DotcomWeavers

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president and founder of a unique costumer marketplace. It caters to costume enthusiasts such as Comi-Con cosplayers, theaters, and production companies, as well as people who like to dress up for costume parties. We started a year and a half ago and have fewer than 10 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DotcomWeavers?

We had some Photoshop design files from a company called Ruckus, as well as a business model. We needed someone to code the marketplace website and app in order for us to start this business.

The first stage was to have a bulletproof marketplace, from which we could start building a user base and get to the next round of investment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DotcomWeavers is building our web and app platform, where users can exchange, buy, and sell new and used costumes. We were initially split between using Shopify, Magento or a custom solution, and we ended up going with a custom-built PHP marketplace. Given the unique components of our platform, we found that an established solution like Shopify wouldn’t cover our needs.

We began by going over our frontend designs and agreeing on a scope of work for the backend development. We also tackled a few loose ends the design company hadn’t thought through from a high-level, business model perspective. We developed a photo-cropping tool and made a few sitewide revisions.

They built some unique functionalities into the marketplace. One combined a peer-to-peer, Etsy-style marketplace with the ability to sell unwanted items to our company. If a user has several old costumes, they can request a bag, fill it, and mail it to us with prepaid shipping. We process, clean, photograph, and resell them, paying the user what is acceptable to us.

Another feature is our donation model. We give users the ability to donate a percentage of their sales. If they donate more than 10%, we waive our transaction fee, matching that donation. On the purchasing side, 1% of every sale goes to a charity partner and the user can decide to donate 50¢, which we’ll match. We’ve gamified this method so it’s fun to use.

What is the team dynamic?

We’ve worked with 2–3 people from the U.S. team, including a project manager. There are at least 6 other people from DotcomWeavers’ Indian coding team.

How did you come to work with DotcomWeavers?

We looked at around 6 other companies. The selection process was rather difficult, especially as a startup. We hadn’t completely determined what we needed. We had several meetings with the different companies.

DotcomWeavers stood out with their attention to detail, receptivity, and interest in working with startups, as well as with their socially-conscious business approach. That was a factor for us—we wanted a relationship with a partner with similar values. Many of the other companies we went to didn’t give us this feeling.

DotcomWeavers’s unique business model also sparked our interest. They have 30% of their team based in the U.S. as project managers, with several in-house coders based in India. This offers the ability to discourse directly with an American team along with the affordability of Indian coding. They also had good reviews, fit our budget, and were exceptional during the onboarding process. They were extremely receptive to our needs, taking the time to think our project through and provide a comprehensive scope of work.

Some of the other web development companies in the New York City area set an unrealistically high price point. It made us feel that they either didn’t want the work or hoped that we were very rich or didn’t know what we were getting into. It was nice to have a discussion with DotcomWeavers—they took our startup seriously and went about the scope meticulously.

How much have you invested with them?

Between $75,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with DotcomWeavers around 7 months ago, in April or March 2017.

We are mostly done with the development sprints and have the marketplace up and running. We’re in the final quality control period, making sure that the app and website are synced. We’ve made a few additions and revisions and we need to polish it before pushing traffic to the marketplace.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It would be difficult for me to share results, since we have only recently gotten to this stage. One of our goals at this stage is getting investments in order to begin scaling the company. We’ve pitched what we’ve built so far to some people, and they’ve given us good responses.

It’s a mini success story at this stage—what we’ve built so far seems to have value to people versed in the area. DotcomWeavers has adhered to our vision.

How did DotcomWeavers perform from a project management standpoint?

Our exceptionally good project manager was a huge asset on the project. They delivered everything on time and within budget.

We go through a 6-sprint development process, pushing a new piece of functionality live onto our test site every 2 weeks. The project manager reaches out to us around twice a week, and we receive a project update every Friday. It features overall status, details on what’s been completed, any challenges they faced, and any actionable items they need from us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I know the founder and co-founder of the company quite well. They’re nice people. They work well together, managing the client side from the U.S. and the coding office in India. Even though there are separate offices, they’re the same company. Instead of outsourcing the coding part, they do everything under the same umbrella, which has worked well for us.

