Why Ecosystem-First Matters On Shopify — Anton Ekström | Why Shopify Is The Commerce OS, How AI And Shopify Sidekick Support Merchants, Why Paid Beats Free Shopify Themes, What To Check In A Shopify Theme, How To Build A B2B Store On Shopify (#434)

In this episode, we explore why a Shopify ecosystem-first approach is key for e-commerce growth. 

Anton Ekström, an entrepreneur and expert at Iggy Agency, explains why merchants should see Shopify as a powerful operating system, not just a simple store builder. 

He also shares tips on how to choose the right theme, avoid app clutter, and leverage Shopify for both B2B and DTC brands.

Topics discussed in this episode:  

• Why Shopify is now an operating system for commerce.
• How merchants should focus on sales, not code complexity.
• What to look for in a Shopify theme to avoid app clutter.
• Why a paid theme can be cheaper than a free one.
• How working within the ecosystem speeds up projects.
• What makes a Shopify theme mobile-friendly.
• How to build a successful B2B store on Shopify.
• Why you should talk to a Shopify partner early.
• What an agency's typical onboarding process looks like.
• How AI and Shopify Sidekick can help merchants. 
  
  

Links & Resources 

Website: https://iggy.agency/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anton-ekstrom/

Get access to more free resources by visiting the show notes at https://tinyurl.com/ypx7996f

______________________________________________________

LOVE THE SHOW? HERE ARE THE NEXT STEPS!

Follow the podcast to get every bonus episode. Tap follow now and don’t miss out!

Rate & Review: Help others discover the show by rating the show on Apple Podcasts at https://tinyurl.com/ecb-apple-podcasts

Join our Free Newsletter: https://newsletter.ecommercecoffeebreak.com/

Support The Show On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EcommerceCoffeeBreak

Partner with us: https://ecommercecoffeebreak.com/podcast-sponsorship/

Transcript

00:04:16:10 - 00:04:38:00

All the Shopify things that are listed in the theme store are built on being mobile first, meaning they are responsive in tablets. Desktop view Mobile view. So the end merchant doesn't need to think about it. Instead, they should focus on what sections is inside to see what kind of features does it have.

00:04:38:02 - 00:04:56:14
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to another episode of the E-commerce Coffee Break podcast. Shopify is the platform of choice for millions of brands around the world, but here's the catch. Too many sellers see it as just a simple store build up. In reality, Shopify is a powerful ecosystem. When used in the right way, helps brands grow faster and to avoid costly mistakes.

00:04:56:16 - 00:05:16:17

Today, we'll explore why an ecosystem first approach matters on Shopify. Joining me today is Anton Ekstrom. He's an entrepreneur, e-commerce expert at agency, and he specializes in Shopify and Shopify plus helping brands boost sales and scale operations. You have a lot to cover, so let's dive right into it. Hey, Anthony, welcome to the show alone. Thanks for having me.

00:05:16:19 - 00:05:51:09
Speaker 1
Many motion see Shopify just as a simple store builder, and it was in the beginning, but it has changed a lot. What's wrong with that view? I mean, the view is natural. I actually sometimes describe it like that myself to keep it very, very straightforward. But I mean, it's grown into what I usually call the operating system where you can use some kind of, yeah, a center for your e-commerce being online or offline in retail, wherever you do the sales, it is your operating system, your center where you do everything.

00:05:51:09 - 00:06:13:15

And I think that's that's the kind of ecosystem that Shopify has been been building into, basically. And but I think the web page builder aspect of it is that, you know, it is simple and very straightforward for a new early stage startup, an entrepreneur with an idea to just build a Shopify store and try selling your product or service.

00:06:13:18 - 00:06:39:14

So in that sense, I think it is it is not really a store builder or however you want to formalize it. So yeah, I agree with some point. Okay. I started working with Shopify eight or nine years ago, a long time ago when it was very simple, very straightforward. Now, if someone comes in, starts working on Shopify, it might be just overwhelming because there's so many features in there.

00:06:39:16 - 00:07:04:17

What kind of advice would you give a brand just starting with Shopify, to get used to Shopify as an ecosystem? Yeah, that's a very good question. And the question I get a lot from a day to day basis and I think that focusing that the benefit that you get on Shopify is that you don't necessarily need to think about complexity of code and logics.

00:07:04:19 - 00:07:30:02

I think that focusing on commerce, driving sales and a focus on the core business is what drives success today and since your question was related to Shopify, I think Shopify merchant should focus on commerce, sales, conversion rate, you know, building the the success of how it can scale and thrive and not dive too much into building complex solutions around code and complexity.

