Advantage of online business and the Shopify way (hostsorter)

Online business has many benefits. The most significant factor is its flexibility and convenience in doing business at your convenience within your comfort zone.  You can find many platforms offering online store services, how the way Shopify offers. Now let us check the advantages of Shopify and what it provides for the customers.

• The Shopify e-commerce platforms offer initial base software for you to set up an online store.
• Companies offering e-commerce platform will also arrange for shipping and marketing for you. In the case of Shopify, they also offer shipping and marketing for their clients.
• Payment partners also handle the payments.
• You can add products whenever you want and also execute orders online.
• You will not need a separate warehouse as Shopify gives the facility to drop shopping too.
• The Shopify plans start at a minimal rate of $29 per month, which is affordable and fits anybody’s budget who wants to start a new online business. Clients can upgrade the service at any time.
• The premium plan will cost up to $2,000, which will have more features and is ideal for large business groups.
• As per the affiliation service, an average new sign up user will give an extra earning of $58.
• Shopify has an extensive database of SEO services.
• It offers more than 100 store templates for setting up an online store, which is available free of cost as well as paid service.
• Shopify offers more than 2,000 different applications for add on facilities in the app store.
• In 2010 April Shopify launched its free mobile app on the App Store to get better clientele and provide a better interface.
• Shopify offers 24/7 client and customer care support service and provides support service to sort out issues by email, phone, or even live chat.
• It offers fully hosted software; hence, no separate hosting required by the merchant.
• Shopify charge 0.5 % to 2% transaction charges, depends on the signup plans apart from the monthly fee as when a transaction gets confirmed on the site.

The journey of Shopify (hostsorter)

In the year 2004, the trios Tobias Lutke, Scott Lake, and Daniel Weinand wanted to sell snow-boards online. While searching for a suitable e-commerce platform, they could find anything that matches the expectations, especially Luke.  Since Luke was a qualified software developer, he developed software to sell their products and named it Snow devil.

Soon after, in 2006, they launched Shopify, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, by developing a new e-commerce store in line with the software developed by Luke. The 2009 Shopify further launched the API platform and App Store; in 2010, they started offering the free mobile app on the Apple App Store. 

• Scott Lake, Daniel Weinand, and Tobia Lutke founded Shopify in 2004.
• The company started selling ‘snowboards’ initially.
• The first name of Shopify was ‘Snowdevil.’
• Lutke developed ‘Snowdevil’ by using the open-source web app ‘Ruby on Rails.
• Jaded Pixel was the first iteration of e-commerce software to other merchants.
• After 2006 only Shopify started offering e-commerce platforms to other merchants on commercial terms.
• Lutke was a high school drop out at the age of 16.

Initial Journey of Shopify: (Wikipedia)

In the year 2010, Shopify becomes ‘the fastest growing Company’ as per the standard set by Ottawa Business Journal. Being accredited as the fastest-growing company, they received:

• The first set of venture funding for $7 million in Dec 2010.
• After that, they got $15 million as the second batch of finding in Oct 2011.
• Following the funding, they entered into a series of takeovers. Shopify acquired Select Start Studios Inc in 2012, followed by acquiring Jet Cooper in 2013. After the acquisition, Shopify launched its own Payments gateway and stopped to take payment gateway services.
• As the third installment of venture funding, Shopify received $100 million in Dec 2013.

Shopify initiated IPO

• Shopify applied in the New York Stock Exchange for the first IPO on April 14, 2015, with SHOP stock index symbol and in Toronto Stock Exchange as SH stock symbol. (Wikipedia)
• Shopify had become public on May 21, 2015. (Wikipedia)
• The face value of the IPO share was $17 per share, but it started trading for $28 per share. (Wikipedia)
• Through the IPO, Shopify could collect a total of $131 million. (Wikipedia)
• Presently the stock value could fetch 600% growth due to substantial market appreciation. (Hostingtrubunal)
• The current price of Shopify share stands at $491, and the value is increasing with each passing day. (Marketwatch)

Growth trend of Shopify: (hostingtribunal)

• Between the years 2013 to 2016, the merchant service revenue of Shopify has increased to 50% from 20%.
• In the Shopify Plus platform, we can find a 126% YOY average growth per year.
• The first quarter of 2019 sales were $320.5 million. It was 50% more than the previous year.

