Overview
Shopify is the world's largest DTC e-commerce SaaS platform, founded in 2006 and headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. As of 2024, over 4 million merchants worldwide run stores on Shopify, generating annual GMV exceeding $200 billion — the #1 market share globally. Shopify offers an end-to-end solution spanning storefront templates, payments (Shop Pay), fulfillment (Shopify Fulfillment) and omnichannel sales (POS, TikTok, Instagram), making it the go-to platform for Chinese cross-border sellers building overseas DTC brands.
Core Features
1-Click Storefronts
Hundreds of stunning themes to launch a branded storefront with no code
Shop Pay Checkout
The industry's highest-converting accelerated checkout with all major global payment methods
Omnichannel Selling
Sell simultaneously on TikTok Shop, Instagram, Amazon, Google Shopping and more
Orders & Fulfillment
Connect to global carriers with 1-click labels and third-party overseas warehouses
Marketing & SEO
Built-in email marketing, discount codes, abandoned cart recovery and SEO
Shopify App Store
8,000+ apps extending store capabilities from finance to AI customer service
How to Use
Start Free Trial
Sign up at shopify.com for a 3-day free trial, then $1/month for 3 months
Choose Plan
Basic $29/mo, Shopify $79/mo, Advanced $299/mo. The mid-tier Shopify plan is ideal for cross-border sellers
Pick Theme & Add Products
Pick a template from the Theme Store, upload product photos, SKUs and inventory
Set Up Payments & Shipping
Enable Shopify Payments or third-party (Stripe, PayPal) and set shipping rate templates
Founding Story
Shopify's story began in 2004 when founder Tobias Lütke wanted to sell snowboards online but found no suitable e-commerce tools — so he built his own. In 2006, he spun it out as Shopify. Thanks to a clean building experience and an ever-expanding app ecosystem, Shopify emerged victorious in the e-commerce platform wars. Shopify went public on both NYSE and TSX in 2015. The 2020 pandemic supercharged e-commerce and Shopify's stock nearly quadrupled in a year, briefly pushing its market cap above $200 billion. In 2023, Shopify divested its logistics operations to focus on core SaaS, and results have remained strong.