Case Study
"Meticulosity's collaborative nature is their biggest key differentiator. They helped us avoid pitfalls that we would never have seen coming, using knowledge from their previous experiences."
Caroyln Lowe, Director of Ecommerce | UpSpring Baby
Services
Platform
3D Cart
Revenue
Locations
Project Overview
UpSpring Baby is a consumer products company that specializes in high-end infant and child healthcare products. Due to limited time and internal capabilities, the client sought a qualified technology partner to help
them re-platform from a Volusion-based to 3dcart-based website.
Once commissioned, Meticulosity assumed responsibility for the technical development of the client's new e-commerce site, which involved the following:
- User requirements validation
- Project scoping
- Data preparation and migration
- Systems integration and configuration
- Custom functional development
- Information architecture
- User interface/user experience
- Performance testing, training, maintenance, and support.
Opportunity/Challenge
Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached Meticulosity?
When I joined in UpSpring Baby, we had an out-of-the-box site. From a marketing, finance, and operations standpoint, the back-end did not functional very well. It didn’t integrate with our financial software, and our ordering process was entirely manual. Our processes were just unnecessarily cumbersome.
The goals for the project were to redesign and relaunch a website that was more in line with our brand, so we could accurately convey our unique value.
We focus on what we call affordable luxuries, and on a scale 1 to 10 for our price point, I would put us at a 7. For quality, our old website was about a 2. We had these beautiful, premium products that were in Target, Walmart, Amazon, and our website looked like we were a mom-and-pop shop.
The two objectives of the website were to replace the back-end with something that worked with our financial software, and to rebrand, relaunch, and redefine us as a company. I also shut down three or four of our older microsites. When I came, we had seven micro-sites, and we wanted to roll those all into one consolidated platform. It was more of a product-by-product strategy when I got here versus a corporate strategy now.
The reasons our company chose 3dcart were primarily for the back-end integration and front-end user friendliness. We don’t have a full-time IT person, and before I joined the company, no one knew how to code. As a result, we knew that we needed external support.
Solution
Could you describe the scope of Meticulosity's involvement?
Meticulosity completed the whole project. They worked with our package and brand designer. They did the colors, look and feel, style palette, and then they did all the wireframing, the navigation, and usability testing.
They also helped out with a lot of custom graphical elements. Meticulosity does offer design services, but we opted to have them work with our designer, rather than do it independently. The majority of their work was custom development on the back-end.
How did you select Meticulosity as your partner?
We used to have a consultant that did search and a little bit of IT, and he recommended 3dcart to us. I researched a bunch of different 3dcart companies and that’s how I came up with Meticulosity.
When was this project completed?
It was about a four-month project, so it was very quick. We were very impressed that they could do a whole new front end and back-end within three to four months. The site launched October 2, 2014. We then re-engaged Meticulosity to re-launch a new iteration of the site which launched October 15, 2016.
Results & Feedback
In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of Meticulosity's performance?
Going responsive versus just having mobile commerce turned on has been great for us. So, the fact that you can see all of our content on mobile, and the majority of our audience, as new moms, is mobile. That has been great to have a responsive design. It’s probably been the single most beneficial improvement to our user experience.
It was difficult to browse our products and find information from a mobile device, which in turn resulted in fewer leads and sales conversions. We no longer have that problem, and we’ve seen huge growth in our mobile users.
When working with Meticulosity, is there anything that you would consider unique or special about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?
I would say Meticulosity's collaborative nature is their biggest key differentiator. For example, we started in one direction, and they were very good about offering feedback and using their expertise with other companies to make strategic recommendations.
They helped us avoid pitfalls that we would never have seen coming, using knowledge from their previous experiences. They’re also very responsive. If I asked them a question, they would respond back right away. I can’t think of a more reliable vendor or a better vendor relationship.
In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?
I don’t think so. There is an issue specific to 3dcart that is happening with all of their 3dcart clients. I was encouraged that, when I brought it to their attention, they were very helpful in identifying and working with 3dcart. The level of support you get from Meticulosity is sometimes better than that of e-commerce vendors.