Uncap Commerce

Gator Chef Inc. is a privately held medium-sized Commercial Food Service Equipment and Supplies Business selling commercial food service equipment and supplies to primary B2B customers such as restaurants, bars, bakeries, and other food service establishments. Sales channels for Gator Chef are through outside salespeople, a brick n’ mortar store, and their website. My position is Business Systems Manager.

The challenge was redesigning our company's dated website www.gatorchef.com because the existing website platform and design did not meet the company's strategic vision for the future. Gator Chef's business case is an omnichannel approach. The e-commerce website supports the local retail store, local outside sales force, and national online sales.

The e-commerce website redesign and migration needed to provide company branding, retail store promotions, lead generations for the local outside sales force, and online sales.

In addition to the challenge of meeting the website project's redesign goals was finding the right agency to do it. Gator Chef interviewed over a half dozen agencies.

Gator Chef wanted a hosted website platform that could grow with the business, with the ability to not only sell products online nationally but also support our outside sales force and the physical store. As a result, we choose Shopify as the platform and Uncap for their Shopify expertise.

I wrote a detailed scope of work for the project around using Shopify as the platform and an existing Shopify theme. It was our preferred method vs. a "build from scratch" approach to controlling costs.

Our strategic objectives were:

• Business branding
• Increase retail store traffic
• Increase phone traffic
• Provide an online digital product catalog
• Increase CRM database for marketing/promotions
• Online adverting for offline promotions (retail store)
• Online advertising for online/onsite promotions
• Online RFQs (Request For Quote) – products and services
• Provide generic company and retail store information – company background/history, retail location, driving directions, etc.
• e-Commerce sales 

Denis Uncap's founder was involved in the project from the start. He reviewed our scope of work and met with us to address questions, provide guidance, and a fantastic team to work with from Uncap.

Adam was our Uncap Project Manager. He did an outstanding job managing the project.

First, let me say we made the right choice in agencies. Uncap is a great agency to work with on a website project.

Although the new website has only been live for two weeks, the old site's cutover went off without a hitch. Our company's executive management is very pleased with the outcome. 

Uncap Commerce's management of the project was very professional. We met weekly ongoing throughout the completion of the project. As a result, any concerns or needed changes were completed on time to keep the project moving forward.

Speed, accuracy, and transparency. If I found an issue or needed something changed, Uncap completed the work in almost real-time. I sent it over to Adam, and I tested and approved the update the following day.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a digital agency that helps overseas brands launch thier online business in the the US. We offer an end-to-end soluiton for US operations.

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

We needed Shopify B2B ecommerce specialist to build design and build the site for our cleint. Our client had a large volume catalog with specific reqirements for search/filter functionality. The client needed to be able send product quotes to the end customer and convert those to draft orders.

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

We recieved a recommendation from a Shopify B2B business development manager to talk to Uncap. We interviewed Uncap and based in on thier answers and experience, decided they were a fit for this project.

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

Technologies: Shopify Advanced, custom B2B app built by Uncap, Metrixify app , Product Filter and Search app.

Deliverables: Design and build B2B ecommerce site in Shopify Advanced able to send PDF product quote to customer and convert to draft order. Customer creation and approval functionality. Adding metafields to product pages.

Project Steps: Discovery, design mock up, development, app use training, QA, launch.

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

Uncap product 4 people Project Owner, Project Manager, Developer, Designer

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

Uncap delivered the project on time and on budget. Uncap was flexible with regards to changing the functionality during the process and was able to keep up with the deadlines.

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

Uncap was good ad explaining the work / changes they completed so we could explain it to our end client. The PM was very helpful , managed his team well and was very responsive to our questions.

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

The Uncap team had great knowledge of the Shopify ecosystem. Compared to other Shopify vendors we have used in the past, they are outstanding.

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

We think some of the discovery information we shared with the Project Owner was not shared with the PM. We had to explain a few things again to the Project Manager.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an online fitness equipment store.

What challenge were you trying to address with Uncap?

We needed help with web development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uncap developed our Shopify Plus store from scratch using Figma for design. They started by going through a thorough discovery phase to ensure that their team understood what we wanted, and then they proceeded to build the platform. In terms of functionalities, the site has a video player feature and multiple meta fields for images and videos — everything is styled according to our requirements. In addition, visitors can buy our products through the site.

Moreover, Uncap provided maintenance services to the platform they built for us.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and two developers from their team.

How did you come to work with Uncap?

I found them through a Google search.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

We invested $50,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–September 2022.

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

Our website has doubled in sales since we launched it.

