Shopify sales surge to topple rival eBay for first time

Shopify said revenues jumped 97% year-on-year to $714.3m (£550m) during the three-month period, as shoppers rushed online during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The total smashed through Wall Street forecasts of around $500m (£385m). 

Gross merchandise volume, which measures total consumer spending through the Shopify network before fees and revenue splits with shop owners, rocketed 119% to $30bn (£23bn). 

That outstripped the $27bn (£21bn) gross merchandise volume registered by online rival eBay earlier this week and helped Shopify swing to a profit of $36m (£28m), compared to a loss of $29m (£22m) in the second quarter of 2019. 

The Canadian etail group said it registered strong growth in its food, drink and tobacco categories, while clothing and cosmetics also recovered during the quarter.  

New online stores created on Shopify’s platforms grew 71% compared with the first three months of 2020, as retailers and brands raced to build an online, direct-to-consumer presence during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Brewer Molson Coors and cowboy hat-maker Stetson were among the big-name brands to launch on Shopify during the period. 

Despite that growth, Shopify cautioned that any gains from the shift to online shopping could be offset by the “greater likelihood of an extended global recession” and localised lockdowns across the globe. 

Shopify co-founder and chief executive Tobias Lütke said: “The world is changing fast. With the rapid shift to online commerce, massive disruption to conventional employment and growing conviction that opportunity needs to be more evenly distributed, entrepreneurship has never been more important.”