Global e-Commerce trends and statistics:

• The growth of global e-commerce trade was tremendous. In 2014 the total e-commerce trade was $1.3 trillion, which rose to $3.5 trillion (acquire convert)
• The projected for the year 2021 is $4.97 trillion, which is a quantum jump of 400% growth. (acquire convert)
• The shopping trend shows 57% of purchases take place through overseas retailers. (acquire convert)
• Asia has the largest eCommerce sales record of $831.7 billion, and North America is in second place with $552.6 billion. The growth of Asian sales attributed to tremendous growth in the Chinese market. (acquire convert)

The power of Shopify Apps:

Shopify apps play an important role in powering the platform. It is easy to download and install.  The app statistics are as follows:

• Shopify generated more than $100 million by the sales of privilege apps. (hostingtribunal)
• 87% of merchants use Shopify apps. (hostingtribunal)
• More than 2,400 apps are available in the app store. (hostingtribunal)
• $19.14 is the average price of Shopify app. (hostingtribunal)
• The medium price of a Shopify app is $4 only. (hostingtribunal)
• A merchant uses an average of 6 apps (hostingtribunal)

What is unique about Shopify Plus? (hostingtribunal)

Shopify Plus comes with more customization features in the basic version and designed to meet the requirement of entrepreneurs.  In Shopify Plus, you will have to pay fewer transaction charges, and also it offers features to add more staff accounts, which means it will help you to reduce overhead costs.  

• Shopify Plus has more than 5,300 business.
• With Shopify, merchants generated $1million to $500 million in sales.
• It shows a peak sale of 10,149 orders per minute, evidencing of high conversion rate.
• Shopify Plus merchants show a 126% YOY average growth rate.

The traffic of Shopify on Desktop devices: (hostsorter)

In the mobile era, it is still interesting to know the kind of traffic Shopify gets from desktop devices from where it gets a considerable amount of business. Desktop still has the edge of advantage due to the easiness of navigation.

• In the United States, 5.16% of customers use Desktop to login to Shopify.
• In the United Kingdom, 5.15% of customers use Desktops.
• In Brazil, it is only 4.77% of customers use Desktops.
• In Canada, only 4.67% of customers use desktops.

Statistics on Black Friday Sale to Cyber Monday Sales (Shopifyandyou)

• Shopify had generated more than $2.9 billion sales from 175 countries in the year 2019, while for the previous year, the selling was at $ 1.8 billion, starting from the Black Friday to the end of Cyber Monday.
• More than 25.5 million customers involved in these sales.
• On Black Friday, the per-minute peak sales were $1.5 million until around 3 pm.
• The average spending per customer was around $83.05 per order. The average was higher for Canadian customers as it was $96.30, and for those from France, it was $66.86. The customers from the United Kingdom spent an average of $67.01.
• In terms of top-selling cities, London and Toronto are in the lead, but in terms of whole countries, UK, France, Germany, and Spain are in the lead.
• As many as 19% of orders always come from across the border.
• 69% Sales/purchase happens through mobile or tablets, and the remaining 31% by desktops.
• The most sold items were Make-up, mobile phones, and coats. Accessories and apparels got robust orders during the weekend days.

Critical statistics for App Store: (Shopifyandyou)

• 8 million total apps installed by June 2019.
• 80%+ merchants use third-party apps.
• Merchants spent more than $100 million in the App Store.
• Since 2011, more than 12 million apps installed by the merchants.
• 87% of the merchants depend on apps for their business.
• Until May, Shopify paid more than $100 million to the app developers in the year 2018, which is more than 50% of the amount spent in 2017.
• Top 25% of the app developers were able to make $126K earning on 2,400 apps.
• App Store shows, 23 million visits for Shopify apps, and on an average, merchants installed 6 apps.

The exciting fact about Shopify

Every business or idea has a shortfall, so did Shopify. But they had a unique way to handle it. Shopify had faced a DDoS Attack in the year 2016, and the hackers were able to sneak into the bank details. Then Shopify paid a total of $850,000 to hackers to test and verify the security of their website and App for understanding the vulnerability of the site and finding solutions.

With all said and done to tackle the hacking issues, Shopify has been in the upswing, as more and more people turning towards online shopping. As per the market trend, Shopify and e-Commerce solution providers are going to make it big. The rapid advancements in mobile technology are also contributing its share to increase online shipping, as many people find it is easy to do online shopping with their smartphones.

If you too want to open an online shop, why not chose to be with the pioneers of the industry. You will not have to take the pains of developing, maintaining, and upgrading the software; all will be done by Shopify. You shall have to pay monthly rent and use the facilities. Also, nothing to worry as if you get stuck somewhere, Shopify helpline is there to help you 24/7 ready at your service. You will find Shopify, a reliable online business partner, and offering time tested e-commerce solutions to open an online store, manage the business, and market the product irrespective of the size of your business.

Links used in the article:

https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/shopify-statistics/#gref
https://acquireconvert.com/shopify-statistics/
https://www.shopifyandyou.com/blogs/news/statistics-about-shopify
shopify.com/enterprise/global-ecommerce-statistics
https://hostsorter.com/shopify-statistics/
https://websitebuilder.org/shopify-statistics/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopify