Netalico

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the web and marketing manager for an art company. We sell fine, investment, and decorative art to interior designers, furniture stores, and people. We also have a framing division for regular and high-volume framing, and an art services division that provides installation, delivery, shipping, and logistics services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

We had to build a website for one of our divisions. We wanted a team environment because we thought we’d have more responsive service and better problem solving, but the team we were working with seemed more like an individual developer with outsourced team members, so we switched to Netalico.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netalico is helping us maintain and fix the website that was built for us. They dig in to find issues, figure out why they arent’t working, and fix them. For example, when we built the site, we built it fast and just moved over the shipping from the old site, but it wasn’t set up properly. Now, they’re trying to get the shipping costs to be more accurate by getting the shipping to be based on weights and dimensions.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people. Mark (CTO & Founder) was our initial contact, and he’s the one who estimates the projects. Emily (E-Commerce Solutions Specialist) has done most of the work, and now we have Tamara (Project Manager), who seems to coordinate tasks so Emily can just keep working.

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

I started searching on the Magento website itself and looked for authorized people. I found three in our are, so I reached out to them to find out their rates and also rated them on responsiveness. Moreover, we were looking for a team, not a one-man band situation.

Netalico met all those requirements. First, we could afford them and second, they worked as a team and were the most responsive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $5,000–$10,000. With the single developer, we paid for monthly maintenance. It’s more cost effective to do it by project, so we’re actually saving money this way.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As the problems get fixed, we get less calls in client service. User can use the site by themselves without needing help or getting stuck and having to call. They have a better experience now.

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

We haven’t had any deadlines, but having a team is good because if one of them is out, someone else answers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The whole billing system is amazing. First, we’re saving money over a monthly maintenance fee. Second, they generally come under their estimate and are very honest and fair about what they’re charging.

Furthermore, we picked them in the first place because they were responsive when others weren’t. We’re also very happy with Netalico because they’re the team that we were looking for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I haven’t liked is that they don’t have any phone numbers to reach them. If something really desperate is happening, then we’re just relying on emails. It’d be helpful and reassuring to have a number to call to.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep the communication lines open. If you answer their questions, they’ll jump right back on the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

As an Online Marketing Specialist with USA Vinyl LLC, duties include daily website maintenance, ongoing website optimization, implementation of long-term web projects and marketing on all channels. I act as the main point of contact for web development vendors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Netalico Commerce, and what were your goals?

The primary goal in hiring Netalico as our developers was to acquire expert management of Adobe's Magento 1 CMS to maximize the value of our existing installation and extend its life-span.

In addition, we intended for Netalico to web development tasks that could not be handled in-task to provide for the ongoing improvement of the website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Netalico Commerce and what were the deciding factors?

Netalico was specifically focused on improving Magento 1 installations, providing future security updates and ongoing optimizations. We began with a trial period and were satisfied with their work over then-current developers and continued the relationship.

We specifically were looking for attentive and security-minded service, and they provided that.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

All work is performed to service a Magento 1 CMS installation, with particular support for template adjustments via CSS and PHP, database changes with SQL, and server/hosting management.

Small projects are handled on an on-demand basis, while bigger projects are specifically quoted and expectations are set for delivery timelines and what each side must provide.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We generally work on a day-to-day basis with John Davis, eCommerce Management Consultant. When John is unavailable, we work with Mark Lewis, owner and eCommerce Solutions Architect. On rare occasions, other members of their team (1-2) will provide assistance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Project success was judged based on the fidelity between what was strictly outlined in design mock-ups and initial requirements versus how closely the production version matched that vision.

In instances where a specific metric can be applied (ie. page load times), Netalico was accountable and worked to follow up and find solutions if they were not met.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We communicate with Netalico almost entirely through e-mail and in rare emergencies, via phone.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Netalico brings a down-to-earth nature, an attitude that shows they understand our company, and a willingness to suggest improvements we have not considered purely to be helpful.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While providing excellent end service in reasonable timelines, Netalico provides more estimates on when projects will be completed or how they are progressing if challenges are found.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Feetures is a stock company where I’ve been working as a brand manager for three and a half years. One of the biggest things that I do is coordinate all of our e-commerce activities and focus on the growth of the brand online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

We were looking for a developer that would be able to work freelance for us as we grew our income business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

 We started off with smaller projects such as site optimization, and ultimately, they have been able to help us maintain high conversion rates to execute any projects that we’ve asked them to do. They’re currently completely rebuilding our site on Shopify Plus and so far, the process has been seamless. 

