Tag Archives: Shopify

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Shopify: More than $1,000,000 in sales per minute at the peak on Black Friday

Sales topped $1,000,000 per minute at the day’s peak

OTTAWA, Canada, 2017-Nov-27 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) (TSX: SHOP), the leading multi-channel commerce platform, today (Nov 25, 2017) announced its over 500,000 merchants cumulatively experienced their highest Black Friday sales to date. More than $1,000,000 in sales went through the platform per minute at the peak, beating last year’s high of $555,716. The success experienced by Shopify merchants emphasizes the impact North America’s busiest shopping day can have on businesses of all sizes.

Mobile continued to grow with 66% of orders being made with a phone or tablet, up from 58% in 2016. Desktop sales accounted for the remaining 34%, down from 42% in 2016. More than 600,000 pieces of apparel, 360,000 accessories, and 210,000 houseware items were purchased from Shopify merchants in a single day.“Small businesses are the foundation of the global economy, and the impressive amount of growth we saw on Black Friday goes to show that more and more shoppers want to buy from independent entrepreneurs,” said Harley Finkelstein, COO of Shopify. “Shopify’s focus is to set up our merchants for success, especially during this busy time of year. That’s why we provide them with resources, tools and functionality to confidently grow their businesses and produce stellar shopping experiences for their customers. The results from this year propel us forward to keep making commerce better for everyone.”

Additional Insights:

    • Top Sellers: Shopify merchants in California sold the most, with New York, Texas, Florida and Utah rounding out the top five biggest sellers
    • Top Shoppers: In the U.S., consumers in California purchased the most from Shopify merchants followed by New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois
    • Shipping to Space: The total estimated distance for all Black Friday packages to be shipped surpassed 5 billion miles, farther than Pluto is from Earth
    • Thanksgiving Day Spending: Shopping started early, with more than 2,800 orders per minute occurring at the holiday’s peak

Shopify is sharing a global look at sales and trends occurring over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend on its Live Data Dashboard. Check back over the weekend to get a look at worldwide sales, which states are buying the most, and more.

Shopify’s Black Friday data was based on sales experienced by its more than 500,000 businesses in 175 countries around the world on November 24, 2017. All data presented here is approximate and is based on various assumptions. All data is unaudited and is subject to adjustment.

Contact:
Telephone Inquiries:
416-238-6705 x 302

Press Inquiries:
press@shopify.com

Source: Shopify Inc.

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Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke to lead the Government of Canada’s Economic Strategy Table on digital industries

Table will help Canadian entrepreneurs and innovators overcome growth challenges

OTTAWA, ON, 2017-Nov-09 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (November 8, 2017) announced its founder and CEO, Tobias Lütke, will serve as Chair of the Government of Canada’s Economic Strategy Table on digital industries. Over the next six months, Mr. Lütke will lead a group of approximately 15 members to develop policy recommendations in support of Canada’s technology developers, service providers, and content creators.

“If you take a look at the Toronto Stock Exchange there are only a handful of tech companies listed. This is disappointing but also presents a great opportunity,” said Lütke. “ We need to break from convention, be bold, and define a path where innovation drives the future of our country, and our economy.”

The members of the Economic Strategy Table on Digital Industries will focus on Canada’s opportunity to become a global leader in innovation. Capitalizing on the strength of Canada’s tech community and harnessing the rapid pace of digital adoption, the group will develop an immediate and long-term action plan to propel Canada into the future.

“It’s funny to think of a country as a startup, but Canada feels like one. We’re still a very young country, full of raw potential. If we play our cards right, the future will be bright. I accepted this role because I want to help the government to get this right and share some of the lessons we’ve learned at Shopify,” Lütke added.

The first meeting of the table is scheduled for later this month. The group will spend the next 6 months preparing a report to be published by Summer 2018.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Shopify currently powers over 500,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

MEDIA:
Sheryl So
Corporate PR Lead
416-238-6705 x 302
press@shopify.com

Source: Shopify

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Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke: Through our platform, over half a million entrepreneurs have turned their dreams into reality

Leading the future of commerce, Shopify celebrates major company milestone

OTTAWA, ON, 2017-Aug-02 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading multi-channel commerce platform, today (Aug 1, 2017) announced it now powers more than 500,000 businesses in 175 countries around the world. Since 2012, the number of merchants on the  Shopify platform has grown annually at an average rate of 74%, and these merchants have achieved over $40 billion dollars in sales.

From Bangladesh to Brooklyn, Shopify’s growing community of entrepreneurs includes makers, creators and innovators, from students trying to pay for school to merchants who have scaled from first sale to seven-figure businesses. Shopify has always strived to take the path that leads to more entrepreneurs by designing its platform to remove the technical, operational, and financial barriers to enable anyone anywhere to build, grow, and scale a business.

“Through our platform, over half a million entrepreneurs have turned their dreams into reality,” said Tobi Lütke, Founder and CEO, Shopify. “Entrepreneurship is the foundation of the global economy and it’s not easily done alone. That’s why our mission has always been to make commerce better for everyone to encourage anyone, anywhere to become an entrepreneur.”

The Network Effect of 500,000 Merchants

Merchant Demographic Breakdown:

  • Merchant growth in Q2 year over year was global, with a 56% increase in North America, 82% increase in Asia, 168% increase in South America, and 70% increase in Africa
  • More than 1.2 million people are actively using the Shopify backend platform
  • Today, more women entrepreneurs than men have built their businesses on Shopify, at 52% and 47% respectively, with 1% other
  • Average age of Shopify merchants: 18 – 24 (7.3%); 25 – 34 (37.5%); 35 – 44 (30.0%); 45+ (24.9%)

Merchant Success:

  • 131 million people have bought from Shopify stores in the last 12 months
  • Shopify merchants generated sales of over $100,000 per minute during Black Friday and Cyber Monday of last year

Third-party Partner Ecosystem:

  • Shopify’s third-party partner ecosystem, made up of creative agencies, freelance designers and developers, digital marketers, photographers, SEO specialists and brand strategists, generated an estimated $430M in revenue in 2016
  • Developers have published over 1,800 apps in the Shopify App Store with over 7M installs to date

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, Shopify is committed to helping current and future merchants adapt and create seamless shopping experiences. By interweaving tools like mobile, analytics, and innovative products with marketing and customer service, Shopify is shaping the future of commerce both online and offline.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over half a million businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (“forward-looking statements“), including statements with regard to Shopify’s operating and growth strategy. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions and no assurance can be given that the launch will occur as planned. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify 2Q 2017 financial results: Revenue Grows 75% Year on Year

  • Second-Quarter Revenue Grows 75% Year on Year
  • Second-Quarter Gross Profit Grows 83% Year on Year
  • Shopify reports in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-Aug-02 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (Aug 1, 2017) announced strong financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017.

“The fundamental shift in retail toward multi-channel and mobile, the ongoing adoption of Shopify by larger brands, and our continued focus on building out the market-leading platform for sellers all contributed to the strength of our results this past quarter,” stated Russ Jones, Shopify’s CFO.  “As we have been able to predict and capitalize on these shifts, and continue to innovate so entrepreneurs of all sizes can take advantage of them, we feel we are exceptionally well-positioned for the next several years.”

Second-Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue in the second quarter was $151.7 million, a 75% increase from the comparable quarter in 2016. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 64% to $71.6 million.  The acceleration in Subscription Solutions revenue growth was driven by the continued rapid growth in Monthly Recurring Revenue (“MRR”) as another record number of merchants joined the platform in the period.  Merchant Solutions revenue grew 86% to $80.1 million, driven primarily by the growth of Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”).
  • MRR as of June 30, 2017 was $23.7 million, up 64% compared with $14.4 million as of June 30, 2016.  Shopify Plus contributed $4.3 million, or 18%, of MRR compared with 13% of MRR as of June 30, 2016.
  • GMV for the second quarter was $5.8 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion, or 74% over the second quarter of 2016.  Gross Payments Volume (“GPV”) grew to $2.2 billion, which accounted for 38% of GMV processed in the quarter, versus $1.3 billion, or 38%, for the second quarter of 2016.
  • Gross profit dollars grew 83% to $86.8 million as compared with the $47.5 million recorded for the second quarter of 2016.
  • Operating loss for the second quarter of 2017 was $15.9 million, or 10% of revenue, versus $8.7 million, or 10% of revenue, for the comparable period a year ago.
  • Adjusted operating loss for the second quarter of 2017 was 1.9% of revenue, or $2.9 million; adjusted operating loss for the second quarter of 2016 was 3.7% of revenue, or $3.2 million.
  • Net loss for the second quarter of 2017 was $14.0 million, or $0.15 per share, compared with $8.4 million, or $0.10 per share, for the second quarter of 2016.
  • Adjusted net loss for the second quarter of 2017 was $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $3.0 million, or $0.04 per share, for the second quarter of 2016.
  • At June 30, 2017, Shopify had $932.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $392.4 million on December 31, 2016.  The increase reflects the $560 million in net proceeds from Shopify’s offering of Class A subordinate voting shares in the second quarter.

