Real Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a personalised gift company. We produce a variety of chocolate gifts that our customers can customise for any special occasion. We also have many B2B clients for whom we create branded gifts for staff, clients, onboarding, referrals, marketing outreach and so on. Finally we have a wedding gift business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Media Lounge, and what were your goals?

Our site was on shopify and was slow, outdated and ranking poorly. We wanted a new site that was structurally sound and had some functionality that would improve some core KPI's. We initially outsourced overseas but the results were poor, so we recruited Media Lounge after a recommendation from one of our team.

SOLUTION

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

Essentially we chose Media Lounge due to a recommendation from our team member who had worked for them previously.

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

Moving from Shopify to Magento meant that there was a lot of fundamental basics that needed completing first. We had to address security, hosting, payments and so on. Much of the visible side of the site had been completed, but we needed to get the checkout and cart functions working, as well as many other elements.

These included Stamped loyalty and reviews, Helpscout, moosend, apple and google pay, and a number of extensions to help with delivery date shipping and multiple orders in one. Finally, our site is integrated with Custom Gateway which was. a a major part of the development. Given the time frame, I recruited a dedicate resource so the work could happen at pace.

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

I had a dedicated resource of three, including the project manager, backend developer and front end developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The original project was 3 weeks. I expected this to be longer, although not as much as it was. The site was eventually launched in week 9. I found Media Lounge to be incredibly professional and well structured. If I had a criticism it would be that my initial expectations were far below the total time required. In their defence, I don't think they could have done it faster...and its hard to know the extent of a project from the outset.

I did have to put development on hold because one team member was on holiday. I was not made aware of this until the time and I found this disappointing. I am of course not averse to holidays....but I am averse to the project grinding to a halt. But those two points are minor. The first one had as much to do with me and the second can't be helped with a small team....it just should have been highlighted earlier in the process. My overall impression is very positive. I was really impressed.

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

In comparison to who I had worked with before, it was easy to see the work on an individual basis and see where it was at in the development process. I was also able to communicate at all times about all these components which was amazing. We used Slack and Jira which worked very well. I was able to add new tickets whenever I wanted which I found very useful....and they were often picked up and processed in rapid time. This, of course, added to the overall timescale. Media Lounge could not have known about these additions at the beginning.

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

I found their Media Lounge's team to be incredibly receptive to my enquiries, helping out where they could. I am new to Magento and there is a lot to understand. It's a much more complicated interface than Shopify. There were weird nuances to do with view that caused me a lot of issues. Enquiries like this were answered really helpfully which I was really grateful for. There's an element of guidance to their role which not every company I think does well. Media Lounge have only ever been helpful on this front.

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

There are still some teething issues since the site launch that are causing me a lot of grief, particularly around my existing customers and their accounts on the new site. In an ideal world, these would have been dealt with pre-launch as I am concerned about my existing customers being put off due to not being able to order. However, I'm not sure if Media Lounge could have known about these issues. I just hope they can be resolved now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for AB Building Products, a small family-run business. We’re a general building products supplier in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Media Lounge?

We had a previous development agency who told us that they knew our e-commerce platform, Magento 2. After about six months of development and a lot of money, it came to light that they didn’t actually know the platform.

We contacted Media Lounge and brought them on board to continue development and fix some of the platform’s vast issues.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Media Lounge had to look through the website and software configurations, determine what we were trying to achieve, and identify our issues. Also, there were a lot of knock-on consequences — like Google rankings, SEO, and marketing — that the previous developers had created.

They had to be very thorough in identifying all of the issues. Then, they put together a detailed plan of action on how to remedy the situation.

What is the team composition?

We’ve probably had 5–6 different people on the team, whether they’re developers, designers, or project managers. Three people were involved in the beginning to onboard a sales director, a project manager, and a developer.

On the other hand, we’ve had ongoing project managers, which we’ve changed a couple of times over the last couple of years. We work directly with designers and backend developers, and we’ve dealt with a range of people within the business, but they’ve all been very professional and knowledgeable on subjects.

How did you come to work with Media Lounge?

We researched directly through Magento and found Media Lounge as an authorized, approved developer for the platform.

How much have you invested in them?

It’s definitely six figures.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been with them for about three years now. We began our relationship around May 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been perfectly happy with their service. We’re on a rolling monthly contract with Media Lounge, and we have work planned with them going well into Q2 of 2022. Moreover, the website has improved dramatically, particularly over the past 18 months. They supply us with reports regarding SEO and website conversion rates. Still, we also have our own tracking platforms behind the site to verify their data and clearly see improvements in conversion, traffic, sales, and revenue.

Media Lounge comes to the table with good ideas for improvements on the website, but they also take on our ideas, work out solutions, or compromise. We might come to them wanting one thing, but if it isn’t technically possible, they’ll let us know what they can do. Also, if we’re trying to fit a budget or timescale, they’re great at coming up with options that suit our specifications.

