Shopify values its partners like no other e-commerce company. On Thursday, the Canadian tech giant launched the first phase of a multi-year engagement in the Partner Program. The aim is to power partners to develop new skills and earn more money with the help of new partner events.
The Shopify initiative promises opportunities for merchants to double their earnings and multiple ways to generate revenue. Another highlight of the Partner Program multi-year engagement phase 1 is that it comes with a global certification program, which enables partners to upskill and demonstrate their technical expertise.
The transformation of Shopify’s Partner Program, particularly with more earning potential, will help fuel our growth and support our customers’ goals.
Mary Krause, Strategic Alliances Manager, CQL
The opportunities are not just limited to learning but also help in growing networks and building with Shopify. To ensure complete support and partners’ growth, Shopify has included new partner events and simplified tools in its offering.
Shopify Partners’ ecosystem put on its trust and the best of its efforts to help the company grow. In August 2022, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein revealed in a tweet that Shopify Partners helped his company make a revenue of $32 billion in 2021.
“$32 billion. That’s how much revenue the @ShopifyPartners ecosystem generated in 2021. That’s up 45% from 2020 and nearly 7x Shopify’s 2021 revenue – and we’re proud of their success,” Finkelstein tweeted.
$32 billion.
— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) August 26, 2022
That’s how much revenue the @ShopifyPartners ecosystem generated in 2021. That’s up 45% from 2020 and nearly 7x Shopify’s 2021 revenue – and we're proud of their success.
About Shopify Partner Program
It is an ecosystem of merchants, app developers, agencies, designers, freelancers and affiliate marketers associated with Shopify. The partners are offered an earning of 20 percent revenue share along with impressive e-commerce solutions and product roadmap.
Shopify partners not only make commerce easy for everyone but also helps merchants grow faster. With the first phase of a multi-year engagement in the Partner Program, Shopify has now set its sights on three segments.
1. Rewards
The foremost desire of Shopify with its Partner Program is to provide exceptional rewards to its merchant partners. After all, it is all their effort that results in the company’s success.
“Our partners add unparalleled value to Shopify and our merchants. To recognize and enhance their offerings, we’re making a commitment to include partners in every possible engagement,” Bobby Morrison, Chief Revenue Officer of Shopify, said in a statement.
2. Skills
Shopify’s intent is to power independent selling more than ever before. As it already provides local merchants with a useful platform to sell across the internet, Shopify is now planning to help merchants in developing new skills.
“Our continued engagement in our partner ecosystem is anchored by a singular goal: helping our partners win more business, based on what they’ve told us they need most,” Morrison said.
3. Engagement
Along with powerful tools, Shopify is also planning to host events to ensure a “simplified, engaging partner experience”. In a reply to Finkelstein’s 2022 tweet, The Snow Agency founder and COO Jonathan Snow said that the Partners Program is a “bulletproof” jacket for Shopify in its times of struggle.
“This is what makes Shopify bulletproof for the long haul. Shopify has become the stickiest platform for sellers, tech partners, and (soon to be) consumers,” Snow tweeted.
This is what makes Shopify bulletproof for the long haul. Shopify has become the stickiest platform for sellers, tech partners, and (soon to be) consumers.
— Jonathan Snow, DMD (@drjonathansnow) August 26, 2022
Shopify’s Investment in Partner Program
Shopify’s latest announcement aims at accelerating partner growth with new initiatives. It promises to give partners their due recognition and rewards. In 2023, they are inspired to earn up to 2x or more with the help of a revenue-sharing model. Shopify will also offer promotions to these merchants on referrals to re-investment. It will not only help them close better deals but also form joint marketing ventures and sell more through co-selling programs.
“Shopify’s investment in its Partner Program opens up immediate opportunities for us to grow our business. The partnership team has focused on building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with us and truly listens and responds. The new rewards and incentives are a perfect example of them responding to the voice of their partners,” Mary Krause, Strategic Alliances Manager at CQL, said as per Shopify’s blog.
CQL is a Michigan-based digital commerce agency, which provides solutions for design and technology such as websites and applications.
Isaac Newton, Co-Founder of Pattern, a digital design and e-commerce agency based in California, joined in by saying: “The Partner Program investments are another example of what makes Shopify such an innovative company and powerful platform. The transformation of Shopify’s Partner Program, particularly with more earning potential, will help fuel our growth and support our customers’ goals”.
Educating The Partners
Shopify is aiming to offer comprehensive education with its new initiative. The innovation-driven company recently released more than hundreds of new product updates as part of its Winter ‘23 Edition. With its first-ever certification program, Shopify wishes its partners to help their clients make the most of its innovations. The courses are offered in two segments — business foundation and technical certifications.
After the completion of these certification courses, partners will be offered specialization badges. It is the best way to upskill on existing knowledge and demonstrate product expertise in front of clients.
“Shopify’s pace of product innovation is unprecedented, and their exciting new vision for training and education will unlock more capabilities for EY teams to deepen skills faster and more efficiently,” Warren Tomlin, EY Global Shopify Alliance Leader, said.
“Having access to these tools will accelerate the ability to help EY clients react faster, do more and exceed new consumer expectations,” he added.
Extended Library of Resources
Shopify also expanded the product and sales enablement resource library for its partners. They can now access these features using the partner dashboard. Apart from these offerings, Shopify is also planning to provide live enablement webinars to support the business growth of its merchant partners.
The first phase of a multi-year engagement in the Partner Program ensures more ways of engagement for partners. The goal of this initiative is to help partners build strong relationships within the ecosystem. This will not only reimagine the ecosystem but also support the education of partners. To boost the earnings potential of partners, Shopify is planning to expand virtual and in-person events.
