Webinar
Beyond Custom: Why Innovative Brands Are Buying, Not Building
Watch our webinar to hear from leaders at some of the most innovative brands on why they migrated from their custom platforms to Shopify.
About the event
A decade ago, you couldn’t buy an ecommerce platform that did everything you needed it to do—and building custom platforms was the obvious solution. Today, there’s no longer just two choices, and retailers can now have the best of both microservices and monolithic architectures. In this event, we’ll hear from leaders from some of the most innovative brands on the planet on the biggest challenges they faced while building, maintaining, and innovating on a custom platform—and why they ultimately traded their custom builds for faster innovation on Shopify.
Custom platform challenges
Going custom was once the clearest path to building the commerce experiences your customers craved. Our panelists will discuss how their custom platforms ultimately made innovation and growth more difficult.
Rising costs of custom platforms
It has never been more expensive to build and maintain a custom platform. In this webinar, our panelists will share some of the real (and surprisingly high) costs they paid to keep their custom platforms running.
Why innovative brands choose Shopify
Migrations are hard, even when they make sense. Our experts will share the reasons why they decided to make the leap and migrate from their custom platforms to Shopify.
Meet the speakers
Shopify
Eduardo Frias
Eduardo Frias, Shopify's Field CTO for Lifestyle, boasts 30+ years in tech, from startups to Fortune 50 giants. He's led as head of Technology, CIO, and CTO, specializing in digital transformation. Eduardo excels in scaling tech teams to unlock new revenue streams and fuel growth. With degrees from Carnegie Mellon and Universidad de Buenos Aires, he merges tech savvy with strategic insight. Based in Miami, he aids Shopify's enterprise clients in revolutionizing commerce. Think of him as the tech whisperer for Shopify's ambitious growth.
Shopify
Aaron Bartleson
Aaron Bartleson is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify dedicated to helping brands unlock the full potential of Shopify. With a curious mind and a knack for problem-solving, he dives deep into understanding each brand's unique challenges and aspirations. His mission? To craft a tailored game plan that seamlessly integrates Shopify into their existing tech stack, transforming potential into performance. Aaron has become adept at translating complex tech into tangible results, ensuring every brand's vision becomes a reality.
Arhaus
Steven Bauer
Steve Bauer is the Sr. Vice President of E-Commerce & Digital at Arhaus. In his position, he leads the Digital Marketing, E-Commerce Merchandising, Site Operations, and Site Analytics teams. Born and raised in retail (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents), Steve has over 20 years in the Corporate Retail environment. His passions lie at the intersection of Brand, Analytics, and Digital. Previous to his time at Arhaus, Steve held positions within E-Commerce, Marketing, and Merchandising at American Eagle Outfitters, Dots, Sharper Image, and Borders.
CQL
Ryan Donahue
Ryan is the Shopify Practice Lead at CQL, where he leads a team of industry professionals in the design, development, and implementation of world-class e-commerce solutions. Ryan has spent the last 6 years working on eCommerce sites – from re-platforms, to integrations, to marketing and growth, leveraging industry leading platforms such as Shopify Plus, Salesforce, Magento, Workarea, and more. Clients include TOMS Shoes, RUDIS, Guthy|Renker, e.l.f. Cosmetics, PetSmart, Escalade Sports, Stride Rite, Paula’s Choice, and more.
Dollar Shave Club
Kyle Iwamoto
Kyle Iwamoto is the VP Ecommerce at Dollar Shave Club. Over the last 15 years, Kyle has built his career in eCommerce developing expertise across multiple brands ranging from Williams-Sonoma to several other San Francisco startups. As the VP Ecommerce at Dollar Shave Club, Kyle owns revenue and digital platform growth and performance.
Shopify Webinar