00:07:30:02 - 00:07:54:08

I think that was in the past and I think today to make the most use of the platform or the OS the operating system I think too is to stay eco system aligned, meaning utilize the native functionality of Shopify, the surrounding apps themes and the open API for, for integrations to, you know, ERP providers, logistics, supply chains and whatnot.

00:07:54:08 - 00:08:17:05

So that would be my advice for, for any Shopify merchant, whether size in the last years I always when I was coaching people, they were always very focused on the design of their template, wanted to make immediately changes to the template when it comes to the pure design aspect of Shopify, and you're doing this a lot. What's your approach there?

00:08:17:07 - 00:08:44:19

Well, I think there's two kinds of approach. The one that we have really put impact on, on on the agency is to stay ecosystem aligned and utilizing the premium themes that Shopify offers. And there are a number of reasons for this in our view that is to stay out of the code complexity of bug fixing and instead just building on top of of the current offerings that you have in the theme store.

00:08:44:19 - 00:09:09:12

And there's not a natural competitiveness in the theme store where the theme developers always need to stay on top of things and making sure that they deliver solid themes basically. So I think by just injecting into a already existing theme that has, you know, the technical SEO, structured data, pre-loading of sections, you know, all the stuff that emergent doesn't necessarily need to think about.

00:09:09:14 - 00:09:27:13

That's a good foundation to build on top of. And then when you have cases with, you know, B2B merchants wanting to build blended storefronts with B2B and B2C operations, you can just jack into a pre-made, you know, template, if you will, and then build on top of it. And then of course, you can add customizations and build on top of it.

00:09:27:15 - 00:09:55:03

But, you know, the fun part or the part that I really, you know, focus on right now is to help merchants that are already on Shopify to actually move more into the ecosystem, which might sound a bit weird because that would maybe sound like they're moving more into a vendor lock. But actually it makes them even more modular because they are not as dependent on customization.

00:09:55:05 - 00:10:13:21

So, you know, one typical case is that, you know, we have a merchant that has been building a custom theme for, you know, a number of years ago with a very good Shopify agency. But they come to us because they want to be even more aligned with the ecosystem, making use of the theme upgrades to new functionality to Shopify roll.

00:10:13:23 - 00:10:35:22

And you know, one example being the online store 2.0 that got released a few years ago, a lot of the merchants were stuck on on older under all the themes and all their custom builds. And you know, adding complexity is something that I think more and more e-commerce companies is moving away from. It's not needed. It was in the past.

00:10:36:00 - 00:10:56:18

You know, I usually say, you know, it's a bit of a slogan, but you know, companies were tech focused tech first, but now we're helping them being commerce first. They're actually looking at what drives their sales. I think this approach is the right to do so, because at the end of the day, a DTC brand or a B2B brand, they want to sell their products.

00:10:56:20 - 00:11:24:02

Now, when it comes to technology, and I think you have some funny stories about that, a lot of stores are overloaded with apps, external apps. The App Store is very tempting. There's thousands of apps, but Shopify is also getting a lot of these features in their own ecosystem. What do you experience with brands coming to you and what kind of a mess they have with external apps?

00:11:24:04 - 00:11:46:12

Yeah, that's a very, very good question. I think I've seen it all. I think the calls there are about between like 25 or 30 apps, which is kind of insane. But to be honest, like I divided. So when I explain to someone there's two different apps, you have frontend apps loading in the browser and they have the backend apps that doesn't really affect the storefront.

00:11:46:14 - 00:12:20:01

So as long as you keep the number of front end apps to a very bare minimum, I would say don't think too much about it. But when doing performance optimization and looking at performance, of course the number of scripts you have in the browser, meaning, you know, apps voting that will affect the storefront performance. What I usually recommend going back to the previous statement about being ecosystem first aligned is know make sure to to choose a fitting theme from the beginning with a set amount of features that you might want.

00:12:20:01 - 00:12:43:01

So for example, you're a cosmetic brand you want to show before and after pictures. Well, make sure to use look after that section when you do the procurement, the looking and and you know, comparing themes. So you already have it. Or if you're a B2B brand, you know, make sure you have the quick order forms, quantity, volume, pricing or whatnot so that you won't be app dependent.

