Magebit

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is Barkside Bistro.  We retail raw food and natural health products for dogs and cats both online and in a brick and mortar environment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We require an integrated website and POS platform.  The prior developers had failed to deliver after almost two years.  After spending a lot of time and money with no end in sight and no confidence in the ability of either group to deliver, we sought a new developer who could salvage what we had and could and bring the project to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The platform is Magento 2.2, and the site had been in the hands of two other developers prior to landing with Magebit, yet was still not live.  Magebit helped identify the list of things that needed to be addressed at the onset, yet as we went along, at every turn, we found another aspect of the code that needed to be fixed before we could proceed.  This resulted in the scope of work expanding significantly.  We are still working on getting this site and POS up and running.

What is the team composition?

I worked with between 10–15 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

I found them on the Magento site in their list of accredited developers that they publish. We did a review with a few companies we found there, and they shone the most in the course of that process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $65,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started together in December 2018 and are approaching the end of the project now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Proactive support in the successful planning, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure of this project has not been a strength.  This project is not yet complete as of Jan 2020 despite being a year in development.

Other then that, I found Magebit developers to be extremely professional, patient, and clearly know their stuff.  They are excellent at explaining things, even to non-technical people.  

Despite not being live, this been a mainly positive experience.  Estimates for time have been quite reliable.  We would recommend Magebit's services and look forward to continuing to work with them after we launch this thing.

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re working with just me, and I’m not very technical at all, so they’ve been extremely helpful with explaining whatever we were working on at the time and answering all my questions. They always understood exactly what was being asked of them, and they were very clear about establishing a direction for the project given basic instructions from me. It’s been a great experience from start to finish.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My website connects to two brick and mortar stores, and I don’t think they had done a lot of POS work before working with me, but they did a great job of digging into that and figuring out how to develop some pretty unique subscription and inventory functionality anyway. They’ve done a wonderful job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure if usability has been addressed yet, so I’m not sure how that’s going be, but that’s just a matter of things we won’t be able to determine until after launch, not something I would necessarily complain about.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there. 

I’m the owner and director of a Belgian e-commerce store called Belomax.com. We’re a B2C and B2G site that sells sports and leisure products to end consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit? 

We were looking for a strong, competent web development agency to assist us with our daily frontend, backend, and SEO maintenance.

What were your goals for this project? 

Our objective was to find a web development partner that could help us carry out our tasks. We wanted to update our platform to the latest version of Magento, improve our page speed, and refine our SEO.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor? 

A Magento extension provider referred us to them, so we reached out. They responded quickly to our email and kept to the point. Their portfolio also gave us confidence in their abilities. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Magebit works closely with our team to improve our site performance by maintaining our front- and backend. Initially, they checked the loading speed of our pages and came up with a solution to make them more responsive. After updating us to the current version of Magento, they tested third-party extensions and wrote deeper code to better connect them to our CRM. They now provide ongoing SEO support.  

What was the team composition?

Their CEO has been in charge of our project since our first interactions. He’s quick to respond and follows up on everything. Once we submit a service ticket, he assigns specialized developers to work on our task.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, we’re happy with their team and their skills. It’s important that we have a development partner who understands what a customer wants to see and how to reflect that on the frontend. As such, I appreciate that Magebit is able to take my vision and translate it into functioning code. They always come up with solutions to meet our end results, and we plan to continue working with them for the foreseeable future. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They use Atlassian to coordinate the project, which gives us a clear overview of the task status. With the ticket board, we can easily see all of the current tasks in progress, refer to specific ones, and track their timing. Communication is in English, which works well for us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provide accurate time estimates for each task. Sometimes we go over our planned hours, but that’s usually because I ask for extra modifications for the ticket. However, we understand each other well, so the end result is always great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they shouldn’t change a thing. Since the beginning, we’ve watched Magebit grow with us and feel good working with them. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a partner that can translate raw ideas into functional code.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a pajama company called ForeverLazy. 
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We first contracted Magebit to create our website about two and a half years ago. Previously, we’d partnered with unreliable freelance developers who often produced poor work. The domestic web development company we’d tried became too expensive. Magebit offered a middle ground. They’re a bit more affordable, but still bring the expertise of a high-level development firm. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magebit started by providing ongoing website maintenance and operational work for one of the businesses I co-own. For my other company’s brand, they helped us launch a website from the ground up. We described the look and feel we wanted and showed them examples and inspiration from other sites we wanted to emulate. Based on those materials, they managed everything from design to the entire development. From our in-depth discussions, they extrapolated our vision for the site and executed on it from scratch. 

