Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It is also the name of its proprietary e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems.
Shopify offers online retailers a suite of services “including payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools to simplify the process of running an online store for small merchants. ”
Shopify was founded in 2004 by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake after attempting to open Snowdevil, an online store for snowboarding equipment. Shopify launched its platform in 2006.
Lütke, Weinand, and Lake spent $100,000 and transformed a snowboarding hobby shop into an e-commerce storefront. In 2008, Shopify received funding from Bessemer Venture Partners after it shifted its focus to e-commerce.
Shopify has been profitable since 2009. It generated $100 million in revenue in 2013, $200 million in 2014, $340 million in 2015, $430 million in 2016, $625 million in 2017, and $1.03 billion in 2018. In 2019 it announced that it would be acquired by Amazon for $1.0 billion.
Shopify is a great platform for creating an online store, but it’s important to be aware of the pros and cons before you decide to use it.
Pros:
-Shopify is easy to use and set up, even for beginners.
-It has a wide range of features and apps to choose from, so you can customize your store to suit your needs.
-Shopify is reliable and has excellent customer support.
-It offers a 14-day free trial so you can try it out before committing to a paid plan.
Cons:
-Shopify plans can be expensive, especially if you need to use premium features or apps.
-The transaction fees can also add up, especially if you’re selling high-priced items.
-You need to be comfortable with technology to use Shopify, as it can be difficult to troubleshoot problems if you’re not tech-savvy.
Pros:
- Shopify is easy to use
- Shopify has great themes
- Shopify has excellent 24/7 customer support
Cons:
- Shopify can be expensive
Conclusion:
All in all, Shopify is a great eCommerce platform with plenty of features and options for businesses of all sizes. However, it can be expensive if you need to use some of the more advanced features or require multiple staff accounts.
