On Wednesday 11th March, Blend Commerce held their first Shopify Meetup in Leamington Spa. Following previously successful meetups, we decided to create a new addition to this quarter’s meetup - a Shopify Merchant Workshop. Selected merchants were invited to the workshop by both Blend and our key partners, LoyaltyLion, ReCharge, SMSBump, and Gorgias.
The Daytime Workshops and One-to-One’s
Starting from 2pm in the afternoon, our four partners, plus ourselves, all had a workshop area each, and Shopify merchants that had been given special invites to the day were given the opportunity to attend 30-minute sessions with each partner. The partners put an incredible amount of effort into their presentations and gave an invaluable insight into how their services can assist the merchant in making their online store a success.
Each of these partners brought something different to the table, to ensure that merchants were given an opportunity to learn and ask questions about the various services on offer.
LoyaltyLion is a loyalty app that is integrated onto a merchants store to help them retain and reward their most loyal customers with discounts, to encourage repeat purchase.
We spoke with Kasia, Partnerships Manager at Loyalty Lion, after the event, who said: “The workshop-style event has proven to be a great idea! We spoke to individual merchants for at least 20 minutes that allowed us to understand their pain points, talk about their requirements in more detail and tailor the workshop to their specific needs. The Shopify Meetup later in the evening had some great speakers too - all Shopify Plus merchants! Blend’s team has proven to be absolutely brilliant not only with the idea but also with their organisational skills, impressive as always. Looking forward to working with Blend on the next event!”
SMSBump is an SMS and automation app for your Shopify store, which can be set up to send messages to your customers in the form of reminders (eg. abandoned cart reminders) or to promote marketing campaigns.
ReCharge is a payment solution to allow customers to set up recurring billing and subscriptions, to promote loyalty to the brand and prevent consumers from going to a competitor to buy.
Rob Barr, in charge of Agency Partnerships at ReCharge, had this to say on the event: "Blend's unique approach to their workshop was a great opportunity for merchants to gain a strong insight into how they can accelerate their growth by leveraging a deeper and better-integrated tech stack. Since ReCharge integrates with all of the represented platforms; Loyalty Lion, Gorgias and SMSBump this led to some insightful conversations for existing merchants to leverage new revenue strategies. The small grouping approach was a fantastic way for both vendors and merchants to get a stronger insight from each side of the table in a more conversational manner."
Gorgias is a customer service platform which integrates together a host of apps and services into one easy to use app.
As well as the workshops, the merchants were given the opportunity for one-to-one’s with the partners to discuss their businesses further.
The Evening Meetup
With doors opening at 6pm to more merchants, the evening started with a drinks reception in the luxurious gardens of the bar. Armed with goodie bags filled with treats from Blend and the partners, the merchants were then invited to take a seat in our private room ready to listen to our special guest speakers.
First up we had Chris Traverse, Head of Engineering from the notably thriving brand, ‘Huel’. They make a range of protein foods, and Chris described the colossal growth they have seen in the last 4 years, and how branding is vital for growth.
Next to take the stage was Noel Mack, the Chief Brand Officer for ‘Gymshark’, one of the top 10 Shopify industries in the world. Noel engaged the audience with his humour and his insightful advice on what to do (and what not to do!) to increase brand awareness and the importance of keeping up with current trends in social media and marketing.
Lastly, was Ben Pethullis, Ecommerce Manager for ‘Manuka Doctor’. Their successful brand of Skincare products and supplements with the Manuka honey ingredient has been hugely popular around the world, and they have also teamed up with some of our partners to see their profits soar.
After these three fantastic speakers, our guests were treated to a buffet, drinks and networking, where we had the opportunity to speak to lots of new contacts and learn about their fascinating businesses.
All-in-all, the event was a great success, and we would like to thank everyone that was able to attend.
If you would like any further information on Blend Commerce, or any of our partners - LoyaltyLion, SMSBump, ReCharge or Gorgias - please do get in touch with us:
