Chop-Chop

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the directors at HoohaaDesign LTD. My role is Web Developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We contacted Magently to help us on a project where we needed Magento 2 bespoke development. We wanted to find a partner that would help us develop this website for our client and that would work closely with us to deliver better user experience for our clients's web users.

We had developed the website initially with another Magento partner but there were a lot of things we wanted to improve and we also wanted a better quality of code.

SOLUTION

How did you select Magently and what were the deciding factors?

I had my eye on Magently for some time I kept wanting to work with them but there were some obstacles in the way. When our relationship with the previous developer fell through I immediately went to start a new project with Magently.

I liked their website and the level of their work was impressive. I also got a good impression when I contacted their project manager and discussed the needs of the project.

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

We wanted to add a loyalty and gift cards module to Magento and we also wanted to add a new POS which worked seamlessly with the loyalty scheme. Magently implement all that on our client's website and also supported and fixed any other issues that came along the way. In October they also migrated our site to a better host. The process was seamless.

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

2 Project Managers and 3 developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website has seen a huge growth in sales 150% on average year on year. A lot of issue we had with the speed of the checkout have been resolved. They loyalty scheme was also a success. We've also just completed a seamless upgrade of Magento core.

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

They use slack which is great for communication. We agree timelines with the project manager and lead developer.

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

They are true professionals, honest with their work, hard working and very knowledgeable with Magento. They have implemented this system to push updates from staging to live which is very efficient and with very little downtime. I always ask their opinion on new modules and anything else we plan to do on the website.

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

No. I am pretty happy with Magently and would recommend them to anyone who needs a Magento development partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a digital health B2B2C company based in germany, targeting the biggest german companies who are looking for a digital health solution for their employees. As the CMO I am responsible for all marketing activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was outdated and we wanted to give it a fresh look and a new technical background. For the look we worked with a design agency, but since we don't have many developers for marketing, we approached Chop-Chop to handle the development work as our IT-team had already had a great experience with them in the past. The chop-chop team worked as an external development team that took over all tasks for the relaunch of the website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Chop-Chop and what were the deciding factors?

We worked with them in the past, not me myself, but our development team worked with them and it always turned out to be successful.

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

Once we finished the work on the visual design, we were about to hand over the project to chop-chop. The designs that were made had to be implemented into a new wordpress and the wordpress backend needed to be setup for our marketers to work with it in daily life. They provided us a test-wordpress scenario and we tested and setup the whole website during the time period of may-september. all of the pages were designed by the marketers, chop-chop developed all components based on the designs as well as the backend.

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

one project manager and 2-3 developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

since launching September 9.9.2020 we are very happy with how we can work with the new website and the tools given with the wordpress that has been setup. it is easy to use for us and chop-chop developers were very hands-on when we wished to adapt a feature to be more practical for us. We have received good feedback about the website, most importantly have we tripled organic google traffic after the relaunch.

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

Since I handled the whole project, which included the design agency as well, I connected Chop-chop with the designers. we used the tool the designers proposed and chop-chop worked within that tool. I was able to check the status of the development process in the activecollab, while the actual developments could be used in the wordpress test-scenario. we had about 3-4 video calls to talk about the project, but most communication went via activecollab and email.

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

The developers we worked with were very hands-on and fast. They made suggestions for improvements and found solutions for us to solve bugs or things that weren't super handy. I felt like though this was a corona-project without personal meetings, all people involved gave their all.

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

project communication in the beginning could have been better, but also from our part. the project management from design to development was something that wasn't running smoothly and I would monitor and manage this more directly the next time. But this was handled professionally after all and the whole project turned out to be a success that I would repeat right away if necessary.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a direct-to-consumer company that sells Italian dress shoes for men. We started fundraising on Kickstarter and launched our site in November 2016. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magently?

Magently came on board this year to support our development needs. They enable us to adjust our site based on A/B testing and implement new changes to optimize it for conversions. The previous team we worked with was moving much too slowly. We needed a partner who could handle a larger workload at a faster pace. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magently executes on all of our development work in Magento. We are on version 1. Since they took over, they've completed the initial redesign and set up our site on optimized new servers. They’ve handled all the development and changes ever since. 

