Revolutionized Our Legacy Business with a Modern E-commerce Solution
Revved Up Our eCommerce Business With Bespoke Features
Hi, I am Linus, the Vice President of a USA-based publishing firm. For us, Radixweb is developing an e-commerce site that lets users upload custom designs, access templates, and make purchases. The project team has already simplified the complex features of our shopping cart to generate the best user experience.
Highlight
Radixweb offers constant, reliable service without nickel-and-diming for their time. Their team is extremely patient and answers questions quickly. They always provide valuable guidance on the best technologies and design principles.
They give you very realistic timetables of when things are going to be done. I think that is really another important component for us in terms of the things that I feel like I need in a technology partner.
They are always innovating their technology; hence, it is not uncommon that every couple of months, there is a new feature that they are pioneering or adapting into their current solution. I have not met anyone at Radix that wasn’t willing to do whatever it took to help us, and they do take every question very seriously.
An Excerpt
Our client is a prestigious publishing and printing firm and had very specified requirements for their business. They aimed to build an e-commerce solution with an in-built design studio to aid their printing process. Radixweb salvaged a weaning printing business with a high-end platform where clients could locate their services, communicate, exchange data, and make online transactions.
Owner Linus Williams highly appreciates the learning curve that Radixweb provides them, along with superior technological development. “It took me a long time to really understand the discipline, and I am the owner of the company! There are lots of things that I am still learning as I go,” he says.
As the firm gained a competitive advantage even in a drooping market through innovative upgrades, it built a long-standing professional relationship with Radixweb…one based on mutual respect and trust.
They always treated us with respect and were patient when we struggled to grasp technical things.
Here’s a Brief Excerpt from the Conversation
What is your line of business, and what position do you hold?
We are a publishing, printing, graphic design, and mail services company with close to 50 employees. Ours is a family-owned business; we are old-school manufacturers trying to emerge as a modern printer and a modern publishing company.
I am the Vice President of the firm.
What technology concern had you seeking a software partner?
We were on the lookout for a firm that could build us an e-commerce platform with a design studio component for our printing business. We wanted to build the platform in a way where potential clients could locate us and our products, electronically send us data, use our templates and make online transactions. There weren’t many software developers who could build what we wanted on a scalable level except Radixweb.
They have superior development skills, but the best part about them is also that they keep innovating their technology; as a result, we kept getting iterations and rapid updates every couple of months. That is a very important factor that we look for in a vendor. They give you a solid effort.
What plans did Radixweb execute to benefit your business?
Radixweb built the e-commerce solution was built from scratch. The site allowed customers to order things to be printed. It’s a custom piece of software that they have created, they built exceptionally tailored capabilities on an existing platform.
Very rarely do they say no to some possibility. Most of the time they will say, “Let’s look at this,” and, nine times out of ten, they would come back to me with the solution I had in mind I am talking about a modification to a particular module that didn’t previously exist.
They are willing to do customization to their own existing platform, and I think that is unusual too and is another reflection of how they approach their customers. They always try to figure out and listen to what my needs were and gone to whatever lengths to create that customization that I needed.
Let me give you an example: I needed to have a module created that would allow me to email proof of a design that a customer had uploaded or created to as many people as they wanted. They could send proofs, Separated by commas, in a shopping cart. There is no other printing site out there that allows you to send proofs from the shopping cart. But we needed it and, they did a great job of embracing that. That is really refreshing when you need something done. In the case of the email, we had a corporate account that needed it. And that was a deal-breaker. If we couldn’t do it, our clients were probably going to choose another vendor. Radixweb was able to create that customization, and we were able to gain that account. They seemed to understand that if they couldn’t do it, we would probably lose the account.
What other functionalities did Radixweb build for your firm?
The team made adjustments to the platform they built and enabled us to have a video module on the product description page. They also modified the calculator in a way that it reveals itself and shadows the back of the page. That was a custom feature. They also modified the way the gallery images were displayed on their platform. There were probably 15 to 20 custom edits. Many of them were fairly minor, but they were different from the platform that Radixweb planned on selling to several other companies like us. They were willing to make those changes, no matter how small. They were willing to take care of tiny little edits that we felt would be important for our users.
Tell us how you came across Radixweb.
I found them through online research. I considered other firms as well, but the sum of all the different ingredients included in Radixweb’s platform made sense for us. I was a little anxious about working with an overseas company; I had no experience in doing that. However, we found the right expertise with them.
How would you say this association with Radixweb has impacted your business?
Originally, the platform was around $10,000 or $12,000, and their service agreements were $1,000 – $1,200 a year. You get a lot for that. You can Skype a representative there anytime, and you are going to be getting immediate responses from them. There is ongoing training that they are providing. They don’t tell us that we’ve exceeded our agreement with them and they are going to charge us more.
We are old-school publishers from a rural area. Our entire industry is collapsing. We are part of the industry that is aligning ourselves with native American tribes around the country who are growing and thriving. We are having some success and growing every year. Without Radixweb’s platform, there isn’t anything that I am aware of that is out there that is affordable to be able to continue to move forward in a modern way. We are fortunate to have them as a partner.
If you are in our industry and you don’t embrace change, you are going to die. We accepted that challenge. Thank goodness we have Radixweb with us, and they are willing to grow with us and guide us and at a very affordable price. I’ve never felt like anything I’ve ever paid wasn’t really worth it. I don’t hesitate anytime I’ve ever gotten an invoice from them.
You don’t get that in the States.
These days finding a reliable technology partner is so hard, and we feel blessed that we found Radixweb. And there hasn’t been a time where Radixweb failed to do what they committed.
How did Radixweb fare in terms of Project Management?
They always treated us with respect and were patient when we struggled to grasp technical things. Their key top-level people have strong language skills, which helps. We could carry on a conversation with the sales heads and won’t struggle to communicate. They do write very well, so a lot of communication is through Skype.
Tell us the most impressive thing about Radixweb.
You get a really good feeling when you are working with them that they are trying to help you. I don’t have any billing issues with them. I never had any issues with not being able to communicate with them. I think they are innovative, and they do try to be creative in their approach to try to solve things. If you provide a little creativity and little guidance, they meet you in the middle, and they accomplish what you need.
The Firm’s Final Thoughts:
The most important thing that I appreciate about working with Radixweb is they have a great deal of respect. Working in technology, working with vendors across different parts of our country, or even overseas, it’s a big thing for us to make sure we have a partner who meets us on common ground. Our business is manufacturing. Technology is something that we are constantly trying to embrace and adopt, and there is a learning curve always associated with things that are new. They have a great deal of patience and respect for us as we try to adapt. We really have to have technology vendors that are able to be patient and work with us, and Radixweb has done a great job on that.
Linus rates Radixweb 5 stars not only in terms of superior software development and advanced technology solutions but also for being a software partner in the true sense. The firm’s ultra-responsive attitude and practical approach towards handling a crisis have forged a relationship that pans beyond professional dotted lines.
The organization is also particularly impressed with Radixweb’s seriousness towards delivering quality within stipulated timelines, which saved them from the hiccups of being in a disputed offshore partnership.