Working with an enterprise client - a case study of creating a WooCommerce plugin for 4 markets for InPost
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This document summarizes the development of a WooCommerce plugin for InPost, a parcel delivery company, to integrate their shipping methods into online stores. It discusses how WP Desk, a development agency, worked with InPost over 60 days to develop the plugin for 4 markets. The project required developing APIs to connect to InPost's systems in each country and dealing with changing requirements. Though challenging to work at this scale, the project provided valuable experience for developing enterprise plugins and working with large clients.
Working with an enterprise client - a case study of creating a WooCommerce plugin for 4 markets for InPost
- 1. Working with an enterprise client Our story of creating a WooCommerce plugin for 4 markets for InPost Maciej Swoboda WP Desk
- 4. Warszawa
- 5. • Created and convinced customers to use “Paczkomaty” - parcel lockers for collecting packages • Broke up the Polish Post monopoly • Amazon started a similar service called Amazon Locker • Started a global expansion to France, Italy, Canada, Russia, China (21 countries total) InPost the rising star of e-commerce
- 7. • Inspire Labs founded in 2012 by 2 coders • In 2013 we started WP Desk • Till late 2014 just 2 people • At the time of this project: 7 people • Majority of clients are interactive agencies who outsource coding The Background Who we are?
- 8. • The brief from a contact form at wpdesk.pl • 4-page brief with a vision of the plugin for France, Italy, Canada and Poland • A client with no knowledge of WordPress and WooCommerce ecosystem • Fixed fee requirement • “Let’s meet” The Brief What we got?
- 9. • A lot of talking • 60 days from the brief to the deal • 17-page agreement • 2 addendums The Deal How we proceeded?
- 10. • Support 4 countries: France, Italy, Canada and Poland and cross border shipments • Display new shipping methods in the WooCommerce checkout with a map • Flat fee + cart total or weight calculator • Allow shop owners to quickly and seamlessly generate packing slips, shipping labels and ordering pickup right from WooCommerce The Plugin What we needed to develop?
- 11. • Project Manager, Developer, Analyst/Tester and WooCommerce Ninja • 36-page technical specs • All tasks in Redmine - 99 internal tickets and 51 client’s tickets total • SVN The Team How we worked?
- 12. • 1 Business Manager and 1 Project Manager • 1 remote team responsible for the Polish API • 1 outsourced team responsible for other APIs • 4 dedicated testing teams from local markets • All communications went through the PM The Client How the client worked?
- 13. • Slightly different feature sets in different countries • The scope changed 2 times along the way • 2 independent teams responsible for 2 APIs that we needed to connect with • APIs were developed at the same time, outdated and incomplete tech docs • Email, email, email… why not Redmine? ;) The Process What challenges we faced?
- 14. • InPost for WooCommerce released in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory • Downloaded ~350 times • Used by ~100 shops The Release Going live
- 15. • Often requires more talking than doing • Time&material model harder (or impossible) • Big companies are not always as organized as you might think • Implementation guides instead of user stories The Takeaways - Downsides What we learned?
- 16. • School of life :) • Enterprise projects can be profitable • Project for your portfolio and a good case study • New clients from recommendations • You really need to learn how to work with big clients The Takeaways - Upsides What we learned?
- 17. Thank you! Maciek Swoboda WP Desk www.wpdesk.net @swoboda