ShopTrade (Shopify Premier Agency)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an air purifier filter company. We sell air purifier filters direct-to-consumer (D2C) via Amazon and our shop.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shoptrade?

We wanted a team to help us redevelop our site, and basically be there to do daily maintenance management updates to our Shopify store. Overall, we just wanted a better design for our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Shoptrade’s services consisted of website creation, email development, and conversion rate optimization.
 
They helped us with email design and to redesign our checkout process. They also increased our conversion rate. We had a Shopify website with a basic theme, and Shoptrade redesigned it all. They revamped, customized, and recoded it as a liquid template. They do daily maintenance, so if we need to make an update to a report or change the way our prices are shown, they do all that. They’re in charge of anything Shopify-related.
 
What is the team composition?
 
We work directly with Mohammadu (Founder & CEO) and two developers, so it was three people.
 
How did you come to work with Shoptrade?

I found them on the Shopify Developers website. I had an interview with Mohammadu, and he seemed like he knew what he was doing. They were just very responsive and affordable. The quality of their work was shown through the different websites they’ve worked on.  
 
How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000 over the whole engagement.  
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them for four months, from March–July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sales have gone up over 1000% year-to-date, so our Shopify is doing much better.
 
How did Shoptrade perform from a project management standpoint?

They mostly used Slack and another project management tool for communication and organization. Working with them has been great, and I really like Mohammadu.
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered on what they said they would, and they were quick.
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

I always wish developers could be faster, but sometimes they can’t be lighting-fast. 
 
Any advice for potential customers?

Just be clear in how you communicate with them. Give them deliverables and timelines, and make sure they meet them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of our company whose mission is to make it easier to sell eyewear online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ShopTrade™, and what were your goals?

It starts with a problem that one of the co-founders (Ming) had. Ming runs an online eyewear store, and found it difficult to process prescription eyewear orders; it was a manual and time consuming process.

He wanted a way to allow his customers to buy their frames and lenses the same way that leading online eyewear stores do. None of the generic options on app stores worked, so we set out to create a solution that any eyewear store using Shopify could install and use.

SOLUTION

How did you select ShopTrade™ and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed a number of development agencies. Through my time in building and running companies, I have a general criteria for hiring a remote team:

1. Great communication skills
2. Capability to meet the objectives
3. Fair price Shoptrade met all of these criteria..

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

The entire scope was to develop a public Shopify app. First we started with concept where we created rough wireframes and went over the requirements for each page of the app.

ShopTrade then mocked these up in Adobe XD and we went through several design revisions of both the customer facing and store facing UIs.

Moving the design into development required ShopTrade to create a backend API layer using Python and Django, a Shopify admin frontend for stores using React.js, and a customer frontend leveraging Shopify's liquid templating languages as well as the usual HTML / CSS / Javascript.

hopTrade also had to conform to Shopify's coding standards and app requirements along the way in order to meet the final hurdle of public app submission.

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

We worked with four people from the team. The CEO, who we worked with to define the scope of work and deliverables. A UI/UX designer for creating the mock-ups. And finally the CTO and Lead developer for the development work of the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had several milestones along the way for the project, each with fairly aggressive timelines. UI complete, feature complete, and app submission complete.

The entire time ShopTrade was like an extension of our own team, and we were able to launch the app only a couple of days after our aggressive deadline. Within the first day of launch we had downloads of the app, and by the second day the first paying customers.

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

Project management was very well organised and follows an agile method. ShopTrade will work with most any project management software to deliver the goal, but we went with their suggestion for using Jira as they're experienced using it.

Jira was organised in such a way as to allow us to follow regular sprints with clear deliverables each week or two weeks. For day to day communication we use Slack and everyone on the team is very responsive.

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

Many development agencies will tell you that they can get the job done within an unrealistic amount of time, or for a very cheap price. That is very rarely the case. ShopTrade was experienced in developing apps and set realistic timelines and price to get the job done without overpromising.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There were a couple of times where there were delays in communication. While it wasn't major, I think that this is something that can always be improved upon.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Americade. We’re an event management company that specializes in motorcycle events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShopTrade™?

