Stone Digital

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

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

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

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO & Owner

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.

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.

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

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of an online Travel Agency

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.

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Life Science and Biotechnology company based in Sydney. My position at the time was Head of Growth Marketing.

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

We hired Stone Digital to develop a custom WordPress theme for a new brand within The Group. The goal was to develop an engaging, impressive website that could convert visitors into leads and give a positive impression to our stakeholders.

How did you select Stone Digital and what were the deciding factors?

Stone Digital throughout the quote and scoping phase was very responsive to questions, easy to communicate with and showed an in-depth understanding of the required tasks. Stone Digital was also able to provide quite a quick timeline for a turnaround, which was positive for us as we did have a business requirement to get the website ready as soon as possible.

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 website according to the page designs provided by us. Create multiple call to actions including “Download Brochure” form and “Get In Touch” Banner. Created a custom calculator page.

Ensure that the website meets modern website development best practice which includes: mobile-first responsive design, cross-browser compatibility and installation of all the relevant analytics tools.

How many people from the Stone Digital 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. It is my understanding Brett has assistance from other trusted web developers when required.

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

The deliverables were all created to a high standard and our website generated 100s of unique visits over a 2-month period. The feedback was positive throughout the business.

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

Throughout the initial development phase, Brett had regular check-ins with the relevant marketing team member every 3-4 days. After the 1st round version of the website was ready, we used email, meetings and PDFs to track and coordinate the iteration rounds. T

he key marketing team member noted that the feedback process was easy and straightforward for him to complete. I believe the timeliness of the work was quite good and quick.

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

Stone Digital displayed several positive attributes which combined was very impressive compared to other vendors we have experience with. Stone Digital was incredibly responsive to our queries both during and after the development phase, was easy to communicate with, was fast in completing the work tasks and also displayed top quality work results.

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

After launch the website had certain areas which were not easily editable within the WordPress dashboard. We let Stone Digital know, and the site was quickly adjusted to allow that content to be edited.

Please describe your company and your position there.

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

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.

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.

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.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the editor and publisher of independent news website APAC News

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

APAC News needed a stable and secure server system in order to cope with large amounts of content uploaded on a continual basis. We needed zero downtime for maintenance and had previously experienced data loss due to unstable host servers.

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

Stone Digital was recommended because of its expertise and ability to work within our existing web platform, optimising functionality rather than re-designing. They were able to make back-end changes to our site without any front end disruption.

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

All aspects of web hosting from servers through to security.

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

Project manager/stack developer.

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

Vast improvement in server stability and cost savings from our previous vendors.

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

Main requirement to address ad hoc issues, solutions found and always handled in a timely manner.

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

Understanding our requirements from both an IT perspective and end user requirements/expectations are impressive.

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

Happy with service.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a Graduate at a Prime Brokerage firm in Sydney's CBD.

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

Our website had a variety of developers work on the website over the years. As a result, a lot of things were out of place, and some time and effort from a skilled developer such as Stone Digital.

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

I posted an ad in an online website developer seeker. The deciding factor for our business is that he showed us he can repair the website at a fair and reasonable price.

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

The website needs a lot of features fixed. For starters, our layout was poorly laid out and was majorly inconsistent. Therefore, the steps we had undertaken were as follows.

1. Layout exactly what needs to be fixed in a contract.
2. Let Digital develop the website for half a month and review afterwards.
3. Complete amended points.
4. Have the project complete in under a month.

We had used email and SMS to communicate and the website was completed on a WordPress platform.

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

There was one developer that worked with me and I had communicated all the steps towards him. His position was head project manager of the website.

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

Once the repairs had been amended and some SEO features were added, we noticed a significant increase in traffic, especially on mobile devices.

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

As mentioned, we used email & SMS to communicate and all website work that was completed was done on Wordpress will elements of HTML 5 & CSS.

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

Their ability to complete and undergo tasks quickly and professionally was impressive.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO/Founder of Jier Art which provides 200+ contemporary artworks, 1000+ art prints, art advisory, rental and after-sales services.

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

For developing www.jierart.com

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

Brett previously worked in a good organisation and was graduated from a good university. In the beginning, I guess he would have work ethics.

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

Developing www.jierart.com

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

Brett worked with me and he is the founder of Stone Digital

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

jierart.com has been launched successfully

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

The project management was great. 

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

Brett delivered what I expected

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

Sometimes he didn't reply my emails immidiately but he replied after some days.