Onilab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP, Digital Technology of The Webster

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Webster is a multi-channel luxury fashion retailer with boutique locations in the major fashion centers in the US and Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Onilab to accomplish?

• Stability and performance of the Magento platform
• Consistent development and release process for new enhancements

SOLUTION

How did you find Onilab?

Online Search

Why did you select Onilab over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

What was the size of Onilab’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Provide ongoing development, QA and release functions for business enhancements 
• Develop, test and deploy production fixes and performance fixes 
• Provide U/X design and implementation services for consumer experience improvements

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Revenue increased 5x on digital platform 
• Site stability was improved 100% 
• Features and enhancment requests were delivered in a consistent and quality way.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• The team worked in a Agile methodology releasing features every two weeks 
• The team was very responsive and essentially was an extended part of the onshore team 
• Delivery was on time and with high quality

What was your primary form of communication with Onilab?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Flexibility 
• ability to adapt and adjust in the fast paced luxury fashion world 
• High core knowledge of the Magento Platform 
• Strong development skills

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

Identify stack performance improvements more proactively

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a promotional keyrings company. We customize key rings for businesses. They provide us with their logo, and we use various materials to turn it into a keyring. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onilab?

We had an outdated website that needed a more modern, usable platform. Our goal was to make it easier for our customers to navigate.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a new e-commerce platform for our company using Magento. Our old site was on BigCommerce, and we needed a change. They developed the entire site, optimizing it for search engine results along the way. The initial site launched in the summer of 2019. We’re continuing to work on it together.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with a developer and an account manager. Sometimes, the director of the company would jump on calls with me as well.

How did you come to work with Onilab?

I found them on the official Magento developer site, which includes a list of top Magento developers. We contacted between 10–20 companies. Onilab was responsive and had a postal address in Bristol.

While they’re actually located in Belarus, that assured me that they work with companies in the United Kingdom and around the world. In addition to that, they were helpful over email from the start and their pricing was reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

The redevelopment cost about $60,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The analytics haven’t impressed me as much as I was hoping. However, those results aren’t the fault of Onilab. Growing the business will take some time. We’ve received loads of compliments about how easy the system works. Internally, we also feel that it runs much more smoothly than it did before. 

How did Onilab perform from a project management standpoint?

I can tell that they work very hard on our account. We used Jira to keep track of project management. I set out the goals and project plan with their lead developer. They allowed me to organize the development of how I wanted, and I appreciated that. That level of flexibility can be rare in this field. We used Skype to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their hard work and passion for their jobs were impressive. They were quite enthusiastic as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, things would take longer than planned. We also ended up going slightly over budget. However, the project was complex, so I don’t fault them for that. That’s the nature of these sorts of developments. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be precise with what is and isn’t included in your project’s scope.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture and retail vaping related products direct to customer via our e-commerce platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Onilab?

We needed to migrate our Magento 1 website to Magento 2 and make a significant amount of customisations to fit our business needs.

What were your goals for this project?

Successful migration to Magento 2 with no disruption to our business and processes. With the addition of some extra functionality, speed improvements and optimization.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They contacted us via email.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Onilab provided a dedicated developer to us. We had the developer full time for one year. The developer was very adept in Magento 2. Daily communication was done via Slack and project tracking was done by Jira (provided by Onilab).

What was the team composition?

We just had a single dedicated full time developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our experience with Onilab has been 1st class. The developer that was dedicated to us was fantastic. He knew exactly what he was doing and really got to grips with the understanding of our needs.

We didn't need to create complex detailed briefs - simple Jira tickets were more than enough to get the job done. Communication was a breeze via Slack. It was a sad day when we didn't need the developer full time any longer as he had become part of the team.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There was minimal project management required, Jira was more than adequate to meet our needs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How simple it all was. We issued a simple test task at the start which was completed very quickly. We then formed a great working relationship with the dev and the whole project moved forward at a great pace.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of SohoMod and Noveistudio, online furniture and home design websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Onilab?

Our platform is built on Magento. We needed help redesigning the sites, optimizing the UX, and improving site load times.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our sales and click-through rate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them on Google.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Beyond optimizing UX and site speed, they improved the search function, expanded and updated the site, and cleaned up the code.

What was the team composition?