How did Media Lounge perform from a project management standpoint?

Over the three years, we’ve gotten them to produce various specific reports around SEO, which they’ve been able to deliver quickly and in a detailed, coherent, and understandable manner. We then use those reports to identify positives and negative things on the website to make improvements.

For project management, we run a live Google spreadsheet that has all of the work managed by our project manager. We can contribute to that document and write notes on it.

We also communicate via email and phone, which is good. We jump on video calls whenever we want to discuss things or do a screen share if we’re talking about more complex issues. Also, they’ve come to our offices, or we’ve been down to their office — which is about an hour away — for face-to-face meetings. This allows us to have a designer and developer in the room and thrash out ideas and options, which is sometimes easier than video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really approachable. The team is happy to listen to new ideas and keen to please. Media Lounge isn’t just trying to plug a hole with a quick fix; they’re always trying to do the best they can. They go into detail and make sure that everything is correct.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve raised a couple of minor issues over the years because they’ve given us work to sign off, but there were still some glitches. We shouldn’t have to kick it back and let them know the product still needs improvement.

However, they’ve implemented a whole new level of quality control between the project manager and the developers over the last year. Now, more eyes are looking at the work so that by the time it gets to us, there aren’t any bugs or items they’ve missed. Since then, we’ve identified fewer glitches that have gotten through the net.

In general, they take our feedback and have put in processes to rectify their shortcomings.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear and detailed specification of what you want and what you’re trying to achieve. If you have examples of other websites or work that you like and have seen elsewhere, show them as examples so they can picture what you have in mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Digital Director of a leading e-commerce retailer in the RMI sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Media Lounge, and what were your goals?

A range of goals were to be achieved such as as CRO, site speed and CWV improvements.

SOLUTION

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

We were impressed with the knowledge displayed via Media lounge's content marketing platform.

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

All submitted bugs on our site have been fixed. The goals to improve page speed and core web vitals scores have also been reached.

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

We worked directly with 2 team project managers , who then communicated back to the Media lounge development team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Yes. Our site speed has improved by circa 20%, and our CWV scores are now passing at all levels.

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

1 simple point of contact, with flexibility on how we want to work.

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

We are impressed with their specialist's knowledge of Magneto 2.

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

We are happy with everything to date.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the design and brand director of Mr Lee’s Noodles, and we sell instant food products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Media Lounge?

We were in supermarkets and airlines, but we didn’t have a stable e-commerce offering. We already had a WordPress website prior to this engagement, but it was glitchy, clunky, and kept encountering downtimes. Additionally, it didn’t achieve a lot of sales. 

We needed to sell in Europe, the US, and Australia, and we needed help establishing our digital presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Media Lounge built our e-commerce website. It allowed users to browse around, inform themselves about our products, and buy directly from our platform. 

We gave them a brand bible, which detailed our identity, colors, and tone of voice. We also provided them with pictures of our products. Using all those elements, they then built our site from scratch using Magento 2.

Additionally, Media Lounge did some design work for us. They gave us some concepts for the site, which required only a few tweaks here and there.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Dan (Project Manager) and their managing director, designer, and account manager. 

How did you come to work with Media Lounge?

We spoke to a few different agencies within the UK, and Media Lounge came back as the best. They were local to us — their office was only a 15–20 minute walk away from us — and we thought that was advantageous.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about £70,000–£75,000 (approximately $94,000–$100,000 USD) . 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2019–July 2020.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our sales went up exponentially. In fairness, it was partly due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic where people preferred buying goods online. Nonetheless, our old website would have fallen over if it had our current demand. Thanks to Media Lounge, we had a stable site that could sell on three continents. 

How did Media Lounge perform from a project management standpoint?

Media Lounge’s project management was superb. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

There was a constant dialogue between our teams, and Media Louge advised us on what we needed to do. Their consultations never feel like a hard sell.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If we knew then what we know now, we would have a different layout and platform. Magento was not particularly user-friendly, and we think WordPress would’ve been easier to use.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do as much research beforehand. I trust them implicitly, and I think they’re very good. They’re not the cheapest agency out there, but you get what you pay for with Media Lounge. I would just urge caution in using Magento. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Jaguar Espresso Systems is a B2B wholesaler of coffee-related products and equipment. We cater to companies in the U.K., including big coffee roasters, big coffee chains, engineering organizations, and online retailers. I’m the marketing director and one of the two owners. 

We sell a range of espresso machines, gardeners, cleaning products, water filtration products, spare parts for all commercial coffee machines, and more. We also sell all the accessories for coffee shops and for the people who want to make coffee at home.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Media Lounge?

