Stone Digital

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a director at No Boundaries Fencing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an online retailer of fencing supplies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Stone Digital to accomplish?

• Automation of sales processes
• Link our Woocommerce webstore to a MySQL database to allow products to be maintained and updates more efficiently
• Create a framework for adding complex, customisable DIY kits to the Woocommerce webstore

SOLUTION

How did you find Stone Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Stone Digital over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Stone Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The scope of work included:

• Developing some new, complex Woocommerce product types allowing customers to configure custom product kits 
• Linking the Woocommerce webstore to a new MySQL database to allow product details, such as prices, to be updated in bulk from one location
• Automating processes such as the generation of component lists and assembly instructions
• Restructuring of the website to make the Shop more prominant

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Managing the Woocommerce shop and processing online sales is now faster and less error prone due to the connection to the new database and the automation of processes such as the generation of purchase orders and pick lists. 

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

The work took longer to complete than expected, but Stone Digital was dedicated to developing a solution to meet our needs, and were flexible in response to scope changes. 

What was your primary form of communication with Stone Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Stone Digital were willing to develop a Woocommerce webstore including custom, complex product types for a reasonable price. 

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

None in particular

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Lead of Matrak

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Matrak is a construction technology platform for built to help construction companies manage complex global supply chains.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Stone Digital to accomplish?

• Remove old code from Wordpress
• Make our website more intuitive and more user-friendly
• Improve overall website performance

SOLUTION

How did you find Stone Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Stone Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Stone Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We engaged with Stone Digital a few years back to help us improve our overall website performance and build new pages. The project was initially only focused on website performance, however, Stone Digital showed us that they not only deliver great work but can be a trusted long-term partner.

They not only fixed our website performance -- taking it from a red to a green on Google, they also found a lot of hosting and security issues, removed old/useless code and made managing our website way easier!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improved website performance Improved website UX and UI

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

Stone Digital effectively managed the ongoing projects, continuously sharing updated project timelines and roadmaps and using tools like Asana to track project deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with Stone Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were very communicative and personable. They have no problem with calling them on their mobile if you have any questions and they are forward thinking -- finding lots of great ways to continuously help improve the experience of our website.

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

No -- my only "complaint" would be around timeliness on deliverables - but it was only due to illness. They were always very communicative and advised us if there were any project delays. And that happens to anyone! No fault on our end.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Creative Director of Swillhouse

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Hospitality company with restaurants, bars, a print publication and buzzing eCom store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Stone Digital to accomplish?

• Migrate to Word Press, maintaining exact aesthetic.
• Launch bespoke Members Platform
• Quicker reaction time to requests and updates

SOLUTION

How did you find Stone Digital?

Referral

Why did you select Stone Digital over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from Stone Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We wanted to keep the exact look and feel of our website but with an easier back end navigation. It had to be migrated / replicated. To relaunch we wanted a Member's Program with data collection / collation, automations for a wicked customer experience and a slew of detailed updates auxiliary to this principal feat. We are building a fresh landing page for our print publication product sold online and look forward to launching that soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Member's page set up
• data collated and accessible
• automations in place
• graphic requests completed.

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

Yes, always timely replies and claritable time lines for job completion set in place at time of request.

What was your primary form of communication with Stone Digital?

Virtual Meeting

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

Personable, relatable people providing the outcomes requested, also, a refreshing absence of excuses. I've not heard one since working with Stone.

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

No, I'm happy with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of an ecommerce company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Planing and booking adventure travel, tours, accomodation, transport and packages.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Stone Digital to accomplish?

• New website allows for easier setup and customisation of pages / products
• API advanced integration with Hero Travel platform
• A site that indexes well with Google and follows best practice SEO techniques

SOLUTION

How did you find Stone Digital?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select Stone Digital over others?

• Company values aligned
• Expert in field

How many teammates from Stone Digital were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Stone Digital assisted us with building a new website which now allows for easier setup and customisation of pages and products which had been a pain point of ours for some time. The new site now loads very fast and overall is easier for our team to use. We specifically wanted custom, advanced integration with Hero Travel platform allowing for multi product bookings. 

Our new website uses custom designs to suit our brand whilst still being able to index well with Google. Brett and the team have been a pleasure to work with and are always on point. Would highly recommend.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Site has an increase of 200% 
• Faster uploading and download speed better UX 
• Quicker to load in product

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

• Very good. 
• Always on time.
•  Always on point.

