The annual Shopify Unite event was an exciting experience and Shopify partners learned so much from keynotes shared. Both PageFly and BoostCommerce teams were inspired by the atmosphere of the Shopify community and decided to organize a local Shopify Post Unite recap meetup in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Read further to learn about post-Unite events in Vietnam.
From the last meetup in Hanoi just before the Unite event, there was a growing interest in the Shopify Partner program. This common trend is closely related to the past of new Shopify partners with open course CMS (Content Management System). They have been working for about 5 years with WordPress, Magento, Prestashop, and similar open sources.
5 Key insights from Shopify Post Unite meetups
Entering to the Shopify Market with content
I have been speaking with the founder of Avada.io website who focuses on producing genuine and valuable content about Shopify usage. On this site, you can find content explaining how to use Shopify and solve specific problems you may run into.
The entire content is based on a question and answer concept with “How To” explanations in a very clear manner. From what I learned, there is a dedicated Content Team focused on producing articles.
Small Groups with high engagement. Connecting point.
From the 1st meetup til this one (4th one), I noticed that the audience connects with each other if there is a 3rd person involved. The 3rd person’s role is like a “bridge” between 2 sides of a lake.
When there is a slight introduction the new member can easily join the common discussion. This noticeable phenomenon was clearly visible when the “mastermind” concept was rolled out at the latest meetup organized by Felix from PushOwl.
Shopify App Store translation listing
ShipCo Shopify partner started in translation a long time ago, and when Shopify announced this feature in the App Listing, it was the perfect timing for this team. User growth with installation has bumped up.
Nowadays Shopify encourages partners to translate to other languages. When chatting with some partners at the meetup, I learned there is a high demand for translation of content to French, German, Chinese. This approach means going from translating the content on the App listing and stretching beyond with native customer support.
Shopify Affiliate Program and tactics to acquire merchants
At the meetup, there was a newly established Shopify Partner from Thai Nguyen city (North region of Vietnam). This team raised an interesting discussion around Shopify’s Affiliate program and ways to acquire merchants. Advice was been given by the PageFly team regarding finding niche social groups like Quora and Reddit.
If you haven’t used Similarweb before, it’s time to take action to install it and start research with social networks where interest in Shopify rises.
Rising interest in Shopify Ads feature release.
At Unite 2019, Jonathan Zhao and Miaden Rangelov presented a keynote about New Ways to Grow Your Business on the Shopify App Store (Shopify Unite Track Session 2019). This topic caught my attention and I decided to emphasize it at the meetup.
This part also caught the attention of the audience - they clearly understand that it’s a great opportunity to acquire high-quality customers directly from the App Store.
Why are new and existing partners interested in this coming Shopify App store feature? The reason is simple.
Shopify partners are mostly developers and there are no guys who are directly involved in marketing the product. The Shopify Search Ads creates an opportunity for app providers to reach new customers easily without investing a huge budget in customer acquisition.
Shopify Post Unite Recap in Hanoi
For the location, the PageFly Team chose the BraveBits Office to host attendees. At the meetup, there were about 25 people - mostly team leaders or decision makers in the company.
Shopify Post Unite meetup in Ho Chi Minh City
The location for Ho Chi Minh City was Toong co-working space at 126 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street. At the meetup, we met not just new Shopify partners but also Print On Demand / Dropshipping sellers. These sellers have been with Shopify for a few years already and were looking for new features in Shopify to grow their business.
Before the official meetup, there was a mini-game to increase engagement and helping connecting with each other.
Wrapping up
A good sign following the 4th meetup is that new partners are joining the Shopify Ecosystem. Shopify creates more opportunities for new partners with new feature releases. The biggest challenge now is about finding a market niche and building the solution to match customer needs.
Looking for the next meetup in your city? Visit Shopify Meetups official page to discover the closest event near you.
