Following a recent security scandal, one company goes above and beyond to keep customers safe and boost sales.
More than 140 million Americans had their Social Security numbers exposed this September, after the mammoth consumer credit reporting agency Equifax, Inc. was hacked. Over 200,000 of these victims had even their credit card information accessed, in what has been called the worst data breach in US history. “If Equifax can be hacked, no one is secure. Every webcommerce store needs protection”, says Daniel Botbol.
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Daniel Botbol, owner of the Ecommerce SkinTrends
Botbol has authority on the subject. He manages the Ecommerce store SkinTrends and explains that it’s not only about protecting the company’s assets:
“No company can totally eliminate the risk of a security/data breach, but every company can and should have a reliable, routine process in place to reduce the risks associated with doing business online.”
The executive has been working with CreativeMinds for two years. During the period, his webcommerce boasted 20% increase on gross volume sales.
“CreativeMinds helps us maintain our security with regular, monthly site/code scans and mandatory security patch installations.”
The services include Magento support with the Back-End, migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2 and overall Magento development. The website has also received WordPress support.
The Challenge: Unreliable, Passive Magento Support
Botbol is straightforward: “My biggest challenge is security. And security should not be a customer’s concern.”
Before trusting the Ecommerce’s protection to a partner, however, it’s necessary to set up the webcommerce in the first place. Singlehandedly managing an Ecommerce is a herculean endeavor, and Botbol knew from the get-go that help was needed.
Being an entrepreneur, though, he had to balance quality and price: “In the United States a specialist can cost around $100 to $150 an hour, making it prohibitive. So I’m aware I need to outsource or to consider overseas workers.”
The Plan: Balance Price and Quality
SkinTrends is based on Magento
At first, he contracted a US-based company but soon realized that they employed technicians from Asia. “That is not a problem in itself, but the distance and language barrier make the result unreliable. We had lots of difficulties to get things corrected,” he explains.
The issue was made worse by a high turnover rate: “I was dealing with an intermediary with inconsistent resources, who had to familiarize themselves with the installation. Everyone needs some time to adjust,” he says.
Often he had to notify the technicians about problems they should have monitored and fixed.
The executive then turned to hiring a remote specialist from overseas. The arrangement worked well for one year, but the problems persisted: lack of communication, misunderstood requests and inconsistent attention to get things done.
More research took place. Having learned from previous experiences, Botbol now looked for companies that develop Magento extensions. He assumed, accurately, that they have more dependable resources.
He soon found out about CreativeMinds: “I read one of their blog articles and got in touch. It stood out that the team is composed of developers, with good support at Israel and Poland. It was the perfect combination of fair price and reliability.”
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The Result: Reliability, Flexibility and Good Communication
The executive talked with the co-founders of CreativeMinds, David Rashty, the WordPress specialist, and Nachshon, who heads the Magento team.
A product page from SkinTrends, powered by Magento with support from CreativeMinds
“Since the beginning, whether I talked with David or Nachshon, both were reliable. They gave me the confidence that was necessary and also the flexibility a small company requires. The price was ‘there’,” remembers Botbol.
Another selling point was the smoother communication in English, now without any major hurdles.
The entrepreneur and CreativeMinds came up with a recurring management service, that involved timely security and updates checks.
This active Magento support is the backbone of his needs: “I am currently migrating to Magento 2, so I want consistent and reliable attention to security.”
For Nachshon, assisting Botbol and SkinTrends to grow securely represents a mixture of gratification and challenge: “Small businesses demand special attention due to their diminutive workforce. Luckily, Daniel is extremely attentive and focused on results, making it pleasant to work with him. We learn a lot together.”
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WordPress Support
The Ecommerce also received WordPress support from CreativeMinds. The task mostly revolved around improving the SEO of the blog, which is connected to Magento.
“It was tricky because the WP/Magento connection relied on a third party Magento extension, but we managed to be successful,” explains Marcin Dudek, the WordPress lead at CreativeMinds.
Next Steps
The Magento support services are ongoing, and Botbol now interfaces mostly with Wojtek Kaminski, head of Magento development, which he calls “attentive, knowledgeable and very responsive.”
“The guys at CreativeMinds are experts and enthusiastic hard workers. They are not only determined to complete the job but also to do it in an efficient way. I know, because I worked with professionals with less ability and learned the lesson,” sums up Botbol.
