Shopify’s Pivot to an Integrator

Shopify sees Facebook as one of the channels; Facebook wants to become the channel. Short-term goals are aligned, but long-term, there is no doubt that Facebook is trying to become a platform itself.

First, Shopify will not be processing transactions on Facebook, so it will see no incremental revenue as stores grow on Facebook. Second, Facebook and Instagram are crucial channels of customer acquisition for Shopify stores; if those customers never leave Facebook, Shopify’s revenue will instead shrink. Third, and finally, Facebook will continue b... See more

However, the partnership suffers from the multi-channel fallacy, the assumption that adding more channels increases sales. It does not, at least not meaningfully. Naively while a product can be copied to Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and elsewhere and thus should be discoverable by customers there, a mere act of adding products doesn’t create liquidity. E... See more

The anti-Amazon fight is not going to be won by Shopify becoming an integrator. Instead, it is the fulfillment, financing, and other on-platform initiatives that are important.

In May, Facebook announced Facebook Shops, a tool to set up online stores on Facebook and Instagram. Shopify is one of the partners, allowing Shopify stores to upload their inventory to Facebook. However, assuming Facebook Shops is successful, this partnership benefits those stores and Facebook, not Shopify.

In June, Walmart announced plans to add Shopify stores as merchants to its third-party marketplace. Shopify is Walmart’s first platform partner ever, although Shopify had integrations with Amazon and eBay for years. The partnership adds a channel for Shopify stores and allows Walmart to onboard brands that the company could ultimately approach more... See more