We brought them on to help with flexible, mobile-friendly package ordering.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We offer comprehensive and sophisticated packaging motorcycle vacations. Many of our items have dependencies. To order B, customers must order A. Most of the services can’t accommodate that need, but ShopTrade™ provided us a Shopify solution for that.

I provided their team with specs. In order to meet our needs, their team made a lot of customizations to the Shopify platform. They implemented a complex packaging process that allows people to choose a number of options to custom tailor their motorcycle vacation.

What is the team composition?

We had a main point of contact, and I believe four people were working on the project.

How did you come to work with ShopTrade™?

I found them through a search on Shopify.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in January 2020, and it wrapped it about a week ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The customer feedback has been very good. Their team created a smooth user experience. It’s hard to establish metrics due to COVID-19, but I believe in a normal year, we would be able to sell more because of the e-commerce solution.

How did ShopTrade™ perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good to work with. Their communication was excellent. We didn’t use a project management tool, but we had regular phone calls and updates. They were also very timely.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Without question, ShopTrade™ went above and beyond the call of duty. The complexity of our request was beyond most providers’ ability or interest to complete within our budget. Their team was willing to take on the project. They soldiered ahead professionally and delivered an excellent solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I’m actually very happy about this.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just as with any project or technology process, have a tight spec in advance. It’s very helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a mix between a CMO and a CTO at Elevatione Time Stops, a high-end luxury and beauty brand focused on skincare. I manage all the technology of the company, as well marketing, business development, and the frontend exposure of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShopTrade™?

The site we’d been running for the last 3–4 years had started to age a bit. The design wasn’t fresh enough, and the site had a lot of bugs. It was crashing all the time, we were having issues with quantities, and people couldn’t remove products from their carts. We decided to redesign it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ShopTrade redeveloped our site from the ground up on Shopify Plus Our team had an active role in its design. We very much influenced what we wanted the site to look like and what features we wanted to have. ShopTrade executed on that.

ShopTrade built a lot of customizations around how we manage color variants on the site, giving the customer a full visual experience, where they can see multiple images for every single color, to really get a sense of what they’re buying. The same thing applies to sunglasses.

ShopTrade heavily customized some of the apps and discounting tools we use. We don’t use the standard Shopify checkout; there’s a sort of branded bar that follows the customer along and guides them all the way through.

We’ve also worked with them on a multicurrency and multilanguage feature. We’re a global brand with retail shops in 14 countries, so language is a big deal for us, especially we didn’t want to build 10 different Shopify sites. We decided to build one global site, and ShopTrade helped us a lot with customizing payment and language options, based on what we know about where the customer is. They also built custom banners for our site, which we can change based on different events during the year.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had direct communication with 2–3 people over the course of the project, depending on the task.

How did you come to work with ShopTrade™?

I think it was a referral from a friend who had used them and was very happy. We priced them out and had a few meetings. They seemed to know what they were doing, so we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $35,000–$40,000 so far, and we have them on retainer as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with ShopTrade™ around December 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our old site was so broken at that point that anything else would’ve been better. I’ve built sites in previous jobs, where it turned out that the new version was actually worse than what it used to be. In our case, it was such a mess that we knew that anything we’d do would improve it,

I’ve been in this field for 14 years, and I’ve worked at different companies and with different platforms. I think that ShopTrade is pretty high up there. They’re one of the better developers I’ve come across. The code seems clean, the site’s fast, and there aren’t a lot of bugs. It’s good overall.

How did ShopTrade™ perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a really good job. They were on top of things from the get-go. They asked a lot of questions and really tried to understand the task. For me, it’s not enough to manage a project well; it’s also important for the company we’re working with to do more than just what we hired them for, and we’ve gotten that a lot from ShopTrade. In some cases, they came up with mockup designs for something we could do, which were brilliant. They’re continuing to do this now, moving forward.

 We had biweekly calls and a few meetings in advance, to go through all the specs. They had Jira or a similar app in place, where we could follow along each piece of the project. If something was stuck, we’d see that it was stuck, and didn’t have to beg and ask them what’s going on. Everything was very transparent, and that helped a lot.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a very deep understanding of how Shopify works, its limitations, and how to bend those limitations to make it work for us. We’ll find a lot of Shopify developers that’ll tell us that it can’t be done, that it’s a limitation of Shopify. ShopTrade will tell us that what we’re asking for can’t technically be done the way we want it, but, if we did X, Y, and Z, it would actually work.

