Hudson Commerce

Please describe your company and your position there.

Managing director of GB Watch Shop, an online retailer specialising in jewellery and branded watches.

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

We first approached Hudson to carry out our migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2. We were looking for a seamless migration with minimal downtime.

How did you select Hudson Commerce and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Hudson as their knowledge of Magento and ecommerce was clear from the offset. They recommended a number of solutions to improve customer experience on the front-end of the website alongside the general back office management behind the scenes including faster picking and packing processes.

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

A full build of the Magento 2 website was carried out along with a seamless migration of all products, stock, customer and sales data. We also started working with Hudson on our digital marketing strategy across SEO and paid ads.

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

We worked with the company owner, marketing manager, project manager and the 2 main developers working on the project.

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

We have increased revenue significantly since the Magento 2 website went live. This is a combination of effort from both the digital marketing results achieved but also the website.

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

Communication is clear, we have a dedicated marketing manager working with us weekly. We also have a ticketing system for logging support issues, a project manager and an account manager.

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

I would recommend Hudson to any business. Their standard of work, advice and support has been fantastic. Any issues we’ve had have always been resolved quickly with no fuss, even out of hours and weekends

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

Maintain clear communication, especially around projects underway as the business grows.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a fashion retail company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hudson Commerce?

We were planning to launch a website in a new international territory. I approached Hudson Commerce to help me decide which platform solution to go forward with and to develop the site from there.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had done my own initial research on whether I wanted to start with Magento or Shopify. Hudson Commerce walked me through the pros and cons of each, and we eventually decided to go with Magento. 

The team proceeded to interview me to get a full idea of what exactly I was trying to achieve and what my business model was aiming for. Based on that, they came up with a brand, logo, and initial web design.

What is the team composition?

The team consisted of developers and directors, and I interacted with around 5–6 people during the designing and building phase. 

How did you come to work with Hudson Commerce?

I googled agencies that were local and had track records of working with Magento and Shopify. I decided to engage with Hudson Commerce.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $75,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began around April 2017 when we contacted them and told them about our concept. The actual website development project took the better part of 6–7 months, but I asked them to deliver in April 2018, which they did.

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

Because we were developing and designing a site from scratch, it was very difficult to push through with our KPIs apart from the timeline, how many errors we had to go back and fix, and the like. The main measure for success was the positive feedback, from both my internal team and our new customers, on Hudson Commerce’s finished product.  

How did Hudson Commerce perform from a project management standpoint?

Hudson Commerce had a ticketing system where I could report any issues that came up. We would have either a face-to-face meeting or a Zoom call to discuss new features, and they would come back to me with a timeline of all the milestones needed to deliver that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a commercial approach to all the projects that we worked on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t say this as a criticism of them, but sometimes, when working with agencies, you wish that you were their only client so that things could move along faster. Other than that, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head for them to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about what your company’s goals are because an agency is only as good as the brief that you give them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm in the owner of an ecommerce store specialising in Scottish craft drinks.

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

Our site was built on Magento 2 and was in need of an update. Instead of updating on Magento, we decided to replatform the site to Shopify.

How did you select Hudson Commerce and what were the deciding factors?

We wanted to work with an agency that had specialist skills in both Magento and Shopify so they would understand the complexities of the site at both ends of the project.

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

The project consisted on replatforming on to Shopify including incorporating some design tweaks to the site. As the previous site had various extensions built in, these had to be replicated from the Shopify App Store including Shop By Brand, Delivery Countdown Timer, Smart Menu & Product Filter, Product Recommendations and Age Verification.

A new subscription app was also required to handle all recurring orders on the new site. Customer data and order history also had to be migrated so an app was sourced with the data mapped to move across to the Shopify store.

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

In total I worked with 4 of the team at Hudson. My main point of contact was with the project manager and one of the front end developers but I also worked with another developer and the digital marketing manager to ensure all tracking scripts were in place.

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

The switch over was seamless and since the Shopify site went live we have seen an increase in site traffic and the conversion rate has improved.

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

I had regular video calls with the team which included screenshares when required. However, the main contact was through emails and a project management system were tasks were clearly listed and updated which allowed me to see the progress of the work. All emails were answered promptly with clear updates on each task.

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

Having never had any experience on Shopify before, the team was very helpful and patient when delivering training on the system.

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

There were some very minor issues with the site that I thought would have been picked up by Hudson when testing. However, as soon as these were flagged to them they were very quick to rectify any issues.

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Executive Shaving Co. is Europe’s largest online traditional shaving retailer. We stock a large number of third-party products as well as our own branded products. I am currently the Ecommerce Manager at Executive Shaving.

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

We engaged the services of the Hudson team to re-platform our website away from a rigid bespoke system we had built for our business on to the more flexible Magento 2 system. We also engaged them to take over the day to day running of our digital advertising strategy on Goole AdWords and latterly Facebook advertising.

How did you select Hudson Commerce and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Hudson as the agency to go with after several face-to-face interviews with the owners and some of their dev team. During these meetings we were able to raise specific points and issues that required fixing on the old site.

The Hudson team were able to demonstrate how they would be able to resolve these issues and help us to develop the website and grow our business. We were also able to get personal recommendations from other company owners who were currently using Hudson.

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

The scope of the work was quite large, essentially build a brand-new website on Magento 2 and migrate all the data from our old bespoke system and populate the new website with it. All without negatively impacting the customer experience or the website ranking, which we had negative experiences with other agencies in the past.

The key steps were initial scoping of the build, detailing of specific requirements for our business model, implementation, review and then live launch.

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

We work directly with several members of the Hudson team, from Ryan the business owner, Kirsty the Marketing Manager, Ben the New Business Manager, Constanza the Project Manager and several members of the dev team.

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

The project was delivered and implemented within budget and on time. The live launch was smooth and trouble free, unlike some from the past. The new site was up and working straight away with no negative impacts.

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

Hudson Commerce's management style is very professional with clear communication lines. Using the ticketing tool gives clear, traceable communication which is well managed.

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

The ability to contact the different team members to discuss issues or requirements. They are open and honest and able to discuss points raised straight away. There are no multiple layers of management to filter through to get the response you need.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always room for improvement regardless of who you are, however, all the interactions with Hudson have been positive.