Harley Finkelstein

Jun 6, 2023

No Comments “There’s an incredible energy in retail, and it’s very inspiring,” says Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify (source: author) June 5, 2023 On May 26, to open the last day of C2 Montréal at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, attendees had the chance to hear Shopify President Harley Finkelstein speak with two Canadian “unicorns” – Hyla Nayeri, co-founder of swimwear and activewear company 437 and Joanna Griffiths, founder of the underwear company Knix. Two entrepreneurs who knew better than anyone how to use influencers to conquer the North American market with their respective brands. The result: an in-depth discussion of the central role that content creators have taken in building brands in the age of social marketing. After the presentation of her guests, Harley Finkelstein offered a little historical reminder in the form of a “trivia”, recalling that the first “shopping center” had been created in 1876 in Philadelphia, by the businessman John Wanamaker . My belief is that for the past 50 to 100 years, retail has been very boring, says Harley Finkelstein. It always comes back to the same thing: bigger stores, water slides, lights fancy…For the most part, retail has been incredibly one-dimensional. » And until recently, he adds, the choice was to buy in store or online. However, according to him, the tide is turning. The thing that makes me most optimistic is that the future of trading looks very exciting. It now feels like retail can happen anywhere. One can listen to a song on Spotify and purchase the artist’s merchandise directly from their page. One can watch a video on TikTok and buy a product by clicking on a link embedded in the video. There’s an incredible energy in retail and it’s very inspiring. » Influencers looking for products The president of Shopify goes a step further, to explain what distinguishes today’s way of marketing services and products. We have a new breed of entrepreneur-creators who get the audience first, and then figure out what to sell to them. This is exactly the opposite of what we have known historically. Harley Finkelstein recalled that for a Mr Beast, who creates his own chocolate bar and burger banners, there is an army of influencers who do not have this ambition, preferring to endorse brands for the quality of their products. Social commerce didn’t exist just five years ago, he insists. And by 2025, it will cross the two trillion dollar mark. There are a lot of things going on. » Influencers… too “transactional” Is the social turn going to the heads of influencers? That’s what guest entrepreneurs Hyla Nayeri and Joanna Griffiths seem to be telling us, who both sense a shift in attitude in the way influencers interact with brands. The challenge with influencers right now is that it’s getting a little too transactional, says Hyla Nayeri. We have to bring it back to relationships. » The founder of 437 tells us that some TikTokeurs can receive 50 to 100,000 dollars per year to give visibility to brands. It is the salary of an employee, she argues. They are part of our team. We must treat them, respect them and collaborate with them as if they were members of our team. And the reverse is also true. However, some communicate through an intermediary, without taking the time to have a conversation with us. To explain to us their strategies to achieve our acquisition or notoriety objectives. » The message, therefore, would be to bring the notion of “social” back into “social marketing”. Discover our training courses: