iWeb

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We manufacture wiring harnesses for vintage cars.

What is your position?

I am the IT manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with iWeb?

We wanted to update our old website. It was ten years old, barely intuitive, and did not reflect the organizational brand as we would have wanted.

We work on a range of classic vehicles across Europe and the US. There's a range of different harnesses which we offer, totaling 8,000 products. We wanted to develop a way for the user to find the right harnesses for their vehicle, without having to go through our entire catalogue. We implemented a user-friendly system using a series of questions to bring the appropriate products to the client as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Previously, customers would go through a category tree featuring different types of vehicles, followed by the make, model, and so on. It didn't instill any confidence in terms of us having the right product, which resulted in a lot of communication done by customers trying to confirm that a certain harness was indeed the right one. iWeb's task was to remove this ambiguity.

The previous website had been built using a content management system. We had an administration panel for adding new content to it, but it was generally dated.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They developed our site using Magento. The decision for using this platform was done by a company we'd previously employed for development. In the end, they couldn't manage the size of our catalogue, and our relationship broke down. Because of this, when we first contacted iWeb, their expertise in Magento was a determining factor for choosing to work together.

Harness finding was the main functionality that they worked on. Aside from that, the other elements were fairly standard (integrating payment providers, registration forms and financial tools).

Magento is geared towards standard online transactions, where items are ordered and paid for. Our company works with trade accounts where payment is done through monthly invoices. We don't necessarily carry stock of all our products, either. Between placing an order and receiving it, there can be a three month period in which we actually manufacture the item. We had to build customer communication and account management elements into the website. iWeb was helpful with this, and made an effort to understand our business.

They provided up to four developers on our last project cycle. Two of them worked on the frontend design and layouts, and one developer worked on PHP backend, database-driven functionality. The work was overseen by a project manager. Another person joined later on in a project management support role.

The work was an involved process for us. Most of the training for using the site was done in-house. iWeb was more than happy to support us in this respect, but it was ideal for us to handle it ourselves.

How did you come to work with iWeb?

There was a lot of research done on Magento developers. We wanted to work with a larger organization, rather than a one-man firm. The size of the project and the ongoing support demanded this.

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

The total development cost was in the range of 25,000 GBP [approx. US$35,900].

What is the status of this engagement?

iWeb offers us support and continued development for the site. We have a partnership, rather than a customer-provider relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The harness-finding part of the site not only presents all the applicable harnesses to a vehicle but also presents the range of modifications we can make. If someone has a pre-war vehicle, they won't have a socket for their satellite navigation or phone. We offer modifications in those lines and have seen an increase in the amount of modifications that are bought.

Retail customers have given us positive feedback on the ease with which they find not only the harnesses but all lateral components.

Based on a report from October 2015, we've seen a considerable increase in overall sales.

How did iWeb perform from a project management standpoint?

We were impressed with their delivery times and the accuracy of their estimates. Any problems were identified as early as possible and dealt with in a collaborative manner. We would not maintain the relationship if we weren't impressed with the initial development.

iWeb has an in-house project management tool. We write tickets via email which are automatically picked up at their end.

I couldn't recommend them highly enough. They adapt to the client's technical level during discussions. The requirements gathering phase was in-depth and seamless.

What distinguishes iWeb from other providers?

I've worked with companies which were strong from a database management point of view, but were lacking in frontend capabilities, or vice versa. iWeb's overall package, from design to implementation, has been seamless.

Is there anything iWeb could have improved or done differently?

Magento releases security packages which results in downtimes of the site, while it's being patched. The communication around this could be more accurate, but I do realize that iWeb is at the mercy of Magento's releases.

Also, there were times when their frontend team was busy with other work, which lead to changes to the site taking longer than I'd have liked. The amount of work they get reflects on how good iWeb is.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a food wholesale distributor. We deliver to restaurants, hotels, cafes, schools, care homes, and any other business with a kitchen. We have 32 delivery vehicles and 110 employees. We sell different types of food, like fresh meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, groceries, frozen or chilled food, and so on.

What is your position?

I am the food service director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with iWeb?

We wanted an online sales platform, but the out-of-the-box products on the market at that time didn't fit our needs.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They built our first sales-enabled website using Magento. The development solution was recommended by them.

They provided a team of four to six people for us. We communicated both with the developers themselves and with the project lead. Their project manager put together the team.