Business Highlights

  • Shopify continues to deliver on its strategy of providing multiple sales channels for merchants:
  • In July, Shopify began shipping pre-orders of its Chip and Swipe Reader to merchants, enhancing its point-of-sale channel, which is its second-largest channel for GMV. Today, we are announcing that it is now generally available and free to new and existing merchants already on a Shopify subscription who have not redeemed a free reader before.
  • Also in July, Shopify announced the integration of eBay as a channel for merchants. The integration will enable Shopify merchants to surface their brand and products to more than 169 million active eBay buyers, while managing eBay orders, inventory and messages from within Shopify.
  • In June, Shopify announced the integration of Buzzfeed as a channel for merchants, paving a new way for media and publishers to drive affiliate revenue. The new channel allows merchants to easily tag products for BuzzFeed editors to search, find, and feature in its campaigns, product lists and onsite content for its audience of more than 200 million.
  • Shopify continues to optimize features that maximize merchants’ opportunity for success on the platform, with several notable initiatives in the second quarter:
  • Shopify Pay, a feature designed to increase conversion at checkout by streamlining the checkout process, especially on mobile devices, went live to all merchants using Shopify Payments.
  • Shopify Payments went live in New Zealand, bringing the total number of countries where Shopify Payments is available to six, including U.S., Canada, U.K, Australia and Ireland.
  • Shopify made Kit free to all merchants, which more than doubled the number of merchants actively using the virtual assistant to help automate online marketing.
  • Mobile traffic to merchants’ stores continued to grow, reaching 72% of traffic and 60% of orders for the three months ended June 30, versus 69% and 59%, respectively, exiting the first quarter of this year.
  • In the second quarter, Shopify Capital issued $37.2 million in merchant cash advances, nearly twice the amount issued in the first quarter.  Since its launch in April 2016, Shopify Capital has grown to $86 million in cumulative cash advanced by June 30, 2017.  This figure climbed to more than $95 million by July 31, 2017.

CFO Retirement

Shopify’s Chief Financial Officer Russ Jones has informed the Company and its Board of Directors of his decision to retire in 2018.  Russ, who joined Shopify in 2011, intends to continue to serve as CFO until his successor is found and has transitioned into the role, a process that is now underway and that Shopify expects will be completed within the next 12 months.

Financial Outlook

The financial outlook that follows constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below.

In addition to the other assumptions and factors described in this press release, Shopify’s outlook assumes the continuation of growth trends in our industry, our ability to manage our growth effectively and the absence of material changes in our industry or the global economy. The following statements supersede all prior statements made by Shopify and are based on current expectations.  As these statements are forward-looking, actual results may differ materially.

These statements do not give effect to the potential impact of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures or business combinations that may be announced or closed after the date hereof.  All numbers provided in this section are approximate.

For the full year 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $642 million to $648 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $62 million to $66 million
  • Adjusted operating loss in the range of $7 million to $11 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $55 million

For the third quarter of 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $164 million to $166 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $17 million to $19 million
  • Adjusted operating loss in the range of $2 million to $4 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $15 million

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss its second-quarter results today, August 1, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET.  The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s Second-Quarter 2017 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and its Second-Quarter 2017 Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers half a million businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding its financial and operating performance.

Adjusted operating loss, non-GAAP operating expenses, adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of share-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.  Non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under U.S. GAAP and do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding Shopify’s financial outlook and future financial performance. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: (i) merchant acquisition and retention; (ii) managing our growth; (iii) our history of losses; (iv) our limited operating history; (v) our ability to innovate; (vi) a disruption of service or security breach; (vii) payments processed through Shopify Payments; (viii) our reliance on a single supplier to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; (ix) a breach involving personally identifiable information; (x) serious software errors or defects; (xi) exchange rate fluctuations; (xii) achieving or maintaining data transmission capacity; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

To view our detailed results with financial tables download this PDF or visit our investors site.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify announces winners from its first ever ‘BEASTMODE-A-Business’ competition

Leading commerce platform partnered with NFL running back Marshawn Lynch to teach entrepreneurial skills to Bay Area teens

Oakland, CA, 2017-Jul-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (July 17, 2017) announced winners from its first ever ‘BEASTMODE-A-Business’ competition, in partnership with Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, theFam 1st Family Foundation, and Hingeto.

Based on the success of his Shopify Plus Beast Mode® apparel store, Marshawn chose to partner with Shopify to create BEASTMODE-A-Business, a one-of-a-kind, entrepreneurial readiness program for Bay Area high school students. Over the course of three days, 30 local students attended workshops and seminars at Oakland Technical High School that covered a cross-section of skills required to start a business, and had the opportunity to build their own online ecommerce stores on the Shopify platform. Content included hearing from special guest speakers on how to create a powerful brand, craft effective messaging, and other educational seminars that supported the idea that with the right tools and mindset, anyone can become an entrepreneur.  The program culminated with each student pitching their business ideas in front of family, friends, and a panel of judges which included staff and merchants from Shopify, Marshawn, and Josh Johnson, quarterback for New York Giants.

“Growing up in Oakland taught me a lot about being focused and driven, but my experience didn’t really prepare me for building my business and other aspects of my career,” shared Marshawn. “I wanted to extend what I have been able to teach kids from my neighborhood on the football field and give them more skills that empower them to believe that anything is possible.”

Simone Hufana, 17 from San Leandro high school in San Leandro, and Mathew Galvez, 17 from Abraham Lincoln high school in San Jose, were the overall winners of the ‘BEASTMODE-A-Business’ competition.  They both won free Shopify Basic for three years, an opportunity to have their pop-up store hosted by Beast Mode Apparel in Oakland, deskspace at Hingeto, AdWords and Facebook Dynamic Ads credits, design credits with a Shopify Plus expert agency, as well as on-going product design and full marketing setup support.  The final eight received free Shopify Basic for two years, KIT basic for a year, AdWords credit, and an exclusive prize package from Bold Commerce that includes unlimited use Bold Apps for a year, a comprehensive site audit and consultation ($1,000 value), and $6,000 in developer design credit.  For participating in the program, all 30 students also received free Chromebook laptops preloaded with documentation on building a Shopify store, free Shopify Basic for a year, backpacks filled with school supplies, as well as clothing from Beast Mode apparel.

“I started my first company when I was 13 years old and what I learned from that experience has shaped who I am today – both personally and professionally,” said Harley Finkelstein, COO of Shopify. “I believe that teaching these students the skills and mindset they need to start their own entrepreneurial journey is an experience that will help them throughout their lives and careers.”

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

About Fam 1st Family Foundation

Fam 1st Family Foundation was started in 2006, but made official in March 2011. Fam 1st strives to improve the lives of children by mentoring them on the importance of education, literacy and self-esteem. Fam 1st was founded by Joshua Johnson and Marshawn Lynch who have overcome a significant amount of adversity to become the successful businessmen and community leaders they are today. Fam 1st provides unique opportunities and programs for the youth to help them succeed in life, and has developed programming and camps focusing on computer science, architecture, literacy, entrepreneurship, and more. For more information, please visit http://fam1stfamilyfoundation.org/.

About Hingeto

Oakland based company, Hingeto is a Y-combinator backed company helping brands take inventory risk out of retail. They have two key solutions. 1) Working with brands like Marshawn Lynch’s Beast Mode to design & sell new on-demand products and 2) powering custom dropship systems for large retailers like PacSun; which they will soon release a Shopify app for.  Hingeto is a key solution for any company trying to grow its product assortment without inventory risk; which they believe is the future. Very soon Hingeto will debut their Shopify app to help stores add curated dropship products direct to their Shopify stores. Go to shopify.hingeto.com to join the waitlist.

SOURCE: Shopify

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RioCan: Shopify expands its lease requirement at King Portland Centre in Toronto; achieving 93% of total leased area of the new office component

Toronto, 2017-Jul-20 — /EPR Retail News/ — Allied Properties REIT (TSX:AP.UN) and RioCan REIT (TSX:REI.UN) today (July 19, 2017) announced another important lease transaction in connection with the development of King Portland Centre in Toronto. Shopify has signed a commitment to expand its lease requirement by approximately 46,234 square feet of GLA, bringing its total requirement in the new office space under construction at King Portland Centre to approximately 158,520 square feet of GLA and the total leased area of the new office component to approximately 93%.

King Portland Centre, 602-620 and 642 King Street West, Toronto

The overall development site for King Portland Centre includes 79,975 square feet of land with frontage on King Street West, Portland Street and Adelaide Street West and is comprised of a restored heritage structure, 602-604 King West (the “Rental Property”), an adjacent property extending from King West through to Adelaide West (the “Development Property”) and a heritage structure under restoration, 642 King West (the “Ancillary Property”). The Rental Property is substantially leased and is expected to remain so through the development process. The Ancillary Property is undergoing restoration and is scheduled for completion in early 2018.

Allied and RioCan are building a new structure on the Development Property that will be integrated with the Rental Property and the Ancillary Property. The new structure will be comprised of 256,173 square feet of office GLA and 13,035 square feet of retail GLA fronting on King West and approximately 116 residential units fronting on Adelaide West. The office and retail components of King Portland Centre have been designed to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) CS (Core & Shell) Platinum standard and will include best-in-class operational, environmental, life-safety and health and wellness systems.

Each of Allied and RioCan owns an undivided 50% interest in the Rental Property, the Development Property and the Ancillary Property. On completion of the new component of King Portland Centre, which is scheduled for early 2019, Allied will manage the office component and RioCan will manage the retail and residential components.

Cautionary Statements – Allied Properties REIT

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to Allied, its operations, strategy, financial performance and condition. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intends”, “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of Allied discussed herein could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations, including that the transactions contemplated herein are completed. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, changes in government regulations and the factors described under “Risk Factors” in Allied’s Annual Information Form, which is available at www.sedar.com. These cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to Allied and persons acting on Allied’s behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the parties have no obligation to update such statements.

Cautionary Statements – RioCan REIT

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. This information includes, but is not limited to, statements made with respect to RioCan’s development program together with other statements concerning RioCan’s objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management’s beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “outlook”, “objective”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “should”, “plan”, “continue”, or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking statements in this News Release are qualified by these cautionary statements.

Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future events or performance and, by its nature, is based on RioCan’s current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described under “Risks and Uncertainties” in RioCan’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the period ended March 31, 2017 (“MD&A”) and the Trust’s most recent Annual Report and Annual Information Form, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking information contained in this News Release.

Except as required by applicable law, RioCan undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Allied

Allied Properties REIT is a leading owner, manager and developer of urban office environments that enrich experience and enhance profitability for business tenants operating in Canada’s major cities. Its objectives are to provide stable and growing cash distributions to unitholders and to maximize unitholder value through effective management and accretive portfolio growth.

