“If you want to be a relevant, modern brand, you have to be able to sell everywhere consumers spend their time,” the Shopify president said.
advertisementCommerce platform Shopify has handled more than $1 trillion (€921.4 billion) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) since its founding in 2006.
What began as a company supporting small businesses has grown into a retail giant with brands such as: MattelGlossier, and most recently Ami Paris have joined the platform.
Luxury fashion brands that previously vowed to never sell online are now exploring e-commerce. Does this mean the end of high-street shopping?
In this episode of Big Questions, Hannah Brown sits down with Shopify President Harley Finkelstein to discuss the future of retail and how AI is leveling the retail playing field. Small and medium-sized enterprises.
How is the retail industry changing?
Before joining the company in 2009, Hurley was actually one of its first users, starting a T-shirt business while studying law.
“I remember pressing the launch button, going live, and then instantly being able to sell to a global audience around the world, and that changed my life,” Hurley recalls.
“We've realised that the future of retail is global by default and it doesn't matter how much capital you have, it matters how much passion you have, how good your brand is and how great your product is.”
When asked about the big difference between the North American and European markets right now, he noted that Europeans are voting with their wallets to buy from brands they love: “They're really being intentional and instead of buying 10 random products, they're picking three products that really mean something to them from brands they really love and selling them direct to consumer.”
In the first quarter of this year, sales on Shopify stores reached $60 billion (€55 billion), up 23% year-on-year.
As shopping trends evolve, so does Shopify.
“If you want to be a modern brand that's relevant in the future, you have to be able to sell everywhere consumers spend their time.”
many Luxury Brands Brands that have traditionally focused on creating an in-person shopping experience, such as Donna Karen, The Row, and Isabel Marant, are starting to explore how they can bring that experience online, while other online brands, such as Glossier, are looking to create an in-person experience after building huge followings online.
Shopify currently offers: GoogleMeta, Instagram, Tick tock And Snap now facilitates commerce directly through these platforms.
“Social media democratizes marketing tactics in an incredible way. Whereas in traditional marketing and advertising, the company with the most money always wins, now it's the company with the most creativity that wins,” Hurley added.
Being everywhere at once can seem like a daunting challenge for a fledgling small business, but Hurley suggests starting with one location, understanding your customer, and then reverse-engineering the rest of the retail experience.
“It's not necessarily one against the other. Retail is the same everywhere.”
What is the secret to running a successful e-commerce business?
Harley didn't necessarily have the answers to the key factors for success, Failure is completely normal And in fact, that is often the path to success.
“For example, a lot of people talk about things like Gymshark (now a billion-dollar brand), but what people don’t know is that Gymshark wasn’t Ben’s first company.
advertisement“He tried a few things before landing on Gymshark, which has become a huge business and Ben is now, I think, the youngest billionaire in British history.”
Harley's key tip: Resilience – Keep your expenses as low as possible so one bad week doesn't kill your business.
How can AI help e-commerce?
It may seem impossible for a small business to compete with big, established brands, but Harley is confident. artificial intelligence It can level the playing field.
use Generative AIShopify's unique feature, called Shopify Magic, allows even small businesses with just a few staff members to generate product description text and create product images at a level far beyond the usual limits.
The big questionThis is a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today's agenda.
advertisementTo hear the full conversation with Shopify, check out the video above.
journalist • Hannah Brown
Video Editor • Joanna Adem