Their employees—at least on the U.S. side—took an interest in our project, even beyond what we expected. A few members of their staff would email us things they found that were especially interesting or relevant to our company at different hours of the night. It was pleasantly surprising to see their dedication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There could be a bit more quality control in their Indian office. It’s a slight issue that can be improved.

Do you have any advice for future customers?

I would encourage clients to meet with DotcomWeavers. That will clearly demonstrate that they’re a great company; they care and are passionate about what they do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

[These thoughts represent me and not National Vision Administrators or its affiliates.] Contact Fill sells contact lenses to the general public and to our vision plan members. We offer all major brands of contact lenses including disposable, toric, and cosmetic color-enhancing contacts at significant savings. Customers can place orders online or through our call center.

I am a product manager at National Vision Administrators [NVA]. I solicited around 15 developers to redesign the Contact Fill website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DotcomWeavers?

Our business challenge was to increase accessibility to our customers. We wanted a website that was inviting to the general public and to our NVA members. DotcomWeavers looked at each customer base and helped us design a website that would accommodate each customer in their buying journey.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DotcomWeavers provided web design and development. The project involved re-platforming our site into an e-commerce enabled website that allows customers to buy its stock products, as well as know more about their products, offerings, read news, press information, watch videos, and more. DotcomWeavers provided integration recommendations, design samples, and web development. Specifically, they helped us transition from a dated e-commerce platform to a Magento platform with Shipstation, Mandrill, Mailchimp, and Authorize.Net integrations. They linked with our IT team to meet our needs.

How did you come to work with DotcomWeavers?

DotcomWeavers stood out because of its personal communication, their ability to understand our needs, and a vibrant set of past projects. We choose them for three reasons: 1) Past industry experience – they had worked with companies in our health industry. We have specific needs from a compliance level that DotcomWeavers accommodates. 2) Personalization – They met with us in person and treated us like members of their family. Even if we had issues, which we did, we knew they were worried about our best interest and would work to resolve them, which they did. 3) Strategic planning – DotcomWeavers customized their strategy for us. Other developer firms mold the customer in a predetermined project plan depending on the type of business.

How much have you invested with DotcomWeavers?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in August 2015, and we launched our website in June 2016. The project is ongoing. We remain in contract with DotcomWeavers. They offer a robust set of business strategy tools from their terrific Chief Executive Officer, Amit [Bhaiya], on down. We look forward to their help.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Many customers have reported ease of use on the new website compared to our old website. Internally, we have seen order flow improve with our new integrations. That makes us excited to scale! We look forward to the success stories on a business level.

Are there any areas DotcomWeavers could improve?

DotcomWeavers can improve on their data migration. In our case, our platform was dated, created in 2003. However, we hoped more of our data would transfer over. Similarly, some functionality for old customers did not transfer over to the new website. The main issue we had with data migration was communication. If an issue occurs, we want to hear it explained by the developer and not from a project manager explaining an issue in their own words.

Issues occurred because I communicated my desires to a project manager in America, who communicated our wishes to a developer team in India. That led to significant issues when we had urgent concerns and business specific specifications. The time zone change made deadlines tough to match 100%.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with DotcomWeavers?

What they lack in timeliness they made up for in thinking about the needs of our business. We recommend they make more recommendations to their customers. They have ample experience on their team and can foresee pitfalls where we could not. DotcomWeavers listens well and that should be the standard for every business.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We’re an online cake decorating supplier.

What is your position?

I’m the chief marketing officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with DotcomWeavers?

We were attempting to upgrade all aspects of our online presence. With DotcomWeavers, we implemented a new design. We implemented a new e-commerce cart. We implemented a new ERP [enterprise resource planning] system. We implemented a new CRM [customer relationship management] system. We performed customizations between different workflows within the company, plus moved into a new facility. They handled all of the technical aspects of the project, and provided some valuable strategic insights, too. 

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project in greater detail?

They were responsible for implementing a solution that we’d already selected and licensed. In this case, we moved from an X-Cart e-commerce package to CRE Loaded, which is one that they worked quite closely with as an e-commerce package. We didn’t have an ERP or CRM system installed, so we decided to use a combined solution called Stone Edge, which is an order management system that also acts as a customer service solution. They also implemented an access database that has a SQL backbone. They went ahead and tied it together with an enhanced version of QuickBooks.