About RioCan

RioCan is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust with a total enterprise value of approximately $14.6 billion as at March 31, 2017. RioCan owns and manages Canada’s largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 300 Canadian retail and mixed use properties, including 15 properties under development, containing an aggregate net leasable area of 46 million square feet. For the past 25 years, we have shaped the future, sensibly cultivated growth, and taken our stakeholders and partners wherever they needed to go. Currently, we have more than 6,200 tenants and 700 employees with a presence from coast to coast. We know that there is a home for every retailer. Whether we find it today or build it for tomorrow, we deliver real vision, solid ground. For more information, visit www.riocan.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Michael R. Emory
President & Chief Executive Officer, Allied Properties REIT
(416) 977-9002

Edward Sonshine
O. Ont., Q.C. Chief Executive Officer
RioCan REIT
(416) 866-3018

Source: RioCan

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Shopify to announce 2Q 2017 financial results on Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-Jul-12 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based commerce platform, plans to announce financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2017 before markets open on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

Shopify’s management team will host a conference call to discuss second-quarter results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.  The conference call is available via webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website athttps://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.

An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify announces highlights from its Annual Shareholders Meeting

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-Jun-09 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP) (“Shopify” or the “Company”), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (Jun 8, 2017) announced the results from its Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Meeting”) which took place yesterday. All director nominees were re-elected to the Board of Directors and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was appointed as auditors.  Shareholders approved the advisory resolution on the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the Company’s management information circular dated May 2, 2017.

Following the Meeting, the Board of Directors selected Tobias Lütke to continue to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors, and Robert Ashe to continue to serve as Lead Independent Director.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify Shows Excellent Start to the Year With First Quarter 2017 Results

  • First-Quarter Revenue Grows 75% Year on Year
  • First-Quarter Gross Merchandise Volume Grows 81% Year on Year
  • Shopify reports in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-May-08 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (May 2, 2017) announced strong financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

“With our excellent start to the year, it is clear we are becoming the de facto platform for sellers,” stated Russ Jones, Shopify’s CFO. “In addition to merchant growth and their adoption of both new channels and merchant solutions, we also continue to see expansion of merchants’ GMV.  Retail is shifting headlong toward the vision we laid out two years ago — of inspiring entrepreneurship with multi-channel commerce — and we fully expect to continue leading this industry transition for years to come.”

First-Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue in the first quarter was $127.4 million, a 75% increase from the comparable quarter in 2016. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 60% to $62.1 million.  This increase was driven by the continued rapid growth in Monthly Recurring Revenue (“MRR”) as a record number of merchants joined the platform in the period.  Merchant Solutions revenue grew 92% to $65.3 million, driven primarily by the growth of Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”).
  • MRR as of March 31, 2017 was $20.7 million, up 62% compared with $12.8 million as of March 31, 2016.  Shopify Plus contributed $3.5 million, or 17%, of MRR compared with 11% of MRR as of March 31, 2016.
  • GMV for the first quarter was $4.8 billion, an increase of 81% over the first quarter of 2016.  Gross Payments Volume (“GPV”) grew to $1.8 billion, which accounted for 38% of GMV processed in the quarter, versus $1.0 billion, or 37%, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Gross profit dollars grew 80% to $72.2 million as compared with the $40.1 million recorded for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Operating loss for the first quarter of 2017 was $14.5 million, or 11% of revenue, versus $9.7 million, or 13% of revenue, for the comparable period a year ago.
  • Adjusted operating loss4 for the first quarter of 2017 was 3.4% of revenue, or $4.3 million; adjusted operating loss for the first quarter of 2016 was 8.1% of revenue, or $5.9 million.
  • Net loss for the first quarter of 2017 was $13.6 million, or $0.15 per share, compared with $8.9 million, or $0.11 per share, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Adjusted net loss4 for the first quarter of 2017 was $3.5 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.06 per share, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • At March 31, 2017, Shopify had $395.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $392.4 million on December 31, 2016, and compared with $189.5 million on March 31, 2016.

Business Highlights

  • Over one thousand Shopify Partners and Developers from around the world gathered in San Francisco in April to discuss the future of Shopify, commerce, and technology at our partner conference, Shopify Unite. New product development discussions included several announcements scheduled for availability in the second quarter, such as:
    • Shopify Point-of-Sale Card Reader. The first piece of hardware designed in-house by Shopify, the new chip-and-swipe reader offers portability and EMV support to merchants looking to sell at markets, pop-up shops or permanent retail locations. Emblazoned with the Shopify logo, the new reader seamlessly connects a merchant’s in-person sales with those made on their online store and other channels.
    • Shopify Pay. Shopify Pay allows merchants to offer their customers the option to securely save their shipping and credit card information for future purchases from any participating Shopify store. Shopify Pay is designed to increase conversion by reducing checkout to a simple 2-step entry: an email address and a unique 6-digit order notification via SMS.
    • Wholesale Channel for Plus. Using this channel, Shopify Plus merchants can create a separate, password-protected storefront, managed within their existing store. Merchants can invite buyers to purchase products at assigned wholesale prices, creating a more efficient way to manage customer bulk ordering in one place, without two systems or workarounds.
    • New Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) for partners.  Shopify Partners can now leverage  new APIs across a number of areas to build useful apps that integrate more directly with Shopify.  These include the Custom Storefront API, which enables partners to build for specific audiences, experiences and opportunities; the Marketing Events API, which allows developers to automatically add tracking to their marketing apps, helping merchants understand the impact of their marketing efforts; and the Draft Orders API, which lets developers expand how orders are created and completed.
  • Mobile traffic to merchants’ stores continued to grow, reaching 69% of traffic and 59% of orders at the end of March 2017 versus 62% and 51%, respectively, at the end of March 2016.
  • Shopify Capital reached $49 million in aggregate cash advances to U.S. merchants using Shopify Payments by the end of the first quarter. By April 30, 2017, aggregate cash advances had reached more than $60 million.

Financial Outlook

The financial outlook that follows constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below.

In addition to the other assumptions and factors described in this press release, Shopify’s outlook assumes the continuation of growth trends in our industry, our ability to manage our growth effectively and the absence of material changes in our industry or the global economy. The following statements supersede all prior statements made by Shopify and are based on current expectations.  As these statements are forward-looking, actual results may differ materially.

These statements do not give effect to the potential impact of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures or business combinations that may be announced or closed after the date hereof.  All numbers provided in this section are approximate.

For the full year 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $615 million to $630 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $69 million to $73 million
  • Adjusted operating loss in the range of $14 million to $18 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $55 million

For the second quarter of 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $142 million to $144 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $18 million to $20 million
  • Adjusted operating loss4 in the range of $6 million to $8 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $12 million

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results today, May 2, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET.  The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s First-Quarter 2017 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and its First-Quarter 2017 Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding its financial and operating performance.

Adjusted operating loss, non-GAAP operating expenses, adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of share-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.  Non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under U.S. GAAP and do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding Shopify’s financial outlook and future financial performance. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: (i) merchant acquisition and retention; (ii) managing our growth; (iii) our history of losses; (iv) our limited operating history; (v) our ability to innovate; (vi) a disruption of service or security breach; (vii) payments processed through Shopify Payments; (viii) our reliance on a single supplier to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; (ix) a breach involving personally identifiable information; (x) serious software errors or defects; (xi) exchange rate fluctuations; (xii) achieving or maintaining data transmission capacity; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT:

INVESTORS:
Katie Keita
Director, Investor Relations
613-241-2828
IR@shopify.com

MEDIA:
Erin Hochstein
Public Relations Manager
226-972-1767
press@shopify.com

Source: Shopify

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Shopify announces First-Quarter 2017 Revenue Grows 75% Year on Year

  • First-Quarter Revenue Grows 75% Year on Year
  • First-Quarter Gross Merchandise Volume Grows 81% Year on Year
  • Shopify reports in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-May-03 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced strong financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

“With our excellent start to the year, it is clear we are becoming the de facto platform for sellers,” stated Russ Jones, Shopify’s CFO. “In addition to merchant growth and their adoption of both new channels and merchant solutions, we also continue to see expansion of merchants’ GMV.  Retail is shifting headlong toward the vision we laid out two years ago — of inspiring entrepreneurship with multi-channel commerce — and we fully expect to continue leading this industry transition for years to come.”

First-Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue in the first quarter was $127.4 million, a 75% increase from the comparable quarter in 2016. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 60% to $62.1 million.  This increase was driven by the continued rapid growth in Monthly Recurring Revenue (“MRR”) as a record number of merchants joined the platform in the period.  Merchant Solutions revenue grew 92% to $65.3 million, driven primarily by the growth of Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”).
  • MRR as of March 31, 2017 was $20.7 million, up 62% compared with $12.8 million as of March 31, 2016.  Shopify Plus contributed $3.5 million, or 17%, of MRR compared with 11% of MRR as of March 31, 2016.
  • GMV for the first quarter was $4.8 billion, an increase of 81% over the first quarter of 2016.  Gross Payments Volume (“GPV”) grew to $1.8 billion, which accounted for 38% of GMV processed in the quarter, versus $1.0 billion, or 37%, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Gross profit dollars grew 80% to $72.2 million as compared with the $40.1 million recorded for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Operating loss for the first quarter of 2017 was $14.5 million, or 11% of revenue, versus $9.7 million, or 13% of revenue, for the comparable period a year ago.
  • Adjusted operating loss4 for the first quarter of 2017 was 3.4% of revenue, or $4.3 million; adjusted operating loss for the first quarter of 2016 was 8.1% of revenue, or $5.9 million.
  • Net loss for the first quarter of 2017 was $13.6 million, or $0.15 per share, compared with $8.9 million, or $0.11 per share, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • Adjusted net loss4 for the first quarter of 2017 was $3.5 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.06 per share, for the first quarter of 2016.
  • At March 31, 2017, Shopify had $395.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $392.4 million on December 31, 2016, and compared with $189.5 million on March 31, 2016.

