Shopify’s Strong Q1 Results Good News for E-Commerce Merchants

In their Q1 2021 Financial Results Conference Call on April 28, 2021, Shopify confirmed what many expected: the company saw massive growth in the first quarter due to the continuing effects of the e-commerce boom in 2020.

Shopify had a strong and competitive market position, taking up 8.6% of all US retail e-commerce sales in 2020. This represents the second largest share of the market, following Amazon. Shopify also saw 110% year-over-year growth, with revenue totaling $988.6 million.

These results could be an indication of a strong performance ahead for those selling on the platform or providing services to those who do. As such, now could be a great time to invest in an established Shopify-related business – either in e-commerce or a Shopify app (SaaS).

On a global scale, Shopify merchants created 3.6 million jobs and saw $307+ billion in global economic impact. The result of this? When including its merchants, Shopify can now claim to be the 7th largest company in the world in terms of revenue.

Additionally, Shopify saw traction from brands outside of North America in Q1, including companies like Mizuno, a popular Japanese sports brand that launched on Shopify’s platform recently.

Other key financial highlights from the call: Shopify saw monthly recurring revenue (MRR) of $89.9 million, representing growth of 62% from 2020, with no signs of slowing down in 2021. Their gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased from $19.9 billion to $37.3 billion, and they project to see this number continue to rise into the next quarter.

Shopify also continued to see success in their gross payments volume (GPV), increasing 135% in Q1 (from $7.3 billion to $17.3 billion) and saw merchant cash advances and loans increase 90% in Q1 (from $162.4 million to $308.6 million). Their monthly active users increased by 26% in Q1, rounding out to around 24 million users.

Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, spoke to why the e-commerce platform has seen such success partnering with entrepreneurs all over the world, “This, in a nutshell, is why Shopify exists. We are here to make it easier for anyone with an idea and ambition to launch a business. Entrepreneurship is thriving and trends like omnichannel shopping and direct-to-consumer selling offer even greater opportunities.”

Moving forward, Shopify plans to capitalize on international markets and continue to grow their channels, partnerships and added capabilities. When asked what the big drivers will be for Shopify throughout the rest of the year, Finkelstein weighed in on Shopify’s biggest strength: its business model.

“I think the advantage of the Shopify business model: it’s not an ‘or;’ it’s an ‘and.’ On the early side of merchant creation, again, we’ve been – we’ve all been watching that business registrations are increasing, both in the US and around the world. Certainly, we’re seeing that with more merchants joining Shopify that are first-time entrepreneurs. And, you know, one of my favorite stats to talk about is that every 28 seconds a new entrepreneur gets their products for sale on Shopify. That is really important because that shows that we’re not only growing our piece of the pie, but we’re growing the pie itself. We are growing the actual market.”