applepie Berlin

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a UX Agency in Berlin, and I am one of the Co-Founders and Head of UX.

For what projects/services did your company hire applepie Berlin?

As we don't offer 360 degrees solutions in-house we often need external support from other IT providers. We hired applepie Berlin to support us in the conversion rate optimisation of one of our clients.

What were your goals for this project?

Analysing the current conversion rate, identifying the weaknesses of current solution and integrating an improved solution to Shopify to improve conversion rate

How did you select applepie Berlin?

We are both based at Factory and my business partner had some contact with them at some point. This is how we met applepie Berlin. After that we had the opportunity to work together on some of our clients in Conversion Optimisation projects but also to offer them our services in UX Design and Research.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

For this client's project, the scope of our collaboration with applepie was:

• Benchmarking of the current solution, analysing the current conversion rate
• Identifying the weaknesses of current solution
• Ideating a solution
• A/B Testing the solution
• Integrating positive changes to Shopify

What was the team composition?

For this project we have worked closely with the owner and a data analyst. I am quite unsure how many team-members were involved.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We managed to deliver a end-to-end conversion optimisation solution to our client, which increased their conversion rate from 0.75% to 2.3% within the first week. We got a follow-up contract with the same client for a different shop they are managing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have worked together in several projects, both as clients as well as providers, so the workflow and the communication between us is really flawless. I always enjoy working with applepie Berlin, and I know that I will get best results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their results, and how easy the communication was. They were 100% there for us and our client, whenever there was a need. We could reach-out to them anytime via Slack and we were sure, we will get a response in a timely manner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For us it is always a pleasure working with applepie Berlin and we got great results - and a very happy client. We don't have anything else to wish for in a business partner.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Holy Pit! We are a startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with applepie Berlin?

We needed to change platforms for our website and have some design work done.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They migrated our website from Wix to Shopify, including existing images. They made some changes in the design of the website, as well, but, overall, they kept it similar to what we already had. They set up Klaviyo (an e-commerce marketing solution) as well as some apps that we required.

What is the team composition?

I interacted with only one person, and he worked with their team.

How did you come to work with applepie Berlin?

They were referred by a startup that had worked with them. We decided to give them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €1,500 (approximately $1,800) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August until September 2020.

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

The work was done well; they changed or fixed everything we requested. We are pleased with the outcome and have plans to work with them again.

How did applepie Berlin perform from a project management standpoint?

There wasn’t much need for project management, as it was a smaller project. They showed us their designs. We didn’t use any tools and primarily communicated via phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand how a startup works and what we needed, including getting things done quickly. They helped us find cost-effective solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have anything to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate clearly where you are in your business and what you need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m in charge of the marketing department of a luxury hotel in Berlin, Germany.

What challenge were you trying to address with applepie Berlin?

I went to them for design and marketing ideas.

What was the scope of their involvement?

applepie supports me in marketing the hotel. They create all our collateral including brochures and banners. They’ve also done photoshoots of our restaurants, bars, rooms, and lobby, as well as documented special events like Christmas and Easter. The photographers they provide are specialized in their areas—food photographers, architectural photographers, and so on.

What is the team composition?

I’m always in contact with one person from applepie. They pass on requirements to his team and deliver the results.

How did you come to work with applepie Berlin?

We were looking for a design and photography agency, and I posted a job on a Facebook group. I received hundreds of offers from different freelancers and agencies, including from applepie’s owner. He wasn’t aggressive, but he stated that he knew they were the best choice for our project. He gave me the feeling that he really wanted the job and could do it, so I arranged a meeting for the following day. He knew what he was talking about and was on the same wavelength as me.

I agreed to try them out, and I was very happy with the work. They responded within one hour, and the results also came fast. The agency I was working with before would have taken one week to do the work that applepie did within 24 hours, and for a better price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with applepie around April 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

applepie is amazing from my point of view, and I plan to take them with me if I move to another company. Everyone on my team is super happy with them as well. They always know who the best photographer is for the task, and I’ve been impressed with their work in this area.

We’ve gotten feedback from guests on the Christmas collateral applepie made. They said that it was the nicest brochure they’d seen from us and represented a huge improvement over the years before.

How did applepie Berlin perform from a project management standpoint?

The management is amazing. I just tell them what I want and they know what to do from there. They understand our business and what we want, so they just execute. The work is super fast, and the quality is high.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their human interaction and responsiveness. I’ve called my contact at 10 p.m. and they were able to get the work done by the next day. I don’t know how they accomplish this, but they do. I can contact them 24/7, which is amazing to find in Berlin. People here work 9–5, which is normal, but it’s different with applepie. They’re also flexible if I need to change the time of a photoshoot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never thought about this. Their work is always fast and effective.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any particular advice. Clients need to properly brief the person from applepie and they’ll get the results. Their prices are quite decent, they work precisely.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an e-commerce retailer based in Germany. We specialize in the organic food and superfood market that distributes various brands on Amazon. Since April, we’ve distributed our products in our online shop.