A good example of that are meta fields. I’ve worked with a bunch of different developers, and many of them wouldn’t use meta fields the way ShopTrade did, namely in a way that gave us a lot of customizations we wouldn’t otherwise have had. They were able to utilize meta fields in a lot of different ways, to give us more than would typically be possible with a typical product page. There are Shopify editors who just know how to customize themes, and there are people who really think about and understand what the problem’s about.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything off the top of my head. They’re a great group of people, they have solid developers, and they’re priced reasonably.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to be on top of things and know what we want in advance. We have to guide the developers on what the business requirements are. We did that in the beginning since our business is unique. Not every e-commerce site has franchises, retail shops, and spas, and everything has to come together into one experience. For example, we can’t just discount general items because we have shops, and the shops rely on pricing. Clients need to have a clear idea of what their business requirements are and what they need and help the developer understand what’s unique about the business. Every business has something unique about it, just in the sense of how it operates. This is something that helped us a lot and made our project run smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of product development at AeroCare Holdings, Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ShopTrade™?

Initially, the goal was to create an additional e-commerce site using Shopify.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their involvement evolved over time. First, they developed an e-commerce site on Shopify just as a pilot with only a few select products. Because that went well, they ended up also redeveloping our existing website and integrating it with the e-commerce site, giving it the same look and feel.

Since then, they’ve done multiple projects for us. Currently, they’re managing the social media accounts for the Shopify site they developed. They work with us on the ads but they manage the bulk of the content. 

What is the team composition?

I work with three people, including Mohammadu (Founder & CEO) who is our primary contact. He also assigned us a project manager and her name is Jill (Head of Business Development). 

How did you come to work with ShopTrade™?

They were referred to us by another company that had worked with Mohammadu.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2019 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve provided us with top-quality services and we’re very satisfied. 

How did ShopTrade™ perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been excellent. In terms of communication, we use Slack and Jira. Jill has been wonderful to work with. She’s available on-demand and get’s everything done. The majority of the staff is overseas, outside of Mohammadu, so we used to have communication challenges due to the time difference. Since Jill was brought on, I don’t have to interact with the overseas staff which has been very helpful. 

When deliverables weren’t completed on time, it wasn’t necessarily because of ShopTrade™. We work with third-party companies, so when they don’t deliver, it messes up the project timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am continually impressed by their expertise in Shopify and web development. Additionally, they value us as a longterm client.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions right now. Everything they needed to improve on or do differently has been taken care of by the new project manager. I have contacts who are in the US now so the communication issues have been resolved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate; contact them. They do quality work at reasonable prices.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of a print-on-demand company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A print on demand company focussing decor industry 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency to accomplish?

• Print on demand website with multi vendor management

SOLUTION

How did you find ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

Online Search

Why did you select ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency over others?

Close to my geographic location

How many teammates from ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Ecommerce website with embedded editor tool and multi vendor management backend 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We closed our website 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I had a very disappointing experience with ShopTrade (shoptrade.co.in) based in Bengaluru, India. I consulted them to develop a website for our print-on-demand business with multi-vendor management. Initially, the consultations went well, and we signed an agreement with a quoted budget of ₹15 lakh. However, as development progressed, things quickly spiraled downhill.

While we made some workflow updates and minor changes (for which they charged extra on an hourly basis), the real issue arose when they suddenly requested an urgent meeting. One of their founders from Sri Lanka joined the Zoom call and informed us that they couldn’t complete the project within the agreed budget. They now claimed the project would cost ₹25 lakh to complete. At this point, having already paid two installments, we were left with no choice but to proceed.

To accommodate this sudden increase, we had to sacrifice the marketing budget we had set aside. Despite agreeing to their demands, it became evident that the team lacked a proper understanding of the project they committed to delivering. They later tried to appease us by offering some “free hours” for development, but the final delivery was far from what we had expected—even less than an MVP.