Business Highlights

  • Over one thousand Shopify Partners and Developers from around the world gathered in San Francisco in April to discuss the future of Shopify, commerce, and technology at our partner conference, Shopify Unite. New product development discussions included several announcements scheduled for availability in the second quarter, such as:
    • Shopify Point-of-Sale Card Reader. The first piece of hardware designed in-house by Shopify, the new chip-and-swipe reader offers portability and EMV support to merchants looking to sell at markets, pop-up shops or permanent retail locations. Emblazoned with the Shopify logo, the new reader seamlessly connects a merchant’s in-person sales with those made on their online store and other channels.
    • Shopify Pay. Shopify Pay allows merchants to offer their customers the option to securely save their shipping and credit card information for future purchases from any participating Shopify store. Shopify Pay is designed to increase conversion by reducing checkout to a simple 2-step entry: an email address and a unique 6-digit order notification via SMS.
    • Wholesale Channel for Plus. Using this channel, Shopify Plus merchants can create a separate, password-protected storefront, managed within their existing store. Merchants can invite buyers to purchase products at assigned wholesale prices, creating a more efficient way to manage customer bulk ordering in one place, without two systems or workarounds.
    • New Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) for partners.  Shopify Partners can now leverage  new APIs across a number of areas to build useful apps that integrate more directly with Shopify.  These include the Custom Storefront API, which enables partners to build for specific audiences, experiences and opportunities; the Marketing Events API, which allows developers to automatically add tracking to their marketing apps, helping merchants understand the impact of their marketing efforts; and the Draft Orders API, which lets developers expand how orders are created and completed.
  • Mobile traffic to merchants’ stores continued to grow, reaching 69% of traffic and 59% of orders at the end of March 2017 versus 62% and 51%, respectively, at the end of March 2016.
  • Shopify Capital reached $49 million in aggregate cash advances to U.S. merchants using Shopify Payments by the end of the first quarter. By April 30, 2017, aggregate cash advances had reached more than $60 million.

Financial Outlook

The financial outlook that follows constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below.

In addition to the other assumptions and factors described in this press release, Shopify’s outlook assumes the continuation of growth trends in our industry, our ability to manage our growth effectively and the absence of material changes in our industry or the global economy. The following statements supersede all prior statements made by Shopify and are based on current expectations.  As these statements are forward-looking, actual results may differ materially.

These statements do not give effect to the potential impact of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures or business combinations that may be announced or closed after the date hereof.  All numbers provided in this section are approximate.

For the full year 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $615 million to $630 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $69 million to $73 million
  • Adjusted operating loss in the range of $14 million to $18 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $55 million

For the second quarter of 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $142 million to $144 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $18 million to $20 million
  • Adjusted operating loss4 in the range of $6 million to $8 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $12 million

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results today, May 2, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET.  The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s First-Quarter 2017 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and its First-Quarter 2017 Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding its financial and operating performance.

Adjusted operating loss, non-GAAP operating expenses, adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of share-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.  Non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under U.S. GAAP and do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding Shopify’s financial outlook and future financial performance. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: (i) merchant acquisition and retention; (ii) managing our growth; (iii) our history of losses; (iv) our limited operating history; (v) our ability to innovate; (vi) a disruption of service or security breach; (vii) payments processed through Shopify Payments; (viii) our reliance on a single supplier to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; (ix) a breach involving personally identifiable information; (x) serious software errors or defects; (xi) exchange rate fluctuations; (xii) achieving or maintaining data transmission capacity; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT:

INVESTORS:
Katie Keita
Director, Investor Relations
613-241-2828
IR@shopify.com

MEDIA:
Erin Hochstein
Public Relations Manager
226-972-1767
press@shopify.com

Source: Shopify Inc.

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Shopify to announce 1Q 2017 financial results on Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-Apr-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based commerce platform, plans to announce financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017 before markets open on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.

Shopify’s management team will host a conference call to discuss first-quarter results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.  The conference call is available via webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.

An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify Announces Strong Financial Results for 2016

  • Fourth-Quarter Revenue Grows 86% Year on Year
  • Fourth-Quarter Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) Grows 94% Year on Year
  • Shopify reports in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP

Ottawa, Canada, 2017-Mar-17 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (Feb 15, 2017) announced strong financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016.

“Our work at Shopify is to help entrepreneurs thrive in a space that’s changing all the time, and we did our job especially well this past holiday season,” stated Tobi Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify. “That eight of our ten top sellers over the Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend were merchants that had upgraded from lower-priced plans reminds us that today’s startups become tomorrow’s superstars, at a velocity that appears to be increasing all the time. As the engine powering the growth of these merchants, Shopify has an opportunity that stretches years into the future.”

“That we grew revenue by 90% and GMV by 99% for the full year 2016 speaks to the enormous opportunity in retail right now and our strategic position within it,” commented Russ Jones, Shopify’s CFO. “Throughout 2017 we will continue to build out our ability to seize this opportunity by expanding not only our existing features, such as channels, payments, shipping and capital, but also our facilities and infrastructure.  These investments are timely, as we expect the number of merchants on Shopify to continue expanding rapidly and their collective sales volumes to continue to grow at a rate several times that of overall retail.”

Fourth-Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $130.4 million, an 86% increase from the comparable quarter in 2015. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 63% to $56.4 million.  This increase was driven by the continued rapid growth in Monthly Recurring Revenue1 (“MRR”). The number of merchants on the Shopify platform surpassed 375,000 in the fourth quarter, as a record number of merchants joined the platform in the period.  Merchant Solutions revenue grew 108% to $74.0 million, driven primarily by the growth of Gross Merchandise Volume2(“GMV”).
  • MRR as of December 31, 2016 was $18.5 million, up 63% compared with $11.3 million as of December 31, 2015.
  • GMV for the fourth quarter was $5.5 billion, an increase of 94% over the fourth quarter of 2015.  Gross Payments Volume (“GPV”), which is the amount of GMV processed through Shopify Payments, grew to $2.2 billion, which accounted for 39% of GMV processed in the quarter, versus $1.0 billion, or 37%, for the fourth quarter of 2015.
  • Gross profit dollars grew 87% to $68.1 million as compared with the $36.5 million recorded for the fourth quarter of 2015.
  • Operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $9.3 million, or 7% of revenue, versus $6.5 million, or 9% of revenue, for the comparable period a year ago.
  • Adjusted operating loss3 for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 1% of revenue, or $0.8 million; adjusted operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 2% of revenue, or $1.3 million.
  • Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $8.9 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with $6.3 million, or $0.08 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2015.
  • Adjusted net loss3 for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $0.4 million, or $0.00 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2015.
  • At December 31, 2016, Shopify had $392.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $190.2 million on December 31, 2015.

Fourth-Quarter Business Highlights

  • GMV during the holiday shopping weekend spanning Black Friday through Cyber Monday more than doubled over the comparable period last year as the level of activity on the Shopify platform reached a peak of nearly 3 million requests per minute.
  • Multi-channel continued to prove to be an effective strategy to support merchants, as percentage growth of GMV over social channels far outpaced that of our more traditional retail channels, such as point of sale and the online store.
  • Mobile traffic to merchants’ stores continued to grow, reaching 69% of traffic and 55% of orders at the end of 2016, versus 61% and 46%, respectively, at the end of 2015.
  • Shopify’s Sell on Amazon integration was made generally available to merchants in December. Designed to seamlessly connect Shopify store owners to the millions of customers searching for products to buy on Amazon, merchants can now conveniently manage their product catalog for their ecommerce website, retail store, Amazon store, and other sales channels all in one place.
  • Since the start of the year, Shopify launched its inaugural Build a Bigger Business competition. The new competition, which augments Shopify’s Build a Business competition, aims to equip established small and medium-sized businesses and trend-setting entrepreneurs with the tools and mentorship needed to achieve their ultimate growth objectives. Winners in each category will take a once-in-a-lifetime entrepreneurial getaway at the Namale Resort and Spa in Fiji with Tony Robbins and other business mentors.

Full-Year Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue for the full year grew 90% to $389.3 million, compared with $205.2 million in 2015. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 68% to $188.6 million and Merchant Solutions revenue grew 115% to $200.7 million.
  • GMV for 2016 was $15.4 billion, an increase of 99% over 2015.  GPV grew to $5.9 billion in 2016, or 39% of GMV, versus $2.7 billion, or 35% of GMV, for 2015.
  • Gross profit dollars grew 85% over 2015 to $209.5 million, versus $113.3 million for 2015.
  • Operating loss for 2016 was $37.2 million, or 10% of revenue, versus $17.8 million, or 9% of revenue, for 2015.
  • Adjusted operating loss3 for 2016 was 3% of revenue, or $12.1 million; adjusted operating loss for 2015 was 3% of revenue, or $6.7 million.
  • Net loss was $35.4 million, or $0.42 per share, compared with $18.8 million, or $0.30 per share, for 2015.
  • Adjusted net loss3 for 2016 was $10.3 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $7.7 million, or $0.13 per share, for 2015.

