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Where is the E-commerce market at right now? This week I got Shopify’s Chief Platform Officer Harley Finkelstein to discuss the origins of Shopify, industry trends, and what makes a business successful from overseeing 30,000+ E-Commerce stores. You can follow Harley on Twitter at @hfizzle and his personal website at www.harleyf.com.

Topics Discussed:

• 03:10 – Origins of the Shopify platform
• 03:40 – Market positioning of Shopify
• 04:50 – Giving up a legal career to join a startup
• 05:20 – How easy is it to start on Shopify?
• 06:30 – Where is Shopify at now?
• 06:50 – Retail sales vs eCommerce sales in North America
• 07:30 – How eCommerce will impact physical retail in the future
• 08:30 – E-Commerce and the technology adoption curve
• 10:30 – Democratization of online retail
• 11:50 – Common themes in successful stores on Shopify
• 12:45 – The two biggest categories of stores on Shopify
• 14:20 – Kickstarter and Shopify
• 15:00 – Being the authority in your market
• 16:20 – The boutique shopping experience offline and online
• 17:10 – General background of Shopify users
• 18:00 – Biggest pain points with new store owners
• 19:45 – Creating loops in your marketing to grow sales
• 20:05 – Shopify’s view of mobile commerce
• 20:30 – “Snacking” on your mobile during downtime
• 21:15 – Shopify’s mobile platform for store owners
• 22:20 – The uncertain future of big box retail
• 24:00 – Six months is the new six years
• 24:20 – Will same day shipping be disruptive?
• 25:10 – Is free shipping a standard now?
• 25:30 – What makes Shopify stand out from the competition?
• 27:35 – Open source vs hosted E-Commerce platforms
• 28:25 – Shopify businesses that you should check out

Mentions in the Episode:

• Charliedog and Friends
• Tim Ferriss
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Seth Godin
• Daymond John
• Eric Reis
• Tina Eisenberg
• Smoofer
• Shopify
• Tobias Lutke
• Harley Finkelstein
• Chinese Valentines Day
• Kickstarter
• Magento
• Select Start Studios
• DODOcase
• Coffee Joulies
• Tattly

Episode Length: 32:17

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