Their maintenance charges were also far higher than what they had initially promised, and they aggressively pushed their after-sales support plans priced at ₹50,000 per month, which was beyond unreasonable for a startup like ours. Ultimately, we had to shut down our newly launched website within a few months due to these issues.

In my experience, I cannot recommend ShopTrade to anyone. If you’re considering hiring a web development team, make sure they have verifiable experience in similar projects. Otherwise, you risk facing the same ordeal we did.

If anyone needs proof of my claims, I am happy to provide communication records with this team during the project.

What was your primary form of communication with ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

In-Person Meeting

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

Nothing 

Are there any areas for improvement or something ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency could have done differently?

They need proper attention to project before committing 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-founder of Lensify

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Gives online retailers the ability to offer prescription lenses on their Shopify site and issue health fund receipts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency to accomplish?

• Build a connection between Shopify and optician practice software
• Use their experience with similar products to deliver a well rounded product

SOLUTION

How did you find ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

Referral

Why did you select ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Development of the API between Shopify and optical management system which must be able to pass inventory, customer, sales data across

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

API connection was completed and we were able to test with multiple retailers

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Elements of the project sufaced significant uncertainty which delayed expected go live date but necessary to deliver what we wanted. They provided weekly updates via virtual meetings and on slack when required. 

What was your primary form of communication with ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their understanding of problem space, suggesting solutions, and informing me of blockers impressed me.

Are there any areas for improvement or something ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency could have done differently?

Nothing 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the E-commerce Manager of SNS Health

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Retailer in the health industry

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency to accomplish?

• Improve online shopping experience for conversion boost
• Implement and optimize regional shopping
• Website speed optimization
• Improve communication channels
• Implement BOPIS feature

SOLUTION

How did you find ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

Online Search

Why did you select ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• UX enhancement: 
  • revise and improve user experience across critical pages: product listing page (PLP), brand collection page, homepage, blog page and bundle page. 
  • implement design enhancements, including CSS adjustments, for a polished and conversion-focused appearance. 
• E-commerce functionality: 
  • integrate BOPIS functionality. 
  • assistance in implementing Rebuy features. and functionalities. 
  • configure shopify markets for 2 regions, with distinct pricing and product availability. 
• Website speed optimization: ongoing project, optimizing the overall speed and performance of the website, for an improved user satisfaction and search engine rankings. 
• Communication channels improvements: integrate SMS opt-ins and improve transactional flows.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• increase in average session duration. 
• improved mobile responsiveness. 
• increase in the conversion rate. 
• improvement in website load time and overall performance scores. 
• increased customer satisfaction. 
• reduction in transactional flow errors. 
• decrease in the number of website errors and issues reported.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Overall, prompt and effective responses, on-time delivery of key tasks, and a readily available team. A notable aspect was the accessibility of the team. They maintained open communication, ensuring that our queries were addressed promptly and that the team was readily available for discussions, updates, and any necessary adjustments.

What was your primary form of communication with ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

First, the team's proactive and responsive approach showcased a genuine dedication to delivering high-quality results and fostering a positive client experience. This commitment persists, as they continue to prioritize not only meeting but consistently exceeding our expectations. They truly are a reliable and outstanding partner.

Are there any areas for improvement or something ShopTrade® | Shopify Plus Agency could have done differently?

Providing more detailed documentation or training materials related to the implemented solutions. This would help our team better understand and manage certain things independently.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Anti-aging supplement brand focused on Ecommmerce. I'm founder + CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We designed a custom theme in Figma, and engaged ShopTrade to build it a Shopify 2.0 theme from these mocks

SOLUTION

How did you select ShopTrade and what were the deciding factors?

Communication. Clarity of timeline, approach and budget

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

Translating Figma design files into a Shopify 2.0 theme

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

Our primary point of contact was Mohammadu, the CEO + Founder

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The theme is exactly what we wanted visually and functionally. Thus far they've been very good at fixing minor bugs

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

Slack + Zoom calls. Very respectful, punctual in communication. Overall project timeline did grow substantially, but what project doesn't

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

Their communication and responsiveness are impressive in the workflow.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

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