Google Cloud and Shopify have joined forces around a common goal — amplifying what retailers of all sizes can do with best-in-class commerce technology.
It’s a strategic long term partnership with outsized impact, one both the Shopify and Google Cloud teams are passionate about continuing to grow.
We sat down with three members of the Google Cloud team to dive deeper into the partnership, focusing on the innovative solutions Shopify provides for merchants in the Google Cloud Marketplace.
A few highlights from this strategic partnership:
- Shopify is now officially available on Google Cloud Marketplace.
- Meeting customers where they are by launching new features of YouTube shopping
- We're creating incredible, innovative customer experiences with the power of Generative AI
Together Shopify and Google help millions of merchants meet customers’ increasing demands
Shopify and Google understand the ever-increasing demands customers place on merchants. Customers want seamless checkout experiences, social media-integrated tap-to-buy options, and the most updated features available, wherever they go. While shoppers may be discerning about who they’ll buy from based on a variety of factors, expectations for an easy-to-navigate shopping experience are universal, without regard for the size or budget that any given brand has to dedicate to their commerce experience. Giant enterprise or small entrepreneur, customers want their shopping sites to work quickly, and to work well.
“What we're seeing in the marketplace is that customers expect a seamless experience, whether they're buying online, in the store, in an app, or being able to pick up a journey where they left off,” says Arif Hirani, Global Account Executive at Google Cloud. “Personalization is at an all-time high. Merchants should know my preferences, how I shop, and what I need.”
In the past, keeping up with constant customer-driven innovation would have necessitated relying on large scale engineering teams. But oftentimes, the larger the scale, the slower the innovation.
“For instance, customers expect to be able to watch [a product] on YouTube and, purchase it on Shopify,” says Arif. “These are things that, if they [merchants] had engineering teams of twenty, thirty, forty people, they just wouldn't be able to keep up.”
With their partnership, Shopify and Google can leverage their scale with co-releases, absorbing the complexity so their merchants don’t have to. This allows businesses on Shopify and Google Cloud to focus on delivering the best shopping experiences possible and enabling customers to shop when, where, and however is most convenient for them—all by tapping into Shopify and Google’s technology.
Remember that customer expectation for buying product from a YouTube video? It’s now a reality—customers can be redirected to a merchant's online store to purchase, and merchants can leverage Shopify's best-converting checkout. This puts Shopify merchants ahead of its competition. And it came to fruition because Google and Shopify recognized a joint need, then worked together to make it a reality.
Shopify and Google drive scalable solutions for enterprise merchants
Google Cloud is Shopify’s cloud provider. That means that Shopify businesses can rely on the scale and reliability of one of the world’s fastest growing cloud services companies, helping keep merchant stores powered 24/7 year round. This combination of reliability and innovation enables merchants to scale more rapidly than on other ecommerce platforms.
“Google Cloud provides a technology that runs Shopify and makes it the most performant, reliable, scalable, and innovative commerce platform out there,” says Tessa Liu-Man-Hin, ISV Partner Sales at Google Cloud.
Likewise, building on Shopify brings many benefits, enabling businesses to go-to-market quickly, and Google often sends their merchants Shopify’s way.
"We tell many customers and retailers, especially large enterprise retailers, to go with Shopify. Use the best of Google and Shopify’s technology and get to market fast. Because right now, we're at a time when customers expect the best. They expect a consistent experience across different channels." – Arif Hirani, Global Account Executive, Google Cloud
With Google Cloud’s solid customer base in enterprise, Shopify is an important part of their focus on helping large enterprises everywhere accelerate their businesses through innovation.
Says Tessa, “Having Shopify as our partner allows us to open new doors with those customers.”
Shopify and Google Cloud share the same culture of innovation
The partnership's success is partly due to the two companies sharing a similar culture.
“The magic of our partnership is in Shopify and Google Cloud having a similar ethos,” says Nancy McConnell, Director of Strategic Customer Partnerships at Google Cloud. “The cultural DNA relating to a strong engineering culture with a desire to innovate and move quickly means that we can make magic happen when we work together.”
Nancy adds that the unique tech challenges of scaling merchant sites encourages Google to explore cutting-edge solutions for merchants.
“Shopify challenges Google to help bring the breadth, scale, and depth that they need in our technology to power Shopify's business." – Nancy McConnell, Director of Strategic Customer Partnerships, Google Cloud
One great example is how Shopify and Google are working together to create incredible experiences for merchants on the platform, harnessing the power of generative AI. Ultimately, Google and Shopify’s partnership enables both companies to re-invent enterprise commerce, with a strong focus on product development. “We can see the innovation that Shopify is bringing into the market,” says Tessa. “And it's exciting as a partner to know that this will bring us a joint opportunity down the road in the enterprise segment.”
Shopify is now available on Google Cloud Marketplace
Earlier this year, Google and Shopify announced that Shopify would now be available on Google Cloud Marketplace for enterprise customers to more easily procure and manage Shopify within Google’s infrastructure.
“This provides a commercial benefit,” says Tessa, “as it will allow enterprises to retire their Google Cloud commits using their Shopify spend.”
Ultimately, Shopify and Google Cloud’s long-standing partnership will help millions more merchants deliver superior shopping experiences to customers.
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