Concerning technology, Magebit built our platform on a later version of Magento 1. From my understanding, they specialize in that area of development. They coded the newer website we made last year in a different programming language on the more modern Magento 2, which has more features. 

What is the team composition? 

I've personally interacted with 2–3 developers and two project managers from Magebit over the past few years. For day-to-day tasks like ongoing website maintenance, I work directly with the developers.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

We found Magebit on a site for freelancers. They responded to our service request for maintenance. We wanted a more reliable team than a single developer since we'd had bad luck with independent freelancers being less competent than they presented themselves.

We chose Magebit because they had an established team with a set infrastructure and multiple people for project management. They were much less expensive than some of the domestic firms we considered. They were responsive during their interview and met all our requirements. Our engagement has gone well ever since we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

The new website Magebit built cost €20,000 (approximately $22,9000 USD) for design and development. We've probably spent another €3,000–€4,000 (approximately $3,400–$5,600 USD) on the associated maintenance. The exclusively maintenance contract with our business has cost about €10,000 (approximately $11,400 USD) so far. In total, we've invested around €40,000 (approximately $45,700 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since the summer of 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Magebit delivered two high-quality and fully functional websites that have never crashed or had downtime that impacted the customer experience. They rapidly deliver on all our ideas and solve every problem we identify quickly and correctly.

I found it particularly impressive how accurately they translated our ideas into concrete designs based on our short dialogue sessions. They captured our desired look and feel in a cutting-edge website we’re very pleased with. 

Unlike past developers we’ve used, Magebit is very reliable. They’ve never put us in line behind other clients or taken multiple weeks for tasks to get done. Our line of business sees frequent and unexpected changes, so keeping pace is critical.

I appreciate the team's reliability, ease of communication, and quality of work. The most important result they’ve produced has been giving our business peace of mind. I can always rely on Magebit to keep everything running smoothly. They’re so responsive, efficient, realizable, and skilled that I never have to worry about the results.

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite a 12-hour time zone difference, the developers are always willing to answer my questions when I get to work in the morning, even though it's late at night for them. They're consistently available online, responsive, and open to problem-solving outside the standard workday. 

Magebit uses Alison software to track all the ongoing tasks. We can open new tickets and communicate through that platform. They're very organized and detail-oriented. The team stays organized by logging their tasks and progress. 

For all our requests, they provide accurate timeline and cost estimates. They're flexible about prioritizing and escalating urgent matters. Everything they launch on our site is thoroughly tested first. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

MageBit's knowledge of the latest industry trends was invaluable. They considered what worked well in the marketplace when developing our site. When they suggested using Magento, they explained why it was the right platform for our needs. The team’s informed advice saved us time spent researching technology options. 

All the aspects of building a website can be daunting and stressful, but Magebit made the whole process feel easy. They took initiative and used discretion about pitching ideas. Since I'm not a web developer or graphic designer, I appreciated their wealth of knowledge about what to include for the best customer experience and overall appearance. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been very happy with their work overall. There's no constructive feedback I can think of at this point. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of Lichtkoning, a lighting retailer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

We wanted to continuously improve our web-shop through expanded search engine advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our conversion percentage, protect our site and have it comply with regulations, and automate as many processes as possible.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Magebit contacted us by mail. They caught our interest because we weren’t so happy with our current development agency at that time. We tested the waters with several small tasks and grew our partnership from there.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They updated our Magento platform to the latest version and implemented new regulations regarding cookie notice and GDPR. They also fixed several old bugs and integrated third-parties like shipping partners. Finally, they implemented supplier stock data automation and helped launch our site in a new country and language.

What was the team composition?

