Magebit

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company is a beauty company and we are DTC. I am a senior E-commerce manager for the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

We worked with them on many digital projects including website header redesign, shopping cart update, free gift, and more.

What were your goals for this project?

For header redesign, the goal is to update the navigation to give the website a whole new look and feel.

How did you select this vendor?

They are knowledgeable and experienced, flexible, easy to communicate, and always put our priority at first.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They offer the initial discussion for the scope of work, provide us different solutions to address the project/ issues with estimated hours. Understanding our backend to ensure efficiency and the best way to work around it. We provide the design/graphics if any.

What was the team composition?

We have one account manager and one designated developer on one project. Sometimes we would have multiple developers if we have more than one project going on. I am happy with their team!

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The new header gives our website a new and fresh look as well as addresses the improved customer journey by highlighting specific categories.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Projects are managed by one account manager and one developer. The work and communication if very efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They work around the clock and the account manager is very responsive no matter when I ask for the updates for the project!

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Lulusar. We are an e-commerce fashion brand and manufacturer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We were working with an agency that built a Magento website for us, but they weren’t certified, and the website was unstable. We needed a new company to make the necessary changes for the website to run properly.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did an audit to identify all the weak spots on the website. There were several key features that needed to be fixed. They essentially had to build the infrastructure from scratch. 

Additionally, they recently integrated EIM, as it is Magento compatible.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Arturs (Project Manager). He oversees a team of developers working on the project.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

I had a list of Magento certified agencies. We discussed the scope of work with Magebit, and felt confident they would be able to onboard all of our requirements. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $35,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in October 2019, and it is ongoing.

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

They understood the level of urgency of the project. The website was crashing and unstable, and they worked diligently to get it on track. They quickly understood problems that arose and got them fixed quickly. 

Since they fixed the site, there has been an increase in traffic, revenue has increased monthly, and the user experience seems to be good. 

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re accessible, organized, and accommodating. Jira is the primary tool we use, and I have an open line of communication with the developers any time I need to discuss things with them. Communication is good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They allow us to have direct communication with the developers. This helps the project to run more efficiently, making our work easier and the execution of tasks quicker. I really appreciate this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could use more rigorous quality assurance before the deployment of each task.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture cosmetics and beauty products for professionals and end consumers. Our products are distributed in more than 50 countries worldwide. I'm responsible for E-commerce project, main task is to launch and run this sales channel effectively.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

At first we chose Magento as platform we want to build our web store in. At the beginning we wanted to run this project in-house. After 6 month of working on project we realised that we need to outsource development of it. Magebit is company which suited our needs the best.

What were your goals for this project?

Project is still ongoing. The goal is to launch the web store, with automated processes, to ensure high standards we want to comply with. Web store functionality, because of our differentiated agreements with distributors worldwide, is complicated.

How did you select this vendor?

Magebit was highly recommended by trusted source, who had experience with Magento. However, we did research a potentials Vendors, met with few of them and made a decision based on the best fit to our needs. We knew that Magebit understands our needs, and shares the same values as we do.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Mostly, Magebit provided us with professional Magento Front-end and Back-end development. While we were delivering graphic designs in-house, Magebit consulted on User Experience of given designs and took full control of integrating them into the website. Additionally, team consulted on most effective ways of developing certain functions and always provided us with options to choose from depending on what fits us.

Apart from development, Magebit also consulted or in one or another way helped us with other e-commerce related topics, such as SEO, Best E-Commerce practices, different services and UX. Finally, they helped us to understand Magento architecture, Magento general configurations helped to create solid and stable server infrastructure and took the lead on project management of development of vital pages of our e-shop (my account, cart and checkout).

What was the team composition?

So far, we had opportunity to work with around 6-7 specialists from Magebit. Our communication with Magebit has been mostly through a project manager, which is handy as one person knows all the processes going around our website and is able to assign appropriate developers/specialists for a given task depending on skill sets.