How did you come to work with iWeb?

iWeb seemed to have a lot of experience working with third-party databases, so they were the right provider for creating a website that would link to the database that we already had.

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

The total cost so far has been 60,000 British pounds [approx. US$85,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

We're constantly working with them but, in the next six months to two years, in particular, we'll be having significantly more development work done on the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The feedback from our customers is generally good. They consider our website to be better than our competitors' more basic, out-of-the-box systems. We've signed up 270 customers and have taken over 2,000 orders since October 2015. These are the figures we were expecting. We were looking for 5% of our business to move online, which is what happened.

How did iWeb perform from a project management standpoint?

They've always delivered their work on time and within budget. We use Trello for project management.

What distinguishes iWeb from other providers?

They offer a nice blend of casual and professional engagement. It was an enjoyable project to work on. We had a few laughs and banters along the way. They're good people with which you can talk to.

Is there anything iWeb could have improved or done differently?

Nothing springs to mind. They're one of the better IT companies that I've worked with.

Any prospecting customers looking to hire iWeb should make sure from the beginning that they know exactly what they want, and how every detail should factor in.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My business licenses music, both stock music and that of independent artists, for media producers who want music for specific projects. This can include videos, TV commercials, movies, and so on. We have thousands of tracks to choose from that offer different licensing options. A client can pay online and receive a downloadable file, or we can negotiate custom deals.

What is your position?

I'm an administrator and music consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with iWeb?

Before getting in touch with iWeb, we ran a website which sold royalty-free music. We needed a player for it. That was our initial goal.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

We took our concept for the new design of our site to iWeb and left the development to them. Whenever they came across something that was not feasible in our design, they came back with an alternate. Their proposed versions were usually better than what we wanted originally. From that point of view, they were fantastic.

They developed our site using the Magento platform.

We had a five-person team working for us. This included the developers, a couple of graphic designers, a logistical manager and our supervisor. They put together the team for us.

How did you come to work with iWeb?

While researching for an audio player for our website, we came across Elvis Costello's website, which had been done by iWeb. We loved its design. Everything about the site was identical to our own vision. We didn't have Elvis Costello's budget, but we got in touch with iWeb and told them what we could work with. They were able to produce a site for our specific purpose at that time.

When we set out to build our current site, which was a mammoth task compared to the one we had initially, we went back to iWeb. We were pleased with their past service and they were pleasant to talk to. It was a no-brainer.

We had hired a couple of development teams before working with iWeb who were disastrous. One of those collaborations ended up in a lawsuit. Working with iWeb, we never had any issues.

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

The total cost of the project has been $120,000. The project had an initial fixed price to which we added other requirements as we came across them. We paid them more than what we originally intended, but we were happy to increase our budget, considering what they were able to offer.

What is the status of this engagement?

The most recent project went live on October 10th 2015. There are a couple of tweaks we are currently working on for the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

One of the reasons we wanted to create a new site was lack of traffic. We're in the process of monitoring the traffic for the new rendition.

Having said that, all the people that have visited the site have been blown away by it. It's a beautiful piece of work. We've had no negative feedback whatsoever and we haven't discovered any major defects or bugs since its launch.

How did iWeb perform from a project management standpoint?

They've always delivered their work on time and within our specified budget.

In terms of project management tools, we've used Trello. iWeb are the ones that introduced us to it, and we've continued to use it for assigning site maintenance tasks. It's been very helpful.

What distinguishes iWeb from other providers?

There is nothing I wouldn't trust iWeb with. They are incredible in terms of logistics and brainstorming. If we went to them with an idea, they would be quick to respond with how it could or couldn't work, and give us two or three different scenarios for us to consider. There was never a case of them accepting an idea we presented without suggesting alternatives which typically worked better than what we had. They were phenomenal from that point of view.

They are friendly but also business-like.

Is there anything iWeb could have improved or done differently?

No, they've been excellent. We were very comfortable talking to each other, as well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Scruffs.com is a website that sells Scruffs brand work wear. It specializes in safety footwear, work trousers, T-shirts, and so on. We sell our products directly as the manufacturer.

What is your position?

I'm the digital marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with iWeb?

