In this interview we will talk to Kenneth Metral, Founder and CEO of Cosmico Studios. After learning about their story and their services, we will get some expert insights on the trends and technologies all Shopify users should keep an eye on.
Please Present Cosmico Studios To Our Audience
Cosmico Studios is a web design and mobile app development agency headquartered in Miami, Florida. We provide our clients with Web, iOS, and Android app development solutions. Our work has earned us an excellent reputation among our clients for our fanatical customer service and cutting-edge expertise in the industry.
Cosmico Studios was founded by Kenneth Metral. Mr. Metral holds a Bachelor in Information Technology, Master in Management Information Systems, and a Master in Business Administration from Florida International University. He has 15 years of extensive technological experience and has worked in every field of the digital arena. His leadership and determination are what has led Cosmico Studios to become one of the prominent software agencies today.
What’s Your Story? How Did Your Agency Come To Life, And How Has It Evolved So Far?
The agency was started more than 20 years ago when I was just 15 years old, and it has gone through many brand name changes since settling on Cosmico Studios, almost 5 years ago.
But let’s go back even further to when I was just 10 years old and built my first computer with my Dad. It was the beginning of the computing age when I first started to mess around with technology, and I soon fell so deep in love with it that I knew it was all I ever wanted to do for the rest of my life. During that time it was also the beginning of the internet age and I knew I was ready to dive into it head first as well. I built my first website at the age of 12 and after a couple of years started my agency to build websites for friends and family, this is when I decided to offer my knowledge as a real business and found my second love, entrepreneurship.
The agency was always a side business I had throughout my life where I could practice the skills I learned throughout my educational career. I took it a step further and got my Bachelor in Information Technology, Master in Management Information Systems, and Master in Business Administration from Florida International University, as you can tell I was pretty obsessed.
Fast-forward to about 5 years ago, I decided to make a drastic change in my life and shut down all side projects and businesses that were going nowhere and taking up too much of my time with little to no results. What did I do? I went all in on Cosmico Studios, and crazy enough it was an instant success. I honestly wish this was something I should have done 10 years ago, but like they say “everything happens for a reason”.
Since the inception of Cosmico Studios, we have brought in a ton of clients that range from small-to-medium businesses to large corporations. We have built websites on WordPress and Webflow, stores on Shopify and Magento, and custom web apps using the MERN stack. We have also ventured into the app development world and have built iOS apps using Swift, Android apps using Kotlin, and Cross-Platform apps using React Native.
We still have a lot of room for growth in the future, but we are extremely grateful to be doing what we love and serving our clients needs every day.
What Services Do You Offer?
We offer web design and app development services.
For web design, we build websites on WordPress and Webflow, and e-commerce stores on Shopify and Magento.
For app development, we build iOS apps using Swift, Android apps using Kotlin, and Cross-Platform apps using React Native.
What Are The Typical Pain Points That Your Clients Have With Shopify And Other CMS?
After working with so many different e-commerce platforms throughout the years, we came to the conclusion that Shopify is truly the best one out there.
Now that doesn’t mean that Shopify is perfect, even though we think it is, but it falls short when it comes to building stores that have thousands of products with complex variant options and SKUs, Magento seems to be better suited for this. But we do believe that Shopify is aware of this fact already and are working hard to accommodate these types of big businesses in the future.
What Other Tools And Technologies Would You Suggest To Shopify Users To Enhance Their Online Store?
There are so many good ones that we suggest to our clients, here are some of them.
Yotpo – For customer reviews and engagement
ShipStation – For advanced fulfillment
ReCharge – For subscription based businesses
PostScript – For SMS marketing
LoyaltyLion – For loyalty programs
What Trends Are Going To Shape The Future Of Your Industry?
We believe that Webflow is going to become the leading platform for building websites. With the slow fall of CMS platforms like WordPress, there has not been a platform that has come close to it’s advanced capabilities, until Webflow came on the scene and caused a disruption. Even though they are not as mature as WordPress, we believe that in the near future every web designer will make the switch over to Webflow and only use them to build out websites.
Lastly, Any Exciting News Or Developments That You Would Like To Share About Cosmico Studios?
Yes! Diving in further to the last question, even though we will still support websites built on WordPress, we will soon make the switch to work exclusively with Webflow. Our strong commitment to Webflow gives us confidence that it will be the future of web design.