We went with an outside developer due to bandwidth issues — we’re just not ready to have a full-time developer. We were just happy to have a team that really felt like they’re part of our team. They care about us and our brand as much as they would their own — and that’s what we look for in a partner.

What is the team composition?

They’ve grown our team kind as we’ve grown ours, which has been interesting and really good. We mostly work with Mark (CTO & Founder), who does all the developmental work. We also work with Lisa (UX/UI Designer) and she does all of their framework designs and she has been phenomenal — she’s always there to offer ideas and everything.

They’ve also added Tamara (Project Manager & Virtual Assistant) who does a lot of the pixel installation, and Alex (Project Coordinator) who’s basically going to be our account manager from now on.

Everyone we’ve worked with has been great and it’s been very seamless.

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

We had a poor experience with an outsourced developer and it just didn’t work out. They ended up putting us on a platform that was discontinued the next month from Shopify. Once we realized what had happened, we had to find somebody to help us with that. That’s when started exploring the relationship with Netalico. I remember we enjoyed working with Lisa on another project in the past before she moved there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April 2018, and our partnership is still ongoing. We have a retainer with them and they do all of our project-based work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We ran into some site performance issues that stemmed from the initial developers who worked on our website. Netalico worked tirelessly with us to figure out what had gone wrong with our website. They really broke it down in a way that was very easy for us to understand and basically rectify. That is just one of the many things they were able to provide for us. Lisa has always been really great at helping us establish what needs to happen, in order to improve our conversion rates.

They are able to address our problems and saw immediate improvements in the site’s performance. I’m not sure what the exact numbers are, but I believe we currently have a 12-second load time.

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicate through email for their piece work. For the website development, we set up regular calls, and they’re doing a phenomenal job in terms of the communication aspect. They also set up a spreadsheet that makes it easier for us to understand the changes. They provide us with really specific timelines and we’ve been happy with the way they’ve managed the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The biggest thing is they listen to us, and that’s really hard to find in a developer. We’ve been really happy with the way that they respond to us and if we have an idea, they’ll help us figure out the best ways to accomplish it in an efficient way. They also help us turn our ideas into something that’s more of a long-term solution instead of a short-term solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that I’ve not been satisfied with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say, to have a one-on-one conversation with Mark. He will care about your brand and how you operate, and he’d want to have a good understanding of what you want. They’re going to be able to establish everything with that conversation. Another piece of advice is to give them a try. We did something with them that was like three months to start, and they really made sure it was something that was going to work for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of e-commerce for Audio Advice. We are a high-performance retailer of home audio, home theater, and other audio gear.

The business has been around for 40 years with two retail stores in North Carolina, but we just launched our e-commerce business in 2016 and we now sell on multiple marketplaces and our website. We’re pretty young, but we're currently the fastest growing high-performance home audio business in the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

We launched our e-commerce website in 2016, and we were one of the very first businesses on Magento 2 when it first came out. We launched our site relatively quickly to get up to speed in the e-commerce space with another solutions provider here in the area, but we really needed someone who could help us sell the business, clean up our code, and polish everything from that initial launch. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Netalico to completely relaunch our website. They thoroughly cleaned up our code and worked on performance enhancements. We were growing so quickly, so we needed to scale up which they did for us. They helped us with our checkout optimization, the overall design, and the UX of our website. 

We do have our own creative team, but the overall design of the website is Netalico’s work. All of the development work and anything code-based, they complete for us. Nowadays, they mostly do monthly optimizations and platform enhancements. They also work on our SEO throughout the website, making sure that we're up to speed with all of Google's requirements, so we can remain at the top of search results. 

Aside from depending on them to help us with best practices on the coding and integration side, they are also a consultant for us in terms of other vendors and partners that we use for payment gateways and our cashing resources.

What is the team composition?

We work with Mark (CTO & Founder), as well as a few developers and a UX designer. 

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

We were referred to them by a friend. They also work in the e-commerce industry, and they used Netalico for their development needs. She always spoke very highly of Mark and his team. 

We talked to several other development firms, but they had large client bases and we felt they couldn't give the attention and patience that we needed as a very young e-commerce company. Netalico offered us a more personalized service — we believed they would be the ones who would be able to provide us with all of the attention that we needed, so we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our yearly spend has been between $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017. They still provide us with development amounting to 30–40 hours worth of work per month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we started our e-commerce business, our annual revenue has been growing significantly year over year. Being such a young company, we're quickly taking over a lot of our competitors who have been in the e-commerce space much longer. We’re also catching up to the numbers of our two retail stores.

In terms of our website, our average load time went from 11 seconds to three seconds. Their work really sped up our site to ensure that customers would get to our pages quickly.  

