SHOPWARE UNPLUGGED PODCAST Shopware Unplugged

In this episode we delve into crafting your ecommerce success story through the transformative power of marketplaces. From strategic insights to practical tips, discover how to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of online commerce and unlock the secrets to sustainable growth and profitability

Get ready to unveil the ultimate ticket to e-commerce supremacy with Shopware Solution Specialist certification. In this captivating episode, Justin Biddle sheds light on the transformative power of the Solution Specialist certification and how it can elevate your e-commerce endeavors to unparalleled heights of success. Discover the unique advantages and game-changing benefits of becoming a certified Shopware expert, as Justin shares real-world insights and success stories from his own illustrious career. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or seasoned professional, this episode is your passport to unlocking the full potential of Shopware solutions and cementing your legacy as an e-commerce expert.

What direction is Shopware moving in and what does it mean for the industry? Kasia is talking with Alexey, new General Manager EMEA at Shopware.
 
Kasia
Hello everyone. It's a really special episode because I have a special guest directly from Shopware. Hi Alexey, I'm really happy to have you here and can you say a bit of yourself?.
 
Alexey
As you might know I'm pretty new to the Shopware community and happy to be part of that and continue to learn that I started in Shopware first of June in the role of general manager for Emea I think moving forward we'll discuss a little bit more what it means. Before that I'm not new at all to the ecommerce world and to the ecommerce industry kind of turned out to be specialized in this area and in these dimension since 2011 was working in Oracle  before then, hybris, recently Spryker and now it is Shopware so that's kind of shortly my journey between 2011, actually now yeah and the journal in the it industry in different capacities in different roles across Emea since already 18 years so I feel myself a little bit old by now sometimes.
 
Kasia
We'd love to hear more about your background and your journey that led you to join Shopware. What's motivated you to be a part of this organization? Please tell us more about yourself because it's very interesting.
 
Alexey
It's quite simple and straightforward. So as mentioned I started my IT career so to say eighteen years ago. Originally as implementation consultant for the year then I kind of quickly figured it out and got the feeling in all of this. Kind of system testing and writing instructions for the users and analyzing the processes is quite interesting and definitely an area to explore but this is not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I felt myself more kind of closer to the commercial function. And this is where I shifted quite early in my career first and became one of the Microsoft Gold partners and then at the end of 2008 was headhunted into Oracle so I was a part of the Oracle retail global business unit organization for about 5 years taking care of the enterprise retailers. Across eastern Europe within Oracle and then as I mentioned already in my short introduction in 2011 an interesting occasion for my future life turned out to happen. Oracle acquired Atg and the Atg became part of our product portfolio which I needed to position to my customers back then so that's how I started my ecommerce journey. So this was quite a successful and interesting journey. In 2013 I was headhunted by a well-known name I think in the European space, a company called Hybris and they asked me to practically kick off and start their operations in Russia, which is my home country originally. This is what I have done and then the hybris got acquired quite soon by the app group and this was kind of my entry point into scp where I spent 8 years and the scp gave me great opportunity to work in many countries and many geographies so relocated end of 2017 to Switzerland was running in swiss business and there and then had a original responsibility as the ceo for Ema North business how Icp calls it a covering the Uk Benelux Nordics and France then in total was like quite a long corporate journey with Oracle. I started feeling okay either stay in this beautiful corporate world like kind of forever or I want to go somewhere more dynamic where I have got also more freedom to execute and more freedom to build things from scratch and this is where I joined the Spryker team so early twenty twenty one I was in for two and a half years covering the international expansion of the business across various geographies such as Uk, Nordic, France, Middle East, Spain, and lately Apac and with a strong focus on the enterprise segment because I think many listeners of these podcasts know this is exactly the focus of Spryker. Earlier this year we connected with Stefan Hamann whom I guess everybody knows on this podcast for natural reasons and we start

Kasia speaks with Tim @B2Bsellers Suite about where B2B is going and how fast it grew during the last few years.

Borys talks with Laura Kremer, an ecommerce consultant, about the interesting challenge why customers and agencies need support of 3rd party consultants. Listen to learn how to do it right and what are benefits for the customer and the agency.
Borys We we can start with the with the break hello everybody I usually say we have a special guest but today we have a special guest Lara Kramer it it. is a special hour because we not often have women on podcasts. Yeah.
Borys Everything about shopware usually is about guys men discussing about agencies implementations and so on and so on So I'm super happy that you are that you are here. You also work as a freelancer and a consultant. So I think we we might have an interesting topic for for everybody. But I think will be great if you could introduce yourself and say few words, What? exactly you do.
 
Laura  Yeah, thank you Boris for inviting me and you're so right there are unfortunately and not so many women and ecommerce. Um, so I'm trying to represent today some woman in tech and  Nice to meet you all? Um I'm the founder and Ceo of canlu gi biha based in Germany and um, while trying to explain what I'm doing on one hand I'm working as a consultant ecommerce
 
Laura I'm advising B Two C and B Two B companies within yeah questions like what kind of shop systems should they use what questions do they have for within ecommerce or within ecommerce landscapes. And on the other hand I'm working as kind of a matchmaker Um, between those companies or clients and suitable um solution for wires. This could be agencies freelances Tech solutions. Everything like that.
 
Borys - Okay, okay, so so ah, if we look at the typical market. There are agencies. Yeah, who are providing a different type of Services. So How do you see the role of an external consultant like you. You know what are the advantages I Assume for the customer to have an external consultant when someone decides to go with with the implementation shopware or if someone is looking for ah ah for the ecommerce platform. What's better in having consultant versus just going and asking you know 5 different agencies.
 
Laura  Yeah that's a very good question I think it has benefits for both of them. Um, for me personally I work very independent means I'm using my knowledge or I gain knowledge within the agency side client side and also within. Shopper itself. So um, yeah I'm using all this knowledge from Eight plus years within ecommerce to advice clients. Um independently maybe choosing the right shop system like shopware or maybe a our solution. Whatever fits to their needs and um it could also be a great benefit for agencies because I see myself and um or I like working very close with agencies means I'm maybe a pre-part before their work begins I'm clarifying strategies.
 
Laura  - I’m helping the client be or to have a more clear vision of what they are needing creating the briefing together and then I can yeah create a perfect match between those requirements and agency who fits very well.
 
Laura - The client and I think so it has benefits for both sides.
 
Borys - Yeah, and I see more in the more in general consultants on the market. Yeah why? Why do you think it happens why there is a demand on the market for those type of services or it's more. There is enough knowledge enough skilled people. So they decide to become ah become a consultant.
 
Laura - Yeah,, that's a good Question. We have a lot of consultants. That's true I Think on one hand we really have great people on the market so they gained experience maybe On. Merchant side or they decided to become self-employed after working for a tech solution Provider. Um, and normally I think there's enough space for all of us on the table and um I Also think could be.
 
Laura - It’s not possible to advise clients within all specific topics within ecommerce because if we are looking at ah ecommerce and total you could advise within strategy within maybe Marketpla

Kasia talks with Dennis and Freek on what is the real value of Ecommerce talk with Miron Glass