The Shopify Merchant Lounge

San Francisco

I opened this in 2018. It hosted over 4,000 visitors before the pandemic shut it down in March 2020.

Shopify is a digital-first company, but the merchants it serves live in the real world. There was no place where a merchant could walk in, get help, learn something, meet other merchants, and feel like they were part of something bigger than their own store. So I built one.

The space

The Merchant Lounge lived inside Shopify San Francisco and was open to the public four days a week: workshops, 1:1 support appointments, and co-working, all free.

  • 4,000+ visitors before the March 2020 shutdown
  • Open 4 days a week
  • Multiple events per week

I ran the Merchant Mentor Series (a recurring moderated discussion featuring a successful Shopify merchant), mentored presenters on their decks and public speaking, and worked with the Broadcast team to set up streaming for remote access.

Advising new spaces

Based on what worked and what didn't in SF, I directly advised the teams standing up Shopify's LA and NY spaces on their educational content, cadence, and operations. There were plans to expand the model into all Shopify offices across all of North America before the pandemic changed those plans.

The pandemic pivot

When COVID shut the Lounge down in March 2020, I moved the programming online:

Virtual Assemblies: Online gatherings connecting Shopify Plus and emerging merchants for learning, sharing, and networking. These ran cross-functionally with Merchant Success, Sales Concierge, and Support, and led to some really great exec connections and cross-brand collaborations.

Merchant Mentor Series (virtual): Same concept, adapted for screens. Kept merchants connected during a time when a lot of people were feeling pretty isolated.

Slack communities: I took the Bay Area merchant community into Slack, built out engagement techniques and success metrics, and also helped Shopify LA transition their own local community to Slack.

"I thought this was a great discussion and appreciate everyone's stories and insights. I have a whole page of notes that I can't wait to take to the team and action." - Virtual Assembly participant