What was your primary form of communication with Stone Digital?

Virtual Meeting

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

They understood objectives and delivered on time. Great communication.

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

none

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a cold brew coffee manufacturing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stone Digital?

We hired them to design and develop a custom Shopify website for e-commerce. Previously, we had a Squarespace website that was difficult to use and didn’t fit our aspirations. 

To get access to the best tools and capabilities, we knew we had to switch platforms. Other goals included a better-quality site and more engagement since our cold brew coffee is in a premium space. We also wanted to make it easier for our customers to purchase our products and for our team to navigate the data.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Stone Digital has built our Shopify e-commerce website from a Shopify theme. We held meetings to discuss what we wanted to portray and the look and feel we wanted. They took our brief and created the design. Currently, they provide support and maintenance for the website. We also have projects underway for Stone Digital to continue building our site. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two teammates from Stone Digital: a project lead and someone contributing in the background. 

How did you come to work with Stone Digital?

They were a referral. We had an initial meeting with Stone Digital and chose them because they were communicative and flexible. They asked the right questions and drew the correct information out of us, helping us verbalize what we wanted. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $15,000 AUD (approximately $10,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although we didn’t need to give Stone Digital exact parameters, they understood where we wanted to go and have created something we’re very happy with. We had a rough outline of the structure and the layout, and Stone Digital has run with it and elevated it. We haven’t spent money on marketing because we’ve changed a heap of products, so we’re ensuring we have stock. Therefore, we don’t have growth metrics yet. 

The team is easy to work with and very knowledgeable. They’re super flexible and have provided us with the tools that can enable us to take over the website. Moreover, they’ve presented everything so that our team understands why each decision was made and how they can update the site moving forward. 

How did Stone Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve exceeded project management expectations. We usually communicate via email, where they give us concise updates. Due to their communication skills, we never wonder about what’s happening or the project’s progress, which is great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with Stone Digital’s ability to take a brief and nail it. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should have a clear understanding of the outcome you want. Although our goals were a bit fuzzy, we’ve gotten where we wanted to go.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a leading learning organisation operating throughout Australia and New Zealand, committed to saving lives through the provision of world class road safety education to youth. At the heart of our programs lies RYDA – a whole school approach partnership which supports teachers on the journey as they provide their students with the tools and understanding they need to see themselves as active, responsible road citizens.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Stone Digital, and what were your goals?

We initially hired Stone Digital to complete a number of minor, cosmetic adjustments to our existing custom WordPress website. This included:

• adjust post/page layout,
• adjust news page display,
• adjust login form display etc.

Those tasks were successfully completed, and since then we’ve worked over the past 1+ years on many other troubleshooting tasks and customisations to the website.

SOLUTION

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

We selected to go with Stone Digital for a number of reasons. The lead developer Brett was very easy to communicate with in the initial discussion phase. Also, Brett was flexible to implement our tasks in a timely manner and work around relatively tight deadlines. Furthermore, Stone Digital demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the types of tasks that we required completed.

These reasons in combination with a competitive rate meant that Stone Digital was selected as our preferred vendor. I note that Stone Digital also provided a very competitive, discounted rate because we are a not-for-profit organisation.

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

See below a list of the various tasks that Stone Digital has assisted us with over the 18 months that we’ve been receiving service:

• Adjustment to page layout and design
• Adjust user access logic for “Teacher” and “Facilitator” account logins
• Fix and resolve various bugs or issues that appear on the website
• Migrate website to new web host provider - Implement new security and backup tools on the website
• Implement new layout and filter functionality in “Teacher’s Portal” page
• Develop 'out of the box' LMS product to custom fit our needs

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

Brett has been the main point of contact, but we understand that Stone Digital as a business has strong capabilities in a variety of areas and that there is a team at Stone Digital that helps implement these kinds of website changes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very impressed with Brett’s work, and that’s why we are hiring him again for ongoing maintenance work. We enjoy working with him, and we’d recommend him to any other business.

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

• We communicate via emails, phone calls and online meetings. The communication has always been quite seamless even though we had never seen Brett in person.
• The various tasks that we’ve asked to be completed have always been completed in a timely manner with outstanding quality. We have received positive feedback from internal and external stakeholders about the various new features that we rolled out.

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

• The firm has a strong tech knowledge in building complex website functionalities.
• The company is very flexible in working around our requests.
• Strong communications with quick response time.

