Shopify Investor Relations Material

Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company that provides a platform for businesses of all sizes to set up online stores and sell products directly to consumers. Shopify offers a range of services including payments, marketing, shipping, and customer engagement tools to simplify running an online store for small merchants and large enterprises. The company’s services enable vendors and businesses to sell its products online, without the sellers themselves needing to handle any of the practicalities of setting up a payment system. Shopify is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and its shares are listed on both the TSX and the NYSE.

Shopify was founded in 2006 by Tobi Lütke and Scott Lake. The inception of the company stemmed from their dissatisfaction with existing e-commerce solutions while attempting to open an online store for snowboarding equipment. This frustration led them to create their own e-commerce platform, which eventually evolved into Shopify.

In its early years, Shopify focused on simplifying online retail for small businesses, offering user-friendly tools to set up and manage online stores. This ease of use, combined with affordable pricing, quickly made it popular among small to medium-sized businesses. Today, the platform is incredibly sophisticated and offers integration with other services such as Salesforce.

The core service of Shopify is its platform that allows users to create an online store. This service includes a range of tools and features designed to facilitate the e-commerce process. Key features include website design, a shopping cart, payment processing, inventory management, and marketing tools. Users can choose from a variety of templates for their store's design or can create a custom design, without the need to have programming knowledge. Shopify's appeal lies in its ease of use, scalability, and the comprehensive nature of its e-commerce solutions. It enables businesses to manage all aspects of their online sales operations from a single platform, streamlining the process of running an online store.

Shopify also offers a payment processing solution called Shopify Payments. This service enables merchants to accept credit card payments directly on their site without having to integrate third-party payment gateways. Additionally, Shopify provides a Point of Sale (POS) system, allowing businesses to sell not just online but also in physical locations.

The platform targets a wide range of users, from small individual entrepreneurs to larger businesses. Small business owners may opt for basic plans, which provide essential tools to get started with online selling. In contrast, larger businesses might choose more advanced plans, which include additional features like advanced analytics, professional reports, and the ability to handle higher volumes of sales and traffic.