Insights on the global eCommerce & DTC businesses

To grow its take rate significantly from here, Shopify would need to deliver a value it currently lacks: demand gen(-eration). I've written about the powerful combo of free software, marketplace services, and demand gen in my "business in a box" post a few weeks ago. Because 50% of e-commerce searches already start on Amazon, the incumbent has a hu... See more

One of the most important companies in making both of the non-Amazon value-chains work is Shopify, which is a platform, not an Aggregator. Google and Facebook may collect the customers, but it is Shopify (and WooCommerce, its open-source competitor) that provides the infrastructure for merchants to actually sell things online.

As a result, non-price driven Amazon purchase journeys initially start on other sites which help users figure out what the best product for them is (through curation and reviews). This is similar to the Shopify model, which relies on discovery channels such as Instagram and Pinterest to drive users to its stores.