We needed someone capable of delivering a Magento-based website, on which we could store and update all our products by ourselves instead of continuously being reliant upon web developers. We wanted more administrative capabilities and authority over the content that we present to our customers.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Aside from Scruffs.com, they've made three other websites for us. One of those is called VanVault, a site for a storage box that fits in the back of a van, designed for high-end tools that a tradesman might have.

Defender Power is a site that should be going live within a day, more or less. It's for a lighting solution for building sites, which we manufacture, including power solutions, generators, and so on.

Another website is Punk Power Accessories, centering on accessories for power tools, such as drill bits, miter, and circular saw blades, and so on. All of these sites were built using Magento. We designed the visual elements in-house and delivered the collateral to iWeb and then they implemented the front-end. 

One example of what they worked on is our locator tool. If a customer prefers to visit our distributors instead of buying items online, they can type in their unique postal code, retrieve all the shops in the area that sell our products by proximity and then get directions. We were very happy with that particular feature because we knew it was going to be important for a subsegment of our customers, especially those that do research online but prefer to inspect the product in-person before deciding on the purchase. 

Another example is the graphical imagery located on our competition page. People would submit their entries via social media, and we would implement that onto the page. iWeb implemented the ability for us to add content as we required. Both examples are custom pieces of work that they did for us.

Many of the visual elements of the site were designed in-house. We have a design team for that. iWeb was in charge of the coding and, at the same time, gave us feedback on what could be done better from a usability layout perspective. That was very advantageous. 

The team working on our site consisted of two to three developers. The developers assigned to us were selected by iWeb, based on individual skill set and what each one was doing. We interacted with the developers all the time, and with Neil [Broughton, technical director at iWeb] himself, more than once a day on average.

The Magento platform was selected as a joint decision. iWeb recommended it as their solution of choice, and we considered it the right platform for our business.

How did you come to work with iWeb?

They were found before I started working for the company. We have a longstanding relationship with them in web development.

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

The total for the three sites they've worked for us recently is between $15,000 and $20,000. We work with them on a project-by-project basis. They offer us fixed prices, and we have a monthly retainer. There can also be ad hoc work for which they charge us separately. They're very flexible in that sense.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're always working with them on different projects. We're currently assessing one of our websites, Scruffs.com, looking at different verticals and potential redesign. Once we've decided on those, we'll ask them to quote us a price.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We carry out much of the website usage analysis in-house. We use that insight to drive forward any changes that are to be done. In one instance, we reduced the checkout process from seven to five steps. That resulted in the conversion rate moving up from 1.7 to 2.7 percent. We worked on this with iWeb. They recommended a form analysis tool called Formisimo, which we implemented and used to gather data points on where customers were falling out. We removed those fields as a result.

Reliability was always top-notch. We've never had a problem with downtime on Scruffs.com, which iWeb also hosts for us. Their data center is very good, and we've never had any complaints concerning load time. I regularly check it on Google Page Insight to make sure that it's loading in reasonable time. We load different banners for desktop and mobile, making sure that they don't take up mobile data bandwidth. Many of these kinds of changes have come as recommendations from iWeb.

How did iWeb perform from a project management standpoint?

The consensus from our team is that iWeb is very good and responsive to what we need. If we send out an email, it will get a response within 24 hours. They pick up tasks and issues as we send them. We don't need to compile a list of them at the end of the week. If we find something, we'll send them an email.

We've been communicating predominantly by email, telephone calls, and sharing documents via Google Docs. We are looking at implementing Podio for managing things from a ticketing perspective. This would both ease our ticketing process and provide us with a history of what we're using them for and how much.

What distinguishes iWeb from other providers?

One of the things I can't commend them enough for is the customer service they provide. We've had instances of things going wrong on the website outside working hours, and they still sent someone to help us through it and find a resolution for the problem. There was one instance when something went wrong with a page we'd set up, discounting the products heavily. As a result, I remained at the office until half past seven as did they. It would be going live to half a million people on Saturday, so they went above and beyond. They frequently go out of their way to help us get a result as soon as possible.

Is there anything iWeb could have improved or done differently?

Not generally. Whenever we asked them for something, they made it happen. My recommendation for future clients is to be specific with what they require. iWeb is well suited to scope out a project regardless. Neil is very good at what he does and understands web technology.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our business is fashion-based. We predominantly sell party dresses for different events. We are a high-quality fashion brand in London in the United Kingdom.

What is your position?