We needed someone to provide us with web design and development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We approached them after our issues with our previous partner and once we engaged them, they did a thorough analysis of the work that had been done. They then came back to us with detailed recommendations on areas of the website that weren’t developed properly. They also reassured us that they could work with what was already developed while also making suggestions for areas of the website that we knew weren’t working.

Just from our conversations with them, it was obvious that we were dealing with a clear and straightforward team that understands the balance in setting realistic expectations. If something can be done, they’ll find a way to do it and provide several options along with an expert to help you make an informed decision around what you need.

The website was made using Magento, so a lot of the design elements were already in place — we didn’t look to change those initially, but it started to happen further down the line. The main work Media Lounge did was address the technical issues on the website and focus on getting it to a point where it could go live. Some design elements had to be reworked but we largely left a lot of the design in place just to focus on getting the website live. 

The website has a lot of standard functionality for B2B websites, and it’s integrated with our in-house software, so there’s data that flows to and from Magento. We have quite sophisticated product catalogs for different types of customers and it runs a quite complex pricing structure. 

Additionally, we have a lot of interactive line drawings for the spare parts on the website, so we’re currently working on a project to redesign all of those and integrate them more fully into the shopping experience. There’s also a detailed dashboard where customers can view all of their sales orders, download invoices, track all their shipments, submit an RMA request (return merchandise authorization), and more. 

We use Cloudflare for the site’s security and a few other products that we put in place. They’ve been very proactive in letting us know when there’s been a data breach or cyberattack and tell us how they can fix it — which is really important because you don’t need to find about an incident after you’ve had it. 

There have also been some software purchases along the way and while they don’t host our website, we have our hosting set up through them. Media Lounge oversaw all of that and also helped us change our online payment provider for credit cards. They also did some landing pages for our email marketing campaigns and we’re actually about to start doing some significant SEO work with them as well as a Google Analytics review. We’re also working to develop some APIs that will show the stock availability to our customers through Shopify.

What is the team composition?

I don’t know how many people have been working behind the scenes, but we have an ongoing account manager. 

How did you come to work with Media Lounge?

We put out some feelers to find out who could be a good fit for our needs. Another client of the company that handles all our in-house software and IT support gave us a recommendation, so we met a couple of companies and reached out to Media Lounge. My business partner and I went to meet them and liked their approach. They seemed very professional but very relatable, and were very honest about how they could help us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent around £200,000 (approximately $270,900 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re a supplier to a lot of retailers and a lot of the hospitality sector. When we finished our financial year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we were expecting our business to have grown by 20%. We launched the website in the middle of the pandemic but thanks to Media Lounge, we have a strong direction for our business to go in so overall, we’ve had growth despite the pandemic.

How did Media Lounge perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been really good from a project management perspective. I’ve worked on IT projects for the last 25 years and all of them take longer than you expect them to. However, Media Lounge sticks to timescales and delivers when I expect them to — I’ve never been unhappy and they’re also very clear on costs and time management. Furthermore, they have a great system that gives us visibility on how their time is being spent and their project managers are clear and easy to talk to. 

We tend to communicate over a weekly call to catch up on updates and to-dos. Throughout the week, we send emails to each other but if we need to review something, we do it over the phone because it’s just an easier way to bounce ideas off of each other. Besides that, everything else flows naturally through emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The people that they have are real difference makers. They all have a lot of in-depth knowledge and they’re very thorough in the way they investigate our needs and requirements. Their communication is also clear, which makes them very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I always want things turned around faster than they seem to happen. However, I can’t do anything about it because that’s the nature of IT to a certain extent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them to have regular communication and speak to their people instead of doing everything through email. With one-on-one conversations, people naturally digress a bit and those are the moments where you get random bits of information that can become seeds of a new idea — therefore, communication is key.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the web content manager at a B2B toy supplier that supplies toys domestically in the UK, but also internationally in Europe and the US. I am in charge of maintaining the website and updating online content, including product and static pages — basically, all of our information on the web.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Media Lounge?
We wanted to find a new web developer since our previous one wasn’t happy working on Magento 1 and we weren’t in a position to migrate to a new platform. We also needed a web developer to provide security patches and updates to Magento 1. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Media Lounge took over our web development and is now in charge of hosting our website. We already had the website built, so they work within that framework to maintain and continuously upgrade it. We’re still on Magento 1 and our platform is a mix of bespoke coding and third-party modules that Media Lounge has installed.

We use Media Lounge to make any technical changes to the website and fix bugs. They run the day-to-day for us and implement any development or hard code changes we have. We are currently in the implementation phase of a new pricing project where customers receive a specific price for a product based on a percentage of a product or set price. This is the biggest project they’ve done with us so far. 

We’re also looking to change our website’s landing page and navigation to fit with how our brand is growing so they’re helping us design that. Whenever we finalize that design, Media Lounge will code it for us. 