Do they provide ongoing support, too?

They do. They’re available, in all honesty, seven days a week and many times, 24 hours a day.

How did you select DotcomWeavers as your solution partner?

I’ve worked extensively out of New York City. I saw that they did some work on other sites that I was familiar with, and I was relatively impressed. They had a location in New Jersey, which is fairly close to me. I went out to meet their team face to face. I liked what they had to say. I liked the work that they’d done before. I approved of the way they handled their workflows. Overall, I just felt most comfortable with their presentation.

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

It was within the low six figures.

When was the project first completed?

It’s still ongoing. There were various stages to the project. This particular project’s been, probably, ongoing with them for the last two and a half, almost three years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

Sure. Our business has grown 20 percent year over year since we started working with DotcomWeavers. Conversions have improved considerably, which is great. We also started expanding into different marketplaces. They’ve even created a proprietary solution for us that will allow us to scale up as the business grows. For instance, with Amazon, we have robust program because of work that DotcomWeavers did. We’ve since moved from zero to more than a thousand percent in growth with Amazon.

When working with DotcomWeavers, is there anything you’d consider special about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They can do more than follow directions. Some developers will write the code that their client asks for without stopping to consider its value or relevance. They don’t necessarily stop to think about whether or not it’s the best possible solution or course of action given the context of the project. DotcomWeavers doesn’t approach their work that way. We’ve really appreciated that they take the time to understand their clients’ business. They come in, sit down with you, and really think about what the core problems are. Only then will they begin to propose solutions and approaches. In the end, I think that process produces the best results for the client because it’s tailored to the unique situation.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve on as a service provider?

I think if they narrowed their scope, it would be more helpful. They’re not a marketing firm, per se. They’re much more of an e-commerce and Web development shop. That’s their specialty and area of deep expertise. While it’s helpful to have access to their marketing services, I felt that their technical skills and knowledge to be more polished and valuable to us.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We’re a Web-based personal financial education and financial literacy firm. We offer a financial management system to individuals to help them better understand and manage their finances.

What is your position?

I’m the owner and founder.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Dotcomweavers?

At the time, we wanted to establish a new website with some fairly sophisticated functionality. We don’t have the expertise in-house, so we needed to find a technology partner that could help us build the site and also direct us on best practices.

Could you elaborate on the custom functionalities your site required?

There were two things. One was a model of the U.S. household population that I had been working on with a separate research company. We categorized all U.S. households into 288 different segments based on their net worth and their cash flow, sourcing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve Board. That was a data model that had to be rolled into the website. The idea was that people could use our site by identifying their age, their income, and their homeownership status. They would be able to find benchmark data for themselves on their wealth and cash flow.

The other piece is where Dotcomweavers got more directly involved, and that was where we had to create a custom worksheet that we call the 80/20 worksheet. That is a measurement tool of a household’s net worth or assets to liabilities, and net worth as well as the positive and negative cash flow associated with each of the items in their balance and statements. The worksheet was to be prepopulated with key benchmark data. That’s how you would start to use that tool as a user on our website. Then, you’d go in and overwrite with your own wealth and cash flow data to personalize it. That was the nutshell of the functionality that had to be developed and incorporated into the website. Dotcomweavers created that for us.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this project in greater detail?

We handled the content development, migration, prep and the creative end of things. Dotcomweavers was primarily responsible for the technical build. They did all of the custom programming, testing, QA/QC [quality assurance/quality control] and incremental enhancement.

When was this project completed?

I believe we finished it in the beginning of 2011.   

Could you provide a sense of the size of this project in monetary terms?

It was just shy of $30,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of what they’ve delivered?

We were awarded the Financial Literacy Program of the Year Award, which was the category we were in, within three months after launching the site. That was from a user standpoint or at least the target audience, that was positive feedback. Other than that, we’ve definitely received a number of compliments from long-time customers and stakeholders.

When working with Dotcomweavers, is there anything you’d consider unique or special about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I had Dotcomweavers against two other potential providers/developers, and they impressed me most with, first, their interest. They seem to have more of a passion for the material, the business that I was involved in and what we were trying to accomplish. Second, they were extremely cost competitive. Their project management team is located very close to our own office, which is great. Their developers and the technical folks are located out in India, so that helped keep the cost of the actual development pretty low. It seemed to be the best of both worlds.