However, when it requires deeper expertise regarding certain aspects, we discuss matters with specialists in those areas directly, e.g. - server infrastructure or matters on hierarchy of storeviews or websites under our Magento.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Project is still ongoing, but impact definitely will be major. This is a new sales channel we are developing, structure. It will change most of the processes we are having now.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I couldn't imagine a better project management. My main contact person is project manager, his high work ethics and attitude exceeded our expectations. Reliable partner, who always gives to us many options, foresees any challenges which might appear and gives us information we need to make the right decision.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed, personal attitude, experience, and knowledge impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Haven't noticed yet.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is Barkside Bistro.  We retail raw food and natural health products for dogs and cats both online and in a brick and mortar environment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We require an integrated website and POS platform.  The prior developers had failed to deliver after almost two years.  After spending a lot of time and money with no end in sight and no confidence in the ability of either group to deliver, we sought a new developer who could salvage what we had and could and bring the project to life.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The platform is Magento 2.2, and the site had been in the hands of two other developers prior to landing with Magebit, yet was still not live.  Magebit helped identify the list of things that needed to be addressed at the onset, yet as we went along, at every turn, we found another aspect of the code that needed to be fixed before we could proceed.  This resulted in the scope of work expanding significantly.  We are still working on getting this site and POS up and running.

What is the team composition?

I worked with between 10–15 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

I found them on the Magento site in their list of accredited developers that they publish. We did a review with a few companies we found there, and they shone the most in the course of that process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $65,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started together in December 2018 and are approaching the end of the project now.

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

Proactive support in the successful planning, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure of this project has not been a strength.  This project is not yet complete as of Jan 2020 despite being a year in development.

Other then that, I found Magebit developers to be extremely professional, patient, and clearly know their stuff.  They are excellent at explaining things, even to non-technical people.  

Despite not being live, this been a mainly positive experience.  Estimates for time have been quite reliable.  We would recommend Magebit's services and look forward to continuing to work with them after we launch this thing.

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re working with just me, and I’m not very technical at all, so they’ve been extremely helpful with explaining whatever we were working on at the time and answering all my questions. They always understood exactly what was being asked of them, and they were very clear about establishing a direction for the project given basic instructions from me. It’s been a great experience from start to finish.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My website connects to two brick and mortar stores, and I don’t think they had done a lot of POS work before working with me, but they did a great job of digging into that and figuring out how to develop some pretty unique subscription and inventory functionality anyway. They’ve done a wonderful job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure if usability has been addressed yet, so I’m not sure how that’s going be, but that’s just a matter of things we won’t be able to determine until after launch, not something I would necessarily complain about.

Please describe your company and your position there. 

I’m the owner and director of a Belgian e-commerce store called Belomax.com. We’re a B2C and B2G site that sells sports and leisure products to end consumers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit? 

We were looking for a strong, competent web development agency to assist us with our daily frontend, backend, and SEO maintenance.

What were your goals for this project? 

Our objective was to find a web development partner that could help us carry out our tasks. We wanted to update our platform to the latest version of Magento, improve our page speed, and refine our SEO.

How did you select this vendor? 

A Magento extension provider referred us to them, so we reached out. They responded quickly to our email and kept to the point. Their portfolio also gave us confidence in their abilities. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Magebit works closely with our team to improve our site performance by maintaining our front- and backend. Initially, they checked the loading speed of our pages and came up with a solution to make them more responsive. After updating us to the current version of Magento, they tested third-party extensions and wrote deeper code to better connect them to our CRM. They now provide ongoing SEO support.  

What was the team composition?

Their CEO has been in charge of our project since our first interactions. He’s quick to respond and follows up on everything. Once we submit a service ticket, he assigns specialized developers to work on our task.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business? 

Overall, we’re happy with their team and their skills. It’s important that we have a development partner who understands what a customer wants to see and how to reflect that on the frontend. As such, I appreciate that Magebit is able to take my vision and translate it into functioning code. They always come up with solutions to meet our end results, and we plan to continue working with them for the foreseeable future. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They use Atlassian to coordinate the project, which gives us a clear overview of the task status. With the ticket board, we can easily see all of the current tasks in progress, refer to specific ones, and track their timing. Communication is in English, which works well for us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provide accurate time estimates for each task. Sometimes we go over our planned hours, but that’s usually because I ask for extra modifications for the ticket. However, we understand each other well, so the end result is always great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they shouldn’t change a thing. Since the beginning, we’ve watched Magebit grow with us and feel good working with them. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a partner that can translate raw ideas into functional code.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a pajama company called ForeverLazy. 
 

What challenge were you trying to address with Magebit?

We first contracted Magebit to create our website about two and a half years ago. Previously, we’d partnered with unreliable freelance developers who often produced poor work. The domestic web development company we’d tried became too expensive. Magebit offered a middle ground. They’re a bit more affordable, but still bring the expertise of a high-level development firm. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magebit started by providing ongoing website maintenance and operational work for one of the businesses I co-own. For my other company’s brand, they helped us launch a website from the ground up. We described the look and feel we wanted and showed them examples and inspiration from other sites we wanted to emulate. Based on those materials, they managed everything from design to the entire development. From our in-depth discussions, they extrapolated our vision for the site and executed on it from scratch. 

