The Shopify success story isn’t just one of a brand that’s achieved astonishing loyalty both sides of the Atlantic. Since its birth in 2006, it’s grown to become arguably the best-known and most powerful ecommerce platform there is – pretty good going in just 16 years.
It’s not as if it were without competition. There’s the WordPress-based WooCommerce for instance, along with BigCommerce, Voluvision and, of course, the ecommerce offerings of the better-known website builders including Wix and Squarespace among others.
There’s no doubt that much of Shopify’s popularity is down to its user–friendliness and flexibility, not to mention the in-store POS and ease of integration with your own existing website. But what, exactly, has made it the pre-eminent platform? Well, as they say in the US, ‘Do the math’… Because the numbers really do speak for themselves.
58 million visitors annually worldwide
Some 58 million people worldwide visited a Shopify store back in 2020 (the latest date for which complete information is available) – almost as many as the UK’s entire population – and 75% of them actually bought something.
some of the world’s biggest, best-known and most-admired brands, including the likes of Tesla, Gymshark, Unilever and Red Bull have Shopify at the heart of their online retail operations.
So, while size isn’t everything, it clearly does matter to an awful lot of merchants out there – as does the fact that some of the world’s biggest, best-known and most-admired brands, including the likes of Tesla, Gymshark, Unilever and Red Bull have Shopify at the heart of their online retail operations.
The big brands’ ‘go-to-guys’ for online retail
So Shopify’s seen as the big brands’ ‘go-to-guys’ for online retail – certainly in the US, where it powers about a third of online retail operations, and in the UK, its second biggest market, it’s already driving over 65,000 online stores. Perhaps more than anything else, the fact that Shopify is a genuinely global phenomenon, available in 175 countries (and counting!), including major European economies such as France, Germany and Spain as well as China and South Korea, makes it doubly attractive to anyone hoping to exploit the growing trend (up 19% of late) for cross-border shopping. Furthermore, if the experience in the US is anything to go by, UK users can look forward to an average level of retail spending that’s significantly and consistently higher than accepted industry levels at about £60!
Adding to the perception of gravitas is the fact that Shopify has also been the proud owner since 2018 of a good old-fashioned bricks and mortar store in LA. As well as giving ‘Angelinos’ the chance to pick the brains of online business gurus and hone their Shopify skills with intensive workshop, it lends the Shopify brand at large an air of authority and solidity its purely online rivals can’t match.
Better still though, Shopify is that rare breed of online platform which comfortably steps out of the internet so that its POS works seamlessly in your real-world store.
Perhaps these are what inspire loyalty – but whatever the reason, you can’t argue with 50% of Shopify stores getting repeat business, with consumers making an average of 3.8 separate purchases from the same shop.
126% year-on-year growth
At the enterprise ecommerce level, the picture is, if anything, even brighter. Users who shift up a few gears to Shopify Plus don’t just get a more sophisticated service including advanced reporting features, priority customer service and greater handling capacity, they can look forward to an average of 126% year-on-year growth.
Global social media reach
Finally, Shopify gives you amazing reach, maximising your retail proposition’s impact through multiple social media platforms. But the really big news is Shopify’s latest deal with Tik Tok – so something like 100 million Shopify retailers are getting access to what’s arguably the biggest ‘shop window’ on the planet!
So, to sum up, Why Shopify? As detailed above the arguments in favour are many – and they’re very compelling indeed! If you’re interested in what Shopify can do for your business, check out our Shopify services, or alternatively you can get in touch with us.