The team enhanced several different parts of our website. For example, they added a new video feature to the home page banner. They made the most significant changes to the product page, which now has a brand-new image carousel. The auto-play video that streams one of our products is a cool and innovative idea they put together. 

What is the team composition? 

The point person from Magently is my daily contact. I also speak with one of their developers and a frontend designer. I know they have a few other people working on the project besides the three I interact with directly. 

How did you come to work with Magently?

We found Magently through a referral. A team we spoke to about A/B testing for our site recommended them as a great Magento development firm. We reached out to them to connect and have been working together ever since. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $24,000–$25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018. They finished the two projects in August and November 2018, respectively.  Our engagement began with two major redesigns, each with two phases. Magently is still providing services for us on an hourly maintenance plan basis. We've kept them on a continuous retainer since they completed the two projects before our fourth quarter.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Magently has absolutely made a measurable impact on our company. First and foremost, they quadrupled how rapid our site speeds are. We were averaging load times of a few seconds per page beforehand. Now, we're down to half a second, which is a dramatic improvement. The other significant result they've had is our improved website conversion rate. We started at about .5% and are up to about .75%, which essentially tripled our sales. 

How did Magently perform from a project management standpoint?

Magently's communication and quality of work have been fantastic. They have an excellent method of explaining concepts. The team is very skilled at project management. 

Slack is our primary form of contact for verbal correspondence. Since I'm also a developer, I watch their revision control through GitHub, as well. Aside from their often-inaccurate hourly estimates, everything has been stellar. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m the most impressed with Magently's ability to identify potential problems and offer actionable solutions. Whenever I propose new ideas like site design concepts or changes, they figure out all the potential pitfalls we might not have noticed. They often address unforeseen issues during the implementation process with at least 3–4 possible solutions and then ask us which direction they should pursue. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

My only minor complaint would be their slight difficulty with giving accurate timeline estimations. Even though we have an ongoing hourly contract, rather than a project-based one, they still provide estimates of how long they think it will take to complete. In practice, they've always at least doubled their estimates for the number of hours they need.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend Magently and think any future clients will have a great time working with them. In our work together, I've found it helpful to provide visual examples whenever we discuss concepts I have or if I need them to implement changes. I take screenshots for before and after to include with my written descriptions for recommended changes. When they can see a clear image of the end result I want, it leaves much less room for error. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a digital agency that designs and develops websites and other online projects for customers, including handling their marketing. I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chop-Chop?

We want to work with good developers who have high standards. We were looking to scale our client projects, make better estimates, and deliver them in a faster manner, so we partnered with Chop-Chop. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our internal staff is in charge of conceptualization and client communication. Chop-Chop has handled full development scopes for us.

We’ve worked on a number of projects with them, including a special effort for an online school. Chop-Chop provided custom frontend and backend development, working with WooCommerce and WordPress. These are the typical platforms we use, and our coding languages include HTML, CSS, and PHP.

We’ve used a lot of developers from Chop-Chop—usually 2–3 per project, depending on the scope. We’ve kept in touch with 3 lead developers—1 for each project.

How did you come to work with Chop-Chop?

We looked at a lot of companies when trying to find the right partner. I found Chop-Chop online and reviewed their services. I needed a partner who could scale according to our needs. I also liked Chop-Chop’s approach to estimates. The other companies we looked at only worked on an hourly basis, which was a problem for me since I didn’t know how they worked or what the quality of their deliverables would be. Their team was personable, and we could talk to them in a direct manner. We had some face-to-face meetings, which we hadn’t been able to do with other companies.

How much have you invested with Chop-Chop?

The cost of their work has been $30,000 or more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Chop-Chop in June 2015, and the work is ongoing. They are the only partner we’re currently using for development projects. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

Since we’ve started working with Chop-Chop, we’ve been able to take on more projects, work faster, and scale our knowledgebase. They have broad skills in their area. Comparing our numbers, we’ve worked on 4-times as many projects in 2016 compared to 2015.

How did Chop-Chop perform from a project management standpoint? 

We’ve become accustomed to their team, and they’ve changed some internal processes in order to work with our customers better. Chop-Chop has a dedicated communications manager who is familiar with our projects. We have open and direct communication, and it’s easy to work with them and coordinate project management.

