While many merchants across the U.S. and around the world were disappointed with the results of the unofficial kickoff weekend to the 2021 holiday shopping season, Shopify’s platform topped $6.3 billion in sales from the start of Black Friday in New Zealand through the end of Cyber Monday in California.
That’s up from $5.1 billion in 2020, according to the company’s quarterly and annual earnings report released Wednesday (Feb. 16). The even better news for the environmentally-conscious among Shopify’s customer base is that the company bought enough carbon removal to “completely eliminate the impact of carbon emissions from shipping on every single order on our platform” for that weekend.
Shopify customers are also starting to become long-term advocates for the company, with subscriptions to the platform up 26% year over year to $351.2 million, thanks in large part to more merchants joining the platform.
“The last two years have been extraordinary,” said Harley Finkelstein, Shopify president, in the company announcement. “We are emerging from the sprint of these last two years even stronger and more ambitious, since the accelerated leap into digital commerce means we can go farther and faster for merchants and buyers alike.
“As the commerce engine for independent brands who want to build a direct connection with their customers and to sell everywhere — whether it’s on mobile, on Main Street, or to buyers in cities you’ve never heard of — we head into 2022 energized by what we can build with the unique combination of merchants, ecosystem and top talent we have today,” he said.
Despite the optimism coming from the Q4 and overall 2021 numbers, Shopify’s stock price is down more than 15% in early trading on Wednesday (Feb. 16).
Shopify’s total revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.38 billion, up 41% from the same three-month period in 2020. Merchant solutions revenue was $1,028.8 billion, up 47% year over year, and monthly recurring revenue was $102 million, topping $100 million for the first time and up 23% from 2020’s total of $82.6 million. Shopify Plus was responsible for $29.8 million of that total.
Related: Shopify and JD.com Roll Out eCommerce Market for Merchants
In January, Shopify and JD.com debuted a strategic partnership that they say will make it easier for U.S. merchants to sell to consumers in China, which has the world’s largest eCommerce market, projected to be $3.3 trillion by 2025. That’s five times larger than the U.S. eCommerce sector.
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