( ) has been an incredible growth stock since it went public nine years ago. It’s up 1,936% over this time, even after falling 65% since November 2021. The company’s all-in-one platform helps businesses build an online store in a matter of minutes.
It offers tools to manage sales, process orders, track inventory, accept payments, and market products. Over 1.75m merchants in 175 countries are now on Shopify’s platform.
And while it isn’t often thought of as an AI stock, I think the technology could give it a key competitive strength moving forward. Here’s why. Improving the customer mix Shopify grew rapidly during the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home and shopping online.
Yet unlike many other e-commerce firms, it’s kept growing post-pandemic. Revenue increased to over $7bn last year, up from $1bn in 2018, while gross merchandise volume jumped 20% to $236bn. Wall Street sees revenue rising to almost $15bn by 2028.
My mate has run his online beauty box business through Shopify for over a decade. He waxes lyrical about the platform and how its tools make everything run seamlessly. In fact, I got interested in the stock when he said he could never imagine switching to a rival.
High switching costs create deep customer loyalty and cement a powerful competitive advantage. Shopify’s bread and butter is to empower small businesses to sell online. But more recently it has been strategically focused on attracting larger companies.
In 2023, it added Strength, Dollar.