00:12:43:03 - 00:13:13:13

And I would also say that if you are on a budget, let's say you're in a, you know, early stage startup, don't have too much money in the bank. You know, I was still make the investment to go for, for a paid theme because it will actual be cheaper down the line than starting out on a fresh free theme but then having to be app dependent and installing a bunch of apps because you know, quick forward five or six months, then you will have like five apps and that's money you could save and performance you could have saved.

00:13:13:13 - 00:13:39:23

So it's it's a waiting game. Of course, now coming back to design, brand language, customized themes, obviously out of the box themes and I would agree a paid theme probably is much more stable than anything custom built. Obviously a brand wants to have it in their design and that's where you come in along. Does it take to get a paid theme to a branded theme?

00:13:40:01 - 00:14:10:11

Yeah, I mean, this is the big selling point for working within the ecosystem. The if you would compare it to a legacy build where you would have like very big design process coming into development queue face, you know, you would have 16 week product, right? But designing a project in Shopify, a building on top of a prepaid theme and then working on top of it, of course it can be able to add customized design features, but you don't need to reinvent that code structure and architecture behind the theme, right?

00:14:10:13 - 00:14:33:18

And this is that. So to answer your question, the timeline would be drastically reduced when you work with this approach. And that is why now our kind of approach reduces the timeline, it reduces the scope, and it makes find your product fast to market and the customer, meaning the merchant, is staying with something that they own. They own the theme.

00:14:33:20 - 00:14:56:14

They can make use of the theme upgrades. They're not in a vendor lock to any agency. They can change partner however they want. And this approach also aligns with, you know, Shopify roadmap on how they view their partner ecosystem, right? So I think that is the best way to look at design. And then of course, you know, there are there are different brands are usually a lifestyle aisle and fashion brands that once specified design.

00:14:56:16 - 00:15:17:02

You know, that's where we come in and use some kind of template, but then add customizations on top of it using development. So I think that is a very good way to look at it. Mm hmm. Most traffic nowadays is coming through from mobile devices, so you need to be mobile first and that's where the sales are coming in.

00:15:17:04 - 00:15:47:23

How do you advise your customers to find a mobile friendly theme? What's the process there? Yeah, so the Shopify theme store, they have a very broad set of policies for the theme developers. Then the theme developers on Shopify need to be very, very specific when they develop the themes and it's very proper guidelines. So at the end, the idea there is that when picking a theme, so for example, you're you're an entrepreneur, you're not too tech savvy.

00:15:48:01 - 00:16:14:02

The idea is to just be able to go in there, look for an inspiring theme without having to think about is this mobile friendly? Does it have structured data for SEO? Is it preloading sections? Is it lazy loading images? You know, and so the answer there is that all the Shopify themes that are listed in the theme store are built on being mobile first, meaning they are responsive in, you know, tablets, desktop view, mobile view.

00:16:14:04 - 00:16:39:17

So the and merchant doesn't need to think about it. Instead, they should focus on what sections is inside of theme, what kind of features does it have coming back to before? I know. Are you a cosmetic brand? Make sure you have the skin voice maybe you want before and off the slider, etc. etc.. So and and that's the good part of, you know, being this ecosystem that Shopify is, it's kind of a pillared room, right?

00:16:39:17 - 00:17:08:10

You have a payload walls, ceiling floor that's ultimately made because you as a merchant should be able to not make any wrong decisions. I mean, the kind of wrong decisions you could take are minimal, right? And I think that's the good part. So if you're a Shopify and a Shopify Plus partner and a lot of listeners might not know the difference between a Shopify account and a Shopify plus account and what that involves, Can you explain that to us?

00:17:08:12 - 00:17:41:17

Yeah, and actually we're not. Plus yet. We're on the way to plus we actually got upgraded to being a Shopify select partner this July, which was a very big milestone for us since we were a pretty young agency in the sense that we have and we have just been around for nearly two years. And that being said, Shopify has their tiered system of partners, meaning, you know, experts within the ecosystem and the as you go, there are different criteria for a partner to meet on, you know, revenue to Shopify and amount of certifications.

00:17:41:17 - 00:18:11:15

They call it verified skill badges, which is a way for us as a partner to stay on top of things and being certified within the theme team. Sorry. So yeah, I mean, so we are on the way to become a plus partner and you know, there's different tiers basically that we as a partner can, can reach. And if you're a merchant looking to collaborate with a partner, this is one way for them to kind of see where in the tier system that the partner is basically.

