Open Tag LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of eCommerce Dean Inc., which is a NJ firm providing web design, development, and online marketing services to startups, SMBs and enterprise companies. We are focused on creating experiences that drive engagement, leads, and sales for your business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Open Tag Inc., and what were your goals?

I have worked with Open Tag Inc. for years with a variety of clients, eCommerce technologies and project types. For the latest project, we have been tasked with migrating a highly custom Magento 1 website to Magento 2. This has involved a detailed code audit of the existing website as well as documentation of all third-party and custom features plus unique processes given they are a B2B and B2C website. Open Tag has efficiently and effectively implemented the theme, features, customizations, content/product migration and integrations required for the Magento 2 website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Open Tag Inc. and what were the deciding factors?

Open Tag is a long-standing and trusted web and eCommerce development partner. They have the experience and professionalism to execute highly custom and complex Magento projects. As such the decision was easy.

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

Usual project stages: planning, development, QA/testing and go live. In terms of the development, the steps focused on the following:

• Extension Migration, Installation & Development.
• Theme Migration & Installation Development - Magento 1 theme coded in Magento 2.
• Customizations Migration (based on M1 code audit)
• Data Migration & Media (users, orders, products, product photos, etc..)
• Integration Development with third-party services (i.e., Cloud ERP & Shipping Solution)
• System Configurations - Copy website settings and set new options.

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

Team effort that involved 2-5 people at various times.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Magento 2 is a particularly challenging platform to work with. Open Tag did a great job uncovering as much as possible early on, executing, dealing with new requirements as requested and making the transition seamless.

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

We used a combination of project management and communication tools. The most important factor during an effective development is frequent and clear updates with risk reporting. This was done via weekly meetings, updates in ticket comments and a chat group we established for quick back-and-forth discussions.

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

Quality and efficient Magento 2 development coding along with solid overall management of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not related to Open Tag, but for a similar project I would bring on an ERP consultant to be available and provide support to the client since the third-party during this project was not as responsive as I would have liked to see from a vendor.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a company specializing in providing computers to college students nationwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Open Tag Inc., and what were your goals?

A few years after working with our previous web developer, we were informed that he was phasing out of e-commerce. We started a search for a proficient web developer, which lead us to Open Tag.

Our site was originally set up on the Magento 1 framework and we wanted to find a company that could take over our site development, as well as perform a full migration to Magento 2.

SOLUTION

How did you select Open Tag Inc. and what were the deciding factors?

I spoke with a few close contacts who are very experienced in web development and work for large organizations to ask them what I should be looking for in a web developer. I gathered a handful of questions that I should ask prospective developers, as well as the answers I should expect.

After performing a nationwide search, I narrowed my options down to about ten different companies that I thought might be a good fit. I then sent each of them the questions I compiled and waited for replies. Some of them were slow to reply, and most of them replied with the wrong answers.

However, Open Tag replied very quickly, and answered every answer exactly how I was told a proficient developer should answer the questions. I then conducted a telephone interview with the head developer at Open Tag and was very impressed with him.

He was very confident in his abilities but very humble at the same time. I could tell he was a straight shooter and an honest individual. I signed him up by the end of the phone conversation, and haven't regretted it since!

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

Open Tag completely took over the management of our Magento 1 site for about 6 months. They then began a total rebuild and migration to Magento 2 which took a few months to complete.

I was extremely nervous about the migration but it ended up being seamless. I woke up the morning of the migration and the new site was up and running with no interruptions to production. New orders came through without any problems.

Our site required the implementation of custom extensions and modules and Open Tag was able to deliver on every single one of them without any problems.

When errors did arise, they were able to remedy the problem very quickly and efficiently.

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

I've worked with the head developer to address all of our needs. It has been nice to work directly with him, as he is very knowledgeable on web development and has understood all of our requests and been able to convey them to his team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the launch of our new site on the Magento 2 framework, we have saved a considerable amount of administrative time. Open Tag was able to streamline a lot of the coding so that the back end functionality for us was quick and efficient.

We also saw a 22% increase in sales for the year as compared to the previous year on our old site.

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

All communication takes place through email. They are very good at communicating when they will be able to complete a task and closing the loop on when something is ready for testing.

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

I like that it is very personalized. I work with the same individual on all of the projects we take on and feel like I can contact him anytime, even if it is after hours. I've worked with him for a couple years now and enjoy each interaction I have with him.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think having a better way to track tasks that still need to be completed and the progress on them would be nice so I don't have to track them through previous emails I've sent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the web development manager of Provengo. We’re a military contractor that has a direct-to-consumer business. Essentially, we’re resellers with a discount site that sells outdoor gear to anyone who works for the government.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Open Tag Inc.?