2016 Business Highlights

  • Shopify expanded considerably in 2016, adding new merchants, channels, partners, and functionality. Over the past twelve months:
  • More than 133,000 net new merchants began selling on Shopify, which ended the year with approximately 377,500 merchants on the platform.
  • Merchants on average became more successful on Shopify, as GMV per merchant grew by 25% over last year.
  • MRR per merchant expanded over 2015, primarily due to strong growth in the number of merchants joining at higher subscription levels.
  • Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) expanded 15% to $1,243, versus $1,077 for 2015, driven by higher GMV per merchant, increased penetration of Shopify Payments, higher MRR per merchant, and the introduction of new merchant services.
  • The number of partners referring at least one new merchant to Shopify in 2016 grew to more than 11,000, compared with more than 8,500 in 2015.
  • Shopify integrated a number of new sales channels for merchants in 2016, including Facebook Messenger and Amazon. Shopify also launched a software development kit for third parties looking to make their sites natively available to Shopify merchants. The addition of Houzz, Wanelo, eBates and others has driven the number of channels over which a merchant can sell to more than a dozen.
  • Shopify Capital successfully launched, providing merchants with more than $30 million in aggregate in cash advances to help fuel their businesses by providing working capital for growth, such as securing inventory, hiring employees or marketing activities.
  • Shopify launched Apple Pay for the web, and by year end, more than 150,000 of Shopify’s merchants had elected to offer Apple Pay as a means for checkout.  These merchants saw conversion rates approximately double by shoppers who have enabled Apple Pay.
  • Canada Post joined the US Postal Service as a partner on Shopify Shipping, bringing integrated shipping and tracking to more merchants in North America.
  • Shopify completed three acquisitions with the aim of expanding its breadth and depth of capabilities for merchants. All are founder-led teams where a focus on merchants, entrepreneurial cultures and product development talent make them strong additions to Shopify.
  • The percentage of Shopify merchants using Shopify Payments grew every quarter throughout 2016, with 85% of merchants at year end using Shopify Payments in geographies where it is available compared with 76% in the fourth quarter of 2015. This equates to 68% of our global merchant base compared with 62% in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Financial Outlook

The financial outlook that follows constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below.

In addition to the other assumptions and factors described in this press release, Shopify’s outlook assumes the continuation of growth trends in our industry, our ability to manage our growth effectively and the absence of material changes in our industry or the global economy. The following statements supersede all prior statements made by Shopify. All numbers provided in this section are approximate.

For the full year 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $580 million to $600 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $73 million to $77 million
  • Adjusted operating loss3 in the range of $18 million to $22 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $55 million

For the first quarter of 2017, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $120 million to $122 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $20 million to $22 million
  • Adjusted operating loss3 in the range of $9 million to $11 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $11 million

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss its fourth-quarter and full-year results today, February 15, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes, Management’s Discussion and Analysis, and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2016  are available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.  Shareholders may, upon request, receive a hard copy of the complete audited financial statements free of charge.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces and physical retail locations. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla, Nestle, GE, Red Bull, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding its financial and operating performance.

Adjusted operating loss, non-GAAP operating expenses, adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of share-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes as well as sales and use tax.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.  Non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under U.S. GAAP and do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding Shopify’s financial outlook and future financial performance. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: (i) merchant acquisition and retention; (ii) managing our growth; (iii) our history of losses; (iv) our limited operating history; (v) our ability to innovate; (vi) a disruption of service or security breach; (vii) payments processed through Shopify Payments; (viii) our reliance on a single supplier to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; (ix) a breach involving personally identifiable information; (x) serious software errors or defects; (xi) exchange rate fluctuations; (xii) achieving or maintaining data transmission capacity; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

To view our detailed results with financial tables download this PDF or visit our investors site.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify and America’s #1 Life and Business Strategist Tony Robbins partner for the 2017 Build a BIGGER Business competition

Build a BIGGER Business, an evolution of Shopify’s flagship competition, aims to elevate established small and mid-sized companies

OTTAWA, Canada, 2017-Jan-25 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP)(TSX: SHOP), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, is partnering with New York Times #1 best-selling author, philanthropist and America’s #1 Life and Business Strategist Tony Robbins on the 2017 Build a BIGGER Business competition, which is now open to applicants at www.shopify.com/BIGGER.

An evolution of the long-running Build a Business competition – one of the world’s biggest entrepreneurial contests – the new competition aims to equip established small and medium-sized businesses and trend-setting entrepreneurs with the resources and mentorship needed to accelerate their business dreams. The partnership with Robbins marks his second year guiding entrepreneurs using the Shopify platform.

“With the right coaching, the right tools and the right mindset, entrepreneurs can take their businesses to incredible heights,” said Robbins. “I’ve seen it firsthand at our Business Mastery events as well as through the Shopify Build a Business competition. Helping the leaders of tomorrow stretch the boundaries of what they thought was possible is a longtime passion of mine, and I’m thrilled to continue this partnership.”

Over the past six years, Shopify’s competitions have helped create over a 100,000 new businesses that have sold millions of dollars in products.

“Since the launch of the Build a Business program in 2010, we’ve seen thousands of companies start and grow successful businesses using Shopify under the tutelage of the world’s best business minds,” said Harley Finkelstein, COO at Shopify. “In keeping with tradition, we’re equally excited to watch this year’s field of competitors embark on a new journey.”

Eligibility

The competition is open to privately-held businesses in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that have been in operation for one year or longer.  These businesses must already sell on the internet, migrate to or already operate on Shopify, and have 2016 sales between US$1 million and US$50 million.

How it Works

The competition kicks off this month with an open call for eligible entrants on January 19, 2017 from Robbins’ Business Mastery event, a 5-day seminar for entrepreneurs in Palm Beach.  Eligible entrants will receive coaching from mentors and experts through the Build a BIGGER Business online academy – an exclusive resource for competitors. The entrants will be assessed from March to July 2017, and those that perform the best during the course of the competition will be declared winners in eight categories: Highest Total Gross Sales Gain, Highest Percentage Growth, Best Scale Strategy, Best Marketing Strategy, Best Raving Fan Culture, The Disruptor, Tony Robbins’ Choice and Shopify’s Pick. For the Official Rules, visit www.shopify.com/build-a-BIGGER-business/rules.

The Prize

In the Fall, all winners will travel to New York to participate in an exclusive New York Stock Exchange experience, and afterwards, they will embark on a learning retreat with Robbins and other Shopify coaches at Tony’s exclusive Namale Resort and Spa – the #1 resort in Fiji. The two entrant businesses that achieve the highest growth in sales and the highest percentage growth will also receive a potentially life-changing prize, including a marketing and brand strategy campaign, a feature story with a leading business publication and 24 months’ of Shopify Plus subscription fees for free.

All participants will gain access to the exclusive Build a BIGGER Business online academy with videos, tutorials and written content.  Participants will also receive advice from official mentors, including: Tony Robbins; Daymond John (Founder & CEO, FUBU); Tim Ferriss (Investor & best-selling Author); Marie Forleo (Author, TV Host); Tom Farley (CEO, NYSE); Debbie Sterling(Founder, Goldieblox), Scott Allison (Chairman & CEO, Allison+Partners), Jean-Francois Bouchard (CEO, Sid Lee), and Harley Finkelstein (COO, Shopify).

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 325,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla, Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

About Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins is an entrepreneur, #1 New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist and the nation’s #1 Life and Business Strategist. A recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations and organizational turnaround, he has served as an advisor to leaders around the world for more than 4 decades. Author of five internationally bestselling books, including the recent New York Times #1 best-seller MONEY: MASTER THE GAME and the soon to be released UNSHAKEABLE: YOUR FINANCIAL FREEDOM PLAYBOOK.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify announces appointment of Gail Goodman to its board of directors

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Nov-04 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SHOP) (“Shopify”) today (November 2, 2016) announced that Gail Goodman has been appointed to its board of directors, effective today. Gail will serve on Shopify’s Audit and Compensation Committees.

Gail is the former Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of Constant Contact, a software company providing small businesses with online marketing tools to grow their businesses. After becoming CEO in April 1999, she led Constant Contact  through its initial public offering and for eight years as a publicly traded company, until its acquisition by Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc. in February, 2016.

“Gail shares our passion for helping entrepreneurs succeed,” said Tobi Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify. “She brings with her a deep knowledge of marketing and connecting with small businesses. We are thrilled to welcome her to our board.”

“For the past 16 years, I’ve worked to support small businesses,” said Gail Goodman. “I’m eager to continue that work as part of Shopify’s team and help make commerce better for everyone.”

Gail was named “Executive of the Year” at the 2009 American Business Awards, and was the 2008 New England Regional winner of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, she was inducted into the MITX Innovation Hall of Fame and named one of Boston’s Top 30 Innovators by the Boston Globe. Under her lead, Constant Contact was ranked 134 on Deloitte’s 2010 Technology Fast 500 and was named Best Overall Company at the 2009, 2010, and 2011 American Business Awards.

Gail holds a B.A. from The University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She currently serves on the board of directors of MINDBODY, Inc. (NASDAQ:MB), a provider of cloud-based business management software for the wellness services industry.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was  engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 325,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla, Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.

Press Inquiries:
press@shopify.com

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify’s stock ticker symbol to change from its original two-letter symbol “SH” to “SHOP”

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Nov-01 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH) (“Shopify”) announces that, effective the start of trading on Tuesday, November 1, 2016, Shopify’s stock ticker symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) will expand from its original two-letter symbol, “SH” to “SHOP” (TSX: SHOP).

“Shopify has already been going from strength to strength with the launch of multichannel offerings and our mobile efforts. And now, we’re excited to announce 100% growth in stock ticker digits,” said CEO Tobi Lütke from an undisclosed location.

A pioneer in the application of four-letter words to regulatory filings, the Company requested the change to its ticker symbol in Canada once it was permitted to use a four-letter symbol by the TSX. The change will align the Company’s Canadian ticker symbol with its U.S. ticker symbol, which remains “SHOP” (NYSE: SHOP).

No action is required to be taken by current shareholders in connection with the change, and no change has been made to the Company’s share capital. However, shareholders are welcome to celebrate the ticker expansion however they see fit.

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and- mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Cosmetics and many more.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding a change in Shopify’s TSX stock ticker symbol. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current expectations about future events, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These expectations are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual events will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual events could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Press Inquiries
press@shopify.com

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify to announce 3Q financial results ended September 30, 2016 on Wednesday, November 2, 2016

OTTAWA, CANADA, 2016-Oct-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based commerce platform, plans to announce financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2016 before markets open on Wednesday, November 2, 2016.

Shopify’s management team will host a conference call to discuss third-quarter results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, November 2, 2016.  The conference call is available via webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at http://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.

An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla Motors, Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Jenner, and many more.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify acquires Boltmade, Inc., a product design and development consultancy

Waterloo, Canada, 2016-Oct-04 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (Oct 3, 2016) announced it has acquired privately held Boltmade, Inc., a product design and development consultancy based in Waterloo, Ontario. The acquisition of Boltmade will help accelerate the development of the Shopify Plus product offering. Shopify Plus offers high-growth, high-volume merchants a cloud-based, fully hosted enterprise commerce platform, without the limitations of legacy solutions.

