Shopify helps customers build online shops, but it’s minting tech founders and investors, too
Last month, Jean-Michel Lemieux, the chief technology officer of Shopify, and the company’s chief talent officer, Brittany Forsyth, both announced that they are stepping down from their roles. Chief legal officer Joe Frasca is also set to step down, with all three ending their tenures next month. In their next chapters, all seem keen to advise, invest in or even launch startups, joining a growing number of former Shopify executives and employees to do the same.
For an enterprise of Shopify’s size the 15-year-old, 7,000-person, Ottawa-based outfit boasts a $130 billion market cap that’s not a surprise. Still, because of the vast wealth that Shopify has helped create, and its focus on sustainability among other things it invests $5 million per year in startups that fight climate change and publishes annual sustainability reports its former employees look to have an impact
Ottawa e-commerce giant said net income soared to US$1.26 billion in the first three months of 2021, up from the US$31.4-million net loss it reported for the same period last year.
Consumer preferences have shifted permanently, said Finkelstein, in a call with analysts. The centre of gravity was off-line. It is now online and there s no going back to the pre-pandemic version of that.
The shift has been a boon for the Ottawa e-commerce giant, which helps businesses run online stores but has long had to contend with online purchases compromising less than 10 per cent of retail sales for years.
The pandemic with its temporary store closures and explosion of online offerings pushed the proportion of e-commerce sales in Canada to new records. In April 2020, it hit a record 11.4 per cent.
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Shopify Inc. executives believe the shift toward online sales triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay.
A sign is seen outside the Shopify headquarters in Ottawa, Tuesday September 1, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Shopify Inc. executives believe the shift toward online sales triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay.
Chief executive Tobi Lutke and president Harley Finkelstein said Wednesday that early patterns emerging in lockdown-free countries like New Zealand and Australia show consumers have embraced e-commerce even after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and they expect North America to eventually see the same.
Shopify says shift toward e-commerce is permanent as Q1 net income soars to US$1 26B kitchenertoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kitchenertoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.