Since we were working on multiple small tasks, they assigned multiple developers to our site. We worked with about three developers in total, in addition to a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've been growing very nicely thanks to Magebit’s assistance. In 2018, revenue grew more than 60% compared to 2017. I expect the same to be true this year.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We’re currently using Service Desk by Atlassian, and it works great. I prefer to work with a ticketing service like this. Previous agencies communicated with us by email, but it caused many issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provided excellent value for the cost. They’re easy to work with and provide working code and fast fixes, which is rare. Their total package is great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nobody’s perfect, but Magebit is getting there. If I were to give a few nitpicks, I’d say their ticketing system doesn’t allow you to edit posts, and sometimes their estimates are a bit off. Granted, both of these problems are partially on me. I could reread things before posting them and control feature creep better. Additionally, sick-leave made us miss several deadlines at the end of the year, but that’s understandable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the managing director of a U.K.-based web agency. We provide marketing and digital communications solutions along with technical support to our clients. We typically focus on providing e-commerce solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

We needed a partner who could extend our services, providing quality Magento support and development to our existing clients.

What were your goals for this project?

In addition to high-quality development, we wanted resources who could manage their projects in-house to ensure delivery.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After the initial contact, we gave them a few trials to gauge their skills. They completed the tests successfully, so we met them at their offices.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Magebit provides ongoing support desk services for all of our Magento technical requirements. This ranges from problem-solving issues and implementing security updates to handling new feature requests.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager who leads a number of Magento developers. They use a ticket system to assign tasks to individual developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

By dealing directly with client issues, Magebit has saved us a tremendous amount of time. We monitor their work and provide input when necessary. However, we’re confident in their ability to comprehend new issues, and they work well to produce solid solutions.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We primarily use Jira to process service support requests and hold further meetings over Skype as needed. In terms of responsiveness, Magebit is generally very prompt. Occasionally, there might be a task or two that take a while for them to start.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their response time to new service requests. If they need more information to process a request, they’re clear about their requirements. This allows us to assess the problems accurately and deal with them in an effective manner.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

While we’re happy with their work overall, they could be more accurate with their initial time estimates. They often provide soft quotes, so tasks end up taking more time than anticipated.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of a marketing firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

One of our clients was an e-commerce company that ships fresh and frozen seafood anywhere in the U.S. Magebit serves as the development team for their website.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to find a reliable, qualified, and cost-effective developer to help us manage the day-to-day operations of the Magento store.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them online. During the interview, we were impressed with their knowledge and flexibility. We started with a small project and grew from there.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The original Magento designer and developer failed to meet our needs. Fortunately, Magebit stepped in; they have been of great value to us. They originally helped make the Magento site more mobile-friendly. After that first task, they have completed nearly 100 projects for us, including the layout and design of the site. They’ve added additional features such as a new checkout system, upsells, and reviews. We’ve also asked them to perform on-site SEO and fixed error messages and other functionality issues.

What was the team composition?

I usually work with a project manager and 4–5 main developers from Magebit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their expertise and cost-effective solutions have allowed us to implement more features on the website, resulting in more profitability.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We use their online ticket system to submit information, so everything is organized. Their communication is excellent. They are responsive and quick to handle important issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their people and team environment are most impressive. I always feel confident they have our best interests at heart.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a VP of Technology and I.T. manager at KA Design International. We’re a consumer goods company in the design & decoration industry, with a strong presence in important EU countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what project/services did your company hire Magebit?

We were looking for someone to build a professional site and contribute SEO & marketing services. They needed to be able to handle the settings configuration of the platform & server, as well as migrating a Magento 1 database to a Magento 2 platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Many consumers are starting to move their entire purchasing lives online, so we needed to adjust to that. We wanted to move most of our marketing, sales, and customer services online, and then deploy them our colleagues in other EU countries.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did broad internet research and compared multiple specialized companies that we thought could provide a consistent quality of work, and would have strong planning and budgeting skills. We started with Romanian companies, but then expanded our search. We needed a partner that understood both Magento 1 and 2 and had excellent SEO and marketing knowledge. They also had to speak English.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Magebit handles a variety of services for us including migrating a Magento 1 database to a Magento 2 platform, redesigning our site’s functionalities and creating new ones, optimizing our servers, implementing our layout, and installing and configuring Magento 2, as well as extensions.

What was the team composition?

We’ve mostly worked with a project manager, as well as programmers with various specialties.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to go live with the whole project after three months, and we massively increased positive reviews from our partners. We also expect visits and conversions to multiply.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They were able to understand and define our objectives and tasks, and they accompanied us with a strong, positive attitude, throughout the project timeframe.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They simply delivered everything they promised us they would. We’re extremely satisfied with their execution and effectiveness.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I believe they should expand their operation, size-wise, if they grow the way I think they will.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a member of the board at XSports. We’re a sporting goods platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We wanted to make our webpage like a shop and have a rental platform for our sports goods.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re developing our website from scratch on Magento. The platform shows our customers what we offer and what we have in stock. It has a credit card payment system. We do the design on our side.

