You may not know it yet, but the Pikka agency has had the “ SSC Trusted Partner ” label since this year. This quality label is awarded by the technology consulting company ShopiShopa Consulting which, as its name (strongly) suggests, specializes in Shopify, Shopify Plus and Shopify POS.
Christophe Davy is the manager of ShopiShopa Consulting. On the occasion of the launch of a new training offer "3 hours to understand", we discussed the positioning of Shopify in France and around the world.
Hello Christophe, can you quickly present your activity to us?
I created ShopiShopa Consulting in 2019, after 11 years leading the eCommerce Brand Online agency (now part of the Venice communication group). Historically on Magento , the agency gradually took the turn of Shopify from 2015: I was based in New York at the time, and therefore had a front row seat to see the explosion of Shopify in North America. We started to look, to make a first site for an American client in the summer of 2015, and everything was linked. I got my hands on Shopify early on, and was blown away. And to be honest, I still am every day! Suddenly, it was obvious to me that sooner or later I was going to devote myself exclusively to Shopify, which I actually concretized with the creation of ShopiShopa Consulting.
The other important point of my activity is that we offer technological consulting services, we are not an agency. In fact, we intervene both in support of agencies to carry out complex projects (migrations from another platform, integration with an existing information system), and directly for merchants (to understand what Shopify can bring them, or to supporting them on projects carried out mainly internally).
And what is this new training offer exactly?
After a first training delivered last January in Paris, in which the pikka agency participated, I was thinking about the follow-up to be given in the new context that the covid imposes on us all. And so I designed 3-hour video training modules, entitled " 3 hours to understand " , which I lead in French or English.
These training courses are intended for consultants, project managers and IT/eCommerce directors. They offer a detailed state-of-the-art to fully understand Shopify, Shopify Plus and Shopify POS , and adopt this disruptive technology.
The 3-hour format, with no more than 4 participants, allows me to take into account the specific questions of each participant in order to promote interactivity. As with a classroom training seminar, the goal is to provide in-depth explanations, so that each participant can understand and memorize as much information as possible.
The first trainings are scheduled from mid-September, I can't wait to see what it will give. Especially with the English versions, which are accessible worldwide with a calendar adapted to all time zones.
Shopify has really been developing in France for just under 2 years, when it was already a huge platform on a global scale, how do you explain that?
There is, in my opinion, the conjunction of several things.
First, France is the country of origin of a historic eCommerce platform, Prestashop , which has a very strong reputation and an extremely developed ecosystem of partners. There is also Magento, which has very strong historical roots in France (hello le Bargento 2008!). This initially slowed the development of Shopify.
Then, the Shopify back office has only been available in French since May 2018. It was an essential step in Shopify's penetration of the French market.
Finally, there is the arrival of a Shopify team dedicated to France, at the end of 2018. The France Director, Emilie Benoit-Vernay, very quickly put together a dynamic and very competent team (in particular by recovering French-speaking resources who were already working for Shopify in other countries), and it quickly made itself felt! We see Shopify everywhere since last year, it's quite impressive.
In two words, what is Shopify Plus compared to Shopify?
Ah ha, I cannot advise your readers enough to invest in the “ 3 hours to understand Shopify Plus ” training to find out! ;)
Shopify Plus was launched in 2014 in response to a request from some customers not to pay a percentage on sales to Shopify. Initially priced at 1,000 dollars per month, it quickly rose to 1,500 dollars, then 2,000 dollars (with today a percentage on sales beyond 800,000 dollars in monthly turnover).
Over the years, Shopify Plus has evolved into a natively more complete offer than Shopify, integrating tools and services of interest to merchants with a large volume and/or selling in many countries.
Few people know it, but Shopify Plus is a Business Unit within Shopify, with close to 1,000 dedicated employees!
And if I dared… in two words, what is Shopify POS?
Ah ah, so I'm going to dare to renew my investment advice to your readers, but this time for the " 3 hours to understand Shopify POS " training ... ;)
Shopify POS was launched in 2013, it is neither more nor less than a complete system for managing one or more physical stores. So a competitor of Cegid Retail, Retail Pro and other Fastmag.
The most obvious difference is that Shopify POS does not work on a computer, only on a tablet or smartphone. From this use derive modern functionalities that interest today's merchants.
And since Shopify POS is natively integrated with Shopify (it's even included in the subscription for simple use), we're really in omnichannel by default, "by design". A customer bought online? I see it instantly on my tablet, and its order too. If he comes to make a return in store, I can manage. He wants another product that is not available in the store? No problem, I cash the sale and I send it home.
Shopify POS is also hardware (but yes!) sold by Shopify (but not yet in France). In short, it's very heavy, even if this solution is not yet very popular in France (and will only be so when the NF525 certification, in progress, will be final).
Shopify's revenue exploded (+97%) in the second quarter of 2020, where do you think Shopify will stop?
The leaders of Shopify or Shopify Plus repeat it over and over again: Shopify provides an offer for entrepreneurs and SMEs as well as for big brands. For this, Shopify relies on a new technological approach, but not only. Shopify considers that a certain way of doing eCommerce is dead, and that projects that are too technical, too long and too expensive are a thing of the past.
In their own words, Shopify “stretch the market” by being able to meet the very diverse needs of all merchants, regardless of size. Whereas until now, it was common to consider that there were platforms for the small, platforms for the means, and platforms for the large. There will of course remain merchants who will continue to buy “old-fashioned” technological solutions by paying more for historical service providers (what the boss of Shopify Plus calls the “enterprise software mafia”, no need to translate…), but no one is perfect! ☺
I can't say how far Shopify will go, but it is certain that this company is becoming a small GAFA (or GAFAM, or FAANG, to each his favorite acronym). Shopify does not only do omnichannel commerce, Shopify offers services in payments ( Shopify Payments and Shop Pay), logistics (Shopify Fulfillment Network), among other things, and even has an iOS and Android App that looks furiously like an alternative to a marketplace (Shop).
In short, as I often say, Shopify is a tidal wave, a "game changer" on the market, and suddenly "sky is the limit"!
