Shopify’s uninspired vision of the future of shopping

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

While same-day delivery and free returns are eroding much of the rest: we’ve now reached the point that it’s not clear that there is anything that cannot be bought online. But actually, the real barrier now is often not touching it, but knowing about it. These are things where a lot of the role of a physical shop is curation, recommendation and dem... See more

Authentication needs to be quick and convenient for the sellers and reliable and consistent for the buyers. Product discovery and navigation needs to be contextualized and entertaining, either through editorial point of view or through livestreaming and social component. Visibility needs to be equal to all sellers and platforms should support in te... See more

If commerce is a transaction between buyer and seller, the face of the seller is evolving with new tools for discovery and purchase that allow for a personal relationship between creator and customer. Beyond a corporation or mass retailer, the seller is now frequently a person or small business. We are seeing a new long-tail retailer learning how t... See more

Given their respective value chains, Amazon and Shopify both have an interest in becoming better at discovery. Technology companies have a tendency to (try to) solve discovery with automated recommendation engines, but that’s not how we make purchase decisions.

As we discussed in last week’s essay, Instagram is both a blessing and a curse for Shopify. On the one hand, it is the perfect discovery channel for the type of products that are typically sold by Shopify merchants: visually appealing objects you didn’t even know you wanted (fashion, homeware, furniture, etc). On the other hand, too much reliance o... See more