Moustache Republic

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the e-commerce manager at HealthPost, an online retailer of natural health products. We started as a strictly mail-order business but have since evolved into a 99% e-commerce operation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Moustache Republic?

We had major issues with our previous e-commerce development agency. They didn’t have the breadth and depth of resources to scale with us and take us where we intended to go. However, we wanted them to continue supporting the bespoke warehouse management system (WMS) they built for us.

Initially, Moustache took over support for our existing Magento implementation. When our original vendor went out of business, Moustache also picked up support for the custom WMS until we transitioned to a new one.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moustache has been our partner across all e-commerce systems. We first tasked them with supporting our in-progress Magento transition. During that process, they replatformed our back-office to a NetSuite solution, which involved integrating our ERP, CRM, and WMS.

Additionally, they moved us to a new Peoplevox WMS and linked that to our carrier services. The new back-office then had to be tied into our existing product information management system and Vend POS.

They’ve also played a significant role in our marketing automation technologies, relocating us from Mailchimp to Bronto, and again, from Bronto to Klaviyo. After each move, they integrated the new solution with our Magento infrastructure.

Currently, we’re working on another massive project, moving from Magento to BigCommerce. This requires Moustache to replatform all of our front-facing technologies and integrate our marketing automation system.

What is the team composition?

We work with a lead solution architect, but we also have direct contact with the developers when we need it. Some of those developers are offshore resources they’ve brought on from the Philippines.

How did you come to work with Moustache Republic?

We looked at several agencies, but there were only two that had the depth and breadth of experience to support us. Moustache had experience working with the data, workflow, and customer journey systems we were looking to integrate. I’m also friends with Tony (Founder and Managing Director, Moustache Republic).

What sealed the deal for them was that they were local; we could go down and sit in their office in Auckland. I’m sure other agencies in Australia would’ve been able to meet our needs, but Moustache’s ability to charge us in New Zealand dollars and work in the same time zone weighed heavily in their favor.

How much have you invested with them?

We have a monthly investment of around $7,000 for support. Regarding project investment, the total is at least $500,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since early 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the time we’ve been with Moustache, revenue has grown well over 25%. Their frontend work has definitely improved conversions by making our existing site more mobile-friendly.

They’ve done a fantastic job under challenging circumstances for some of the most competitive rates in this part of the world. I’ve never seen another agency match them from a cost perspective.

How did Moustache Republic perform from a project management standpoint?

While I manage all the different resources, keeping them aligned and the project on track, Moustache is the technical lead. They support all our other vendors and help them through roadblocks and challenges since they know our stack and our goals the best. Even if they’re not doing direct development, they make sure other vendor’s solutions fit well into our overall stack.

We have a direct line to their development team via Slack and speak during regular work-on-progress calls on Tuesdays and Fridays. They also have an emergency support number that’s manned 24/7. Moreover, They’re able to communicate with me if a problem comes up with another one of our vendors.

Our technical lead is up to date with the full spectrum of e-commerce technology (front- and backend, systems integration, common systems) and how they work together. He’s exceptionally intelligent—one of the best I’ve seen in my 15 years in the industry. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

With the vast majority of agencies, we either have a project or account manager acting as a go-between for us and the developers. I come from the agency side, so I’m already a project manager. I’m also highly technical, so I don’t need a middle tier to speak with developers for me. Moustache was able to accommodate the direct communication I wanted.

They’re incredibly flexible in how they operate. They’re not a policy-driven company that rules our certain approaches because it’s “not the way we do things.” Instead, they’re outcome-driven and will figure out how to adapt to their client’s preferred work style. We dropped them in the deep end to support bespoke tools, but they did it without complaint.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest constraint they have at the moment is their level of development resources. They’re growing fast, so the technical lead probably has to shoulder too much of the burden. He’s such an important part of the team that I think they’d struggle to perform without him. However, they hired a senior architect in the last two months who’s very good, from what I can tell.