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’re really attentive — they are always on top of the requests that we have and usually come back with bigger and better versions of our ideas. They're very quick to respond to emails I send them, usually responding within a day and they typically resolve the issue within that first response, getting us ready to be pushed to a production environment. 

The team always thinks through every task from beginning to end and looks at the full experience — from the best way to code the site so it runs quickly, to the most efficient way to complete the task so they’re not charging more hours than necessary. They work in the most efficient way at the most efficient price, and they think through how it may impact our other initiatives in the long term.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What’s impressive is how they took our project from beginning to end — we really look at Netalico as a partner and a department of our own business unit because they work so closely with us nonstop. They really do take the approach of treating our business as their own. When the engagement started, we needed a lot of attention to grow and Mark’s hands-on approach and complete attention make us feel like we are their only clients. 

We still feel that way three years later because he has a great way of keeping it personal with the brands that he works with. He really learns their products and makes sure to provide big ideas to help improve the site experience or other areas of the business in general. We don't have to fish for ideas from them because they’re very proactive — they bring up any risks that they see in the tasks and ideas we bring them, while also providing us with suggestions to optimize and improve. 

They work with multiple clients throughout the country and even around the world. Due to their vast experience, they are able to provide great ideas in terms of what may work for small brands or large brands and they know what works and what doesn't.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing that I can think of that they could improve — they have completely blown us out of the water with their responsiveness and their service. We've worked with multiple development teams in the past and Netalico completely outdid them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust the ideas that the team brings and listen with an open mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a gallery director at a frame shop and art gallery based in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

Early on in the pandemic, we had to shut down our store and work remotely. We had two Magento 1 websites for selling framed art and animation art, which kept crashing because Adobe had ended its support for the old Magento version. We weren’t getting responses through our contact forms, either, and the website was all we had.

Since we don’t have an in-house developer, we hired Netalico Commerce to change the site's hosting because even our old providers weren’t able to offer customer support anymore. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve done similar work for both of our websites. Most people these days use Shopify or WordPress but Mark (CTO & Founder) has experience working with older Magento platforms. He has helped us move to a hosting company that wasn’t familiar with catering to huge Magento sites like ours, which had around 60,000 products listed on it.

Mark is also redeveloping our websites while still maintaining the look and function. He’s getting to know all the issues and workarounds to get them back up and running. Our website will probably be good for a few more years but we’re now also looking into migrating to another website builder.

Netalico Commerce also redid our custom contact form. Our Adobe Flash Player was also at the end of its life so they worked around it to be able to add images to our website. We also asked them to do customizations around the website, like changing the pixels and Constant Contact aspect so we could add Facebook Pixel, do advertising, and replace the email subscription form. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve mostly been in contact with Mark but I have also talked to Tamara (Project Manager & Virtual Assistant) regarding the billing.

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

When our website kept crashing, I went on Magento or Adobe's website and saw that Mark was a Magento-approved web developer. I had a good conversation with him and found his work impressive, so we asked him to do the migration and custom changes for us.

How much have you invested with them?

Netalico Commerce charges an hourly rate for their service and so far, we’ve spent under $10,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing work began in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having an up and running website with the right host has definitely helped our traffic grow by a fifth. One of our websites is getting around 5,000 views per month, whereas it was less before. The new hosting company also has great customer service and I can always call them for support.

Being able to have someone who can fix any issue is awesome. Our previous web developer was great but we had to wait weeks to get something critical looked into. Mark is able to address problems right away; It’s a nice change.

We still have a lot of difficulties due to the platform being at the end of its life, but it gives us peace of mind that Netalico Commerce can patch it up.

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

Mark is really responsive. His website has a chat feature where we can reach him for any website emergencies. Whether we need something fixed or just want to add customizations, he’d give us a quote and tell us how many hours it would take. Most of our correspondence was over email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and expertise make working with them a great experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re still using a Magento 1 website and don’t have your own in-house developer, you should hire Netalico Commerce.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Brondell, Inc. has been manufacturing and distributing healthy home products for 17 years. I have been president for the past ten years but I’ve been with the company for longer than that.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

Our main business was previously through retail partners but we were looking to improve our presence on the web through direct retail e-commerce channels. We had a website but it was not at the level we wanted it to be in. We hired Netalico Commerce to assist us with updating and enhancing the site as we neither had the skill nor the people to undertake those tasks internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of the work that Netalico Commerce has done for us is technical in nature, like large-scale website development and design. They mainly worked on Magento and Shopify.