In retrospect, are there any areas you think they could improve on as a service provider?

It depends on the breadth or the scope of what you would want accomplished. I used them for Web development and design, and for launching site deployment. They were also involved, to a degree, and continue to be involved to a degree, with SEO [search engine optimization] and SEM [search engine marketing]. As you get beyond having a functional site, you need a more holistic and comprehensive approach. They really excel at the Web design and development, but they could probably expand their peripheral services some more.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

Yes, I run the site Reviewbalance.com. What we do is help businesses look better online, on resources like Yelp, Google, Citysearch, and TripAdvisor. We help businesses establish systems to receive authentic and positive reviews from customers.

What is your position?

I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with Dotcomweavers?

I needed an online tool that someone could use to, again, set up systems to help gather and generate review requests from the customers. I knew it wasn’t going to be a cookie cutter-type display. Some of the logic that needed to be developed was beyond our capabilities. The tool needed to search for content bases on relevance, value, ranking, and tags. It also had to offer customers a way to communicate their unique feedback to a company with relative ease. It had to be intuitive like the sites that they used to write other online reviews.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this project in greater detail?

They created our tool from scratch. We presented to them what we envisioned and they described what they could do, how complicated it’d be, how long it’d probably take to complete, and how much it’d cost us. They came in and handled the technical aspects of the project. We provided strategic guidance along the way, offering some basic oversight and ensuring the components were functioning the way we needed them to.  

How did you select Dotcomweavers as your solution partner for this endeavor?

I went digging through online reviews. I searched Google and had a couple of companies that I was considering. Dotcomweavers had a lot of noteworthy testimonials from other business owners. They were also very close to us. We had an initial consultation in which we discussed the specifics of our project. They had a very convincing proposal and I was impressed with their previous work. I felt confident that they’d be able to build what we wanted.

Could you provide a general cost range for this project?

I believe the initial estimate was approximately $25,000 but, when it was said and done, it was probably closer to $35,000.

When was this project completed?

It was completed in August of last year [2013].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of what they’ve done?

Like I said, we’re really able to help people. It’s evolving still. We’re still performing updates and tweaking things to try to get better conversions. As far as the useful side of it, I’ve had people join with a relatively nonexistent online reputation. They’re now able to easily manage the different review sites that their business is displayed on, and then be able to get their customers to go online and leave reviews to streamline that process to make it easy. We’ve had some considerable growth in our user base, which has been great. The solution functions exactly as we envisioned it, and now we’re in the process of refining it as users submit their feedback.

When working with Dotcomweavers, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

This was my very first project of this nature, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. We’ve been extremely pleased with what they’ve delivered. It's been an entirely painless first experience for us. but I can’t say much about how that compares to other companies offering something similar or identical.

In retrospect, are there areas you think Dotcomweavers could improve on as a service provider?

No. We worked together very well. As I’d mentioned, since I have almost no experience in this area, it’s rather difficult for me to make any kind of comparison or recommendation.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

Yes, I manage a limousine operation. We offer limousines and party buses to customers.  

What is your position?

I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Dotcomweavers?

We didn’t have a method of tracking our leads, so we decided to create our own custom CRM [customer relationship management] system. That better allowed us to create filtrations for customers on the fly, and then basically have all of that data at our disposal. We wanted to be able to market back to customers that have used our service before, or filled out our contact forms. We wanted access to comprehensive customer transaction histories.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this project in greater detail?

They built our system from scratch using PHP on CodeIgniter and MySQL. We approached them with our basic requirements and objectives. They scoped the project and developed the system based on our conceptual design. They prepped and migrated all of our data and configured our backend systems, too. They also provided training and support.

How did you select Dotcomweavers as your solution partner for this endeavor?

I had conducted some local research on vendors and Dotcomweavers came up. The fact that they were local was a big bonus for us. I submitted our statement of work to them and they responded with a pretty convincing proposal. I met their team in person to have them go through their capabilities and approach. I really appreciated their transparency. They made it very clear what they could and could not do. I was impressed with a number of the custom sites they’d built for clients in the past, so I decided to go with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this project in monetary terms? 