How did Uncap perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered everything within the deadline and budget. In terms of tools and communication, we used ClickUp and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They never used the word ‘’impossible’’ — their team always found a way to get things done. Uncap tried to make everything happen one way or another.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The handoff process was a bit rocky. Nonetheless, I talked to them already about this and gave them my feedback, and their team solved the issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend enough time in the discovery process to ensure you get exactly what you want. Moreover, allocate time to the most important things first.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive VP of an online seller of coffee and tea.

What challenge were you trying to address with PIVOFY?

We hired PIVOFY to help us migrate our website and our new subscription platform onto Shopify plus.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, PIVOFY looked at what we already had and made suggestions based on their findings. Then, they helped us migrate our site to Shopify.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Denis (Founder & CEO), who oversaw the project, Mike (Senior Project Manager & director), and two other people, who collaborated with my web developer throughout the process.

How did you come to work with PIVOFY?

PIVOFY was recommended as a Shopify Plus partner. When we were interviewing potential candidates to help us with this migration, it really impressed us that Denis asked us a lot of questions about what we already had and what we needed. We felt that he was truly trying to see what he could do for us instead of selling and marketing himself. I really appreciated his approach because our input allowed him to give us a price reflective of what we needed. This was a sign that I wouldn’t get unexpected charges later on.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $36,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first contacted PIVOFY in December 2021, but the project started in January 2022. We launched our new site recently, in July 2022, and we will now have a 30-day post-launch support period for any issues that might arise. The extended time frame beyond the normal 90-day launch estimate was the result of some unique challenges with our subscription platform. I'm confident that PIVOFY would have met the 90-day launch estimate absent these unique and unforeseeable challenges.

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

Our new site’s launch was a tremendous success. We now have a functioning and vastly improved site that our customers find easy to navigate.

How did PIVOFY perform from a project management standpoint?

PIVOFY was very responsive, helpful, and available. They used very effective communication systems, allowing them to answer our inquiries quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was a pleasure working with PIVOFY. They demonstrated a genuine interest in delivering a site that could help us expand our business. I would highly recommend them to others undergoing a Shopify migration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our team had periodic communication issues with one PIVOFY team member who required a little back and forth to clarify what was needed. Other than that, we didn’t have any significant issues, and I really enjoyed working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Everyone knows their own business better than anyone else, so in order to get the results you want, it is important to be clear about your needs. Denis is great at asking questions to learn more about the business he helps and making helpful recommendations based on his Shopify expertise. My advice: Provide him with as many details as possible so that he can understand what you're trying to achieve and help you achieve it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO and co-founder of Noteworthy Scent, a luxury fragrance brand.

What challenge were you trying to address with PIVOFY?

We needed help with our Shopify platform. We were looking for someone that could take the basic Shopify features and take them to the next level to elevate them to a luxury experience. We were also looking to implement a quiz using a third-level app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

PIVOFY has been doing an awesome job building our entire website from scratch. We gave them our brand book, logos, and fonts, and they took that to create the pages after securing the site's domain. They also made design assets for us and additional content pages based on our brand guidelines.

In addition, they integrated our quiz app and another couple of third-party platforms that we wanted to have on our Shopify site.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with Denis (Founder) and Stephanie (Project Manager). They're both wonderful; they've given me full confidence in their team and quickly got up to speed with our project, which is impressive.

How did you come to work with PIVOFY?

We found them through Clutch.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

We've spent $25,000–$50,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

They’ve been able to create something according to our identity as a brand. They’re also quick and responsive. In addition, their team has been able to find and collaborate with a third-party vendor. Overall, PIVOFY has provided a visionary and strategic approach with fantastic customer service.

How did PIVOFY perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been using ClickUp and Markup as the main project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is excellent, and the value for money that we get from them is unbelievable. The work they do is above and beyond our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a t-shirt and e-commerce knick-knack shop.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a t-shirt and e-commerce knick-knack shop.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I spoke with Dennis (Owner), and he laid out a work order. They’re developing the UX/UI of our site and working on its design as well. the work is being done through InVision. The product offers a flow for purchasing goods.

What is the team composition?

I only know of Dennis and Mike (Director of Projects), and they’ve both been awesome.

How did you come to work with Pivofy?

I started searching online for Shopify migration firms.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2021.

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

They delivered everything on time. Dennis COULD have overestimated, but he actually underestimated on the price, AND he stuck with it. They’ve been totally straightforward and honest. It’s wonderful.

The site came in on time, and they were candid about the complexities of the site. The site is ready, but I haven’t launched it yet due to delays on my side. I’m very satisfied. There have been minor issues, but they’ve fixed anything I’ve wanted.