We brought them on to take our platform from Magento to Shopify.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve provided web and e-commerce development services for us. The tricky part was switching from Magneto to Shopify because there were a series of challenges specifically with taking our existing customer data and merging it over. This includes sales orders, products, historical orders for the customers, and merging all accounts.

We also had a series of integrations with our ERP system that needed to be switched over. We have a pretty complex infrastructure. Everything needed to be hooked together and merged into Shopify. It was definitely not an easy undertaking.

We worked with UX designers that framed everything out. Our in-house design team provided HTML and frontend code that was then passed on to Open Tag Inc. Their team turned it into functional designs and handled all implementation.

What is the team composition?

Typically, we work with five individuals but we scale up and down as needed. At the peak, we had three developers, a project manager, and a project coordinator. At another point, we had a Magento specific developer.

How did you come to work with Open Tag Inc.?

I worked with the owner at a previous job. I know him as one of the most capable, competent individuals I’ve ever worked with. He has a Magento 2 certification and that’s incredibly hard to find. I knew there was no one who was going to know this system better. I knew he had a great work ethic and oversaw everything.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $75,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in August 2018. There’s ongoing maintenance, and we present them with new requests and features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our page load speed dramatically changed. We were averaging about three seconds on Magento, and now we’re hovering somewhere a little bit over one second. That was a major success.

Additionally, our average order value has increased significantly. We implemented recommendations so now buyers aren’t just buying a single product, they’re also buying additional accessories. This contributes to the topline revenue increase. UX has also improved as we’ve received anecdotal feedback from customers expressing they’re happier with the experience.

How did Open Tag Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re the most reliable team we could ever hope to work with. We have regular check-ins where the owner is involved. He doesn’t work on the implementation of anything but constantly ensures that our needs are being met. Their team makes themselves available and keeps communication open and clear.

One time, there was a task that ended up being much more complex than we realized. We set a deadline and later noticed their team was working around the clock to the point where I didn’t even realize it. I’d be online and see that they were online during the middle of their night.

We had a great conversation about burnout and hard deadlines, discussing how some deadlines are adjustable. We wanted them to slow down and not burn themselves out and be unavailable. They’re relentless. They’ve never missed a deadline and have always done whatever it takes to get something done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredible communicators. We have quick phone calls in the morning to ensure everything’s on track. Then on the next day, everything’s implemented and ready to go. We have a great workflow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’d be useful if they had a list of best practices. I imagine there are some teams in certain spaces that aren’t particularly savvy and don’t know what they don’t know. Those teams won’t figure out a continuous integration pipeline to make sure everything’s tested and working. It’d be great if Open Tag Inc. offered a list of their practices or workflows and ask the partner to adopt any pieces of it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want and be clear with your requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of Qbedding, an online and brick and mortar retail company. We import bedding from overseas to sell in the US market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Open Tag Inc.?

Our original site was built in Magento and we were looking for Magento-specific development help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

While they were initially hired for help with Magento, Open Tag Inc. ended up helping us transfer our site to Shopify. They provided development and data migration services. 

Their team also provided hosting transfer services. We used to have our own servers, so everything was hosted onsite. However, we decided to move to another data center. The Open Tag Inc team performed the transfer overnight to avoid interruptions to the site.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 members of their team. I worked closely with Max (Co-Founder) and Vitalii (Senior Shopify Developer).

How did you come to work with Open Tag Inc.?

Our team participated in a Magento seminar in New York and met the founder of Open Tag Inc. We exchanged business cards, so when we needed Magento help we knew who to reach out to. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from January 2015–November 2020

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Open Tag Inc was a great experience. They’re not a huge firm so we got to work very closely together. That helped us build a lot of trust between our teams.

How did Open Tag Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is very smooth. They are always available. Someone would answer our calls and messages regardless of the hour. 

Sometimes there were small delays, but it was always a reasonable amount. Our teams collaborated via Skype. They also used a Teamwork ticketing system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our teams worked together very closely, which proved to be an asset. Their ticketing system was also very useful. They make everything very easy to track: tickets, payments, and hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have a slightly bigger team, in order to provide support in more areas. We would love it if they offered more packages, including SEO services. For now, we only turn to them for our programming needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Project Manager in charge of the expansion of our payment solution into e-commerce CMS

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Open Tag LLC, and what were your goals?

Take part into the Abode commerce team to develop the Adobe Commerce payment module

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We shortlisted 5 Abode Commerce experts, run a series of interviews and took the person with the greater skill set and cultural fit with our company

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

Great refactoring, architecture definition and API integration

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

4 ppl

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Onboarded 5 merchants in 6 months, release in prod every week

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

Work in autonomy, weekly standup

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

They were good people.

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

None