What is the team composition?

There are two people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

Our team found them. They presented to me and I decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2015 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything is working really well and we’re happy with it. They’re very supportive of our project, and provide good service.

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

They're good on time management. We use Jira to manage everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the e-commerce manager of Hargroves Cycles Ltd, which is an established and successful retailer specializing in all things cycling. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

Magebit built a new e-commerce website based on the Magento 2 platform. This involved migration from our existing Magento 1 platform and a significant amount of bespoke development to meet our requirements.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to upgrade to the latest version of Magento 2 and build an e-commerce website that could be developed and built upon for years to come while improving performance and efficiency for the online portion of our business.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We put together a rigorous research and selection process to assess many development teams—both local and overseas—that met our initial requirements. Magebit was more than qualified for the job with their portfolio of Magento projects and highly skilled team. Magebit’s enthusiasm and can-do attitude made us decide to partner with them.

Describe the project in detail.

They took our specifications, wireframes, and ideas and built a cutting-edge e-commerce website that catered to all of our requirements.

We operate our warehouse stock holding in a different way from most retailers, but Magebit developed a bespoke solution for us to host and manage stock from multiple sources autonomously within Magento. They also integrated the platform with our warehouse management system. The modernized frontend made us one of the best looking and easy to use online stores in the industry.

What was the team composition?

Throughout the project, we’ve had a handful of dedicated developers. Magebit has scaled resources up and down as the project and skill requirements changed. Our project manager has been in constant contact, and we can always communicate directly with the developers as required, which suits us well. Everybody on the team has time for us, regardless of their positions and the time of day or night.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

We are now able to run our e-commerce operations with fewer resources and a much higher output due to the systems and integrations Magebit put in place. We have a stable, modern platform that’s taking us to the next level financially, as well as giving us the ability to mold our online presence to represent our brand as a true-to-roots personal retailer.

How effective was the project management?

The project managers worked with us closely, so we were always able to track their progress. They’re hands-on developers, so we could always speak to somebody who knows all aspects of the project, understands our needs, and can explain the technical aspects. Magebit met all of our deadlines, including the launch date. We always discussed compromises ahead of time, so there were no delays or surprises along the way.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Magebit stands out because of their fresh attitude and approach to development. Their young, enthusiastic, and flexible developers have the right skills and experience to put us at ease; I never felt like we had a problem they couldn’t solve. Their dedication, determination, and availability make Magebit a great asset. I’ve never regretted selecting them as our development partner.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

For any clients considering working with Magebit, I suggest approaching them with clear and concise requirements upfront for a highly productive relationship. They are full of great ideas and great at problem-solving, but if you start with detailed requirements, your projects will progress quickly. That being said, they will suggest improvements when possible.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company operates a couple of websites, namely funkychristmassweaters.com and funkychristmasjumpers.com.

What is your position?

I am the owner and co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We had recently changed our site's e-commerce to Magento and had some issues for which we needed expert help.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Magebit helped me optimize my site, fixing a number of issues with it in order to make it run smoother. Since cleaning it up, they've managed the site for me, installing upgrades, extensions, and custom bits of code.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

I can't remember exactly how I came across their company. I searched for the right team for quite a bit before finding Magebit.

The business is seasonal and much of the work has been completed halfway through the year, before our launch. We haven't done a lot of work this year. I'm still deciding on what direction to take.

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

The total development cost so far has been around $10,000-20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Magebit three years ago. The relationship is ongoing. I added our latest task yesterday. The work is not urgent, but it's still a continuing race.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Magebit has kept my site operational. Their only technical weak point was on server configuration, for which I employ a different team.

The most important factor for me is website loading speed. It's as fast as it can be, only being limited by templates my company set up before Magebit's work started, so I'm happy.

What distinguishes Magebit from other providers?

They're a good team and work together well. Their company has grown, which has meant that I've had to change my strategy for working with them, but overall I'm happy. As long as I continue using Magento, I will stick with Magebit.

Is there anything Magebit could have improved or done differently?

Adding a server configuration specialist to their team would be a good improvement.