What challenge were you trying to address with applepie Berlin?

We distributed all of our products in our online shop. We were looking for a partner who could also help us with setting Shopify up, creating our custom product and category pages, and help us with our homepage.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at applepie Berlin built our first custom product pages. After a while, we realized that they could help us with consulting and figuring out how we can really structure our whole shop, which led to us giving them more projects.

They helped us set up our Shopify account and theme. We started with a basic theme, and they personalized everything the way we wanted. They did all the consulting as well as shop architecture. They are also helping us with digital marketing, email marketing, and conversion rate optimization.

For the first four months, they worked on shop architecture, conversion optimization, and those things, and we are now setting up newsletter marketing to help with our leads campaign.

What is the team composition?

I’m not sure how many people have worked on the project, but we directly contact the founder. After an intro call, he came back to us with an offer.

His coders, designers, and marketplace experts take care of everything else. Their team also helps with training members of our team.

How did you come to work with applepie Berlin?

Our former brand director found them through LinkedIn. We contacted them, and we got a great offer. We spoke to them two or three times on the phone about everything, and the owner is a charismatic guy.

We’ve worked with Upwork and similar platforms in the past, so working with them directly has been good because we don’t have to pay fees. We hired them directly, so there was no middleman, which was good.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s roughly around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work with them started in April 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

Our shop had a conversion rate of 0.85%, and now it has 3.65%, so we have increased our conversion rate by optimizing the shop significantly. A couple of our landing pages were very high up and quality-wise, we have some custom-built elements in our shop that we didn’t expect to work out, like graphics that look like the Apple watch ring. Somehow they managed to pull that off within a day or show nutritional facts in an Apple watch ring way and not just with boring stats.

That was really impressive so that I would say quality-wise, I would give them a 10 out of 10. We are definitely looking for a long-term relationship, and we are really happy with the service.

How did applepie Berlin perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication was through email and telephone at first, and then we switched everything to Slack, which was pretty simple. We also use Slack within our company.

We integrated applepie Berlin to our company’s Slack, so anyone who has any problems can contact them directly and get a response within an hour.

Besides that, we’re in constant exchange. We have a daily call, and they tell us how far things are coming along. If we have problems or are not sure how to implement content on our pages, the founder puts us in contact with someone on the team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are more like architects rather than just a general shop service provider. If you have no idea how to plan and set up your whole shop and think through all the customer experience points, they are definitely the people to go to.

If you are looking for someone to set up the whole thing, I think that is definitely their strength. They literally know everything, and I think the founder is also our coach of one of Germany’s biggest accelerator programs. They teach startups how to set up their shop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We always wanted to start as fast as possible, and sometimes a few little details were not perfect for the starting date, and we had to improve it at the next phase when we had already launched.

They don’t have 20 coders on the team, so if you need to get things done within a week and need someone to do 500 hours of coding power, they might not be the guys to go to. If you know, you have two weeks, and 100 hours of coding, you can definitely go to them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It would help if you definitely got someone on your team who already has a good idea of what you want so you don’t waste a lot of time, and you can really start as fast as possible.

At the end of the day, they always did what they thought was best for us. Always have someone on your team who knows a lot about online retail and get them involved with applepie Berlin.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a web developer and IT representative of my company

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

The goal was to renew our website design and develop Shopify ver 2.0 store with certain new apps.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The project manager was very kind and professional.

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

We had a kick-off meeting to start our project, once per week or 2 weeks, we had a meeting to discuss the updates. The development process was very clear, they provided all info via Click up with us.

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

Around 5 people, 2 were project management, 3 were developers.

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

Sales and visitors got increased.

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

We use Slack for daily communication, Click up for detailed dev updates.

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

They build many relationships with Shopify apps so they have a lot of knowledge of what Shopify app is best for our situation or solving some problems. They did our project perfectly as we expected.

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

None

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a young, fast growing E-Commerce business: health, nutrition, diet management

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

The first version of our e-Commerce shop on Shopify was "hand made". The UX was weak, conversions low. Also the emotional value was too smal.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Applepie was recommended to us by our Google Ad agency, as the agency is considered innovative, very capable and fast, with a moderate price level.

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

We had a online kick-off, discussed the deliverables, milestones and timing. We did it all online / video calls.

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

Project manager, project assistant, 2 grafic designer, 2 UX experts, 2-3 coders

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

We relaunched our shop in time and in budget. We increased our conversion rate and we have significantly improved the shop experience!

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

We worked via Slack, Google Drive & Teams.

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

They had an enormous amount of e-commerce know-how and convince us with their great passion for the project and the terrific service they provide for us as a customer.

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

No - we look forward to work with applepie again!!