Industry: Electro-Optics // Manufacturing & Sourcing // Retail Consumer Products | Distribution Type: B2B // B2G // DTC | Time Period: 2010-2016

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Overview

R&R (Reyngold & Reyngold) Trading opened for business in 1993 by the Reynold brothers, Ilya and Israel. The Belarusian immigrants saw a huge untapped market for night vision products and set their sights on building a successful legacy in the industry. Night Vision was developed for military use, but as newer technologies emerged, older tech became available for civilians. The brothers began importing new and surplus products from overseas as well as securing the necessary relationships to procure US-made technologies that could be sold domestically to the military, law enforcement agencies, and civilians. US-made Night Vision technology is controlled by ITAR so an export license is required to sell domestically produced Night Vision products to foreign parties.

In 2003, with fast-growing competition in the electro-optics industry, R&R changed its name to Night Optics USA (henceforth Night Optics). Night Optics enjoyed years of success securing small to medium-sized contracts and recognition as an industry contender in the space. Their success, however, had not been organic. The team knocked on a lot of doors and made a lot of phone calls over the years. The brothers realized that they needed to invest in marketing to stay competitive. A family member was helping with some of the marketing, but they had no social media, an old website that barely worked, and a mom-and-pop image that was unshakable. In the spring of 2010, Night Optics placed an ad on Craigslist for a marketing professional. The response was overwhelming with more than 120 resumés flowing in via email.

After doing several interviews, a person was hired, but there was a problem. Shortly after starting, it became evident that there were many lies told in the interview, and the new hire was released. After another round of interviews, a slightly more qualified person was onboarded. The grift did not last long and they found themselves unemployed once again within a few months. By August, Night Optics had been awarded an $8.2MM US Army supply contract and large companies began to take notice. There was still a void in their newly created marketing department that needed to be filled.

How I Got Involved

The third time is indeed the charm. In September 2010, suffering from cabin fever working primarily for myself through the recession, I jumped on Craigslist to look for something new. I sent in my resumé to Night Optics, then proceeded to check out their website and read up on their recently awarded contract. From my perspective, they needed the full Rosodigital treatment, but after being burned twice, interviewing with the brothers was a challenge.

I was questioned extensively about my knowledge and skills. Having spent the better part of three years building a substantial portfolio, I was able to show off my capabilities with confidence, but that wasn’t enough, so I made them an offer. I asked that they allow me to go home and design some new website mockups. Later that evening, I sent in 2 layouts via email. Impressed with my speed, they asked that I come in for another interview. In our meeting, they provided feedback and asked how long it might take to execute. I answered their questions honestly and by the end of the meeting, I was offered the job.

Shortly after starting, I dug into their E-commerce website. After two failed attempts, the website was a complete wreck. I quickly learned the Miva Merchant workflow and began developing an all-new site from the ground up. Throughout the process, I provided regular progress reports on the website. By early 2011, the new Nightoptics.com website was ready to go live.

Observations

Initial observations of the website front-end are that it is simplistic, text-heavy, and dated. Some of the code in the backend was broken, creating front-end display issues in different areas of the site. I could see from the change log the site was restored several times when both of the people that came before me failed to properly understand Miva Merchant’s code structure.

Objectives

I planned to attack this project in the following steps:

1. Repair existing site code so it was functional for visitors and processing orders
2. Create a sub domain as a development environment and clone the live site
3. Redesign all page templates
4. Adjust the layouts of existing pages
5. Bring E-commerce pages up to current standards

Throughout the process, I provided progress reports to get feedback to ensure the brothers were happy with our direction. Once everyone was satisfied with the aesthetics and functionality, I set my sights on the next set of steps in the project – Refinements.

1. Rewrite all product descriptions, features, and spec-tables
2. Request product samples for photo sessions – edit and add to product pages
3. Ensure downloadables (Instructions and spec sheets) are available for each product listing
4. Rewrite page content as needed – Ensure spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct
5. Internal SEO, cross-linking, keywording, redirects for old pages

Challenges

Throughout the development process, the biggest problem was finding remnants of broken code from those that came before me. Another challenge came from the Miva Merchant software, which at the time was not great. It would take a few years for them to get it right but when they did, the platform was amazing. Because Miva was a relatively small company located in San Diego, I was able to connect with the CEO and his team, and get great help fixing issues quickly to things moving forward.

Results

When I arrived, the website did very little in terms of retail sales, and because it was not easy to navigate, there was not much traffic. The new website launched in March 2011, 5 months after I was hired, and its impact was immediately evident in traffic growth and the consistent online sales that grew by more than 800% in monthly retail sales. A great accomplishment for such a niche product set.

Nightoptics.com | Author: Rolando Petit