We operate on a project-by-project basis now. Every month, they conduct ongoing maintenance and take on open-ended projects, which could include a simple update or a rollout of a whole new section of the website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a mix of designers, developers, and programmers. 

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

Netalico Commerce was referred to us by a mutual acquaintance. A satisfied customer suggested them, just as I’m doing right now, through word-of-mouth. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent around $100,000 a year, so that’s a total of $300,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first contact was in February 2018. We’ve been working with them for a little over three years now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The only thing I’m willing to publicly share is that we’ve had a dramatic increase in our direct sales and traffic due to the work that they’ve done for us. The website has also been operating much faster thanks to Netalico Commerce’s improvements.

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated very well through email and Wrike, which is a project management software that operates between our two teams. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of technology and programming distinguishes them from other service providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No — I have no major feedback on this aspect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise potential customers to ask a lot of questions and ensure that they’re making the best decision before getting into a project. The Netalico Commerce team is very technically knowledgeable and can discuss the pros and cons of going in different project directions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a sales manager at Limitless Walls. We are an e-commerce company that customizes wall mural, wall coverings, and more — we’re basically a one-stop-shop. We print on demand, direct to consumer, or business to business.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

We hired Netalico’s developers for our Magento e-commerce site. They help us upgrade the functionality and improve the delivery of our site. The team also maintains it and keeps it afloat. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us integrate various APIs both in and out of the website so that we can keep track of stats. Moreover, Netalico also does that to integrate various software and import different products onto our platform. They also help us redesign and get a new look for our platform, so they basically overhaul the branding and feel of it. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve talked with at least five members from Netalico Commerce. Most of them are developers and UX designers. 

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

We found them through Google. When we started using Netalico Commerce and compared them to our past developers, we knew they were a good fit. We also had some mutual partnerships and other stakeholders were able to reference Netalico’s abilities. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $60,000–$100,000 annually. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2018, and we’re still collaborating. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Netalico has a nice eye for design, and we’ve never been disappointed. Every time we get a redesign, we’re blown away by how it looks. Above all, their design feels modern, and they keep SEO and ease of access in mind when doing them. 

Whenever we have any type of issue with speed or deliverables that we need to finish, they’re able to pass it along up to the full chain of command. We really feel that we get personalized attention, so we can definitely see the value they give us. 

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management process has evolved throughout the years. We now use Asana for everything and that helps us as the project continues to be in “5,000 different directions”. The program helps keep us on the same page. Netalico and I also engage in a monthly conversation too. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their staff is always friendly and they’re just great to deal with. Additionally, their expertise and the speed at which they’re able to get things done impresses us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes we want to go in different directions, and Netalico has trouble keeping up and setting priorities. Moreover, we’ve had moments when we didn't hear anything from them for a while. However, they also have moments when they can get everything done in a day. I’m sure they’re going to get a program soon where they can just update us in order to know how things are being done.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re the best developer we’ve ever worked with and you can’t go wrong with Netalico Commerce. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer for a fitness brand. We sell jump ropes directly to the consumer via our site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netalico Commerce?

Since we started in 2011, we’ve been on BigCommerce but we kept running into issues. All of the advisors and consultants we touched base with, their brands were on Shopify. As we got closer to 2020, we heavily considered transitioning to Shopify, so we engaged Netalico Commerce.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netalico Commerce’s work for us is multifaceted and a lot of it is resolving pain points. We wanted a better site and better conversion rate so they’re developing a Shopify site for us because it has a great ecosystem of applications.

What is the team composition?

I primarily connect with Mark (CTO & Co-Founder). I know at least one other developer from his team is working on the account since we started working with them.

How did you come to work with Netalico Commerce?

I was referred to them by someone. I’m a big advocate for referrals because I think it puts the right level of accountability on both the referrer and the agency being referred. I also really liked Mark and thought he was able to grasp the challenges that we faced. They did migrations before, which was an important reason for I picked them as well.

How much have you invested with them?

On this project, we’ve invested between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our discussions started in quarter four of 2019, but we started working together in January 2020 and the relationship is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw about a 25% increase in the e-commerce conversion rate.

How did Netalico Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

From a communication standpoint, they’re solid. The project management is great from what I’ve heard from our digital marketing manager. I’m involved in the communication thread so I can see what’s going on. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience with migration is something not all agencies have. A lot of agencies can do all sorts of development work, but e-commerce has a lot of nuances that are important to understand. They are skilled in what they do and we have a great rapport with Mark.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a full scope laid out of what you’re looking for and know how you want to measure success. Ask Netalico Commerce to provide you with any contact information for companies they’ve done similar work for and ask about any roadblocks or challenges.