speed.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with the owner, project manager, and two people on their development staff.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We initially searched for an agency that could upgrade our site. We finally found Command C’s website after a lot of research and decided to go with them because they felt like the right fit for us. They were excellent at breaking issues down into manageable parts. They are great communicators, which is something we place high value on.

What is the status of this engagement?

The new website launched in August 2015. Command C is now on a maintenance retainer and involved with more additions and integrations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a 20% increase in efficiency in our customer service. We’ve also seen an increase in productivity.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp to communicate, which works wonderfully. Command C is very on top of things. Their project and time management are both great. They’re always very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their biggest distinguishing strengths are communication and responsiveness. They also have great technical expertise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no suggestions for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Pop Chart Lab, a print retailer. We design and sell posters and prints through our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

We have a rather complicated Shopify store. We needed a way to display our posters with finishing options because we also have a woodshop where we create frames for all the products. We had no on-staff technical expertise to help us display our products as we wanted, and the partner who’d helped set up the Shopify site was more of a branding agency than a tech agency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were two main tasks we had Command C do that Shopify didn’t provide: displaying specific images related to product variants and enabling a zoom function to see our products up close.

Command C created a way to have a main SKU with six variants that each had their own image library associated to them. When a customer clicks into a variant, they get three new images specific to that variant. It’s a complex but helpful feature that Shopify didn’t offer. Each product has about 30–40 images, but Shopify’s program consistently pulled the wrong image for the thumbnail, so Command C has fixed that.

For the zoom feature, Shopify didn’t offer a great one when we first started, so that’s why we had Command C build one. Now, Shopify has gotten better, but the zoom was imperative to our business because our prints are detailed and customers needed to be able to see them.

Recently, Command C has been doing a lot of integrations, like with our new email provider. Our old one didn’t provide product innovation we wanted, so Command C helped us switch to a combatable provider and had it all setup within two days.

Another feature Command C has built out is a gift guide functionality. We can make custom collection pages to display at the top of pages or as a banner. This is particularly helpful during the holiday season because we can have collections like “gifts for foodies,” “gifts for booklovers,” etc. We can upload a custom image to be the front icon or header across the collections.

What is the team composition?

We mainly interact with Command C’s founder and both of our project managers.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We wanted a local team, and we found Command C through Shopify’s recommended partners. They’re located in Brooklyn, just a few blocks from where we were located at the time, so it seemed to be a great fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in August 2012. Right now, they mostly provide maintenance, but we’re in the process of having them build our own site soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're usually ranked as one of the higher Shopify sites, according to our revenue. Shopify sometimes highlights 10­–15 sites to use as examples for people who may be considering moving to their platform, and we’ve been featured numerous times on that list. We have a good relationship with Shopify, which speaks to the success and functionality of our store; Shopify is proud to have us as a customer.

We have high conversion and repeat customer rates, and our cart size has gotten bigger over the years. We’re definitely in the top 1%–2% of stores, as far as revue.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp to track our project, which we usually access and manage through email. Command C has a system where you can escalate something to emergency status once or twice a month, and whenever we do that, we hear back from them within the hour. They’re incredibly responsive, and they have a great system for prioritizing and staying organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the things I most appreciate is their transparency on billing. When we don't have much internal expertise on a subject, we have no idea how long it should take to do something, and other companies seem to take advantage of that. Their quotes can range quite a bit, and it just seems like they’re trying to see how much they can squeeze out of us instead of actually charge for the work they do. Command C is good at just accounting for their hours and not overcharging or being sneaky. We pay them a retainer for a certain number of billable hours a month, and they update us constantly on how many hours we’ve used. If we’re starting a new project, they’ll be honest about how many hours it will take and stick to their quotes.

The quality of their work is also amazing. They know what our goals are and what’s important to us, and that’s reflected in the products they create. They’re great to work with, friendly, and easy to get along with. In the five years of being partners, we’ve never had a disagreement, which is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they've been great. We work with a number of subcontractors, and Command C is definitely the least troublesome of them all. We rarely have to take time out of our schedule to deal with a problem with Command C.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Give them a clear list of things you need done, the timeline, and the budget. Think strategically about what you want and take advantage of Command C’s expertise. You can easily end up throwing a lot of money away by working on a function you don’t even need, so get Command C’s input. They’ll let you know what’s worth the investment, so you can get the most bang for your buck.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time of this project, I was the director of software development for Arccos Golf, which is a supplier of sensor hardware that screws into golf clubs and tracks data about the user’s game. My duties involved overseeing all of our client-side development, including iOS, Android, and web applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Command C?

Our company philosophy was to do all of our core business in-house, and we needed great agency partners for the rest of our business. We began looking for e-commerce partners to do our website, which we needed to sell our main product, golf club sensors.

One of the biggest challenges in the e-commerce project was that the website not only needed to provide the outlet for sales, but also to explain what the product was and why customers needed it. We already had a creative agency that we had engaged to design our branding materials, including our logo, but they did not have experience with e-commerce specifically and were not prepared to spearhead the technical side of the website build.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The site that Command C built for us was at its core a Shopify site. That technology worked well for our needs, as it is reasonably lightweight and comes with a lot of baked-in assumptions that suited our goals. I believe it is built using Ruby, and it allows for a lot of custom templating and extensions while still letting the user benefit from Shopify’s rich e-commerce ecosystem.