00:18:11:17 - 00:18:35:04

Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Now, coming from B2C two B2B, a lot of brands might think that Shopify is focused on B2C businesses, but it has evolved quite a lot into B2B businesses. What kind of features are involved in building a theme, a store that is really working also in the B2B space? Got very good question. And this is a big here in Northern Europe.

00:18:35:04 - 00:18:59:01

This is a segment that we see is growing rapidly. I think any Shopify partner around the globe could could agree that Shopify B2B is growing rapidly and but yeah, so you have basically two ways of building Shopify B2B the right way. There is three options, but if we should focus on the two ones that are the very best that we see, it is to build on top of Shopify.

00:18:59:03 - 00:19:22:19

And this is the highest plan in Shopify. And there are two ways to build. You have the dedicated storefronts, which is like you have one storefront, one Shopify plan for direct to consumer and you have another plan for B2B. And this is very good if you have, let's say, not too flexible operations in terms of B2B and you want to have a specific wholesale inspired by your journey.

00:19:22:21 - 00:19:43:17

And then this is a good option where you can jump into a theme like Keystone, for example, which is again, a B2B specific theme, and then use something else for the direct to consumer storefront. So this is one way it's called dedicated so as to work. It's dedicated only for the DTC and the B2B and the trade offs there is that, you know, it's two different plans.

00:19:43:17 - 00:20:23:20

So of course it's a more a bit more pricier. But then there are very good improvements that you get from being a dedicated storefront. And then you have the blended storefront and that's the sound is it's kind of blending the direct to consumer and the business to business buyer journey to one storefront. And this is often when you have one Shopify Plus plan, you have one storefront, you have one admin that you work through, you have your company, you have it price lists, you have everything segmented and ready in this Shopify admin view, and then you use a Shopify plus exclusive theme with some features that is only for Shopify plus like quantity and volume

00:20:23:20 - 00:20:56:20

and buying, etc. on P2P. And this is very good when you run both B2B and B2C and these are very good. Often for the ones that doesn't have too strict, the feature or policy or guidelines when developing the store. And and of course it's a bit more cost efficient since you're running on 1 to 1 Shopify plan. And then so in a typical B2B product on Shopify, we usually start by assessing where you are, what is the right B2B for you?

00:20:57:01 - 00:21:21:00

Are you looking for combining the two C and B to be in one single storefront based on log in? Well, then you should maybe look at a blended, but if you if you run complex and very logic heavy B B2B operations maybe integrate it to a separate ERP or you have a factory or anything like it and a bit dedicated storefront might be the most fitting for you.

00:21:21:02 - 00:21:50:08

So those are the main two ways that then there is the third one, which I can mention very shortly, and that is just using a normal Shopify plan and looking for a B2B application in the Shopify App Store and there are trade offs, good, bad things with this as well. But I usually recommend that if you want to do with the proper way, the aligned way with Shopify ecosystem, I would really push for being on the Shopify Plus plan and utilizing it natively.

00:21:50:10 - 00:22:14:03

Mm hmm. And it shows you how many variations you have was in Shopify and how powerful the ecosystem is. Now for our listeners, that might be a bit overwhelmed and just looking at their own start, their own business. And sometimes you don't see the forest because of the trees. When is the right moment to approach an agency like yours, to get some outside view and get some optimization and expertise into your business?

00:22:14:05 - 00:22:32:02

Yeah, of course you can take my words lightly here, since I'm a salesman and on budget basis, I think I think you should contact a Shopify partner or consultant whenever you have a question. All right. I don't think you need to contact a partner only when you have a big project in mind or migration in mind or anything like it.

00:22:32:02 - 00:23:14:00

So whenever you have a question on how should I in like how should I utilize the platform or the ecosystem, how should I do this the most efficient way? That's a good reason to start a dialog with the Shopify partner, and maybe it requires just an easy yes or no be a male, maybe it requires one hour of work, but I think the merchants can be utilizing the partner ecosystem bit more actually for the normal day to day tasks as well, not to mention no business operations and how to use it more with a business development, how they can think long term, making strategic decisions that will affect different side things.

00:23:14:00 - 00:23:42:02

You know, you have the normal domino effect. So I think even the smaller decisions are very important and get it right. So I think that's a good reason to start looking for a Shopify partner in the beginning, a dialog. I think that's a very good point, just to reach out, not when the house is on fire or a bigger project is coming in, but just trying to find someone who basically a company that is you on the journey with Shopify now who's your perfect customer?