“We first worked with the Boltmade team in early 2016 and quickly realized the team’s huge potential and depth of talent,” said Loren Padelford, VP of Shopify Plus. “Shopify is committed to investing in talent. The acquisition of Boltmade will bring a strong group of designers and engineers to Shopify Plus. We’re thrilled to have them join our team to help shape the future of commerce for larger merchants.”

Founded in 2013, Boltmade is a 21-person product-focused digital consulting firm that designs and builds software products for early stage startups to Fortune 500 companies. The Boltmade team will join the Shopify Plus office in Waterloo.

“Shopify has had a big impact on commerce by helping businesses of all sizes achieve success. Earlier this year, we jumped at the chance to work on a project with them,” said Jim Murphy, Founder and President of Boltmade. “We’re excited to be joining Shopify Plus to help some of the most recognizable, fastest-growing brands in the world sell billions of dollars of product.”

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by brands such as Tesla Motors, Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Jenner, and many more.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the acquisition by Shopify of Boltmade and the development of Shopify Plus. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current expectations about future events, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These expectations are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual events will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual events could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify teams up with Export Development Canada to support continued growth of Shopify Capital

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Sep-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today (September 20, 2016) announced that it has entered an agreement with Export Development Canada (“EDC”) to insure merchant cash advances offered by Shopify Capital.

“Our partnership with EDC supports the continued growth of Shopify Capital,” stated Brett O’Grady, Head of Treasury and Risk for Shopify.

“Shopify is a dynamic, globally minded Canadian exporter and a national tech champion,” said Stephen Callaghan, Regional Vice-President, Ontario, Export Development Canada.  “Shopify’s innovative services and products make it easier for small Canadian businesses to engage in trade and manage their cash flows.”

Shopify Capital was launched earlier this year to help entrepreneurs secure financing and accelerate their business growth.  Many entrepreneurs and online businesses have a hard time securing financing through traditional sources. Shopify is able to tailor cash advances to a merchant’s needs, based on data processed through the Shopify platform. Accessing this financing is designed to be as simple as a few clicks, with money in the merchant’s account within a few days of acceptance.  As of June 30, Shopify Capital has advanced over $5 million to participating merchants since the program’s inception.  For more information on Shopify Capital, please visit shopify.com/capital.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

About EDC

EDC is Canada’s trade finance agency, providing financing and insurance solutions locally and around the world to help Canadian companies of any size respond to international business opportunities. As a profitable Crown corporation that operates on commercial principles, EDC works together with private- and public-sector financial institutions to create greater capacity for Canadian companies to engage in trade and investment.  For more information about EDC, visit www.edc.ca.

Source: Shopify

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6,125,000 Class A subordinate voting shares sold by Shopify for aggregate gross proceeds of US$234,281,250

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Aug-24 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH) (“Shopify”) today (August 22, 2016) announced that it has completed its previously announced offering of 8,625,000 Class A subordinate voting shares (the “Offering“), which includes the full exercise of the over-allotment option of 1,125,000 Class A subordinate voting shares, at a price of US$38.25 per share. An aggregate of 6,125,000 Class A subordinate voting shares, which includes the Class A subordinate voting shares issued on exercise of the over-allotment option, were sold by Shopify for aggregate gross proceeds of US$234,281,250. Entities affiliated with Bessemer Venture Partners and certain members of Shopify’s management (the “Selling Shareholders”) sold 2,500,000 Class A subordinate voting shares at a price of US$38.25 per share.

Shopify expects to use its net proceeds from the Offering to strengthen its balance sheet, providing flexibility to fund its growth strategies. Pending their use, Shopify intends to invest the net proceeds from the Offering in short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments or hold them as cash. Shopify did not receive any of the proceeds of the sale of shares by the Selling Shareholders.

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, RBC Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, Raymond James, Canaccord Genuity and Piper Jaffray acted as underwriters in the Offering.

The Class A subordinate voting shares were offered in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, other than Quebec, by way of a prospectus supplement dated August 16, 2016 to Shopify’s short form base shelf prospectus dated August 5, 2016. The Class A subordinate voting shares were also offered in the United States pursuant to a prospectus supplement to Shopify’s registration statement on Form F-10 (the “Registration Statement”) under the U.S./Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System. The prospectus supplements and the Registration Statement contain important detailed information about the Offering. A copy of the Canadian prospectus supplements can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and a copy of the U.S. prospectus supplements and the Registration Statement can be found on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Copies of such offering documents may also be obtained from Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014; Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010; RBC Capital Markets, Attention: Distribution Centre, 180 Wellington Street, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5J 0C2; or RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate, 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10281-8098.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such province, state or jurisdiction.

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 300,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements with regard to Shopify’s proposed use of proceeds from the offering. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions and no assurance can be given that the proceed  of the offering will be used on the terms described. Allocation of the proceeds of the offering is subject to numerous factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including, without limitation, market conditions and the risk factors and other matters set forth in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Source: Shopify

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Shopify filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus for US$500,000,000 with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the SEC

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Aug-03 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH) (“Shopify” or the “Company”), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has filed a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus with the securities commissions in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, except Quebec, and a corresponding shelf registration statement on Form F-10 (the “Registration Statement“) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) under the U.S./Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System.

The shelf prospectus and Registration Statement, when made final or effective, will allow Shopify to offer up to US$500,000,000 of Class A subordinate voting shares, preferred shares, debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts, units, or any combination thereof, from time to time during the 25-month period that the shelf prospectus is effective. The specific terms of any future offering will be established in a prospectus supplement to the shelf prospectus, which supplement will be filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the SEC.

The Registration Statement filed with the SEC has not yet become effective. No securities may be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the Registration Statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such province, state or jurisdiction.

A copy of the preliminary short form base shelf prospectus can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and a copy of the Registration Statement can be found on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary short form base shelf prospectus and the Registration Statement may also be obtained by contacting the Corporate Secretary of the Company at 50 Elgin Street, 8th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 1L4.

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 275,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Words such as “will”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify to bring Apple PayⓇ to more than 275,000 merchants on the web

Changing the buying experience for millions of consumers with one single touch

SAN FRANCISCO, 2016-Jun-15 — /EPR Retail News/ —  Today (June 13, 2016) at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced that Apple Pay will come to the web this fall, and Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, will bring the ability for more than 275,000 merchants to easily offer Apple PayⓇ on the web to consumers. With Apple Pay, consumers will be able to quickly and securely check out via Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with one touch.

“Currently, online shoppers encounter a lot of friction when trying to purchase items on a mobile device. Apple Pay can help provide consumers with seamless purchase experiences,” said Jason Normore, Director of Engineering at Shopify. “Shopify’s mission has always been to enable our merchants to offer their customers the best experience, and that’s why the announcement of Apple Pay coming to the web is so exciting. Now more than 275,000 small and medium-sized businesses are laying the groundwork for a better shopping experience on iPhone, iPad and Mac.”

Currently, more than 60% of all checkouts started on Shopify stores come from mobile, but only 40% of these visitors complete a purchase. With Apple Pay, merchants can provide a simplified checkout via Safari with iPhone, iPad and Mac, making customers more likely to click the “buy” button.

Apple Pay is as simple as the touch of a finger with Touch ID, so there’s no need to manually fill out lengthy forms or type in shipping and billing information. Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and benefits offered by credit and debit cards.

To learn more about Apple Pay and for merchants to sign up  to offer Apple Pay on the web, please visit:  https://www.shopify.com/apple-pay.

Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code.

 

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops.  The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business.  The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 275,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

Press Inquiries
press@shopify.com

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Shopify Q1-2016: The era of mobile commerce has officially arrived

  • Revenue Grows 95% Year on Year
  • Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) Grows 102% Year on Year
  • Number of Merchants Surpasses 275,000
  • Shopify reports in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-May-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced strong financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

“The era of mobile commerce has officially arrived:  mobile orders from Shopify merchants surpassed those of desktops in February, and have continued to climb since,” said Tobi Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify.  “Mobile is bringing commerce to places it’s never been before, it is making it more social, and we are pushing that forward in a big way.  With our recent integration with Facebook’s new Messenger platform and our acquisition of a leader in mobile messaging for commerce, Kit CRM, we’re making it easier for our merchants to thrive in this new era.”

“Our first quarter delivered a great start to the year,” stated Russ Jones, Shopify’s CFO.  “The strong merchant adds in the quarter, together with GMV once again doubling year on year, highlight the value we bring to merchants of all sizes.  Our unique combination of strengths is clearly meeting a pressing need in commerce right now.”

First-Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue was $72.7 million, a 95% increase from the first quarter of 2015. Within this, Subscription Solutions revenue grew 73% to $38.7 million, primarily driven by an increase in the number of merchants using our platform; and Merchant Solutions revenue grew 127% to $34.0 million, driven primarily by an increase in revenue from Shopify Payments.
  • Monthly Recurring Revenue1 (“MRR”) as of March 31, 2016 was $12.8 million, up 73% compared with $7.4 million on March 31, 2015.
  • Gross Merchandise Volume2 (“GMV”) for the first quarter was $2.7 billion, an increase of 102% over the first quarter of 2015.
  • Gross profit grew 82% to $39.3 million for the first quarter of 2016, versus $21.6 million for the first quarter of 2015.
  • Operating loss for the first quarter of 2016 was $9.7 million, compared with an operating loss of $3.5 million for the first quarter of 2015.
  • Adjusted operating loss3 was $5.9 million, compared with $1.5 million for the first quarter of 2015.
  • Net loss was $8.9 million, or $0.11 per share, compared with $4.5 million, or $0.12 per share, for the first quarter of 2015.
  • Adjusted net loss3 for the first quarter of 2016 was $5.1 million, or $0.06 per share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $2.5 million, or $0.06 per share, for the first quarter of 2015.
  • At March 31, 2016, Shopify had $189.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $190.2 million on December 31, 2015.