I'm the e-commerce manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with iWeb?

We commissioned iWeb to be our development partner. We like how they give us strong technical advice for a variety of initiatives. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Their role is to enhance the website and install any business management extensions onto our platform. When we moved from our previous provider to iWeb, they began a technical reworking of the website, adding extensions and changing code that wasn't on par with their best practice standards. They've also made some design changes. As a result of this work, we've commissioned them to rebuild the website. It will go live in early January [2016].

We use them on a consulting basis as well. They determine the best practice for any changes that we make. We are building a new warehouse management system using Magento for retrieving stock levels and prices, in which they're playing an integral part. They provide general strategic technology advice.

How did you come to work with iWeb?

It was a chance meeting at a Magento conference. We mentioned one of the problems that we'd been having with our website, and someone from iWeb proposed a couple of possible solutions.

We exchanged business cards and, during the course of six months, we got in touch with them, assessed the role that they could have and the solutions they could offer, and decided to choose them as a development and strategic partner.

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

It was from $10,000 to 50,000. That should be the normal range in the future, too.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on board as a development partner two or three months ago. We have absolutely no problems with them in terms of service level and have decided to employ them as a long-term strategic business partner. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The work that iWeb has done has been excellent. Any issues that we encountered are generally resolved within the hour using our ticketing system.

How did iWeb perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management side of things has been good and so is communication. I speak with the account manager multiple times a day for various reasons.

What distinguishes iWeb from other providers?

Everything they've set out to do has been achieved. It is a true partnership. We want to grow together as businesses and to have a mutually beneficial relationship. They've come on board with that. In terms of decisions, working with iWeb has been one of the best we've made.

Is there anything iWeb could have improved or done differently?

Not really. They've been very flexible, open to change and new ideas.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for a digital marketing consultancy. We work with companies and support their digital marketing initiatives.

What is your position?

I’m the managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached iWeb?

With one of my clients, we needed a major overhaul of a Magento site that was experiencing a lot of technical issues. My client needed a more robust site to support their growing business. It was a redesign, but it was also a functional upgrade.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

Once we selected iWeb, we had a scoping meeting and went through the detailed brief that we’d prepared beforehand. We needed to do database input, which was moderately complicated. We’ve got four pricing systems, we’ve got trade and retail clients, and we’ve got different currencies. It was a fairly complex project with a lot of moving parts. With the design, we very much liked how they worked because they started off by creating a design guide. Once that was agreed upon, that was the basis for everything else that was done. They also helped with the quality assurance.

After our initial meetings, the entire job was loaded onto the Trello project management system. This gave us complete transparency of what was going on, and who was doing what, where and when. This was incredibly useful because we could see the process of all the different tasks that had to be conducted, and how they were conducted. Once the design had been signed off, the next issue was adapting elements of Magento. Then, quite a bit of testing took place as well to ensure users could use the system effectively.

How did you select iWeb as your partner for this project?

We did a Google search, and we came up with a long list of developers. We wanted somebody who was relatively close to us, because we wanted to meet with them onsite. We wanted to check out the number of sites they had successfully deployed. It seems a lot of people are working from the back room, and they’re subbing work out to lots of other people. We got the list down to about five companies, and we did telephone interviews and narrowed it down to three. Then, we did face to face interviews and selected iWeb. The most important criterion was that they have significant experience working with Magento e-commerce.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this particular engagement?

We invested between £10,000 and £15,000 for the basic website. We continue to use their services for ad hoc improvements and customizations.  

How long has this engagement remained ongoing?

We started in June [of 2013], and completed the project in September. It probably could have been quicker, but my client tends to do things slowly. We’re still working with them for some additions and amendments.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within three months, we added 20 percent onto the number of visitors to the site. The biggest improvement is our trade customers are now able to go online and download items they need. Previously, they would log in and be able to look at things, but they had to email, fax, of call us to ask for things. We’ve now created a self-service area, and they can get the items they need much quicker. That’s made a big difference, and we’re trying to educate all of our trade customers to opt for that system.

I was satisfied from a project management perspective, too. When we needed something done urgently, we would use the project management system to let them know, and they would do it. I’ve worked with dozens of Web companies for nearly 20 years, and iWeb is the one company that I’ve recommended to other clients several times.

