Bowtie.co

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Work World is the largest specialty retailer of workwear, work boots, and work gear in the Western U.S. We went through a major technology overall in 2021-22, including a re-launch of Ecommerce business with a migration to Shopify Plus.

I am the Directory of Marketing & Ecommerce, responsible for our re-launch on Shopify Plus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bowtie.co, and what were your goals?

After a failed partnership with a different Development partner, we hired Bowtie to rescue the project and guide us to launch. We were connected Shopify Plus our new Retail POS and our new ERP, so there was a series of systems to integrate product, customer, and sales data. We set out with a goal to be a premium online store, and the best online shop in our specialty industry.

Our goal was a phase 1 launch for baseline modern Ecommerce functionality, and an aggressive roadmap beyond launch

SOLUTION

How did you select Bowtie.co and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online for Shopify-certified partners, and Bowtie was quickly on our short-list. Ultimately the deciding factor was working with a small team, working with a partner that was selective and strategic about their clients, and of course glowing references from prior clients.

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

The specific services Bowtie provided included custom development required to sync Shopify with our middleware API partner, branding and publishing our theme, recommending and standing up core 3rd-Party apps, and custom work to support products with many variants and other unique challenge to our business model.

Bowtie has also been a key partner in creating and delivering against our roadmap beyond the initial project we had hired them for.

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

Company Principal, Front-End Developer, UX Designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Well-received new website, internally and externally. Met or exceeded all expectations.

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

Project scope and tasks documented and tracked with Google tools (easy for everyone); with backlog/parking lot tasks managed in Trello. Weekly check-ins, and daily communication done via Slack. Solid, consistent communication, and they act like an extension of our team.

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

Expertise in everything Shopify, keeping up with industry trends - the project took place over many months and they kept us updated on Shopify changes, made recommendations, and always guided us to solutions that would be easy for a business user to manage in the future.

Additionally, they are open and honest about sometimes not knowing all the answers on the spot, but they conducted research and provided follow-up quickly and in detail with answers and suggested outcomes.

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

The only improvement I can think of is partnering on relationships with other vendors that our Shopify store connects too, for example our Email Marketing application and our API connection vendor.

Bowtie could lend a lot of expertise and help us shape those technologies to function better with Shopify, rather then molding Shopify to fit less "core" technologies.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Director of Planning & Design Services at a multidisciplinary planning & design firm based in Denver, Colorado. We work with a variety of municipalities and private sector clients across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bowtie.co?

We hired Bowtie.co for their expertise in web design on a series of complex, long-term ePlan interfaces. While we do have web design services in-house, we were excited to add Bowtie to our team to leverage their creativity and flexible approach.

SOLUTION

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

We were looking for a local partner to work with, despite our project being located in San Antonio. First and foremost, we were looking for a trustworthy partner that could provide a lot of long-term value for our client and our project team. Their wealth of industry experience, customer-first approach and budget were perfect fits for our team.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Throughout an extensive public planning process for a series of subareas in San Antonio, we use the websites as a real-time interface with which the public can engage and provide their input on their 20-30 year vision for their neighborhood(s). Upon the conclusion of public process, the adopted Plans are memorialized on the ePlan interface in a dynamic way for community members to engage with and champion long-term through implementation.

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

In total, we’ve worked with about a half-dozen team members at Bowtie, including a lot of hands-on focus by Chad Person, the CEO and Creative Director of the company. We have appreciated the detailed understanding of the project that we get with such a small, dedicated, and focused team. Each team member that we’ve worked with has shown a tremendous amount of dedication and responsiveness from the top down.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Bowtie’s pride in their craft has shined through from the start to the finish of these ongoing projects. They’ve had a remarkable ability to help brainstorm and storyboard a preliminary design of the ePlan websites, and then deliver consistently (often above and beyond) on that vision.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Chad and his team are always easy to communicate with and they are responsive and timely with responding to project requests. They are an easy group to depend on and trust – particularly in instances where a tight (and sometimes unexpected) deadline needs to be met.

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

Aside from their knowledge and efficiency, which is incredibly impressive, I'd say that their most impressive and unique characteristics are their willingness to collaborate, their coolness under pressure, and their reliability in delivering the highest quality products time after time.

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

None come to mind, as the team is committed to delivering the highest quality deliverables and always goes the extra mile to do so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an organization that promotes and facilitates bicycle racing in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bowtie.co?

We have a constant array of business challenges since we deal with thousands upon thousands of members with racing licenses. Our team has hired Bowtie to help us develop tools such as a permitting system, a member portal, and a series of smaller admin tools.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bowtie works on our app engineering, design, and development needs. Among the things that they’ve helped us build is a member-admin portal. Apart from that, they’ve developed a permitting system where race directors can create events. 

The team has also created a membership app where people can undergo a registration and payment process to acquire a membership with us and a racing license. They’ve used Angular to build this app, which collects information from users about what licenses they want to get. It’s connected to a Shopify portal for collecting payments; we use a third-party system to create subscriptions.  

What is the team composition?

I work with Chad (CEO & Creative Director) and a few developers, including Brenden (Software Developer) and Charlie (CTO). 

How did you come to work with Bowtie.co?

Bowtie was already engaged with our company when I came on board. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I started engaging with Bowtie through our organization in March 2021, and the relationship’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Bowtie has done great work, and they should keep it up. 

How did Bowtie.co perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is outstanding; I have no complaints about it. To communicate, we have daily 15-minute scrum meetings where we talk face to face. The rest of our communication is over Slack. We use Jira to manage the engagement. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Bowtie is responsive, and they’re willing to adapt to our specific needs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront about what you want to accomplish with Bowtie.