Shopify

Shopify is a platform for users to create ecommerce websites. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. Shopify’s platform offers a range of services including marketing, customer engagement, payments, and shipping tools. It also has an application programming interface (API) platform and app store, which allows developers to create applications for Shopify online stores.

Shopify acquired Primer, an augmented reality (AR) technology provider, in June 2021. Primer’s AR tech lets users view the potential impact of home improvements such as tiles, patterns, wallpaper, and paint on their mobile devices by mimicking the real lighting conditions, textures, and sheens. Through the acquisition, Shopify absorbed Primer’s team of eight employees and intended to use Primer to complement its own AR integrations, such as allowing sellers to embed 3D models into their storefronts. 

In 2023, the company launched a suite of AI-enabled features integrated across the Shopify platform. It included a media editor, which enables users to edit images using word prompts, an AI-enabled commerce assistant that enables merchants to automate workflows, and a ChatGPT-powered shopping assistant that offers more relevant product recommendations. During Q3 2023 , Shopify also introduced the "Retail Plan," a specialized pricing package for in-person sales by brick-and-mortar businesses. Additionally, it introduced the "POS Terminal"  for merchants to transform their mobile point-of-sale into a countertop payment device with Wi-Fi and Ethernet support. 

Key customers and partnerships

As of March 2024, the company had a large customer base of “millions” of merchants across 175 countries. Although the company focuses on small businesses, large enterprises such as Tesla, Red Bull, and Nestle are also among its customers.

In May 2021, Shopify announced that its platform would integrate with Google to allow merchants on the platform to reach consumers through Google services, including Search, Maps, Images, Lens, and YouTube. This was an addition to Shopify’s integrations with large global platforms, which already included Facebook and TikTok. In addition to this, the company had plans to pilot “TikTok Shopping,” TikTok’s ecommerce service, among particular Shopify merchants across the US, the UK, and Canada. 

In October 2021, Shopify partnered with Microsoft to bring merchant listings to Microsoft Bing (search engine), Microsoft Edge (browser), and Microsoft Start (news service).

In April 2022, Shopify partnered with Strike , a digital payments platform, to offer an integration for merchants to receive bitcoin payments from global customers in USD. Shopify further expanded upon its crypto-related solutions for its merchants by partnering with global cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com in May 2022 to enable Shopify merchants to integrate “Crypto.com Pay” on their online storefronts, and integrating with Solana Pay on August 2023,, to enable direct settlement with USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar, and offer fee-free transactions.

Shopify expanded collaborations in Q3 2023 , extending ties with Flexport, incorporating the Buy with Prime app for US Amazon fulfillment network users into Shopify Checkout, enhancing B2B commerce with Faire, and establishing a global product development partnership with WPP.

Funding and financials

Shopify generated revenue of USD 7.1 billion and an operating loss of USD 1.4 billion in 2023 (ended December 31). Moreover, gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose 20.0% YoY and reached USD 235.9 billion in 2023.