On April 4, 2023, Shopify is planning to celebrate Partner Education Day. This fall, Shopify will also host an in-person event for the felicitation of high-performing commercial partners.
“Shopify’s continued innovation in the program has played a crucial role in our company’s success. That includes their readiness for enterprise-scale commerce, which is the foundation that enables our agency to build world-class websites for some of the largest brands on the planet. Like Shopify we’re committed to constant iteration, and these updates to rewards, education and networking reflect that desire to continue learning and improving together,” Piers Thorogood, Co-Founder, We Make Websites, said in a statement.
“At Imag/nary we invest in iconic, generationally defining brands and the technology solutions that empower them. We have loved working alongside Shopify as they have built out the partner program. The team at Shopify have always gone the extra mile to make sure our portfolio companies have the resources, platform, and attention they need to scale to their maximum potential. We’re thrilled to see Shopify evolve the program and invest further in the partner experience. We are excited to deepen our relationships within this great community, Natalie Massenet, Co-founder and Partner, Imag/nary, joined in as saying.
Fulfilling Merchant Needs
With initiatives like these, Shopify desires to build a long-term relationships with its partners. Shopify believes that partners help shift consumer expectations and come up with rapid innovations in an ever-changing economic landscape. With Partners Program, Shopify wants to strengthen its network of development and digital marketing agencies. This collaboration ensures sure-shot success in technological advancement, system integration, venture capitalism and private equity.
“Our merchant needs are continuously evolving. At Shopify, we’re building new tools to ensure partners have the resources to meet these needs. Together, we will help merchants navigate the next era of commerce,” Ritu Khanna, VP, of Partnerships at Shopify, said.
In October, Shopify welcomed American entertainment company Marvel to its Partners ecosystem. The company launched the Marvel Design Collection app on Shopify. The collection is powered by Californian apparel wholesale company Mad Engine Global. Marvel Design Collection app aims to help Shopify merchants sell Marvel lifestyle products on their online store.
“We’re excited to welcome Marvel and Mad Engine Global to the Shopify App Store, joining our ecosystem of partners who help Shopify merchants further enhance and customize their commerce offerings,” Glen Coates, VP of Product, Shopify said.
“The Marvel fanbase is incredibly passionate, and giving our merchants the ability to connect with those fans by offering officially licensed, high-quality products is a win-win for independent brands and consumers,” Coates added.
With manufacturing and sourcing capabilities in the United States, Mexico and other parts of the world, Mad Engine Global will manufacture and distribute the Super Hero icons products through the Marvel Design Collection app. It’s not a new partnership as the two companies have been manufacturing and selling Marvel merchandise for over 20 years.
Shopify Events For Partners Ecosystem
In September, Shopify hosted Shopify Commerce Day 2022 SEA & India event to allow entrepreneurs and merchants to get together and learn new ways of customer engagement. The four-hour-long event was aimed at helping small business owners boost sales in the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) and India’s festive shopping season.
Gabby Song, Senior Experiential Marketing APAC at Shopify, revealed in a LinkedIn post that the event was attended by over 500 partners and merchants. “It’s been a week after Shopify’s Commerce Day 2022: SEA & IN – the first hybrid event in this region (after Covid) of this scale brought to life. We had more than 500 partners and merchants joined us both IRL (in real life) and virtually as we shared about our products, partner solutions and learnings from our merchants,” she said in her post.
“NGL (not gonna lie), I’m still exhausted but hearing the positive sentiments from the team and our attendees – it makes it all worthwhile. Seeing the ecosystem of partners and merchants come together, hearing the discussions and realising this was exactly what we as a brand needed to do; providing a platform for all to come together,” Song added.
Later in October, Shopify hosted Shopify Unite 2022, a two-day event held in three different cities — London, Toronto and Melbourne. Shopify organized sessions, discussion on development best practices with partners, one-on-one technical office hours and guided hands-on coding workshops during this event.
Shopify Partners For India
Shopify also focuses on partnerships based on geography. In August, Shopify partnered with Interakt to bring a WhatsApp shopping experience for shoppers during India’s festive season. This means with just a single click, carts on WhatsApp chat can be turned into orders on Shopify. Out-of-the-box integration with Payment gateways like Razorpay is available for non-Shopify merchants.
Later in the same month, Shopify partnered with Paytm, India’s most prominent digital payment method, to allow merchants to collect payments seamlessly with Paytm Payment Gateway. Merchant partners were able to accept payments via Paytm Wallet, Paytm UPI, Paytm Postpaid (Buy Now, Pay Later), net banking, debit cards, credit cards and more, claimed the company.
Shopify also promised active customer support on a priority basis. With the rapid boom of e-commerce in India, merchants are adopting digital payments to increase their businesses.
According to a merchant data report, merchant partners from India sold their products to over 70 million buyers across the globe in 2021. Average Indian merchant on Shopify sold their products in 10 international markets. The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are among the top countries where Indian merchants sold their products.
Shopify’s Intent
With Shopify Partners Program, Shopify aims to support individuals and businesses who build, design, and develop solutions for the e-commerce platform. The ecosystem is a network of professionals including developers, designers, marketers, and agencies that work together to help merchants succeed on Shopify.
The Shopify Partners program not only provides partners access to a wide range of resources but also helps them grow their businesses and serve their clients better. For this, Shopify provides exclusive training materials, discounts on Shopify apps and services, a dedicated partner manager for support and guidance and early access to new Shopify features and updates.