How did Pivofy perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re spectacular with their project management. We communicate over Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication, honesty, and ability to deliver stand out as highlights.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, as they were great. I’m not trying to blow smoke at anyone. They were just great. Perhaps there could have been a better pre-evaluation of the site to see exactly what they were getting into, but once they learned it was a larger scope than they’d budgeted for, they didn’t complain once.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m CEO and founder of a direct-to-consumer luxury footwear company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivofy?

We were migrating our Magento site to Shopify.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially spoke to Pivofy about what we were looking to do. We gave them some details about the migration, the type of applications we were running on our website, how many products we had on there, the site structure, and so on. Then, they came back with a quote and the scope of work. We agreed on the work and price, and they gave us a timeframe of two months to complete the work. Finally, we got started.

Throughout the process, Pivofy suggested some things. We had a lot of back and forth about features and things that could be helpful to us. We had a lot of custom features on the site, and they rebuilt them on Shopify.

What is the team composition?

We spoke to Mike (Director of Project Management) and Denis (Founder). The two were on our calls; Mike was always there, and Denis was there 95% of the time.

How did you come to work with Pivofy?

A few other company founders recommended them. They had good experiences with Pivofy, so we reached out. In the end, it was a combination of the recommendation, timeframe in which they could get the work done, and price. Moreover, we looked at their past work and felt they were the right fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $36,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We came to terms in early December 2021 and launched the new site in February 2022.

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

The best metric was that everything was fully functional when we went live. There weren’t any major bugs; the worst thing to happen was that some content was across cells. It was an oversight on both parts, but it was a ten-minute fix.

Overall, everything looked exactly as expected, and we haven’t had issues with the customers using the website. In fact, it’s much faster than our old one, and the code is clean.

How did Pivofy perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. They kept their timeline, which was pretty impressive. Usually, we expect companies to take double the time they said they would on these projects. Also, they were very communicative all along the way. We had weekly meetings, and they always did what they said. Sometimes they would take 1–2 days more, but nothing was major.

Our CMO did most of the day-to-day communication. Pivofy had a Slack channel, and we also used Basecamp and Google Meets as project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered on time and kept the price and timeline. Companies usually give optimistic ranges, but those are rarely met. Often, vendors give estimates, and throughout the project, they increase it 20%–50% more than the original. Pivofy kept their milestones and goals throughout the engagement. Everything was as clockwork in this project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could be nitpicky and say they should’ve noticed some of the small details that we didn’t notice, but it wasn’t a big deal. Nothing major stood out, and they did an excellent job with everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Stay on top of it. Our CMO was constantly reviewing what they were doing during the engagement, which helped keep us on schedule because he understood the language and corrected things when they weren’t 100% right. Ideally, you should have somebody on your side who understands what they’re looking at to oversee the project. Overall, having someone constantly engaging, responding to requests, and giving the needed information to do the project as fast as possible was helpful. The project probably wouldn’t have been as smooth if we didn't have that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of a wholesale and family-run landscape plant grower. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivofy?

We wanted to move our website from WordPress to Shopify. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pivofy migrated our WordPress website to Shopify. They built the site’s theme and some customization for our niche. They also integrated the site to third-party vendors and set up our Google Ads account. Lastly, they transferred all our data and pushed us to go live on the new servers.

The site is already live, and Pivofy is currently providing us with their 30-day maintenance. They are still available to train us or implement any cleanups on the site. 

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Dennis (Founder), a project manager, and two senior engineers.

How did you come to work with Pivofy?

I found them through Clutch. We went through a three-month diligence process. Pivofy was included in our shortlist, and we ended up giving them the project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $37,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

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

Pivofy has delivered our website on time and followed their 12-week schedule. All of our site redirects come through, and we don’t get any 404 errors. Google Site Search is also indexing our site. They’ve eased my fears about site migration by paying attention to details and ensuring we wouldn’t have post-migration issues. 

Additionally, we’ve noticed a decrease in bounce rate and an increase in mobile page load times. Even though we’ve only launched the site, we already see a move in the right direction. 

How did Pivofy perform from a project management standpoint?

Pivofy is responsive and prompt in any inquiry or question that we have. We collaborate through Basecamp. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Pivofy’s responsiveness and ability to understand optimization from a UX standpoint are both impressive. Additionally, they have an intuitive approach to e-commerce optimization — they’ve given us recommendations we never thought of.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They’ve been excellent. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have as much detail about your goals and expectations upfront. Communicate with them closely, and make sure they understand everything your requirements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of e-commerce and marketing at a construction supplies distributor. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivofy?