We had a lean lead and two developers. Additionally, their CEO was always available to help resolve problems.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our conversion rate improved by 40%.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Onilab handled project management flawlessly. They excelled in quick communication and clearly explaining project updates in layman's terms.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had very in-depth e-commerce web development experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no complaints; we received the highest level of service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing manager in charge of all brand communications for SRC Health, a designer and manufacturer of clothing that is crafted to relieve the pain during pregnancy, after child delivery, after surgeries, or after exercise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Onilab?

We hired Onilab to develop and design our website, implement some applications that our old site didn’t have, and maintain the site.

What were your goals for this project?

With the implementation of a loyalty program and an online ordering system, we hoped to improve our conversion rates and drive sales.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Onilab after a series of interviews with other Magento specialists. Our selection was based on a portfolio review, consideration of hourly fees, and the vendors’ submitted documents.

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

We provided a brief scope of what we sought for our final website. We suggested a number of Magento plug-ins and submitted example websites that had similar technological elements as what we wanted. As for the redesign, we offered some creative guidelines. We are not e-commerce experts, however, so we largely relied on Onilab for guidance.

What was the team composition?

Their senior developer also served as a project manager, while the UX/UI designer managed the redesign. Otherwise, I am unsure of the total team size.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It is still early, but we have already seen a drastic improvement regarding site usability and our conversion rate. This is promising because the new design has not yet fully launched. The Return Merchandise Authorization module implementation, for example, has cut customer service time in half.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have used five different Magento developers since we began our business 10 years ago, and I’ve worked with three of those in my two and a half years here, and Onilab was by far the easiest to work with. We never experienced language or communication issues. We communicated well through Jira, and Onilab managed all time zone differences well thanks to effective planning and excellent availability.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Onilab has a great attitude and work ethic. They challenged our ideas and made them better instead of blindly agreeing to our requests. Onilab’s ability to look beyond the brief and ask the right questions made the most significant difference.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. Onilab was perfect for what we needed, and I would recommend them to anyone working with a Magento platform.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner and founder of an online retailer for women's fashion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Onilab?

Like many e-commerce retailers, we do not have developers in-house. Instead, we chose to work with an external web development company.

What were your goals for this project?

Our code was unstable, so site performance was a major issue. Another challenge was getting the work done on time and within budget.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've worked with several different agencies over the years, many of which were outsourcing work to overseas developers and charging us a premium. We decided to give Onilab a try, and we haven't looked back since.

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

They’ve worked on almost every aspect of a Magento store, including UX, design, conversion rate optimization, payment integrations, and custom functionality.

What was the team composition?

We've worked with 2–3 developers and a UX designer from Onilab.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Onilab continues to meet project goals, big and small. It is refreshing to work with an agency that gets the job done. Working with Onilab has allowed us to be more proactive with our store development. They have helped us realize our potential as a business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We manage the projects in-house and allocate the work to their team. Tasks are carried out via Jira and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Onilab has a can-do attitude and strong work ethic. They are always willing to help regardless of the challenge. Most impressively, the team works seamlessly with our own staff, almost as though they are an extension of our company.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I don't believe there is anything that sticks out here. Onilab has delivered on all fronts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

Our business is called Bright Star Kids, which started in 2005. We have a pure play e-commerce business that specializes in producing personalized products for children, including name labels, wall art, and school supplies. We print everything on demand here in Australia, but ship all over the world. Our customers can preview their products before they buy, which is then pushed through to our printing software. This requires our website to be very technically advanced.

I am one of the owners of the business, and my focus is on the creative aspects. I lead the design and marketing teams at Bright Star Kids. We are continually looking to expand and improve our range of products to keep up with the current trends. Our website needs to be able to continually grow with us and adapt to the various changes that always happen.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onilab? 

We were working with a development company in Sydney. They had a huge development team, based in Belarus. Their fees were incredibly high, but we felt that no important work was getting done. We were suspicious that their code was being poorly implemented, which ended up being the case. This is why our website kept “breaking” every time a new release happened. We were with this company for nearly 2 years and they had built our website from scratch on the Magento platform. However, a year after it went live it became apparent that we were just paying for bugs to be fixed rather than spending those resources on creating new projects to improve our website’s functionality. By the end of our relationship with them, we seemed to just have weekly after weekly meeting and nothing was getting done.

