ZipBoss

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief description of your company?

We are a large store in Ogden, which is about an hour north of Salt Lake City, Utah. We’re pretty far from the closest Wal-Mart. We have been family-owned since 1947, and our M.O. [modus operandi] is that we’re kind of that old-fashioned general store that has everything. We’ve got western tacks, sporting goods, guns and ammunition and clothing. We have an entire Ace Hardware in our store. We have army surplus. We have a huge army selection, too. We have 200,000 SKUs [stock keeping units]. We are proud to have been in the community so long, and the community loves us. In our 66 years of business, we’ve been a single store and it’s about time that we tried online sales. This is our first online store. We have approximately 200 employees.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the Web store manager. I am responsible for creating the online store front based on the software we had to work with. I sourced ZipBoss as our design company to create a good user experience. Now that the design’s complete, I’m working on getting our 200,000 products online and creating a good customer experience. I also handle SEO, email marketing, and blogging.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with ZipBoss?

I looked at the software we had available, there were basic templates that would have worked. Because we’re using Epicor’s iNet for our ERP [enterprise resource planning] and shopping cart. We were pretty limited and only a couple of templates were available.

I found ZipBoss through a Web search. They provided professional eCommerce sites rather than basic templates that weren’t as user friendly. I got in touch with them and hired them.

SOLUTION

Can you describe the technologies used for the website?

We are using iNet through Epicor. ZipBoss created an amazing site design for us. They did some custom programming so that the site behaved a little bit better. They helped us install Google Analytics for AdWords capability. They gave us a lot of pointers that were valuable.

 I’ve worked with several websites before on a different platform before I came here. I have deep experience with iNet and think it’s limited. ZipBoss was absolutely phenomenal on hints, workarounds and ideas to make iNet work for us, and maximize what we can do with it.

Can you give us a sense of the size of your initiative with ZipBoss in personnel work hours?

It took about 80 to 100 hours.

When was the most recent milestone completed?

It was wrapped up in September. This was our first online venture. We had a basic website before that only had our store hours. We went live September 25 with the new eCommerce site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any stats or metrics to track improvement?

It is difficult to give a good estimate of that simply because we didn’t have product before. Since we’ve gone live, our unique visitors have gone up tenfold. We’ve got 10 times as many unique visitors and we’ve got a much lower bounce rate.

We still only have about 1 percent of our products online. I think having the design from ZipBoss, and the improved functionality has made a huge difference to us, and I wouldn’t have felt comfortable launching without a great design that matches the heritage of the store. They really deliver that for us.

How did they perform overall during the project?

Excellent. It felt like we were their number one client. It felt like we had their full attention. It was excellent service.

Is there anything unique or special about them compared to other vendors?

They are experienced with iNet, and they actually had someone working there who had his own iNet store. He was telling us what works for him. He was showing us workarounds. He actually had a newer version of iNet that’s in beta, and he had access to that. That knowledge was really valuable for us.

They did all sorts of meetings with us. They did more than just send emails. We did screen-share meetings  often that were great.

Do you have any areas that you think they can improve upon or you might do differently?

Honestly, no. They were great at communication. They had a project management tool that tracked the whole project. Everything was done correctly.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your company?

ZipBoss has worked with me for two separate companies. My current company is a manufacturer of handcrafted cases for Apple’s iPad line. We have an online business as well as brick-and-mortar outlets. We manufacturer our product lines in San Francisco and distribute them internationally.

What is your position?

I’m the Chief Operating Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were the business challenges you were attempting to address with ZipBoss?

What we wanted to do was give our current customers the ability to design their own case, from a large selection of templates and materials. We wanted to then be able to take that custom design and manage the workflow through our production environment, all the way through to order fulfillment.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project in terms of its components: did it include custom design, development, support, training, etc.?

ZipBoss set up a web environment to provide a web front-end to our customers. That included the customization tool that the customers would use, and the backend workflow management and production processes. The task for ZipBoss was to take our technical requirements and implement them into a website with all the management capabilities behind it.

Did they implement any particular piece of software for you or were they operating with previously installed systems?

They created custom software for us based upon our design and requirements. We created a look and design template that we wanted for the website and they were in charge of its creation and development.

They also needed to upgrade our system. We had an existing Shopify environment already and we wanted its checkout flow to run in parallel with the new site, without having to start from scratch. This was an extremely complex task for ZipBoss. I don’t know even know if Shopify has actually figured out how to do that yet. They handled all of the systems integration extremely well. We didn’t have to break anything in order to have it work properly.

How did you select ZipBoss as your solution partner?

ZipBoss came to us with some very creative solutions to problems that we were having. The number of current software vendors and the prices they were quoting were very high. There was a lot of customization work that was needed after the application was developed. They wanted to work with us to build our applications. I was impressed with what they had to offer at the price they offered it.

