Boucher + Co.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We buy and sell high-end watches over the Internet. Our products include less expensive pieces worth about $1,000. We also offer extremely expensive pieces, well into 6 figures. I’m the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Boucher + Co?

We needed a fresh digital representation of our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Boucher + Co did several things for us. They helped us with some social media advice as well as web design. They also did a logo at one point. The biggest piece though was the website, which is on the Magento platform. They indexed products for us, put pictures in, and put all of the tagging for the products. They did a customized layout for us and customized the brand slider. Boucher customized the way people interact with the products, improving the way that products are viewed. For example, some items show up in different sizes and in different places in the new layout. They put in some nice sales functions and things like that. For example, people can see new products and items we're running specials on. You can also look at the variations of a specialized product; I like that a lot.

They put out social media on the items. We're actually in the process of asking them to modify the home page so I could get a [tiled] view of our social media. Those images would be very attractive and people would like to see them, especially since we have a very large social media following. They also did some optimization for Google so that our products would show when people searched for them. Our products can be searched by model number, name, or brand.

How did you come to work with Boucher + Co?

I had looked at a couple of different companies. My problem was that the companies were too small and couldn't customize the things that we wanted. The design was a bit out of the scope of what they were capable of. When I tried to approach bigger companies, I couldn't get a response. It was almost as if they didn't want to work with me because I was too small for them. There were a couple of companies that were the same size as Boucher. However, I felt comfortable that Boucher cared about what we were trying to achieve. I also liked the fact that if I needed them, I could get them on the phone at any time. I wasn't able to have that experience with other companies.

How much have you invested with  Boucher + Co?

In total, we’ve spent $15,000 to $25,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in 2016 but I don't remember exactly when. It took a couple of months to do the whole thing. I think Boucher could have probably done it faster. However, we held them up a little with what products we wanted to place on the website and stuff like that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Since we did work with Boucher, the return has been quite impressive. Since we launched it, I would say profitability is around 6 figures so I am quite happy with the results. It’s been quite effective. We get a lot of communication that comes in from the site. We've been able to take in some trade-ins and buy some pieces that we wouldn't normally be able to do through the site. We've also seen some changes in the search results. When you search for some of the products, I've seen some of them come up in the search. It's a process; I know it takes time. I'm just happy that we're going to get through it.

How did Boucher + Co perform from a project management standpoint?

When we got in touch with them, I spoke with their business development director. I believe his name was David. Then they handed over the project to a project manager. I was in contact with Gerard, who is the owner of the business. I also communicated with their web designer, Simone. She was very helpful through the process and could make changes very quickly when I asked her to do so. When I send somebody an email, I get a response within the same day. If I call somebody, I can get somebody on the phone. I find that comforting. They're not saying that I have to set up an appointment and this or that. Just to be able to get an answer at any time is really helpful.

What did you find most impressive about Boucher + Co?

Value would definitely be one of the things I appreciate about Boucher. I got great value for the amount of work that was involved. When I was trying to speak to bigger companies, they were throwing 6-figure budgets at me. At this juncture, that isn't something that we can do. I also want to highlight the fact that they're very responsive. You can get anybody on the phone when you have to. Being a smaller to medium-sized agency, you don't get lost in the shuffle.

Are there any areas Boucher + Co could improve?

I wouldn't say so. Maybe the length of the project, but that was my fault entirely because I wasn't giving them what they needed. I really don't have anything poorly to say about them.