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2020: A Year of Change

2020: A Year of Change

For once, everyone on Earth can agree: 2020 was a heck of a year! The business world was no exception. Many companies were forced to shut down, wiping out tons of jobs. Yet history has shown time and time again that as some doors close, others open. So how did 2020 treat the Carson team?

Table of Contents:

The Lows

Any discussion of 2020 clearly has to begin with acknowledging the pain of the pandemic. So many people lost their lives, and many more suffered serious illness. As a global company, each of our team members has been affected by the pandemic, though in different ways.

Carson also underwent changes as the world shut down. We usually look forward to bonding in person at our yearly team gathering, but we had to skip this year. Instead, we tested out the old adage that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Since the Shopify conference was held online this year, we also didn’t get the chance to meet our partners and clients in person. We really missed the face-to-face discussion of Shopify news and our clients’ business needs–not to mention handing out our well-loved promo goods!

Economic Shift

In addition to the loss of life and health, mass job loss caused extreme hardship for many people around the world. Naturally, less income leads to less spending. Would this include a decrease in spending online, we wondered? If so, store owners might have less income to use for improving their stores with Carson.

In reality, the opposite happened! Online shopping became more popular than ever. It has always been convenient for customers to make purchases from the comfort of their own home, but as the pandemic raged on, it also became the safest option.

Business is Booming

The burst of online shopping has led some new players into the Shopify universe. Brand new entrepreneurs created stores from scratch, sometimes because losing their previous job made space for them to try something new. Many existing businesses also expanded into online sales for the first time.

Growing the Team

As our customer base and sales increased, we found ourselves working more, not less. Everyone on the team truly took ownership of the new challenge and leaned into the increased workload. 

We needed all hands on deck to continue delivering top-quality service. To keep up with the new demand, we even hired some new talents for our development and customer success teams. All of the new hires have been thriving as they settle in at Carson.

A lot of our recent applicants have been on the first steps of the journey to their dream job. ECommerce is a fantastic career for the 21st century, and remote work has become even more attractive, so many people are taking web development classes online. Our recruitment team is always on the lookout for gifted up-and-comers to train in the Shopify ecosystem.

New Developments

Since 2015, Carson’s niche has been small tasks that improve a store quickly. This year, we’ve been working on adding something new: larger, personalized tasks. We’ll provide a custom quote to clients whose needs don’t fit into the 1-hour framework of a small task. These bigger tasks will be handled by our very best developers, who have a deep knowledge of Shopify development.

Since we’re always seeking new ways to connect with store owners, we created a Pinterest this year. Our page is full of inspiration for ways our followers can enhance their store design.

We’ve also expanded our presence across the web. For one, we’re developing partnerships with other services. Carson’s Facebook page and the Shopify entrepreneur Facebook group we run have continued to grow as well. 

We now have an Instagram, too, where we post tips for Shopify businesses that are looking for a glow up. We also love to feature the Carson team members who make the magic happen behind the scenes. There are some pretty awesome people on the other end of the screen!

Support + Transparency = Confidence

While 2020 has brought positive changes for Carson, living through a global pandemic has been far from easy for our team. This year has really shown the importance of a supportive company culture. 

Transparency in management has also been vital. No one should ever feel like they’ve been left in the dark. Openness and honesty are signs of respect, and they inspire confidence in unsettling times. The team can all agree that Carson has come to feel like an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty.

The Power of Hope

We have high hopes for 2021. First and foremost, we hope a better year is ahead for the world as a whole. We hope that as more and more people do their shopping online, our customers will continue to benefit. We hope to grow along with our clients and offer ever more valuable services. 

Last but not least, we hope to keep being the dedicated, forward-thinking, supportive team that Carson has proven to be in our first five years.

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