00:23:42:04 - 00:24:06:01

Oh well, the perfect perfect customer is someone that you know knows kind of what they're looking for. It's always easier for us as a partner to give good answers if the question is right. Now, That being said, you know, sometimes you don't even know what to ask. Right? But I think, you know, clear communication, knowing what you're looking for in some sense and is a very good start.

00:24:06:02 - 00:24:36:20

But I think that's a good start in any relationship. So I think, yeah, good communication and just being straightforward and then trying to stay solution driven from both sides, that's usually a good concept for success. Mm hmm. Tell me about your typical onboarding process for a new client. What steps are involved? How long does it usually take? Yeah, a normal onboarding is that we agree on a scope and then we start working together and usually we have these phases or we have a discovery workshop where we bombard with a few questions.

00:24:36:23 - 00:25:02:06

Those are often very long question. And when we try to identify every every scope and every every part of the business and we call it a gap analyzes and then we move on to development, which is basically like we start building and in a migration product that would be setting up migration, connecting to APIs, cookie crawling or whatever methods we use for, you know, extracting data.

00:25:02:08 - 00:25:24:13

And then, you know, once we have done the migration or development park, then we come to the quality assurance phase where we basically test everything and then we're going live. So this is the the phases that we use and depending on the service that is used, those are a bit different. But in general, those are the kind of steps that we use and the onboarding in itself.

00:25:24:13 - 00:25:49:14

I mean, it's very straightforward and I think we have done this now for two years, so we have gathered a lot of feedback and input on things that we haven't improved on. I think right now we have a very solid onboarding and onboarding of all the merchants. Before we come to the end, one question I always need to ask is what I Shopify is heavily investing into AI, also partnering with Open the AI.

00:25:49:16 - 00:26:11:04

What's your take on that? Well, I love it. I think it's super fun and they release a ton of features. I am heavily into the sidekick. I use it a lot actually, and, and for anyone listening, I if you don't like the sidekick UI within the Shopify dashboard, I would highly suggest that you should just use it as your own CBT.

00:26:11:06 - 00:26:31:03

You can actually search for it if you're going to the dashboard. And then where you search for Jupiter is, you can search for a Shopify or Shopify sidekick. It's very good. Whenever you're stuck or feel like you need to reach out to a friend, you can just ask sidekick and it will give you a very good answer. And this is also for Shopify developers app devs, theme devs.

00:26:31:03 - 00:26:49:18

It's catering all of them, whereas before you needed to prompt your own sidekick. So I think that's good. That's a low hanging fruit that anyone can use, but I think the, you know, ecommerce, I just turning back to myself, I used it today actually I was looking for a new pair of AirPods, so I wonder where can I find it?

00:26:49:18 - 00:27:11:19

The cheapest near me? So I think the way we use air, if we look at the lens, I use them as a kind of replacement for Googling. Honestly, like I just open up my Jupiter app and then I Google, but I do it in jeopardy. So the question is more when will we replace the word googling to do pitying or anything else?

00:27:11:19 - 00:27:33:10

Like because I think that's down the line where we will end up maybe. Yeah, I would totally agree. If I look at my own workspace, probably my invisible friend which is called to pretty or closed or Germany depending on the task, is definitely heading that way. Cool. Before our coffee break comes to end today, is there anything you want to share with our listeners that you haven't covered yet?

00:27:33:12 - 00:27:54:16

No, I don't think so. I think the most important thing that I really try to push for, for the current Shopify merchants is to really think about being commerce first and staying away from unnecessary complexity. Because while a simple code line or simple customization right here, right now might solve the problem, this will add up and build on top of things.

00:27:54:16 - 00:28:15:19

So if you're unfamiliar, reach out to a partner. It could be anyone in the partner ecosystem, but make sure to really ask questions and ask for strategic advice. I think that's the best that a merchant can do right now. Where can people go and find out what a bunch of guys they can reach out to us via a digital agency, which is our website where they can read all of our services.

00:28:15:19 - 00:28:34:16

And for me they can just look up me on LinkedIn. My name is Anthony Eckstrom with a Swedish URL, but I'm sure you can search for that as well. So Anthony Ekstrom And where I am usually pretty active, so those are the contact ways. I would make it even easier. I put the links in the show notes and you're just one click away.

00:28:34:18 - 00:28:49:20

Even better. And thanks so much for the overview of what Shopify and its ecosphere actually can do, and I think it's always good to reach out to someone who has expertise like you and to get an insight what really helps in that business. Thanks so much for your time today. Thank you so much.