Could you give us a sense of the size of this project in monetary terms?

The total cost of implementation was somewhere between $100,000 and $350,000 and it required approximately 8 months of development time.

Was that the anticipated timeframe for completion?

ZipBoss delivered on time with zero customer-facing defects. It was one of the most amazing things about the project. When we went live, the customer front-end was essentially flawless. There were a few minor issues on the back-end in terms of data capture and workflow process, but we’re in the process of fixing those minor bugs right now. I was astounded by the quality and fluidity of the entire endeavor.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work that they’ve delivered?

We weren’t sure how our customers would receive the applications. We had an initial sense that the customization environment would be appreciated and enjoyed. We achieved a positive ROI on this project in less than 3 months from initial launch. From a payback perspective, it was absolutely fantastic.

How do you feel that ZipBoss performed on this project?

I was very pleased with ZipBoss’s performance.

When working with them, is there anything you would consider to be unique or special compared to other solution partners?

They have a very deep pool of talent. They can pull from various complexities on the software development project. They have a large team of folks who can step up and deliver on different aspects of the development process.Platforms are becoming very diverse and complex, the skill required is larger than before. There are a lot of developers out there that can’t provide the range along with the depth of platform knowledge, which forces a lot of companies to source two separate solution partners. We didn't have to do that for this project.

Are there any areas that you feel ZipBoss could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I think one of the challenges we had, was project management from our side. I would put in place a more solid project management team on the client side to keep track of all of the different aspects of the project. It was a very complex project with many moving parts and integrations that needed to occur from order and shipping and fulfillment, to the integration of Shopify and its checkout flow and process. Having a more robust project manager on the client’s side, would improve this project but that's all on us.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

We are a brick and mortar hardware store in Charlotte, North Carolina. We’re family owned and have been in business for almost ninety years. We very recently decided we wanted to launch an e-commerce site. So it’s been a new venture for us.

What is your position in the company?

I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your business goals for initiating the project with ZipBoss?

We very recently decided we wanted to launch an e-commerce site. It’s been a new venture for us. We decided to go with a platform called iNet, which is through Epicor because it integrates with our ERP system. And we needed a way to set ourselves apart from the other sites on this platform. We needed it set up, custom themes developed, and certain additional functionalities, so we partnered with ZipBoss.

SOLUTION

What specific ERP system are you using?

Epicor produces it. They’re a larger company now, with a lot of product suites. The one we use is called the Eagle. It’s used by a lot of hardware stores like Ace, True Value, People as well as some pharmacies. It’s applicable to other industries, too. They’re really strong in the hardline industry.

Why did you select Epicor over other alternative solutions?

We conduct a lot of B2B transactions. We have a lot of customers that have lines of credit with us that include complex pricing plans. Unfortunately it doesn’t integrate well with other e-commerce platforms, so iNet was the obvious and most convenient choice. Epicor accomplishes what we need it to and it’s been flexible in terms of capability.

How did you select ZipBoss as your solution partner?

ZipBoss was at the time, and still is, a partner with Epicor. They had completed quite a few sites before ours using the same e-commerce platform. They came highly recommended by Epicor.

Can you describe the scope of the project in terms of components: did it include design, development, support, training, etc.?

What we really wanted to do was have an e-commerce site, but also we needed some tools to drive foot traffic into our store and produce some sort of coupons and fliers. ZipBoss designed a customized theme for us for our iNet site to make it look polished. On the other side, they provided us with a marketing site that had a lot of tools to schedule coupons, fliers, promotional events, etc.

Did you have any staff in-house working directly with the ZipBoss team, or did they take primary responsibility for the entire project?

I was the only person who really worked with them directly. As far as outlining the requirements, that was me. My staff and I decided what it was we really needed, but I communicated those project goals and requirements to them.

Can you give me a sense of the size of this initiative either monetary terms or in the amount of personnel delegated to the project?

As far as developing the theme with ZipBoss, it was really affordable. Because they had partnered with Epicor, I think that they had a lot of the legwork done ahead of time to make it rapidly deployable. It’s not like they were reinventing a brand new theme for us. It was just something that they adapted for us. The project was somewhere between five and seven thousand dollars. That doesn’t include licensing the e-commerce platform itself. That was just for the design, development and deployment.

When was this project completed?

It was completed about a year and a half ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to share that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

I don’t have any, because we didn’t have an e-commerce site beforehand. And our site before that didn’t have any analytics installed. I can tell you that I get probably five to ten times as many form submissions now. Item inquiries have definitely skyrocketed and I can only assume that if the person finds what they’re looking for, they’re planning to purchase it either online or in the store.

Since you’ve had this e-commerce platform implemented, would you say you’ve seen a noticeable increase in sales volume?