We have given Chop-Chop up to 15 tasks at a time on certain projects, and they handled all of them with no problems. If an issue comes up, we discuss it over Skype. Whenever Chop-Chop’s team couldn’t deliver by a certain deadline, they informed me ahead of time.  

What did you find most impressive about Chop-Chop?

I appreciate their way of working. Chop-Chop sees us as a partner and anticipates our customers’ needs. We’re not a number to them. I know their team, from the CEO to the marketing people. It’s been great to have a partner who can change processes in order to make my own work better.

Are there any areas Chop-Chop could improve?

We have identified some improvement points and are in the process of making those changes, so there’s nothing missing. For example, we wanted to have an environment in place where clients could see demos of the work and that Chop-Chop’s developers also could access. We’ve adopted GitHub in order to solve the problem and work faster. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Klik Proces, a search engine optimization and conversion optimization business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magently?

We were building a web shop in Magento for a client of ours. The client was using us for web development and SEO, and he decided he wanted a web shop as well. We hired Chop-Chop for the development of the website and hired Magently to do the development work for the web shop. We didn’t have the skills in-house to work with Magento.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hire Magently when there’s a need for great technical expertise around a number of subjects. For that project, we hired them for a web shop. We also asked them to make a piece of software that partly automates our work, which means we can produce content faster and easier on a large scale. We saw a need in our market to scale certain things through SEO. We figured we could do that if we got some technical support to get some software. We started thinking about the basic concept of how it could and should work and made a brief that we sent to Magently to see if they could help us. They gave us some feedback and developed the software that we’re still using today.

We made a WordPress MailPress site for a large automotive company, who has a lot of local retail stores that provide different services. About 10% of their stores didn’t have a website and 50% of them had one from 10 years ago. This project is one website that we can copy as much as we want for different clients who need a cheap website. The maintenance is all centralized. The site makes it easy to schedule appointments, find contact data and reviews, and see what services they offer. We have worked with Magently on four projects in total.

How did you come to work with Magently?

We found them through their parent company, Chop-Chop. We were one of Chop-Chop’s first customers when they started. Since then, they’ve been growing and at some point, they decided to spin off Magently to take care of very technical-related work like web shops.

How much have you invested with Magently?

We have spent between $10,000 and $50,000 in total with Magently.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them five or six years ago, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

An example would be if we have a web shop that has a slow loading speed, we’ve been able to decrease that from 10 seconds to one second, which helped the conversions. The web shop has since been rebuilt again so that’s no longer online. The website system for the automotive company is working fine. I might be able to give you more statistics when the software they made for us to help us with content will be online and tested. We’re just now launching the first website with it.

How did Magently perform from a project management standpoint?

We have three account managers that we communicate with. We are always facing a language barrier. Both of our teams speak English well, but we still notice issues periodically. They give us options and when we send them something, we brief them on what our end goal is and the solution we have. They are able to think with us in a good way, so that is very nice. Our office is filled with non-technical people, so we give Magently ideas and they help us to know if those ideas are realistic. It’s easy to brainstorm with them to come up with solutions to problems.

What did you find most impressive about Magently?

We haven’t worked with a lot of other developers because we use Magently or Chop-Chop for all of our development work. They are very responsive to emergencies even on weekends and off hours. Their expertise and price comparison is very good. They charge between $37 and $40 an hour. If you want to hire a Magento expert here in the Netherlands, that person would charge €100 an hour to do the same thing.

Are there any areas Magently could improve?

Ever since we started working with them, they have always delivered later than the deadline they give us. We have never had strict deadlines, but the response time to an email we send them usually takes three days. When they deliver a project, we always test it and there’s always something that’s not complete.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Marketing Coordinator at a venture capital and accelerator firm that focuses on videogames and related technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a Game Teaser website for one of our startup's upcoming game.

SOLUTION

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

Communication, timeline for the project and their assurance that they can deliver the result we were expecting.

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

We were continuously communicating to be on the same page about the project. The whole process of the development was a tight work between our team and Chop-Chop.

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

2 developers, 1 PM, 1 Onboarding Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've got over 6 million video views.

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

The guys use Active Collab task manager and time/budget tracking system.

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

They were amazing!

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

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