One of Command C’s primary challenges was the fact that we were laying a very intricate user interface (UI) on top of the e-commerce base. Our site’s design had many small innovations and details, utilizing a lot of small animations that are very Javascript and CSS-3 heavy, so the integration was not straightforward. While we knew that Shopify was the right platform for our needs, we did not know it intricately enough to predict how our UI changes would positively or negatively affect dev time in regards to integration and adaptation. That is where Command C’s expertise really came into play, and they were able to guide us through that process.

We wanted to get the site to the point where our internal team could manage maintenance in the future. Accordingly, we had distinct opinions about what technologies—including supporting libraries, third-party technologies, and best practices—were selected for the site. Once the work was complete, the site worked so well that we didn’t need to be constantly revising our templates whenever the Shopify core platform upgraded. Ultimately, we were able to let the site exist and do its job without feeling like it was a burden or strain upon our in-house team.

What is the team composition?

Our primary contact on the technical side was Tiffany Kutcha (Tech Lead, Command C), and she was fantastic. She handled a lot of the coordination in terms of technical decisions, and was generally very accommodating.

How did you come to work with Command C?

We interviewed a lot of potential candidates and came away from the process feeling great about Command C, both in terms of the level of service they provided as well as their expertise in the field.

How much have you invested with them?

The build itself cost around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The full range of the engagement was from around February 2015 to November 2016, including a support contract. Within that time frame, the build itself would have been around five months. We had released a remedial pre-sale website in 2014, before the actual terms of our work with Command C began, and I believe we launched the full website at some point in 2015. The engagement has since been concluded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are likely not the average client, as we already had a quality assessment (QA) team in place by the time we got to the review stage of the project. When our QA team went through the site’s first, rough draft at Command C’s request, they filed somewhere around 200 small bugs or UI issues on various browsers. Because we had our own engineers looking at the site from a QA perspective, we came back with a lot more feedback than a typical client.

They handled all of our feedback really well and we never felt like there was any pushback on our comments. We definitely shot for the stars in terms of the design and the functionality of the site, and they were actually able to meet that high bar. It really feels like the version we designed was the one we saw at launch, and I think that’s rare in development.

How did Command C perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed their time well, particularly in terms of a staggered approach. By this I mean that we weren’t delivering everything they needed all at once, yet they knew what tasks they could get started on early. We used a Basecamp install to coordinate our teams’ work on the project, and that was great in terms of submitting feedback and bugs, in part because our team was already comfortable using Basecamp as a tool. We also had regular calls to discuss the project. Tiffany did a phenomenal job at trying to accommodate our needs while also using their own internal tools in order to make sure that they could work quickly and not be bogged down by our preferences. Command C was integral in helping us figure out where we needed to get the project in order to unlock their next stage of work, all of which I felt was well-communicated.

Additionally, they did a solid job of dealing with all the moving parts unique to this situation. Cooperating with us alone would likely have been enough of a challenge for them, because we were a relatively young startup that was still trying to find its footing. However, they needed to coordinate between their own work, another creative agency’s work, and the demands of our product team. They did a fantastic job responding to all the collaboration challenges that came with having three separate teams working on a single end product. The process went as smoothly as we had hoped.

Overall, Command C was willing to listen and were candid about what they did well and what tools they could use to make us the site that we wanted. A lot of creative agencies just say yes to everything, but Command C is competent enough and confident enough in their relationships with their clients to occasionally disagree with suggestions. Their priority is making sure that they can deliver the best build possible rather than obeying blindly, which I appreciate. They do well to sell their services without constantly “pitching” the client. Budget-wise, we managed to stay pretty close to what we had expected, which was partially a combination of providing our own QA work and them optimizing the best ways and areas on which to focus our joint efforts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of polish on Command C’s work was extraordinarily high. Because they have such a focus on e-commerce, they are very aware of all the options and platforms available. They are able to cater their suggestions to exactly what we needed and had the maturity to be able to work with another creative agency on the project. In terms of the constraints of the project, I don’t think that there was a whole lot that they could have done better. They did their work well and in a good amount of time. They are really top tier in their industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It might be nice for them to take a look at some of their longer-term support options for small companies like us, where our ongoing maintenance needs were both on the lower end and unpredictable. Their current support options and less expensive tiers are geared towards companies that know what their demands are going to be on a more regular basis. Because of our status as a startup—and this is a common problem in our industry—we weren’t sure of our needs going forward. We would have greatly benefitted from having Command C do further iterations of the site, and although we had them do a couple of things, we could not keep them on an ongoing basis as a result of their pricing structure.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would encourage future customers to know what’s out there in terms of e-commerce platforms so they can plan in advance what they need out of Command C’s services. For example, a Magento customer is very different than a Shopify customer, and it would benefit everyone involved if you know which one you are in advance. Do you most need endless customization or simplicity and efficiency? Be aware of the space.

Lastly, make sure to engage Command C on projects where you have enough of a budget to make use of their skills. You want to make sure that it’s the right project for an agency with these kinds of talents on board.