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

Any lilttle bugs that pop up are always quickly and effectively managed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're a pharmaceutical firm. I'm the managing director of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Stone Digital, and what were your goals?

We have engaged Stone Digital to be our regular, on-call web development service provider to add new features and functionality to our ecommerce website: elementelle.com.au

SOLUTION

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

We selected Stone Digital for a number of reasons, they include:

1. Quality of Service: The lead developer Brett is very experienced with complex ecommerce projects and has a deep understanding of how ecommerce web technology works. He is always able to understand the technical work required for any request or requirements that we present.
2. Quick turnaround: Stone Digital was always able to provide a quick response to our requests, particularly for very urgent tasks which were often completed straightaway or on the same day.
3. Communication: Brett from Stone Digital was always very easy to communicate with and he always made his comments and suggestions very clear.

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

Key project scope deliverables:

• Integrate the eCommerce website with an external 3PL provider (tifs.com.au) so that ecommerce orders are automatically fulfilled and sent on our behalf by the 3rd party logistics operator
• Integrate the eCommerce website with Xero, so all transactions on the website are appropriately recorded within Xero
• Setup complex coupon and gift logic that allowed us to have special promotional deals
• Setup sophisticated "Sign up to Win" campaign which allows customers to enter a limited edition lottery
• Perform ad-hoc tweaks to the website to adjust the design and appearance of certain pages or sections
• Train staff on how to use the website and how to customise or adjust the website

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

Brett was our main point of contact throughout the project. Brett is the Director at Stone Digital and Lead Web Developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are always delighted with the outcome of the work from Stone Digital, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from our customers and our internal team members in relation to the work that Stone Digital has done for us. The 3PL integration has created a much smoother experience for our team members in relation to fulfilment. We are very impressed with Brett's work, and we have been hiring Stone Digital for ongoing eCommerce maintenance work for some time now.

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

• Brett has always communicated with us in a very clear way, he will often organise his emails in clear dot points and include screenshots to further demonstrate his message.
• Brett always confirms the task requirements beforehand via email and gives a time estimate before proceeding with the work
• In terms of timeliness, Stone Digital is always able to complete tasks in a very timely manner and when there is a tight deadline or urgent issue, Stone Digital is always able to deliver and make sure the issue is resolved very quickly (often within a few hours).

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

Stone Digital was effortless to deal with and flexible to work around our requests. 

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

Further, the quality of Stone Digital's work was exceptional. We could tell that they are experts in their field of custom web development.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of Local Sauce Tours, a small tourism business based in Sydney, Australia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Stone Digital, and what were your goals?

As part of our business rebrand, we engaged Stone Digital to develop a high-quality website for our tour operator business: Local Sauce Tours. - We wanted to create a custom, visually appealing website that was integrated with the FareHarbur booking system.

SOLUTION

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

Stone Digital throughout the quote process demonstrated strong expertise in integrating booking systems like FareHarbour with WordPress and has strong experience building custom websites.

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

Key project scope deliverables:

• Develop a WordPress website that is integrated with the FareHarbor booking platform.
• Develop a website that meets particular design and aesthetic requirements.
• Ensure that website can suitably display 100s of reviews that Local Sauce tours has across Google, Airbnb, Facebook and Tripadvisor.
• Complete a successful migration of the old website emails and setup appropriate URL redirects.

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

Brett was our main point of contact throughout the project. Brett is the Director at Stone Digital and Lead Web Developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website has been a great success in creating a streamlined process for bookings, I now spend less time having to manage bookings. - The website has also achieved a significant improvement in engagement, enquiries and bookings via the website. - Overall the new website has received a lot of positive feedback from customers and partners. - This is our second time working with Brett and Stone Digital, and we are really happy with the new website. Brett went to great efforts to understand exactly what we were after, and his follow-up on our feedback throughout the process was excellent.

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

Throughout the development phase, Brett and I were in contact regularly to give updates on the status of the website. - We often used email and phone calls to discuss progress and share feedback on the latest round of work.

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

Stone Digital was easy to deal with and flexible to work around our requests. Very impressed by their flexibility and ability to produce high quality output. - Stone Digital also did a great job integrating FareHarbor with the website, which was a key requirement for this project.

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

No, Stone Digital has been amazing at support and making small changes and fixes to the website as required.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO & Owner

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Stone Digital, and what were your goals?