We were in a very difficult situation, and we didn’t know what to do. If we were to go with any other firm in Australia, we would most likely run into the same situation, where they would be charging us an absolute fortune and we wouldn’t get the work done that was needed for our very complex website. We were very fortunate to find Onilab, and after checking up on all their referrals, including talking to one of their clients in New York, we felt relatively comfortable taking a huge leap of faith and moving development firms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

When Onilab first took over, they set about making our site faster. This was due to take our last firm an entire month just to “investigate”, whereas Art [CEO, Onilab] and his team actually did it within a few weeks. Afterwards, they took over the very, very long list of small projects that needed to be completed. Once these were all successfully completed, they moved on to upgrading our checkout, and they are currently in the process of reconfiguring our entire website to be truly responsive on mobile and desktop.

They are also working on a very big project that will completely transform our printing process, which is under wraps until the launch, which is due by the end of October. They mainly work on all the technical programming aspects of our site, but they have also assisted us with some design work for our page layouts, which has been a brilliant help to our very busy team.

How did you come to work with Onilab? 

We had been looking for another development company for over 6 months. However, since we’ve had years of experience dealing with expensive Australian based firms, we were very cautious during the selection process. We didn't want to end up in another situation where we were spending ridiculous amounts of money trying to keep our website up-to-date.

A sales representative from Onilab, who was really lovely to deal with, contacted my partner Nigel through LinkedIn. They started a conversation about how Onilab could help us. Since they were also based in Belarus, where our old firm’s developers were located, we felt this could be the perfect fit, essentially cutting out the middle-man. We talked with Alex from Onilab and lots of their current customers, who all highly recommended Art and his team. It was very risky for us to switch providers, but we decided that it was riskier to continue with our old firm and waste money. It was a great decision.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Onilab in June 2017, and we are planning on continuing to work with them into the future. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has incredible programming skills and are such hard workers. Their work has been completed to an outstanding quality. They have done many releases and there have been very minimal bugs since they’ve started working on our project.

Whenever we go live with any new feature, I’m not worried that other aspects of our site not working. Where there have been any problems, Onilab fixes them immediately. It is a big relief that we no longer have to worry so much.

How did Onilab perform from a project management standpoint?

We use the Atlassian suite of products, along with Slack that allows us to chat in real time. If we were the kind of business owners who didn’t want to do any work at night, this could be a challenge, as there was a lot of Slacking happening in the first few months. This was inevitable due to the complexities of our website and how Onilab needed to get to know it.

However, in the last few months, things have settled down and we are able to communicate more through email, which makes it easier to manage during our working hours. Onilab pretty much keeps to their deadlines but this can be pushed out depending on the level of changes that our team gives them.

Overall we’re happy with their project management capabilities, but it might be the only thing that needs a bit of improving, just because they are so far away and we are in a different time zone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really care about what they do and they seem to know everything. I love that they won’t just do what you tell them to do. They will question why you want to do it if they think that there might be a better or cheaper alternative.

They have already helped us save thousands per month by getting rid of services that we didn’t need, including moving our hosting for our staging website. They are more a part of our team than they are an external supplier.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

It would be amazing if they were in the same time zone as Australia. Having to discuss things at night is a bit tiring, especially if we’ve had a full day at the office. As we grow and don’t want to have to do this, we’ll need to see if we can have one of our team members work at night instead, which isn’t ideal. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been a huge issue for us, and we’re very happy to be working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Public Desire is an online fashion retailer dealing exclusively with shoes. I’m head of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onilab?

We don’t have any in-house developers so we wanted to use Onilab to do all of our software development for our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve done a number of projects for us on our Magento e-commerce website. Specifically, they have redeveloped the site's wishlist functionality, implemented a color swatch system on our product pages, and worked on the integration between Magneto and our email provider. Most recently, we’ve also integrated the Klarna payment system. I do the workload management but Onilab does all the development work.

How did you come to work with Onilab?

Onilab was working for Public Desire before I joined the team.

How much have you invested with Onilab?

We have spent between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working for them in April 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have had no issues with the quality of the work. The number of bugs has been reduced. The quality of the code is exceptional.

How did Onilab perform from a project management standpoint?