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

I think their development methodology was extremely effective. The way they created the entire design guide from the beginning, I’ve never seen that before from a Web company. Normally, we would get designers to create it, and we’d give that design to the Web company. They have a great talent pool there.

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

There’s nothing that instantly springs to mind. All the elements that we’ve needed, they have done. We had some issues with the Sagepay system, but they’ve been on the case with that.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for a construction firm. We manufacture and supply a broad range of products, such as shelters, walkways, playground equipment, and netting for football goal posts.

What is your position?

I’m the IT [information technology] manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached iWeb?

When we approached them, we had a team of Web developers in-house, and three of the key people left the business. As a result, we had the opportunity to either staff full time or outsource, just to keep the website running and also implement key functional improvements. We thought going the outsourced route would be the best long-term investment.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

The first requirement was to perform a complete hand over from our in-house Web developers who were leaving. We had a short, three-week time frame to complete that. We had to transition ownership of more than 12 different. I spent a number of days onsite with their Web developers, making sure all the details were in place. We then started redeveloping our websites with iWeb. We chose six of our main sites to completely restructure and redesign. We wanted it brand spanking new, and we started that in September of 2014. We have regular meetings, and they come to us with new ideas that we can try. There’s nothing we’ve ever asked of them that’s been too challenging. Everything that we’ve asked of them, they’ve been able to do.

How did you select iWeb as your partner for this project?

We conducted some research on Google. We chose local companies that were within a 30 minutes’ drive from us. We got the top 10 and narrowed it down to five, and then invited the top five into meetings. Then, we went to their offices to discuss what our requirements were and what each company could bring to the table. At the end of that process, we felt most comfortable with iWeb.

When was this engagement completed?

We have an ongoing relationship with iWeb. We started in July of 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

We didn’t sell any of our products online with our old website, but now that’s all changed. I can’t compare anything, but we’re getting a nice turnover for what we sell. As far as visitors are concerned, we’ve definitely seen a considerable increase in web traffic. On our primary website, we didn’t see a drop when the new website was deployed, but rather it continued to grow. What user feedback we have gotten has always been positive.

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

From a support point of view, we find that if there’s an issue they don’t just raise the support ticket. They will act upon it there and then for you if it’s a critical issue. They actually answer the phone and speak to you as well and, if you leave a message, they get back to you within 24 hours. They seem to be a genuinely committed company that wants to do well for their clients. They have a great approach to client relationships.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

[Our company] is the largest supplier of glass-reinforced plastic prefabricated building materials in the United Kingdom. Our primary market is the housing construction industry.

What is your position?

I am the IT [information technology] development manager, so I acted as the primary contact and supplier of technical information for the iWeb project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached iWeb?

Stormking has recently redesigned its public image to focus more on business-to-business work. The main focus of this redesign was the company’s website, which had mostly been left untouched for a decade. In addition to wanting a brand new design interface, we also needed a way of searching through our very complex product offering. This product configuration needed to be integrated seamlessly with the company’s core management system to streamline the management of future products. This was a technically demanding project.

SOLUTION

How did you select iWeb as your partner?

We were looking for a company with the ability to create a new design aimed strongly at the housing sector while, at the same time, providing access to our knowledge and experience in a way that was user friendly. iWeb presented us with the best opportunity to create a fresh, corporate website that would be informative and interactive. They had both the design expertise and the ability to develop the new software systems that would be integral to the success of this project.

When was this engagement concluded?

Due to delays within Stormking, the project took slightly more than a year to complete, but the resulting website was everything we had set out to achieve and more. As the project progressed our understanding of what was possible grew, and the goals for the project were updated accordingly. This allowed us to create an excellent website for both our company and for our industry.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

We haven’t tracked any specific metrics, but our end-users have been very satisfied with the final product. The new site is a real far cry from our previous site in terms of both visuals and functionality. It’s a lot easier and much more intuitive to navigate through our site. Users don’t spend nearly as much time searching for specific content. On the back-end, our internal staff has been very impressed with our streamlined processes. It’s easier to make necessary changes and implement bug fixed without having to reach out for technical support.

When working with iWeb, is there anything that you would consider special about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I was able to work very closely with the staff at iWeb, and they were always very responsive to our needs and concerns. They made great recommendations about our internal processes and how we could improve the overall presentation of our online brand, which was fantastic. They consistently demonstrated to us that they were the right choice for this project.