Shopify’s Holiday Sales Spiked 61 Pct. YOY

With holiday sales skyrocketing from 2018 to 2019, Canada’s Shopify registered quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations. The eCommerce firm notched global sales of more than $2.9 billion from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, an increase of approximately 61 percent during the same timeframe in the prior year, CNBC reported.

The company registered $20.6 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) for the quarter, marking a 47 percent rise over 2018’s fourth quarter. Gross payments volume rose to $8.9 billion, which comprised a record 43 percent of GMV processed in the quarter compared to $5.8 billion for the same quarter of the prior year. Merchant solutions revenue increased 53 percent to $322 million, mainly driven by GMV growth.

Shopify CFO Amy Shapero said in an announcement, “Shopify’s merchants had a tremendous fourth quarter, powered by our ongoing efforts to help them sell more and manage their businesses more effectively. Our investments to enhance our product offerings and expand internationally are attracting entrepreneurs worldwide and helping them succeed, as demonstrated by strong GMV growth in 2019.”

This year, Shapero also noted that the company “will continue to invest in our portfolio of growth initiatives to better serve merchants and energize the flywheel well into the future.”

Shopify allows small businesses to sell products and services by making stores on its platform. It put more than $1 billion toward creating U.S. fulfillment centers last year, as it contends with larger competitors eBay and Amazon. The company posted net income of $771,000 for the quarter concluding on Dec. 31, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million a year prior. It made 43 cents per share, coming out ahead of the estimated average 23 cents per share, with the exclusion of items.

“2019 was a milestone year for us,” said Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke in the announcement. “We’ve earned the trust of more than one million merchants, and we are motivated more than ever to keep lowering the learning curve so anyone, anywhere can become an entrepreneur.”

In October, Shopify announced that merchants aiming to scale their companies can now get expert help from a new platform that links merchants with skilled professionals. The Experts Marketplace enables retailers to access external resources and experts specializing in the Shopify platform.