First-Quarter Business Highlights

  • Orders on mobile surpassed those on desktop for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2016, as just over 51% of orders exiting the quarter came from mobile devices.  The share of traffic from mobile devices in the quarter was even higher, at 62%.
  • Shopify’s partner ecosystem, a critical component to Shopify’s success, was well represented at Shopify’s first-ever partner conference, Unite, in San Francisco.  More than 650 partners participated in Unite, where we unveiled a number of platform enhancements, including the Sales Channel SDK, which enables partners to use Shopify’s APIs to build out new channels for Shopify merchants.  Houzz, Wanelo and Ebates have already built channels through which Shopify merchants can list and sell.

Since the close of the first quarter, Shopify made several key announcements:

  • Shopify acquired Kit CRM to strengthen our capabilities in messaging and conversational commerce.  Kit’s virtual marketing assistant uniquely interfaces with business owners via messaging to help manage marketing, reporting and other back-office tasks.  A top-rated app in the Shopify app store, Kit helps merchants grow their business by placing targeted ads, posting updates to merchants’ Facebook Pages, and making recommendations based on shop or business activity.
  • Shopify was the first commerce platform to integrate with Facebook’s new Messenger Platform, making it easier for merchants to engage in conversational commerce with their customers.  The integration allows merchants to provide live customer support, automatically send order confirmations, shipping updates, and push notifications all within Facebook Messenger.  Shopify is also developing commerce Bots for Messenger to allow merchants to have more interactive and engaging conversations with customers who opt in for these capabilities.
  • Shopify announced Shopify Capital, offering merchant cash advances to select merchants, which provide them timely access to funds to respond quickly to capital needs for their business.  During the pilot program, merchants used cash advances to buy equipment and inventory, launch new products, hire more employees, and add new channels and products.
  • Shopify expanded same-day shipping options with its integration with Postmates.  Live in over 200 cities across the United States and serviced by over 25,000 couriers, merchants and customers can track purchases from checkout to delivery.

Financial Outlook

The financial outlook that follows constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below.

In addition to the other assumptions and factors described in this press release, Shopify’s outlook assumes the continuation of growth trends in our industry, our ability to manage our growth effectively and the absence of material changes in our industry or the global economy.  The following statements supersede all prior statements made by Shopify regarding 2016 financial outlook. All numbers provided in this section are approximate.

For the full year 2016, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $337 million to $347 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $41 million to $47 million
  • Adjusted operating loss3 in the range of $16 million to $22 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $25 million

For the second quarter of 2016, Shopify currently expects:

  • Revenues in the range of $79 million to $81 million
  • GAAP operating loss in the range of $12 million to $13 million
  • Adjusted operating loss3 in the range of $6 million to $7 million, which excludes stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes of $6 million

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss its first-quarter results today, May 4, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. ET.  The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.  An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s First-Quarter 2016 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and its First-Quarter 2016 Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com, and will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops.  The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business.  The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 275,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding its financial and operating performance.

Adjusted operating loss, adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of share-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes as well as sales and use tax.

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.  Non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under US GAAP and do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding Shopify’s financial outlook and future financial performance. Words such as “expects”, “anticipates” and “intends” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: (i) merchant acquisition and retention; (ii) managing our growth; (iii)  our history of losses; (iv)  our limited operating history; (v) our ability to innovate; (vi) a disruption of service or security breach; (vii) payments processed through Shopify Payments; (viii) our reliance on a single supplier to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; (ix)  a breach involving personally identifiable information; (x) serious software errors or defects; (xi) exchange rate fluctuations; (xii) achieving or maintaining data transmission capacity; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada.  The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

  1. Monthly Recurring Revenue, or MRR, is calculated by multiplying the number of merchants by the average monthly subscription plan fee in effect on the last day of that period and is used by management as a directional indicator of subscription solutions revenue going forward assuming merchants maintain their subscription plan the following month.
  2. Gross Merchandise Volume, or GMV, represents the total dollar value of orders processed on the Shopify platform in the period, net of refunds, and inclusive of shipping and handling, duty and value-added taxes
  3. Please refer to “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” in this press release.

To view our detailed results with financial tables download this PDF or visit our investors site.

CONTACT:

INVESTORS:

Katie Keita
Director, Investor Relations
613-241-2828
IR@shopify.com

MEDIA:

Sheryl So
Public Relations Manager
416-238-6705 x 302
press@shopify.com

SOURCE: Shopify

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Shopify integrates with Facebook new Messenger Platform that allows merchants to provide live customer support

Shopify leads conversational commerce trend with Messenger integration and future launch of commerce bots

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 2016-Apr-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced an integration with the new Messenger Platform that allows merchants to provide live customer support, automatically send order confirmations, shipping updates, push notifications, and more, all within Facebook Messenger. This new integration will make it easier for merchants in the U.S. to build stronger, one-on-one relationships with their customers.

“Messaging apps are enabling us to rekindle the conversations we are used to having in person with retail businesses, and recapture some of the lost intimacy that comes with shopping online,” said Brandon Chu, Senior Product Manager at Shopify. “Our decision to integrate with Messenger and build commerce bots, is designed to help merchants develop deeper relationships with their customers, and give them an opportunity to reinforce their brand’s personality.”

Additionally, Shopify is building commerce bots for Messenger, a project that will allow merchants to have more interactive and engaging conversations with customers.  Bots for Messenger and the Messenger Platform were announced at this year’s F8.

Over the last two years, Shopify has seen messaging apps grow in popularity and start to outpace social networks when it comes to where consumers are spending their time. With an expanding developer ecosystem, messaging apps are reaching far beyond simple messaging to connect customers privately and directly with their favorite businesses. This integration gives Shopify merchants a head start in leveraging messaging apps to run and grow their businesses.

For more information, please visit: https://shopify.com/messenger

About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 243,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

CONTACT
press@shopify.com

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Shopify Inc. to announce financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2016 on Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-Apr-07 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH),  the leading cloud-based commerce platform, plans to announce financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2016 before markets open on Wednesday, May 4, 2016.

Shopify’s management team will host a conference call to discuss first-quarter results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 4, 2016.  The conference call is available via webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at http://investors.shopify.com/events/Events-Presentations/default.aspx.

An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

CONTACT:

INVESTORS:

Katie Keita
Director, Investor Relations
613-241-2828
IR@shopify.com

MEDIA:

Sheryl So
Public Relations Manager
416-238-6705 x 302
press@shopify.com

SOURCE: Shopify

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Harley Finkelstein named Chief Operating Officer at Shopify

Ottawa, Canada, 2016-01-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH) today announced that Harley Finkelstein has been named Chief Operating Officer. As Shopify’s first COO, Finkelstein will manage Corporate and Business Development, Sales, Shopify Plus, the Shopify Partner program, Shopify’s App Store, Merchant Support and all external and merchant-facing initiatives.

Finkelstein joined Shopify in 2010 to support business development and soon took on additional responsibilities. As Chief Platform Officer, Finkelstein built the Shopify Partner program, which has become a core competitive advantage for Shopify. Today, this rich ecosystem of app developers, theme designers, freelancers and agencies includes thousands of active partners that enhance Shopify’s platform and merchant base. Additionally, Finkelstein oversaw the creation and expansion of Shopify Plus to accommodate the needs of high-volume merchants such as Procter & Gamble, Tesla Motors and RedBull, all of which required a robust platform to support their large-scale businesses.

“Harley is a strong leader at the forefront of Shopify’s growth who will be taking on an even larger role in deepening our relationships with merchants, partners and the public,” said Shopify CEO, Tobi Lütke. “His relationship with Shopify dates back almost a decade as one of our first merchants, selling T-shirts while in law school. His entrepreneurial background gives him a natural understanding of our merchants and this perspective is invaluable to our business.”

“I joined Shopify at a very early stage because I was inspired by what Tobi had built, and by the idea that anyone, no matter how much money or experience they have, can build their own business using Shopify,” said Finkelstein. “I see my job as ensuring all our merchants and partners are well taken care of so the rest of the team, especially Tobi, can focus on making sure our product and technology is not only good for the 200,000+ merchants using us today, but the millions of merchants that we hope will use us one day. I’m excited to continue my journey with Shopify and to support the company’s ongoing evolution.”

Finkelstein holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Concordia University and a J.D./M.B.A. from the University of Ottawa. He currently serves on the board of The C100, and is an Advisor to Felicis Ventures and Omers Ventures.

About Shopify
Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 200,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

SOURCE: Shopify Inc.

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Shopify to offer UberRUSH delivery services to Shopify merchants

One in 12 orders on Shopify are made locally

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, 2015-10-15 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP, TSX: SH), a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform, today announced a partnership with Uber to offer UberRUSH delivery services to Shopify merchants. Starting today, merchants enrolled in the program can offer their local customers same-day delivery. The UberRUSH program will begin with a select number of Shopify merchants located in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco and will be rolled out to additional cities over time.

“Today’s partnership with Uber is another way for us to improve the entire shipping process for our 175,000+ merchants,” said Brennan Loh, Head of Product Partnerships at Shopify. “In New York City, one in eight orders on Shopify have been purchased by shoppers within 20 miles of a merchant, which is why we’re excited to work with Uber. Merchants can now offer an affordable, same-day delivery option for their local customers.”

“We take a great deal of pride in providing an amazing experience for our customers,” said Ronnie Fieg, Owner of Kith. “With UberRush, customers unable to make the trip into our store will now have the opportunity to have that product in their hands, almost immediately.”

“Our goal with UberRUSH is to allow merchants the ability to access our on-demand delivery network in a way that works for them,” said Jason Droege, Head of UberEVERYTHING. “By partnering with a leading commerce platform like Shopify, we were able to easily integrate UberRUSH into the commerce experience without any additional hassle to merchants while giving them the ability to immediately grow their businesses.”

