Here's a sneak peek at the most recent Shopifreaks newsletter. Join today for all the latest Shopify news, apps, and happenings in a short e-mail each Monday.
? Stock News
Tues, Jan 19th – Open: $1,186.90 – Close: $1,150.17
Fri, Jan 22nd – Open: $1,187.52 – Close: $1,196.70
Seeking Alpha said this month that Shopify has a strong business model, but a lofty valuation currently sitting at a 771 P/E Ratio, which implies that a lot of the future growth of the company is already baked into the share price. In comparison to other big tech companies, Amazon's P/E Ratio is 96.84, Apple's is 43.90, and Google's is 36.57.
? Shopify News
1) Business Insider reported that 21% of Shopify stores are selling fraudulent goods or not delivering on sales according to Fakespot's analysis of 124,044 Shopify stores. Since scammers are able to set up a Shopify store without a background check, it's an easy platform to launch fly by night stores from. A Shopify spokesperson told Insider that it has closed thousands of stores, and it regularly implements new measures to address fraud or other violations.
2) Analyst Ken Wong feels that the partnership between Shopify and Walmart in June 2020 that opened Walmart's Marketplace to Shopify sellers has been overshadowed by the pandemic, but that investors should take notice because the partnership could “reinforce Shopify's standing as the leading retail operating system.”
3) Shopify's partnership with Affirm last July, which earned them 20 million shares (8% of the company), just resulted in a $2 billion windfall after their IPO this past Wednesday when Affirm jumped 99% to $97.24 at the close.
4) Deliveright, a leading digital delivery network for heavy goods, has launched the first heavy goods delivery app for Shopify. Retailers that sell merchandise such as furniture through Shopify will now be able to offer their customers instant shipping quotes and various service levels ranging from curbside to white glove delivery.
5) Bold Commerce raised $35 million in new funding to expand beyond Shopify into competing platforms including BigCommerce and WooCommerce (owned by Automattic, the developers of WordPress). Bold currently has over 90,000 customers.
6) Ian Black, the managing director of Shopify, says that omnichannel commerce is the new norm in the sector — as exemplified by Walmart's curbside pickup and Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, as well as their partnership with Kohls to accept returns. Black feels that there's no value in “online vs offline” mentality anymore.
7) Shopify surveyed 450 small businesses and reported that the average business owner in USA spends $40,000 their first year in business. The survey found that aspirational entrepreneurs underestimated how much money they need to start a business and only predicted that they would need $17,000 on average.
8) Did you know that Shopify helps fight climate change via their Shop Pay app? After a customer’s order is delivered, Shopify calculates how much carbon is emitted by the delivery and then offsets the equivalent in carbon emissions through its tree protection projects — currently working with Pachama in the Peruvian rainforest to protect more than 350,000ha of tropical rainforest from deforestation.
? Shopify Apps
Last week Shopify added 30+ new apps to the Shopify App store. Here are a few that look promising.
1) Smart Announcement Timer – Promote special events with a countdown timer. Free plan includes 2 bars.
2) Easy Specifications Chart – Manage and display better looking product specification charts. Starts at $7/mo for up to 100 products.
3) Stick Add To Cart Button – Never have the Add to Cart or Checkout buttons leave the screen. $3.99/mo for all features.
4) Magic Live Stream – Broadcast a live stream video directly onto your storefront. Viewers can one click purchase items in the broadcast. $19.99/mo for all features.
5) Easy AR+3D Product Previews – Customers can envision how your products will look in their homes with augmented reality (AR).
6) Smart Bundles – Keep inventory in sync across your SKUs when selling bundles. Free with no paid options at the moment.
7) Impulse – Display impulse items at checkout just like they do at the grocery store to boost sales.
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See you next Monday!
PAUL
Paul E. Drecksler
www.shopifreaks.com
[email protected]
PS: What do you call two monkeys that share an Amazon account? …. Prime mates!