On Tuesday 27th February, 2018, TradeGecko teamed up The Cut and Bonfire to host the 1st Shopify Meetup in Perth. Special guests and industry experts presented on the key eCommerce trends and shared insights into what businesses can focus on in 2018 to accelerate growth.
JOSHUA BITOSSI - Launch Engineer, Shopify Plus
Let’s start with some stats:
- 500,000 businesses are powered by Shopify
- 1 million people are actively using Shopify
- $46 billion has been sold through Shopify (1 billion on BFCM alone)
- Australia is the 4th biggest market for Shopify
Joshua talked about how businesses should focus on creating an effortless experience so the customer knows where to go, how to answer their own questions and has minimal channel switching. He also shared a surprising statistic on how customer service actually drives disloyalty by 3.93x (CEB 2013)
We believe we have to truly exceed expectations to get more loyal customers or even maintain that loyalty. In reality, we need to aim for consistently good experiences that meet their expectations.
LISA MONRO - Shopify Merchant, Happy Tummies
Our guest merchant speaker from Happy Tummies, who are “Helping super mums raise kids with allergies”, spoke about how their business growth journey saw exponential growth by introducing Shopify as their eCommerce store.
So easy to use - even for non-techy people like me!
Happy Tummies key eCommerce learnings:
- Know your numbers & track weekly
- Planning marketing is crucial to consistent sales
- You need an offer to convert that first sale - mine is free shipping on 1st order
- Know some industry standards to aim for eg. bounce rates, conversion rates
- Education & networking with other ecommerce business
owners
- Look at your website regularly with fresh eyes - it’s never perfect!
AKUL DEWAN - Partnerships Manager, TradeGecko
3 eCommerce trends to help drive your growth in 2018:
- Online and offline convergence
- The disruption of B2B eCommerce
- Amazon makes leaps and bounds
Advice to achieve business growth in 2018:
- Keep doing what works
- Test new sales channels
- Let technology do the heavy lifting
BEN DE JONGE Shopify Expert, The Cut
Customer Profile: Flat Tummy Co.
- Selling weight loss tea to young women, mostly in the USA.
- 100% digital marketing, 80% Instagram.
- 2011 Shopify startup
- 2016 Sold for circa $12 million
What can we learn from them:
- Small, simple & niche product offering.
- A clear target market.
- On-brand & consistent content & messaging.
- Constantly evolve & customise with apps.
- Use your community to promote your business & products.
SCOTT SANDERS Shopify Expert, The Cut
B2B eCommerce market opportunity
- The B2B eCommerce market ($7.66 Trillion) is 257.4% larger than the B2C eCommerce market ($2.14 Trillion)
- By the end of 2017, 52% of B2B buyers were expected to have made at least half of their business purchases online.
- B2B Buyers
Prefer to research and buy products and services online.
- B2B Sellers
Continue to use a purchase process based on interaction with their sales people.
- Shopify is more than just a storefront. It is flexible and scalable enough for Business To Business (B2B) companies.
- Shopify, Shopify Plus or TradeGecko are scalable, flexible and robust solutions that can meet a diverse range of requirements for your business.
Click through the presentation slides below for more info:
Thank you to everyone who turned up for the first Shopify Meetup in Perth, we look forward to seeing you at the next event. Please keep an eye on our events page for future details and registration links.
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