EY-Shopify Global Alliance with Warren Tomlin

On this episode of the What Just Happened? podcast, host Christine Russo speaks with Warren Tomlin, Managing Partner at EY, on the new alliance his company just made with Shopify. It might seem strange for a company like EY to team with Shopify, but Warren makes a case for it. “It’s not about how it looks, it’s about how it works,” said Tomlin, referring to the fact that even if looks strange to some, this alliance is meant to help businesses’ e-commerce and sales, which is what matters most at the end of the day.

“It’s not about doing things differently in 2023, it’s about doing different things,” explained Tomlin. “How do you do things with your brand that you couldn’t have had or didn’t have permission to do even a decade ago?” He identified specific consumer behaviors and the way consumers engage with certain online stores, noting that other companies have not been catching up.

“Consumers, whether you’re B2B, B2C, or even in education, people don’t judge your brand, your organization, and the experiences they have there by your peer group necessarily, right? They compare the retail banking experience to the Apple Store, right? They compare your mobile app to Spotify or the airline that they check into,” said Tomlin. “And so, the consulting firms, yes, we’ve made a pivot to brand, but in reality, we’ve always worked with those brands often in the back office.” The EY-Shopify Alliance is then expected to help businesses stay up to date with online commerce standards which consumers have already become accustomed to and enjoy using.

Key Points:

-EY has teamed up with Shopify to emphasize branding for businesses

-Online commerce needs to stay up to date with consumer expectations

-The EY-Shopify Alliance will help businesses succeed in e-commerce