Concerning technology, Magebit built our platform on a later version of Magento 1. From my understanding, they specialize in that area of development. They coded the newer website we made last year in a different programming language on the more modern Magento 2, which has more features. 

What is the team composition? 

I've personally interacted with 2–3 developers and two project managers from Magebit over the past few years. For day-to-day tasks like ongoing website maintenance, I work directly with the developers.

How did you come to work with Magebit?

We found Magebit on a site for freelancers. They responded to our service request for maintenance. We wanted a more reliable team than a single developer since we'd had bad luck with independent freelancers being less competent than they presented themselves.

We chose Magebit because they had an established team with a set infrastructure and multiple people for project management. They were much less expensive than some of the domestic firms we considered. They were responsive during their interview and met all our requirements. Our engagement has gone well ever since we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

The new website Magebit built cost €20,000 (approximately $22,9000 USD) for design and development. We've probably spent another €3,000–€4,000 (approximately $3,400–$5,600 USD) on the associated maintenance. The exclusively maintenance contract with our business has cost about €10,000 (approximately $11,400 USD) so far. In total, we've invested around €40,000 (approximately $45,700 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since the summer of 2017. 

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

Magebit delivered two high-quality and fully functional websites that have never crashed or had downtime that impacted the customer experience. They rapidly deliver on all our ideas and solve every problem we identify quickly and correctly.

I found it particularly impressive how accurately they translated our ideas into concrete designs based on our short dialogue sessions. They captured our desired look and feel in a cutting-edge website we’re very pleased with. 

Unlike past developers we’ve used, Magebit is very reliable. They’ve never put us in line behind other clients or taken multiple weeks for tasks to get done. Our line of business sees frequent and unexpected changes, so keeping pace is critical.

I appreciate the team's reliability, ease of communication, and quality of work. The most important result they’ve produced has been giving our business peace of mind. I can always rely on Magebit to keep everything running smoothly. They’re so responsive, efficient, realizable, and skilled that I never have to worry about the results.

How did Magebit perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite a 12-hour time zone difference, the developers are always willing to answer my questions when I get to work in the morning, even though it's late at night for them. They're consistently available online, responsive, and open to problem-solving outside the standard workday. 

Magebit uses Alison software to track all the ongoing tasks. We can open new tickets and communicate through that platform. They're very organized and detail-oriented. The team stays organized by logging their tasks and progress. 

For all our requests, they provide accurate timeline and cost estimates. They're flexible about prioritizing and escalating urgent matters. Everything they launch on our site is thoroughly tested first. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

MageBit's knowledge of the latest industry trends was invaluable. They considered what worked well in the marketplace when developing our site. When they suggested using Magento, they explained why it was the right platform for our needs. The team’s informed advice saved us time spent researching technology options. 

All the aspects of building a website can be daunting and stressful, but Magebit made the whole process feel easy. They took initiative and used discretion about pitching ideas. Since I'm not a web developer or graphic designer, I appreciated their wealth of knowledge about what to include for the best customer experience and overall appearance. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been very happy with their work overall. There's no constructive feedback I can think of at this point. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of Lichtkoning, a lighting retailer.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

We wanted to continuously improve our web-shop through expanded search engine advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our conversion percentage, protect our site and have it comply with regulations, and automate as many processes as possible.

How did you select this vendor?

Magebit contacted us by mail. They caught our interest because we weren’t so happy with our current development agency at that time. We tested the waters with several small tasks and grew our partnership from there.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They updated our Magento platform to the latest version and implemented new regulations regarding cookie notice and GDPR. They also fixed several old bugs and integrated third-parties like shipping partners. Finally, they implemented supplier stock data automation and helped launch our site in a new country and language.

What was the team composition?

