by Andy Green
With eCommerce retailers entering peak trading season, our Shopify Meetup returned to Manchester on 17th October packed with tips, advice and insight on making this holiday season the best yet for Shopify merchants.
Sponsored by dotdigital and ChannelUnity, the event covered everything from preparing your multi-channel and email marketing strategies, to influencer marketing and an inspirational retailer story from Lord Timepieces.
Introduction & Shopify Roundup: Dan Conboy @ Statement
We kicked off the event with an introduction from Dan, who covered the latest developments and features making their way to Shopify, as well as the wealth of high-growth brands from Victoria Beckham to The New York Times, who’ve moved to Shopify since our last Meetup.
Dan covered how powerful new features like Flow Connectors and AR can help Shopify retailers make the best of peak trading.
How to Boost Peak Performance with a Multichannel Strategy: Matt Gardiner @ ChannelUnity
Next up was Matt from multi-channel integration provider ChannelUnity. Matt talked attendees through how adopting a multi-channel strategy can help them reach more customers, spread brand awareness and retain existing shoppers this peak trading period.
As Matt explained;
“If you aren’t selling to consumers who are searching for products like yours on these channels, then one of your competitors will be.”
If Shopify merchants are to make the most of every available opportunity this peak trading period, adopting a multi-channel strategy could be the answer.
Email Marketing Inspiration from 100 Global Retail Brands: Peter Kilmartin @ Dotmailer
Next up was Peter from dotdigital, walking through email marketing inspiration to get your email strategy prepped for peak trading.
Every year, Dotmailer’s Hitting the Mark report analyses the email marketing performance of 100 brands across the world to identify trends and single out the best performers.
Peter walked through some of the findings from this year’s report, identifying data driven strategies like personalisation and segmentation as common factors among the best performers.
As Peter explains;
“The brands that performed well delivered the right message to the right person at the right time. They lived & breathed context every stage of the journey.”
If you’re interested in reading the full report, you can download a free copy here.
The Lord Timepieces Story: Zaim Maneer @ Lord Timepieces
To round out the meetup, we heard from Zaim Maneer, founder of watch brand Lord Timepieces.
Zaim walked attendees through his journey, from starting the brand and storing stock under his university bed, to running a brand with over 400k Instagram followers.
Zaim also shared some great insights into marketing for peak trading, including building your audience ahead of peak, and going above and beyond with custom gift wrapping.
Zaim also walked attendees through his experience with the Inventory Planner app, which allows Lord Timepieces to monitor, analyse and predict stock requirements at peak.
What’s Next?
A big thanks to everyone who made it down to Shopify meetup Manchester. If you missed out on the event and you’re an eCommerce merchant, join our retailer exclusive facebook group for access to the event slides, along with the chance to network with other merchants.
If you’re already eager for more eCommerce and Shopify insight, don’t forget to keep an eye on our events page for future Shopify Meetups and events.