A lot of the work is not managed, but they’re great at managing their workload and managing priority. We use JIRA and Slack to manage projects and communicate. We are happy with the number of resources they provided to work on the project.

What did you find most impressive about Onilab?

The quality of the code and the speed at which they can produce it is impressive. There have been times we’ve needed to get something into production the following day and they’ve happily worked through the night to get it done. Their work ethic is good.

Are there any areas Onilab could improve?

No. It was a good experience. I can’t think of anything they can improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PG Active is a women’s online sports and activewear e-commerce platform. I’m the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onilab?

Originally, we hired Onilab because we had a very large catalog of SKUs and we were having indexing optimization issues. We don’t have developers and consider Onilab as our in-house development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Onilab does development work on our Magento platform. We use WordPress for the content and community parts of our site. Onilab does all of the frontend and backend work for both platforms. Onilab did integration with the payment gateways to reduce the website load time. Onilab also did work on our newsletter sign up. We’re still having some speed issues that they’re working on right now. They’ve done a lot of customized work based on optimization of the business. It’s not necessarily a direct reflection on what the customers need but backend things that will improve our business processes.

How did you come to work with Onilab?

We found Onilab on UpWork. We had used developers previously that we weren’t happy with. Because we don’t have in-house developers, we needed somebody who could sit on top of all of our projects and give suggestions about whether an idea was going to work or not.

How much have you invested with Onilab?

We have spent between $50,000 and $200,000 with Onilab so far.

If I were going to hire the same developer in New York, it would cost me $130,000 to $150,000 a year just for one developer. That’s not counting insurance or anything else.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Onilab in October 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

There are so many things we’ve done to optimize the site that it’s increased conversions. We implemented an on-site pop-up when we first started, and the conversion rate was sixfold. Most of the work that Onilab has done either on the frontend or backend have moved the needle significantly in our business. Before we do anything, we test it, so we know it works. Our vendors love our website.

How did Onilab perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t use Onilab's project manager in the beginning. We worked directly with the owner. Now we have a project manager, and I’d be able to comment on that further on. We’ve worked with lots of offshore development companies. Regarding communication and availability, Onilab is head and shoulders above anybody that we’ve worked with. I don’t know if that’s because we worked directly with Art [CEO, Onilab] but he’s always online. We use JIRA for all our task management which is clear and easy to streamline.

What did you find most impressive about Onilab?

I would say the communication is really good. I really enjoy the pushback that Onilab gives me because it makes me think. A lot of the firms we’ve worked with will just implement the idea, but Onilab will help us think through decisions with the future in mind and give reasons why it might not work. There’s much more of a team feeling.

Are there any areas Onilab could improve?

Looking back, our development process could’ve been better if we had used a project manager from the beginning. I know Onilab is hiring people, but because they’re small, they don’t have all the resources that a larger company does. That’s also a positive aspect because they do the grunt work and you don’t get all the bells, whistles, and smoke that you may get from a larger company. I wouldn’t have worked with Onilab this long if they weren’t a good company offering high-quality work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an e-commerce company that sells cannabis seeds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onilab?

We needed help recreating our entire onsite template and CRM work in the backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Onilab went through a process of designing and implementing a substantial product catalog from scratch. They helped with the design of the architecture itself in terms of business tools, where and how we were collecting data, and how we could make it manageable to consume. The site is very features-heavy. Promotions also needed to be created from scratch.

How did you come to work with Onilab?

I found them on oDesk, which is now Upwork, and saw some of their previous work. They were originally working on some backend issues for us and the projects continued from there. We were having issues with another agency, and Onilab took over the whole project after six months.

How much have you invested with Onilab?

We spent $150,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in April 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

This was a new brand so there was nothing to compare it to. We’re ranking very successfully in Google for most of our target keywords. The reason we’ve been able to do that so quickly is because the structure of the site was so good. I’m happy with our relationship with them which is why we continue working with them.

How did Onilab perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our work is done over HipChat. We also use JIRA to create and assign tasks. It helps us keep updated on who’s doing what. We use Skype for any calls we make. Any issues are taken care of fairly quickly.

What did you find most impressive about Onilab?

I’ve worked with a lot of agencies and Onilab is the first team that does what they say they can do. They delivered when they said they would and what they said they would.

Are there any areas Onilab could improve?

The depth of their team could be increased in terms of the number of people on their team.