Since we were working on multiple small tasks, they assigned multiple developers to our site. We worked with about three developers in total, in addition to a project manager.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We've been growing very nicely thanks to Magebit’s assistance. In 2018, revenue grew more than 60% compared to 2017. I expect the same to be true this year.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We’re currently using Service Desk by Atlassian, and it works great. I prefer to work with a ticketing service like this. Previous agencies communicated with us by email, but it caused many issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provided excellent value for the cost. They’re easy to work with and provide working code and fast fixes, which is rare. Their total package is great.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nobody’s perfect, but Magebit is getting there. If I were to give a few nitpicks, I’d say their ticketing system doesn’t allow you to edit posts, and sometimes their estimates are a bit off. Granted, both of these problems are partially on me. I could reread things before posting them and control feature creep better. Additionally, sick-leave made us miss several deadlines at the end of the year, but that’s understandable.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the managing director of a U.K.-based web agency. We provide marketing and digital communications solutions along with technical support to our clients. We typically focus on providing e-commerce solutions.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

We needed a partner who could extend our services, providing quality Magento support and development to our existing clients.

What were your goals for this project?

In addition to high-quality development, we wanted resources who could manage their projects in-house to ensure delivery.

How did you select this vendor?

After the initial contact, we gave them a few trials to gauge their skills. They completed the tests successfully, so we met them at their offices.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Magebit provides ongoing support desk services for all of our Magento technical requirements. This ranges from problem-solving issues and implementing security updates to handling new feature requests.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of a project manager who leads a number of Magento developers. They use a ticket system to assign tasks to individual developers.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

By dealing directly with client issues, Magebit has saved us a tremendous amount of time. We monitor their work and provide input when necessary. However, we’re confident in their ability to comprehend new issues, and they work well to produce solid solutions.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We primarily use Jira to process service support requests and hold further meetings over Skype as needed. In terms of responsiveness, Magebit is generally very prompt. Occasionally, there might be a task or two that take a while for them to start.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their response time to new service requests. If they need more information to process a request, they’re clear about their requirements. This allows us to assess the problems accurately and deal with them in an effective manner.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

While we’re happy with their work overall, they could be more accurate with their initial time estimates. They often provide soft quotes, so tasks end up taking more time than anticipated.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of a marketing firm.

For what projects/services did your company hire Magebit?

One of our clients was an e-commerce company that ships fresh and frozen seafood anywhere in the U.S. Magebit serves as the development team for their website.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to find a reliable, qualified, and cost-effective developer to help us manage the day-to-day operations of the Magento store.

How did you select this vendor?

We found them online. During the interview, we were impressed with their knowledge and flexibility. We started with a small project and grew from there.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The original Magento designer and developer failed to meet our needs. Fortunately, Magebit stepped in; they have been of great value to us. They originally helped make the Magento site more mobile-friendly. After that first task, they have completed nearly 100 projects for us, including the layout and design of the site. They’ve added additional features such as a new checkout system, upsells, and reviews. We’ve also asked them to perform on-site SEO and fixed error messages and other functionality issues.

What was the team composition?

I usually work with a project manager and 4–5 main developers from Magebit.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their expertise and cost-effective solutions have allowed us to implement more features on the website, resulting in more profitability.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We use their online ticket system to submit information, so everything is organized. Their communication is excellent. They are responsive and quick to handle important issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their people and team environment are most impressive. I always feel confident they have our best interests at heart.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a VP of Technology and I.T. manager at KA Design International. We’re a consumer goods company in the design & decoration industry, with a strong presence in important EU countries.

For what project/services did your company hire Magebit?

We were looking for someone to build a professional site and contribute SEO & marketing services. They needed to be able to handle the settings configuration of the platform & server, as well as migrating a Magento 1 database to a Magento 2 platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Many consumers are starting to move their entire purchasing lives online, so we needed to adjust to that. We wanted to move most of our marketing, sales, and customer services online, and then deploy them our colleagues in other EU countries.

How did you select this vendor?

We did broad internet research and compared multiple specialized companies that we thought could provide a consistent quality of work, and would have strong planning and budgeting skills. We started with Romanian companies, but then expanded our search. We needed a partner that understood both Magento 1 and 2 and had excellent SEO and marketing knowledge. They also had to speak English.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Magebit handles a variety of services for us including migrating a Magento 1 database to a Magento 2 platform, redesigning our site’s functionalities and creating new ones, optimizing our servers, implementing our layout, and installing and configuring Magento 2, as well as extensions.

What was the team composition?

We’ve mostly worked with a project manager, as well as programmers with various specialties.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We were able to go live with the whole project after three months, and we massively increased positive reviews from our partners. We also expect visits and conversions to multiply.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They were able to understand and define our objectives and tasks, and they accompanied us with a strong, positive attitude, throughout the project timeframe.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They simply delivered everything they promised us they would. We’re extremely satisfied with their execution and effectiveness.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I believe they should expand their operation, size-wise, if they grow the way I think they will.