What is the team composition?

We initially coordinated with their head of sales, but now our main point of contact is Tom (Senior Account Manager).

How did you come to work with Media Lounge?

We carried out a brief hiring process looking for web developers who were willing to work on Magento 1. We shortlisted three companies and after talking to Media Lounge, they seemed to be the best fit for us. 

They weren’t aggressive about chasing the sale and their attitude was good during the hiring process — no project was too big or too small for them. Overall, they seemed like the easiest to work with and we liked their pitch best so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around £25,000 (approximately $34,400 USD) with them so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in March 2021 and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work speaks for itself — we’re very satisfied with Media Lounge’s deliverables. They’ve delivered everything they’ve promised so far. 

How did Media Lounge perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a very structured process for project management — we’re a part of the process every step of the way. We have a shared Google Sheet where we submit requests and they provide project updates and request additional information from us. They use a bespoke bug-reporting platform as well. 

Their team engages with us regularly and if they deliver something we’re not satisfied with, they’ll go back and work on it until we’re happy. We’re in contact with the account manager every day. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am very impressed with their ability to accommodate our business needs. We’ve run into a lot of companies that push us to upgrade our system, but that isn’t where we are in our web development process. The Media Lounge team is happy to work on the platform we have and to our specifications, even if they aren’t industry standard. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t noticed huge issues. They’ve missed a few deadlines for a project, but that isn’t huge for me, because I believe they underestimated the complexity of the project. Even with those missed deadlines, they stay in constant contact with us and we are always aware of where the issues are and what the new timeline is for deliverables.  

They can also be a little pushy in selling their services, but that is how all businesses operate so I can’t blame them for that. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say that customers need to be open with their goals, follow Media Lounge’s processes and listen to their ideas — Media Lounge knows what they’re talking about. It’s also important to keep regular communication channels open, that’s how you’ll get the best results. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of Fight Equipment UK The UK's leading combat Sports Retailer

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Media Lounge, and what were your goals?

New Website, functional, user friendly and upto date with no hidden issues that pop up down the line in regards to functionality.

SOLUTION

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

Trust, Customer Service

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

Develop from scratch a magento ecommerce website, including custom design.

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

Many, from the Director right down to the customer service team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our sales have grown from 500k to over 2.3 Million just over 4 years After many previous websites that had been poorly built by other agencies that had promised the earth and left us in the lurch with poor development. Media Lounge had helped with some of the issues the site had but did advise that a rebuild was the best option. As normal I was skeptical, I'd heard this many times and obviously thought they were just after our money. They were more expensive, more than I wanted to spend but after months of negotiation and them winning our trust we gave the go ahead. Honestly looking back I wish I'd been in contact with them from day one.

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

Every project has its setbacks and I won't lie we had some with Media Lounge, But they are pro active, they are available when you need them and they get the job done.

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

They showed customer dedication with attention to detail. They're down to earth and trustworthy.

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

Like I mentioned we did have setbacks, the odd delay but over all after the previous 4 agencies that promised the earth to us then buried their heads when issues poped up, media Lounge overall were a breath of fresh air.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of Lakeland Country, a clothing retailer. We have brick-and-mortar stores as well as online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Media Lounge?

We started on eBay, then we developed our own website. We needed the website to be bigger and improved so we went to Media Lounge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They constructed a brand-new website for us using BigCommerce. We hadn’t used BigCommerce before, so they had to build the site from scratch. They also had third-party stock integration, transferring all of our stock from eBay to InkFrog, then from InkFrog to BigCommerce.

They handled everything from scratch. This included designing the logo, the front pages, the shop, the e-commerce pages, the product page design, the returns— everything.

The relationship is ongoing. Not only are they providing maintenance and SEO, but they also set up GoogleAds for us. We’ve been doing other campaigns with them on Facebook and Instagram. We do the posts, but they helped us set up the business accounts.

What is the team composition?

We had one main designer, and then he had more developers behind him. I always just spoke to our designer and account manager.

How did you come to work with Media Lounge?

We’ve been very successful on eBay, but not on the web. Our largest competitor was very successful on the web, but not on eBay. We reached out to their web provider, Media Lounge, to see if they could work with us on our web presence.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £15,000 (approximately $21,000 USD), including VAT.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I haven’t got exact figures, but our figures have had a sizable increase — about five times year-over-year. This is impressive because it typically takes a while to see changes with this.

How did Media Lounge perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked with phone or video calls, sometimes e-mail.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They weren’t just charging us to build a website. They also showed me how to use it and change it. Many companies won’t be as patient. I even got little video tutorials on how to do things, which was very kind of them. I can go back to the videos, without having to ask a developer to do it. They’re very honest and trustworthy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were fantastic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

All businesses will grow massively because of them. Be prepared to grow and grow with them.