Web Development for Printing & Trucking Company
- Web Development
- Confidential
- Oct. 2015 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 4.0
- Cost
- 4.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
"The fact that Commerce Shop is based in the US and has the ability to address my needs are important."
- Manufacturing
- Livermore, California
- 51-200 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Commerce Shop was hired as the client's affordable e-commerce and web development partner, providing both Magento and Drupal migration services. Work began in October 2015, and the client will continue using Commerce Shop for web and mobile app development services.
The client is very satisfied with the work done by Commerce Shop, which has successfully upgraded the client's platform from Drupal 6 to 7, as well as built a Magento-powered e-commerce site to improve the client's sales. Commerce Shop was particularly praised for their project management and availability despite being located offshore.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We're a custom printing company of labels and graphics for the trucking industry, and I also partly own an e-commerce site selling truck parts. I am the web development manager for the printing company and a part-owner of the e-commerce site.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Commerce Shop?
We needed an affordable web development solution. We had an in-house PHP programmer who had built a Drupal website for us. When he left the company, we started searching for a replacement but could only find people looking for $100,000+ salaries, which we weren't willing to pay. Commerce Shop offered us the opportunity to partner with a professional web development team at a rate that we could afford.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our e-commerce store was a Drupal 6 platform, but that is no longer supported after the release of Drupal 8. Commerce Shop quoted me for a migration to the new version, and development began there. We found out that many of the modules in use on the Drupal 6 site weren't stable enough to allow a move. We ended up choosing Drupal 7 and reinstated every bit of functionality on our new site.
Commerce Shop performed all development on their in-house servers, to which I was given access. I was able to step in where needed, give feedback, help test, and so on. Commerce Shop recently moved the work to my server to ensure that it would work in that environment and performed a full-load test of the site. I was given the results a few hours ago, and everything looks great. We have a few loose ends to clean up and will probably make the Drupal 7 site live next week.
Our company also has a Drupal 7 site which was built by the in-house developer, as well as a Magento one. We had a ton of ideas for the Drupal 7 site and submitted tickets for these adjustments to Commerce Shop. One of the main tasks was creating a web portal where larger customers could log in and access their parts center. The parts center lists all the products ordered regularly by the customer. One of our main offerings put forth by the sales team is the ability to consolidate parts and support clients' inventories. We have everything on shelf, and when they place an order, we will ship the products and not have them deal with inventory management.
One particular airline company purchases thousands of decals from us on a yearly basis. We have a 15-20 page catalog with each one of their products in it. The client can fill out a sheet with their requirements and securely fax it to us. Commerce Shop has created a private products listing, allowing customers to log in from different locations or submit purchase orders. We're giving larger clients an online product ordering portal. It will be finished within the next few days, and I'm very excited about it.
I manage the trucking parts site through Dreamweaver and local files on my computer. It was given to me by our local IT person, who built it using custom HTML code. We've signed a contract with Commerce Shop for building a Magento-based website. I never used that technology, but one of the reasons for choosing it was that, sometime down the line, we may have a need for selling directly to end-users. Currently, we have a distribution model of reps and store fronts, but over the past few years, we've seen other manufacturers with the same model sell directly to end-users. We wanted to have a platform that could be easily converted to an e-commerce website if we decided to make that move. We've been working on this project for the last 5 months.
At the moment, we need to fill the platform with content, and make it live. It will have a couple different critical features, including location information and descriptions for our products. It will also allow dealers to log in and place orders online. Depending on what type of a dealer someone is, there will be different price levels, identified by their account information. We have a dealer center on which our marketing collateral will be placed, allowing clients to download it directly instead of having to email us and wait for a reply.
How did you come to work with Commerce Shop?
We were using a local developer in Sacramento for our truck parts site. Their business model moved from Drupal to WordPress development. When we needed to get some work done, our partner ended up introducing us to Commerce Shop. I wrote a lengthy and in-depth RFP [request for proposal]; Commerce Shop gave us a quote and delivered on every single item in our request.
How much have you invested with Commerce Shop?
The total cost of Commerce Shop's services has been between $45,000 and $60,000 so far. We are looking to build a few mobile apps and other features, so the price will go up.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with Commerce Shop in October 2015. We started our Drupal 7 upgrade project in December. We have ongoing work for other projects with Commerce Shop.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
Projects take a long time, and they also have launch dates that get pushed back. I can't say that Commerce Shop met all deadlines, but there are unknowns in our work, so it hasn't been a negative situation. Commerce Shop accomplished everything that they've committed to, but I have no key metrics to share.
How did Commerce Shop perform from a project management standpoint?
Commerce Shop has been fantastic in general, but there are a few things that they can work on. I have access to a US-based project manager who is available during my business hours, and Commerce Shop has generally been available when I needed it. Emergencies get resolved, no matter when they occur. Commerce Shop has called me during Thanksgiving, helping resolve a situation.
There has been a bit of scope creep on directions that were outside of the RFP. I was fine with this, as long as the approach taken by Commerce Shop achieved what I was looking to achieve, but I was still billed additionally.
We wanted to give dealers on our truck parts site the ability to bulk order. When the site was first released, it only featured a normal check-out process, which wasn't what I wanted. Commerce Shop also built a bulk check-out option, but I was billed for both functionalities. Things in this line have happened before, and my project manager from Commerce Shop agreed that we shouldn't be billed for the extra work. I assume that the same outcome will occur here, so it's not a very big deal, but I will still need to have that conversation.
There's scope creep in every project, and Commerce Shop is in the business of making money as well. I want them to be successful from our relationship, but there are limits.
What did you find most impressive about Commerce Shop?
I enjoyed the fact that Commerce Shop's team was available when I needed them. It's very important to have contacts one phone call away and take care of emergencies fast. Commerce Shop has done this multiple times in the past.
When we were exploring going overseas, we looked at 10-12 options. My boss showed me ads for $5/hour developers, but they didn't have a US-based contact. I would have to be up at midnight, call the other side of the globe in order to talk to someone with bad English skills, and be billed for additional time because they misunderstood what I needed. The fact that Commerce Shop is based in the US and has the ability to address my needs are important.
Are there any areas Commerce Shop could improve?
Outside of the scope creep, no. Commerce Shop has done everything that we've asked for, had weekly calls with our team, and the project managers are intimately familiar with our products. I felt that my needs were met; I don't consider the negative aspect to be very significant. Commerce Shop always worked with me, and billing hasn't been a problem in the past.
What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Commerce Shop?
I’d advise clients not to look anywhere else. Commerce Shop is what they need. We've had in-house resources, I've outsourced the work to a US company, and we've interviewed 15 different opportunities overseas. Commerce Shop has been the best available option.
RATINGS
-
Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
"We got what we asked for."
-
Schedule
4.0On time / deadlines
"No project I've worked on has been on time. Commerce Shop met my expectations."
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Cost
4.0Value / within estimates
"The value of our cost has been amazing. We've received a good product, and I'm only deducting a point because of the scope creep."
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"I would rate Commerce Shop a 10 if possible.