Shopify merchants enrolled in the program will have the opportunity to provide their customers with the option of choosing UberRUSH as a delivery method upon checkout. The merchant will just have to pack the order, request an Uber pickup and a few minutes later, an UberRUSH courier will arrive to deliver the order to the customer. Both the customer and the merchant can easily track the exact location from pickup to drop off right from Shopify.

Shopify merchants can sign up to be notified when UberRUSH will be available in their area. To learn more about the partnership between Shopify and Uber, please visit: shopify.com/uber.

About Shopify

Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media such as Pinterest and Facebook, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 175,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Wikipedia, LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

SOURCE: Shopify

 

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Shopify merchants can now sell products directly on Twitter

Shopify merchants can now enable buy buttons on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, 2015-10-1 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (“Shopify”) (NYSE: SHOP, TSX: SH), a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform, today launched a partnership with Twitter to allow Shopify merchants to sell products directly on Twitter. Twitter’s “Buy Now” buttons will be available to U.S.-based Shopify merchants, at no additional cost, making it easier for them to get their products into their followers’ hands.

“Many of our 175,000+ merchants already use Twitter to engage with their audience and now they can sell directly to them in real-time, ” said Satish Kanwar, Director of Product, Shopify. “Today’s partnership means Shopify merchants are now among the first to use buy buttons on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.”

Shopify merchants can start selling their products on Twitter by adding the Twitter sales channel so that any product tweeted from a merchant’s store will automatically include a buy button. Shoppers can buy products directly within their timeline on desktop, iPhone and Android. All Twitter orders, as well as product and customer details, will automatically be synchronized with Shopify.

To learn more about Shopify’s Twitter offering and to sign up, visit: shopify.com/twitter

Recently, Shopify announced a partnership with Facebook to introduce the Shop Section on Facebook Pages and the Facebook “Buy” call-to-action button. In June, Shopify announced that its merchants can sell on Pinterest using Buyable Pins. For more information, visit:press.shopify.com/releases.

About Shopify
Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media such as Pinterest and Facebook, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 175,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Wikipedia, LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

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Shopify integrates with USPS to improve shipping for its 175,000+ merchants

New offering saves ecommerce merchants time and money through integration with USPS

Ottawa, Canada, 2015-9-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (“Shopify”) (NYSE:SHOP) (TSX:SH), a leading cloud-based multichannel commerce platform, today announced the launch of Shopify Shipping. Merchants can now easily buy and print discounted shipping labels directly within the Shopify platform. Today’s integration with USPS represents the first step towards improving shipping for Shopify’s 175,000+ merchants.

“Shipping is a fundamental component of any online merchant’s workflow. We’re focused on streamlining shipping and product delivery for our merchants, so they can focus on other aspects of growing their business,” said Louis Kearns, Director of Product and Merchant Solutions at Shopify. “With Shopify Shipping, not only are we saving merchants time and money, but we’re also giving them the foundation they need to perfect their fulfillment strategy. We expect to expand these benefits to merchants in other geographies with additional shipping providers over time.”

With the introduction of Shopify Shipping, merchants buying shipping labels through Shopify will receive preferred USPS rates that are up to 60% off retail rates.

In addition to saving money when purchasing shipping labels, merchants will now have the ability to either drop prepaid shipments off at USPS offices without having to wait in line, or they can schedule a free home pickup.

To learn more about Shopify Shipping, please visit: www.shopify.com/shipping.

About Shopify
Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media such as Pinterest and Facebook, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 175,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Wikipedia, LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

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Shopify launches the World’s Largest Entrepreneurial Competition in partnership with New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Winners will spend 5 days in a castle with Tony Robbins, Russell Simmons, Tim Ferriss, Daymond John and other famous entrepreneurs

NEW YORK, NY, 2015-9-25 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc., a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform, today announced its sixth Build A Business Competition, the world’s largest entrepreneurial contest that challenges anyone with a great business idea to start a business and start selling. This year, Shopify is partnering with the New York Stock Exchange to give five entrepreneurs the experience of a lifetime by ringing The Opening Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange and then spending five days at Oheka Castle (The Great Gatsby mansion), along with some of the world’s most celebrated entrepreneurs.

“This year we’re going back to our roots and focusing on what Shopify is all about: entrepreneurship,” said Tobias Lütke, CEO, Shopify. “Shopify was built for entrepreneurs. We want to help anyone with a great idea turn it into a million dollar company in a really short time. It’s never been easier to start a business than it is today; we hope this competition is the kick in the pants that any aspiring entrepreneur needs to go get started.”

For its sixth year, Shopify is partnering with some of the world’s most respected business leaders, to help aspiring entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. This year’s mentors will join the winners of the competition during their five-day stay at the castle. The list of industry icons include:

  • Tony Robbins (Author, Philanthropist)
  • Russell Simmons (Media Mogul, Philanthropist)
  • Troy Carter (CEO of Atom Factory)
  • Daymond John (FUBU, Shark Tank)
  • Tobi Lütke (CEO and Founder of Shopify)
  • Tim Ferriss (The 4-Hour Workweek)
  • Marie Forleo (MarieTV)
  • Tom Farley (President of NYSE Group)
  • Mark Hoffman (President of CNBC)

“The NYSE recognizes that entrepreneurs are a driving force in the economy,” said Tom Farley, President of NYSE Group. “We look forward to one day welcoming the competition winners back to the NYSE as they continue on their path to success and take their companies public.”

The full list of mentors and special guests will announced throughout the competition.

To be eligible in the Build a Business Competition, participants have to start an entirely new business and sell their products using Shopify. At the end of the competition, the top five stores that sell the most over a two-month period will travel to New York City to ring The Opening Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange, be interviewed live by CNBC, then go to the Oheka Castle (The Great Gatsby mansion) for a five-day retreat full of mentorship, personal development, and professional growth.

Over the past five years, the Build a Business Competition has helped create nearly 90,000 new businesses that have sold almost half a billion dollars worth of products. Past winners including DODOcase, GoldieBlox, Coffee Joulies, Bolder Band, MVMT Watches, among many others, have successfully created multi-million dollar companies.

The Build a Business Competition runs from October 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016, with special announcements and resources provided to contestants along the way.

For more details on the Build a Business Competition, including how to sign up, visit www.shopify.com/build.

About Shopify
Shopify is a leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media such as Pinterest and Facebook, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 175,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Wikipedia, LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.

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Shopify’s Build a Business Competition winners announced; they will spend five days with Sir Richard Branson on his private island

All six winners will spend five days with Sir Richard Branson on his private island

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, 2015-7-14 — /EPR Retail News/ — Shopify Inc. (“Shopify”) (NYSE: SHOP, TSX: SH), — a leading cloud-based commerce platform, today announced the winners of its Build a Business Competition. Over the course of eight months, tens of thousands of new businesses were created, generating over 4 million orders, and resulting in more than $250 million in sales. This year’s products ranged from a GPS-enabled suitcase, to a wearable that zaps users to reduce bad habits, to an innovative mattress.

“We knew that for our fifth year, we had to go bigger and better, which is why we chose to work with Sir Richard, one of the most accomplished and inspirational entrepreneurs in the world,” said Harley Finkelstein, the Chief Platform Officer of Shopify. “We knew that the grand prize of spending a week on a private island, getting advice and mentoring from the likes of Sir Richard, Seth Godin, and Tim Ferriss, would motivate people to kickstart their ideas into actual businesses and I’m amazed at this year’s group of entrepreneurs, businesses and products.”

To be eligible in the Build a Business Competition, entrepreneurs had to start an entirely new company and sell their products using the Shopify platform. The contest ran from October 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015, and at the end of the competition, the top six stores that sold the most, over a two-month period were named the winners. The grand prize includes a trip on a private jet to Necker Island, to spend five days of mentorship with some of the biggest entrepreneurs in the world, including Sir Richard Branson, Daymond John, Tim Ferriss, Marie Forleo and Seth Godin.

Here is a summary of the six winning businesses, their innovative products, and the entrepreneurs themselves:

Leesa: David Wolfe’s goal was to tap into the lucrative mattress industry by creating a high quality but affordable mattress that could get shipped directly to the consumer. Leesa is just that — a luxury mattress for under $1,000.

Trunkster: After living out of their suitcases while travelling for business, Jesse Potash and Gaston Blanchet had an idea for a piece of luggage that was zipperless, with a built-in GPS, scale, and mobile charger. After raising $1.4 million through a Kickstarter campaign, Trunkster was born.

Shore Projects: Based in London, England, Shore Projects was founded by three serial entrepreneurs who had never designed, manufactured and sold a product before. Taking influence from the British seaside, they chose to create a watch that was a timeless, quality product that could be worn every day.

PAVLOK: After experimenting with various ways to increase productivity, Maneesh Sethi realized that there were dozens of wearables tracking behavior but not one that actually changed behavior. Based on the work of psychologist Ivan Pavlov and 80+ years of clinical research, Sethi created PAVLOK, a wearable that uses classical conditioning to break bad habits. Customers have used PAVLOK to quit smoking, nail biting, overeating, drinking, thinking negative thoughts, and more.

Little Letter Lights Co.: Based out of Adelaide, Australia, Lucy Nourse and her husband Rob wanted to start a business so that she could spend more time with their kids by working from home. She knew she wanted a product for children that was unique, safe, and affordable so she created her letter lights.

Coco White: Based out of London, England, Jonny Teeling and Will Peirce were looking to start a new business venture. They honed in on two key trends: the desire for an all natural teeth whitening product, and the concept of oil pulling. After drawing up some unique packaging designs and testing out different prices, Coco White was ready for market.

For more details on this year’s Build a Business winners, visit www.shopify.com/blog. For more information on Build a Business Competition, visit www.shopify.com/build-a-business.

About Shopify

Shopify is a leading cloud-based commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants can use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. This provides a merchant a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, using enterprise-level technology made available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 165,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries, including: Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Wikipedia, LA Lakers, GoldieBlox, and many more.