We engaged Stone Digital to develop a custom WooCommerce plugin that would include the following key features:

• Display a live availability calendar on our website for tour products with availability data pulled from an external API (Hero Travel API).
• Allow customers to book tour products instantly on the website, thus avoiding any manual back-and-forth between us and the customer.
• Automate collection of passenger information by requiring this information during their purchase journey on the website.
• Integrate website orders with the Hero Travel booking system, so successful orders appear in both WooCommerce Orders page and Hero Travel dashboard.
• Be compatible across two different ecommerce websites that utilise different WordPress themes.

SOLUTION

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

Throughout our time looking for a solution, Stone Digital showed the in-depth expertise required to build and was very cost competitive for the service package they could provide. Stone Digital is also the number #1 preferred web development agency to integrate ecommerce websites with Hero Travel’s software.

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

Key project scope deliverables:

• Develop a custom WooCommerce plugin that would integrate key information and steps between WooCommerce and Hero Travel eg. live availability calendar and order syncing functionality.
• Design the plugin’s live availability calendar and booking section to incorporate the existing design elements and brand guidelines.

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

Brett was our main point of contact throughout the project. Brett is the lead web developer and owner Stone Digital.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received a decent volume of bookings via the custom WooCommerce integrations since the launch of the feature and expect even more into the future as travel volume continues to pick up.

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

Throughout the initial months of the project, Stone Digital would give occasional updates every 2-3 weeks on the progress of the plugin. - Once the plugin was ready for testing, the integration was deployed on a staging site and we both conducted in-depth testing and started our feedback iteration rounds.

We used email and phone calls to document our feedback, we did this for quite a number of weeks until the integration was ready for the live website. This feedback iteration process involved several different design iterations and throughout that process Stone Digital was flexible to adapt and incorporate new designs for the custom WooCommerce plugin.

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

Stone Digital was quick to reply, easy to deal with, and took all our feedback on board for an awesome final product. After product launch, Stone Digital has also always been willing to quickly assist with any little touch ups or fixes to the integration without any fee being required.

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

All good - really impressed with Bretts work

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of an online Travel Agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Stone Digital, and what were your goals?

We engaged Stone Digital to develop a custom WordPress, WooCommerce theme that would make it easier for us and our customers to complete a booking or enquiry. - We wanted to automate certain processes associated with the ecommerce website, so we asked Stone Digital to also integrate our ecommerce website with an external booking software, Hero Travel. The goal was to build a high quality, engaging online travel agency ecommerce website, which can convert visitors into sales.

SOLUTION

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

Stone Digital throughout the quote phase showed in-depth expertise in building online travel agency website. Stone Digital is also the number #1 preferred web development agency to integrate ecommerce websites with Hero Travel’s software.

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

Key project scope deliverables:

• Develop a professional, modern WordPress and WooCommerce website according to the page mockups provided by Travel Playground.
• Integration between WooCommerce and Hero Travel. Live product availability pulled directly from API and order syncing functionality.
• Create multiple conversion-focused call to action sections, including “Download Info Pack” form and “Get In Touch” Banner.
• Modern, attractive design for content pages throughout the website (e.g., Home page, About page)

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

Brett was our main point of contact throughout the project. Brett is the lead web developer and owner Stone Digital.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 1 month after launching the website, we received a significant increase in volume of enquiries and direct bookings via our website - Overall, we also received positive feedback from customers who used the website to book a product or make an enquiry.

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

Throughout the initial development phase, Brett had regular check-ins with us every week or so. After the 1st round version of the website was ready, we used email and phone calls to document our feedback and coordinate the feedback iteration rounds. We went through several design iterations on various pages throughout the pages, and we also added a few features to the website (eg. “PDF Guides”) as we went along.

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

Stone Digital was easy to deal with and flexible around our requests. We were able to give Stone Digital hand drawn page mock-ups and this was then turned into flash, modern page layouts. Very impressed by their flexibility and ability to produce high quality output. When it comes to understanding travel agency websites, Stone Digital knew everything and was able to guide us through what is best practice for a travel agency website and how to use the website.

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

At Travel Playground, we are not very familiar with using WordPress. So there was a steep learning curve in relation to how to use the WordPress dashboard and how to edit pages. In the early stages, it was a little confusing. Luckily, Brett was able to jump on a call and guide us on how to edit pages and how to navigate the dashboard. He also made it clear that we could ask him at any time if we encountered any issues.