Shopify (Canada, NYSE/TSX: SHOP) is the world’s most popular hosted e-commerce platform, with millions of stores. The model is a monthly subscription: Shopify runs infrastructure, security and checkout; the merchant runs the business.
What it does
- Build and run an online store without touching infrastructure
- Sell online, social, marketplaces and in-person (POS) from one place
- Manage catalog, inventory, payments and shipping
- Extend functionality with the App Store (thousands of apps)
Products
The core is the store with a theme editor and an optimized checkout. Around it: Shopify Payments (its own gateway), unified POS, Shopify Plus for enterprise, Headless (Hydrogen + Storefront API), Fulfillment/Shipping and the app store. The platform powers a large share of global e-commerce outside China.
Public pricing
- Published plans (Basic, Shopify, Advanced; Plus negotiated)
- Initial free trial for new merchants
- Transaction fees: zero with Shopify Payments; a percentage on external gateways
Strengths
- Days-to-launch setup with an unbeatable theme and app ecosystem
- Proprietary high-conversion checkout with built-in fraud protection
- Scales from small to enterprise (Plus) without replatforming
Points of attention
- Monthly fees plus apps add up quickly (real cost rises fast)
- Deep customization requires Liquid or headless
- Without Shopify Payments, transaction fees get expensive