Trust Built Over Four Years
MageCloud has run Magento work for The IT Bay for more than four years. The relationship began when it took over a store upgrade another agency had left unfinished. It has supported Fridge Freezer Direct since November 2023, across development, speed, UX and conversion work.
So by the time Paul Ryazanov put a new product in front of either retailer, there were years of delivered work sitting behind the suggestion. A recommendation from that position does not arrive cold. It comes from the person who already has admin access to the store, and whose reputation is staked on the last thing they shipped.
That cuts both ways. Trust built over four years gets spent slowly, on things a retailer will still be glad of a year later, which is why most ideas never reach them at all.
Loxa was one of the few that made it through. Paul met the team in September 2024 and understood the proposition on the first call. He could see immediately what value it gave a retailer: revenue from customers already buying, with no new traffic to find. In the same conversation he was working out what it would take to build, and his advice was to stop integrating one merchant at a time and build a proper Magento extension, because themes and versions differ too much for custom work to scale.
Stress-Tested Before Any Client Saw It
Before any retailer heard the name Loxa, Paul installed Loxa's native Magento app on his own server and stress-tested it. He found faults in how the cart behaved, ran it against the specific Magento and PHP versions his clients use, and sent the findings back rather than passing the app along. By the time it reached a client, he already knew how it held up, and could say so with a straight face.
This is the part other agencies should look at closely. Magento updates run on the server, by command line. Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce and PrestaShop, Loxa cannot push them out remotely. On Magento, the agency is not something sitting alongside the integration. It is part of it.
Three Stores, Three Different Builds
Fridge Freezer Direct went live in March 2026, deployed by FFD's own development team in three working days, with the first policy sold within two hours.
The IT Bay followed in May, and there MageCloud built it. The IT Bay lists new, open-box and refurbished grades of the same product under a single listing, so cover has to read the right price and terms for whichever variant a customer picks. Paul flagged that complexity before scoping started, rather than letting anyone find it mid-build.
Bedstar went live in October. That one did not run to plan, and it is the more useful story. A second-generation family business selling beds and mattresses online, Bedstar had never offered protection before. The build took longer than either of the others, and MageCloud stayed with it, handling the connection and the troubleshooting until it was selling. The retailer was never left holding a half-finished integration.
Three stores, three different builds. The same pattern underneath all of them. The agency knew the store, so nobody was surprised, and when it got difficult somebody capable was already inside it.
A Partnership That Runs Both Ways
The introductions have never travelled in one direction. Loxa has sent MageCloud retailers who needed development and conversion work. MageCloud has sent Loxa retailers with catalogues worth protecting.
It runs outside the storefront too. Loxa co-organises Ecommerce Camp, the merchant-led event series Paul founded, where UK retailers hear how other retailers actually operate rather than sit through vendor pitches. Albie Attias of The IT Bay speaks at the Manchester edition in November: the retailer MageCloud introduced to Loxa, now on MageCloud's own stage.
Paul has gone further again. He puts Loxa in front of clients, in front of the room at his own events, and behind his own reputation. That is what an agency partnership looks like once it stops being a referral arrangement. Both sides put something in.
What This Means for Agencies Like You
An agency knows things a provider cannot. Which client is about to replatform. Which catalogue will break a standard integration. Which recommendation a founder will actually act on.
It also knows that integrations go wrong, which is why the part worth copying here is not the recommendation. It is what happened after it. Protection is revenue your clients are leaving on the table, and a reason for them to keep you close. Find out how partnering with Loxa works. Book a demo.