We were migrating our website from Magento One to Shopify Plus. Our team wanted to leverage Shopify to build a quality and scalable frontend that also met our business requirements.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially had a discovery session where we discussed our requirements with Pivofy. From there, we went into the development process. We had an existing site, so they had to keep the UX as close to the existing design as possible. However, we also relied on their knowledge for website areas that needed updates, such as the mobile checkout and cart functionality. 

In other words, we wanted the site to be as close to what it was as possible unless best practices dictated the need to make changes. In terms of documentation, we had a significant amount of product field mapping. Apart from Shopify Plus, we also used supplementary apps like Accentuate.io, Algolia, and Stamped.io.

What is the team composition?

Pivofy had a large team, but we primarily worked with Denis (Founder) and their CTO.  

How did you come to work with Pivofy?

We were a repeat client of Pivofy. When it was time to do this project, we reached out to three other well-known and prominent implementation vendors. Due to a combination of price, familiarity, and reputation, we selected Pivofy. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project lasted from February–April 2021. 

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

From a qualitative perspective, the website had a significantly improved UX design. In other words, Pivofy did an excellent job in meeting our business requirements. The team also maintained their flexibility; they were willing to accommodate our needs in terms of delivering ideas or concepts that may not have been explicitly documented. On top of that, our Google-related scores went up. 

How did Pivofy perform from a project management standpoint?

Pivofy’s project management was excellent. Denis was hands-on, and he worked well with his CTO in terms of taking direction from us and producing a quality website — we had great rapport with them. Moreover, I met them weekly to discuss issues and go over everything; they had no problems meeting timelines. To communicate, we had plenty of emails several times a week on top of our weekly standups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility and transparency distinguished them from other providers. We leaned on their knowledge when it came to areas where we didn’t have explicit deliverables. They had an abundant amount of experience in implementations, and they used that to help us get where we needed to be. Simply put, they worked well in terms of leveraging best practices and previous experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any — everything went smoothly. If anything, most of the issues that came up were on our side since we did changes at the last minute. If Pivofy seemed to miss the mark in some areas, it was because we didn’t provide explicit documentation and requirements. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more time you put in for requirements and discovery sessions, the better product you’re going to get in the end. Pivofy has a tremendous amount of knowledge — they know what to do — but if your expectations aren’t documented explicitly, it will be difficult for them to read your mind. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of ENA Solution, a technology startup that helps small- and medium-sized businesses with their HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system, specifically with their thermostats. We manufacture, design, and develop industrial smart thermostats, and we try to offer building-management systems at a much lower cost.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivofy?

We were focusing on B2B e-commerce, and we had a website done by ourselves that needed to be revamped.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pivofy revamped our Shopify website, and they were in charge of both its design and development. Additionally, they brought in their expertise to manage our content assets and the copywriting done by another company.

Initially, Pivofy did extensive research and discovery for one month. After that, they came up with the first templates and set up multiple meetings to get everyone on the same page and have our approval. During that process, we gave them our feedback, which they took into consideration.

Our most important requirement was to have a website that could attract the right leads so that we could convert those leads into business. Thus, we requested a cohesive website that matched our brand guidelines, and they did that perfectly.

Pivofy demonstrated their expertise by explaining to us the customers’ journey on our website. They also implemented certain calls to action on specific parts of the website to improve the users’ engagement.

Additionally, they introduced us to other people who had different areas of expertise, and we developed a small community around this project. For example, they introduced us to a marketer, who became the liaison between Pivofy and us and helped us with our website's content.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–4 people from Pivofy. Their team included a project manager, someone who helped with implementation, and a person who did the initial research.

How did you come to work with Pivofy?

I found Pivofy searching online. When we talked to them, we found out that they had done B2C e-commerce very successfully. After interviewing a few companies, we noticed that they were the right team for us; they had the right synergy.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–September 2021.

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

It’s still very early to see the impact of Pivofy’s work, but we’ve received great feedback about our site from friends and customers. Now, we’re going to run some ads to attract traffic to our website and see its performance.

Overall, we had a good collaboration, and I’m happy with the result. We’re definitely going to work with them again as our business grows.

How did Pivofy perform from a project management standpoint?

Pivofy’s project management was very good, and our communication was smooth. They always thought about our needs, and they never had excuses. Working with them was great. We communicated via Google Meet, WhatsApp, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Pivofy knew exactly what their expertise was, and they exceeded our expectations. They had a good network, and they worked together towards our goal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, Pivofy’s schedule was not convenient for us because we had a two-hour difference. However, that wasn’t an issue, and they worked after hours to accommodate our needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a team dedicated to the project because Pivofy works very fast, and they need you to be available. If you’re not on top of your project, you might not get the results that you expect.