This latest cost was about $30,000. We’ve worked on a number of projects together through the years. I’d say we’ve invested probably double that estimate in total. We still engage them on a case-by-case basis for support and system enhancements.

Does this relationship remain ongoing?

Yes. We have them on retainer. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

With the CRM that we’re using now, it’s internal and our employees use it all the time without issue. The system even handles our mechanical vehicle malfunctions and net protocols. Our newer development project isn’t live yet, but it should be finished and launched by June [of 2014]. In terms of what stage we are now in the development, I’m pretty confident and comfortable with what I’m seeing. The data loads a lot faster; the queries are a lot stronger. We’re upgrading our reporting modules next month, and that’ll allow us to get a little craftier with some of the data that we’re collecting.

When working with Dotcomweavers, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I think they’ve got some layered talent there. They have effective project management there. They’re very seasoned and articulate. They’re well versed in best practices and definitely keep up to date on new trends and methods. I’ve been impressed with the insights they’ve been able to provide to us. It’s all been extremely valuable.  

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

There are two separate companies under the same umbrella. The Paper Store is the one that worked directly with Dotcomweavers. It’s basically a paper distributor. We represent paper mills throughout the world that manufacturer fine-printing papers.

What is your position?

I am the president and founder of The Paper Store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Dotcomweavers?

Where Dotcomweavers helped us is they created a custom ecommerce site for us, which enabled us to offer thousands of paper products in a variety of sizes, weights, colors, and textures, and sell it all through the Internet to the general public.

We really knew we wanted to enter the e-commerce world, but we didn’t know how to do it. We were doing it because we wanted to drive sales, but we also needed to maintain our competitiveness. We knew our customers wanted to buy our products with relative ease, and we wanted to be able to offer a simple, intuitive way for them to get what they sought.

SOLUTION

How did you select Dotcomweavers as your solution partner for this endeavor?

You don’t know this, but prior to working with Dotcomweavers, we had actually hired a different developer to do our website. To our dismay, we were getting absolutely nowhere to the point where we actually had cut our losses and terminate the contract. We said, “We’re done with them. They cannot give us what we want. It’s no longer an issue of time, but an issue of capability.” They were people who were very familiar with the paper industry, too. It surprised us that even with an understanding of what we needed, they couldn’t actually find the developers to create the website we wanted.  

By contrast, Dotcomweavers had almost no experience working in our industry. That didn’t stop them. They learned our industry, understood the vast amount of products and the way that products are sold and the different language of our industry and everything. They were very thorough in that respect. We were in a bit of a crunch when we went to them. We explained our situation and presented to them what we’d built with our previous developer. They inspected it and told us they could give what we wanted and actually make it run smoother. I felt confident in their development capabilities, and they didn’t let me down.

Could you describe the scope of the project in greater detail?

They handled our complete e-commerce build. They also provided training to our administrative staff. They continue to provide ongoing support and case-by-case enhancements to our site.

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

It cost between $15,000 and $20,000 at the time.

When was this site launched?

We launched our site sometime in 2010.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

I know that people go on our website, and they say how easy it is to use. Compared to our main competition, we now have a far easier process for direct sales, and we can track our processes with much greater ease. As far as success, we’ve seen an increase in sales all around the country. We’ve actually begun to chart our sales. In almost every state, we’ve seen some impact from them. We’ve been very pleased with what we’ve seen thus far.

When working with Dotcomweavers, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

It’s difficult to say because I’ve only worked with two. I had a horribly negative experience with the first one, and a great experience with Dotcomweavers. The difference has been night and day. Dotcomweavers invested much more time conducting research into our industry and business practices, which resulted in a much better website than even we anticipated. They’re also very client-centric. They really go out of their way to be flexible with us. I can’t begin to tell you how appreciative we’ve been.

In retrospect, are there areas you think they could improve upon as a service provider?

The only thing I would say is that if they could provide some additional written documentation or training materials after implementation, that'd have been great. Perhaps we’re a little bit old fashioned, but we went through the training and still found it difficult to perform all of the tasks we had to. Honestly, we would have preferred a place to go for the written instructions. Having something standard to refer to would have been very beneficial to us.