EYStudios

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Bergeron Companies is a leading provider of adaptive pediatric equipment. As the COO, I oversee the websites of the company’s three brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EYStudios?

The website for our Adaptive Mall brand hadn’t been updated for nearly a decade, so we needed an experienced web developer to modernize our look.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed EYStudios to revamp the site’s design and improve its functionality as well. After absorbing our business goals, they led every stage from conception to execution. Their biggest priority was designing an item page that can display between 30 – 40 style options for a single product, which also needed detailed product descriptions for each selection. To further enhance our online shopping experience, they recommended moving our websites from Yahoo to Magento. They migrated the Keekaroo website (another one of our brands) in November 2017, and plan to transfer the Adaptive Mall platform soon. In addition to the site migration, they’re currently on retainer for ongoing maintenance and support.

What is the team composition?

Despite the frequent turnover, we always have two qualified points of contact assigned to our account.

How did you come to work with EYStudios?

We introduced our company to them at a tech conference, and they were very intrigued by our distinctive retail model. Impressed by their pitch, we reached out to them to refine our website.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $200,000 to date, with the Magento migration accounting for most of the budget. 

What is the status of this engagement?

EYStudios started working with us in November 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since the website renovation. With simple user paths, detailed product options, and a clean layout, users can easily find the products they need without the clutter.

How did EYStudios perform from a project management standpoint?

It took a while for them to learn our communication preferences, but now they fully understand our expectations. We typically correspond via phone and email, and status updates are provided in the shared Google Sheets document; meetings are held whenever we need to share screens. EYStudios has a trusted development process, but they are willing to adjust their schedule to accommodate us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From the bright color schemes to the user-friendly navigation, all of EYStudios' designs are crafted with our customers’ unique needs in mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and general manager of Connectivity Center. We sell computer parts, AV wiring, cabling systems, and electronic equipment related to connectivity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EYStudios?

We were affiliated with a German-based company and we distributed their line of products in the Americas. We had a local developer build our website, which was fed by a web export from Europe. However, the platform lacked the flexibility and search visibility that we wanted.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

EYStudios was involved in every aspect of the development process. They created wireframes and then built the website from scratch on the Magento platform. The team implemented features such as Mega Menus, which are dropdown menus where each category displays subcategories and thumbnail representations of what that category contains. They also incorporated the data feed from Europe and did photography for us when we weren’t satisfied with some of our products’ images.

What is the team composition?

I primarily kept in touch with one team member. But we also worked with a variety of different people in the development, web analytics, and graphic design departments.

How did you come to work with EYStudios?

Magento caught our eye when we were looking for an alternative platform for our site. We then interviewed different companies that had a relationship with Magento. EYStudios impressed us with their wide range of skill sets. They weren’t just developers who had to outsource the design component; they were a one-stop shop for all aspects of web development. We ultimately chose them to complete the project because the team was also a four-hour drive away, which was an advantage to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The main development was completed between January–August 2016 but we are still on retainer with them today. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site was very easy to navigate. Mega Menus in particular earned positive feedback from our users. We’ve extended our contract with EYStudios to keep them on retainer.

How did EYStudios perform from a project management standpoint?

When we were getting to know each other, we often met face-to-face because we were a car drive away. By the project’s end, 95% of our communication was over the phone or through email or screensharing. EYStudios would bring in other members of their team for calls on particular topics, but I had one point of contact for all my needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Other web development companies I’ve worked with didn’t invest in a personal relationship with their client. EYStudios highly emphasized the value of the customer; they felt privileged to have us as a client. They were also highly accessible. The general manager and the owner would call me to ask about the team’s performance and then incorporated my feedback into their workflow. The team also had moments where they would do part of a project wrong, but they never billed us for that work. I appreciated that they were honest in their business practices and genuinely cared about the customer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

EYStudios is a successful business and scaling its resources accordingly. As a result, they’ve brought on new people who aren’t as familiar with our relationship. They don’t always know the history of why we went in a given direction or made a certain decision.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve been the operations manager for LA Police Gear for nine years. We’re an e-commerce retailer that provides police, military, and outdoor tactical gear. The company has been in business since 2001.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with EYStudios?

We needed help transitioning our website from a Yahoo platform to a Magento platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We didn’t have a concrete web design in mind when we started the project, we basically just wanted to replicate the existing site on a Magento platform. EYStudios handled every aspect of the transition—design, coding, testing, and deployment, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. They’re cleaning up the interface, correcting any outstanding issues. They’re also making a couple of small tweaks to the account management functionalities like adding a new reward point system.

Additionally, we’ve planned out some more complex updates. EYStudios is working on the designs for those elements right now, and they’ll develop and launch the new features when the time comes.

What is the team composition?

We’re primarily in contact with about three people at a time, but we’ve worked with at least seven in total. One resource plays the role of a project manager.

How did you come to work with EYStudios?

The company first worked with them a number of years ago, before I started. EYStudios helped launch our first website, and we were happy with the results of that initial deployment. We’ve worked with other development agencies since, but we were familiar with EYStudios' quality of work, and we knew they had experience with Magento technologies, so we decided to partner with them again for this migration.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $300,000–$400,000 on this specific project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from February 2017–June 2018, when we launched the new website. The team is still building new features and making changes to optimize the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The launch of the new site did not go as smoothly as we had hoped, but I don’t fault EYStudios for the issues. We worked with several agencies for various aspects of the project, and the main issues stem from our SEO partner. We’ve also been dealing with frequent server crashes and reliability problems. EYStudios has been instrumental in helping us rectify all of these troubles, getting our website back on track in terms of performance.

How did EYStudios perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is very responsive, responding to all of our questions, comments, or requests as quickly as possible. We use shared documents to organize the workload and communicate typically via email, with a scheduled project call each week. Overall, it’s been a great experience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of customer service sets them apart from their competition. As an e-commerce company, we’re very customer focused, and it’s nice to work with a company that shares those same values. The CEO plays a huge part in this; he’s instilled an involved approach to customer service in his whole team. Someone is always available to provide support, even on the weekends and over holidays.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They do a pretty good job of staying organized, but with the volume of work we give them, sometimes they fall behind or certain tasks will fall off of their radar. They could implement a better tracking system to manage their workload.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and the president of JHL Supply, which is the parent company of CampingSurvival. The veteran-owned business is over 60 years old.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire EYStudios?

We hired EYStudios to help us establish a web presence in the outdoor and preparedness industry.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to generate more revenue through online transactions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose EYStudios based on their reputation and references.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They’ve built several custom websites for us over the years and solved many problems for us as we grew. Recently, they built a splash page for us.

What was the team composition?

We worked with the president of EYStudios and the project team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now generate nearly all of our revenues online. With the help of EYStudios, we have grown double digits most years leading up to 2018.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The EYStudios team was responsive, professional, and skilled. They met our deadlines and were always pleasant to interface with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with their personalized service and attention.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can't think of anything.