Yes, certainly. It’s also increased our operational confidence.

How would you say that ZipBoss performed on this particular project?

Since they’re not Epicor themselves, I was really impressed with their expertise of how to customize the platform. They were a huge resource to me. They’re much more accessible than Epicor. I wasn’t paying them for support or all of the questions I had to fire at them, but they were accessible and more than willing to help me out. They definitely exceeded expectations. They’re very, very good and very smart, too.

Even after we had our site up, the biggest challenge that I had was getting all kinds of product data for everything I would carry. We have some 16,000 items on our site right now. We started with no descriptions, no product plates, no dimensions, nothing. I ended up licensing some data from a third-party. I brought them in and asked them if they could help me integrate that data with our site. They weren’t able to do it, but ZipBoss was. They’ve been helping me for over a month now to integrate all of the data into our site and link it with the appropriate fields.

In retrospect, are there any areas that you feel ZipBoss could improve upon or that you as the client might do differently when approaching this type of project?

I’d like to work more with them to customize our site even further. They did such great work on such a minimal budget. I’ve seen some other sites that they’ve done, too; ones they’ve invested a lot more time in and I see what they’re capable of. I’d really love to invest more in ours. I think that they’re absolutely the best to work with especially because of the platform and their expertise working with the Epicor iNet platform. Honestly, that’s what I’d probably do.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

I make memory boxes and I design them myself. In America they’re known as keepsake boxes. They basically replace the old shoebox that everybody has in a cupboard somewhere, filled with memorabilia. I began the business almost a decade ago. I work out of London. I created a website almost six years ago to increase business, but I always thought my products would do well in The States. They’re doing well here, but there’s a lot of history, and there’s a huge market for personalization in America. People could theoretically design the keepsake boxes themselves.

You’re the owner of this business, correct?

Yes. I’m responsible for everything.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your business goals and objectives for initiating the project with ZipBoss?

My goal was really to launch the products in America. 90 percent of the business is geared toward the e-commerce side. In two years I’d like to have a small workshop somewhere in The States so I could display some of my products. I’m so much closer to that goal now that I’ve revamped the website.

Why did you select Shopify as your preferred solution?

Everything can be integrated with Shopify. The email and social marketing; the search engines; pretty much everything was compatible with Shopify. The other important thing is that it’s really quite simple to use, which was a relief to me, because I’m not technical by any means. I was worried that I was going to end up with a solution that was too difficult for me to use myself, but that just wasn’t the case.

SOLUTION

How did you select ZipBoss as your solution partner?

A friend of mine recommended ZipBoss to me almost three years ago. I approached them and said, “Look, you know, I’ve got this product and I do really want to bring it to the States. But I don’t know how to get it out there.” They said, “Look, this is something we would definitely be interested in.” We discussed my needs in greater detail and they submitted a proposal that I was very pleased with.

Could you describe the scope of the project in terms of its components: did it involve design, development, integration, support, etc.?

They customized everything for the website with Shopify. They provided expertise in everything and the tools, really, to get young designs into the U.S. market. Cost-wise, they’ve matched everything. I’m not paying anything more with regard to what I would in London; and they might even be cheaper, to be honest. It’s almost like having a complete IT firm at the end of my fingertips. They ‘re always there, to be honest. They’ve been nothing but consistent.

Could you give us a sense of the size of the initiative in either monetary terms, or in terms of how many people you work with on their team?

The cost is confidential. In terms of personnel, I’ve worked closely with several designers and developers from the ZipBoss team. We usually interact on a case-by-case basis because I’ve been rolling out this project rather piecemeal. I’ve also been attempting to complete parts of it myself, especially since I now realize how accessible the Shopify platform really is.

When was this project completed, or is it still in progress?

It’s currently ongoing, but it should be live in approximately a month.

How long has the project been in progress?

The whole thing has been in progress for probably seven months. A lot of that has to do with me, since I’m partitioning my time between the United Kingdom and the United States. I’m trying to strike a balance between all my repeat customers from the U.K. and the new customers I’m trying to acquire in the U.S., which has been more difficult that I had originally anticipated.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

When working with ZipBoss, is there any thing that you would consider unique or special compared to some of their competitors?

To be honest with you, I think from the experience I’ve had here, they kind of encompass everything. It’s almost like you go to ZipBoss and you have a designer; you have a marketing expert; you have a social media expert; you have all of it. They cover the whole spectrum. To me, that’s the fantastic thing about them. They do make suggestions and they do give you ideas and directions that you wouldn’t really have thought about. They all seem to be on the same wavelength. Every person I’ve spoken to or I’ve been in touch with within ZipBoss, all seem to be of the same kind of mentality, wavelength, which again, I think is quite exceptional.