Woolman is one of Europe’s leading Shopify partners for global brands and retailers. After seven years in business, it acts as a one-stop-shop for brands whether they’re looking to migrate platforms or build a store from scratch.
When Woolman first started, its three founders had decades of ecommerce experience between them. They quickly saw that Shopify was the perfect platform to streamline the technical elements of ecommerce, freeing brands up to focus on scaling.
We love the apps, we love the integrations, and we love that Shopify takes care of all the nasty old school IT, so you don’t have to worry about it.
— Mikko Rekola, Chief Evangelist, Woolman
Before they’d even finished their first project, the leadership decided to go Shopify exclusive. It’s a choice the brand is proud of: “We’ve done hundreds of projects now, and we love Shopify,” says Mikko Rekola, Chief Evangelist at Woolman. “We started as a small Finnish company serving SMBs, and these days we are global, which is amazing.” In recent years, the business has grown by as much as 30% annually.
Today, Woolman serves a huge range of brands that sell in over 160 countries, from local scale-ups to members of the Fortune 500. For Woolman, Shopify is its differentiator in serving this diverse segment.
There are four key ways it helps them stand out to customers through its platform and its partnership:
1. Using POS to power unified commerce
“When it comes to our differentiation and how we position ourselves in the market, POS is number one,” says Mikko. Shopify POS has been particularly important given the rise of unified commerce, which helps merchants provide a seamless and personalized experience across all of its stores and channels.
Almost all of Woolman’s customers use Shopify POS. “It ensures that all the data flows into the same silo—and that’s one of Shopify’s secret sauces,” explains Mikko. With Shopify POS brands can easily link in-store and online presences using both powerful software and secure hardware. It unifies front and back office functions and creates a single source of truth for data.
“We even have a specific POS team consulting with brands,” adds Mikko. “We can help customers with data services, analyzing or forecasting sales, and much more.”
2. Bolstering international expansion with Shopify Markets
Expanding into new markets is often a priority for brands who work with Mikko and the team at Woolman. Shopify Markets has played a pivotal role in simplifying this process. By deploying it, brands can easily expand to new global audiences with localized websites, the ability to take payments in a range of currencies, and seamless integration with local shipping points.
Being in Europe, Shopify Markets has been a game changer for us [...] You can truly focus on global expansion and running global operations at scale.
— Mikko Rekola, Chief Evangelist, Woolman
3. Growing through both B2B and B2C
Woolman was an early adopter of Shopify’s B2B solutions, which first launched in 2022. It’s helped them further grow through both new businesses and existing clients. “It gives a new opportunity for the whole ecosystem,” says Mikko. “We can serve different types of companies, or the same companies who are already very happy and satisfied with Shopify B2C.”
Keeping both B2B and B2C on the same platform comes with added benefits—it simplifies expansions, reduces maintenance, and keeps crucial operations and data in a single space.
4. Learning from the partner ecosystem
Alongside Shopify’s platform, Woolman also appreciates Shopify’s thriving community network. Other Shopify users and partners frequently share practical guidance and strategies, helping lift one another up. As Mikko says, it’s a different experience than partners find with other platforms: “The whole ecosystem is very welcoming. It’s different from many other ecosystems where agencies are racing against each other.”
With an active community of merchants, partners, and developers, a dedicated set of discussion forums, and a rewarding partner program, Shopify’s flourishing community goes beyond the platform itself.
Like Shopify, Woolman’s ambitions are long-term. The business has just expanded operations into North America and will be looking to serve even more markets in Europe. With unified commerce powered by Shopify opening up even more avenues for growth, Woolman’s future is bright.
We see so many opportunities. It’s not only about physical goods, but digital services. By combining the two with Shopify, we’re creating a new way for commerce.
— Mikko Rekola, Chief Evangelist, Woolman
