The provider of essential Internet infrastructure for commerce redoubles its commitment to Spain with the incorporation of Gonzalo Torres-Porta as new country manager. Previously, Torres has held the position of country manager in the French scaleup Malt and in the Italian group, Talent Garden.
“Thanks to technology, we are living a unique moment for commerce. Businesses today can already have the easiest and most powerful tools to sell autonomously, focus on their business and compete at the highest level. I am very excited to join Shopify especially in this context of growth and constant release of new technologies that put merchants of all sizes in the spotlight. Spain has an indisputable entrepreneurial gene and we are going to promote it”, Torres comments.
The new country manager, a computer engineer by training, has extensive experience in the digital field, having created in the past the technology consultancy, Empel. He has worked in other markets such as France, the United Kingdom and Italy, in companies such as Microsoft or Promethean, among others, and actively collaborates in funds with venture capital and impact funds.
“Shopify can accompany from the most initial stages of commerce projects to companies that go public and invoice millions of euros. Regarding SMEs and micro-SMEs, on which the Spanish economy is mainly based, they undoubtedly have a historic opportunity to go one step further. Our role at Shopify is to help them embark on this digital transformation process to open international markets, find new ways to engage with customers, and have a more global view of commerce.”, he adds.
Shopify Effect
In April of this year, Shopify showed, through the ‘Shopify Effect’, the impact of your business on the local and global economies, with a high impact in the case of the Spanish market. Collectively, Shopify businesses in Spain generated just over 1.5% more revenue than the country’s top three professional soccer teams, combining the 2020 / 2021 seasons. This impact has driven the decision to strengthen local management, to accompany and accelerate the local and international growth of renowned Spanish businesses such as Barner Brand, PDPAOLA, Pompeii, Pukas, Scalpers and Hannun, among others, the latter recently valued at 31.6 million euros and incorporated into BME Growth on the Spanish Markets Exchange ( BME).
Shopify is applying new ways of accelerating the processes of growth of its merchants with its offer of products presented in the recent Shopify Editions. New partnerships with Google and Twitter to double the reach of your platform, the start of your journey in the NFT universe with tools for their businesses and the transition from Direct 2 Consumer to Connect 2 Consumer, a new phase in which the opportunities for connection and sales between brands and their consumers multiply.
Torres Porta’s appointment is followed by that of Kevin Countryer, which will lead sales for all of southern Europe; those of Laura Trojan, local head of Agency Partnerships, and Nicholas ChavanesEcosystem App Partnerships Manager, a key area for managing current and new Shopify customers, and the Marc Lerma, computer engineer with experience in international business development who will support the technology area. With a focus on business scalability, they will work alongside Gonzalo Torres to help the local business run efficiently and overcome market challenges.
