How Popular is Shopify? 2024 Shopify Usage Statistics

As one of the largest eCommerce platforms used by hundreds of thousands of online businesses, Shopify almost seems to be too big to go unnoticed.

ECommerce websites like Shopify enable businesses to have a large, far-reaching customer base while providing an opportunity for customers to buy products online on virtually any device with convenience. It’s easy to see why buyers and sellers alike gravitate toward them to increase their popularity further. Shopify remains one of the most popular names many enterprises think of among the many eCommerce platforms available. If you’re looking to design a website on Shopify, it’s definitely the most popular eCommerce platform choice.

Holding a market share that is currently the largest of any eCommerce platform in the US, Shopify outperforms many competitors day after day. But there’s more to explore when it comes to Shopify’s numbers. We’ve got the research and statistics to show just how popular Shopify really is worldwide and why both large and small enterprise businesses are flocking to create their own Shopify accounts.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is an easy-to-use application available to online retailers to create a multi-channel experience to showcase a brand selling goods or services. With a subscription-based platform, Shopify allows business owners the chance to create websites optimized to sell, ship and manage products.

Shopify comes with an extensive range of tools to help retailers analyze nearly every aspect of an online store. With features like enhanced Shopify SEO tools, users can design a customized online experience for their customers that helps maximize the return on investment of their market spending. The specialized technology creates automated customer relationship management, inventory management, transaction and more to help cut costs across the board. Basically, Shopify is the new way to do business. Some other facts about Shopify include:

• It holds a 32 percent market share in the US in eCommerce.
• Many startups and large corporations employ Shopify to conduct their sales.
• It’s highly flexible and has over 6,000 apps to customize the user experience.
• You can utilize over 100 free and paid Shopify themes for your online stores.
• A Shopify POS system allows for online store integration in brick-and-mortar retail settings.
• Shopify has two brick-and-mortar storefronts located in Los Angeles and New York City. The former was opened in 2018, while the latter opened in the 3rd quarter of 2021.
• Shopify has over 11,000 employees and contractors working for the company.

Shopify Store Statistics: How Many Merchants Are Active?

If you’re considering using the Shopify platform, even a small amount of research will reveal that you’ll be in good company. We’ve already boasted about the 32 percent US market share, but how many Shopify stores are there selling products? A good indication that the platform is working is how big it has come to be – and if there was ever a go-to platform for eCommerce, it’s Shopify.

According to Shopify itself, there are currently well over one million active stores growing steadily higher and approaching two million each day. However, the stats get a little more complicated once you consider what is counted as a store. To make it more simple, let’s break down all the Shopify statistics regarding merchant activity on the platform:

• At the time of writing, Shopify has nearly four million live websites from around the world [1].
• Over 17,500 domains registered to nearly 12,000 merchants are currently running exclusively on Shopify Plus (merchants can run unique stores on multiple domains) [2].
• Shopify is used to run businesses in 175 different countries.
• Around 42,000 Shopify partners referred a new merchant to Shopify in 2020, a 72 percent increase from 2019 [3].
• In 2020, Shopify powered nearly 20 percent of all eCommerce websites [4].

Shopify Usage Statistics: Who Uses Shopify?

Shopify was more focused on catering to English-speaking countries and only supported USD currency when it first began. The effects of this can still be seen to this day, as Shopify remains most popular within English-speaking countries. At the time of this writing, Shopify currently hosts an estimated:

• 2,500,000 websites in the US
• 149,000 websites in the UK
• 97,000 websites in Australia
• 89,000 websites in Canada

In 2018, Shopify added six languages to its platform to expand to a more global and diverse audience. This included French, German, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. As of 2024, Shopify supports a total of 21 languages. Shopify also now offers Shopify payments for a total of 11 international currencies.

Shopify Sales, Revenue & Traffic Statistics: The Importance of Backing Up Your Popularity

With so many merchants using the platform, Shopify has the numbers to back up its immense popularity. While the current numbers for 2021 aren’t yet available, we know they have continued to grow from their stellar 2020 numbers. Here are some statistics for their sales, revenue and traffic over the past few years.

• In 2020, the statistics show that Shopify had a total revenue of $2,929.5 million, an 86-percent increase from 2019 [3].
• Shopify’s 2020 gross profit increased 78 percent from 2019 to a total of $1,541.5 million [3].
• Forecasts expect Shopify to surpass 2020 revenue numbers once more in 2021, with an expected $3.6 billion in total revenue [5].
• Shopify’s one billionth order came in 2018 during the second quarter [6].
• By 2020, 457 million buyers used Shopify for products and services. This is up from the 218 million buyers in 2018 [6].
• From the start of Black Friday to the end of Cyber Monday in 2020, Shopify’s sales reached more than $5.1+ billion, a 76-percent increase from 2019, when BFCM sales reached $2.9 billion [6].
• At least 25 percent of Shopify’s recurring yearly revenue comes from Shopify Plus.

How Much Has Shopify Grown as a Company?

If it isn’t already apparent from the statistics, Shopify has grown immensely over the past few years. In 2012, Shopify only had 42,000 merchants. By 2016, that number grew to 377,000, and in 2019, it finally passed one million. By the end of 2020, Shopify reported that 1,749,000 merchants were operating on the Shopify platform – who knows how much of an increase has happened over 2021.

Shopify has continued to grow in other areas as well. Since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2015, Shopify stock rose by a multiple of 50. In 2015, stocks started at just $28, and already a 60-percent increase from the original $17 asking price. By November 2021, stocks were trading at $1,500.

Keeping on trend with massive growth, Shopify’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased by 95.58 percent from 2019 to 2020 and is 170 times greater than in 2012 [3].

Who Are Shopify’s Leading Competitors?

Just as Shopify has continued to grow, the eCommerce space has grown to massive heights. More and more competitors are starting to challenge Shopify for the best-known name in eCommerce. Some of the most successful competitors include:

• BigCommerce
• WooCommerce
• Volusion
• Wix
• Squarespace
• Weebly
• Square Online

Many other eCommerce platforms are attempting to compete with Shopify, but these seven can be considered the top players competing for the No. 1 spot. WooCommerce is Shopify’s top competitor at the moment. When looking at just the top one million eCommerce websites, WooCommerce currently surpasses Shopify, having built 28 percent of online stores vs. Shopify’s 21 percent.

Most of Shopify’s competitors are smaller projects eCommerce-wise, especially Volusion, Wix or Squarespace. BigCommerce is one of the most natural alternatives, but it still seems far from Shopify’s success in terms of users. The important thing to remember is that nearly all website builders attempt to grab some of Shopify’s market share by offering their own version of eCommerce solutions. It still remains to be seen how successful they will be.

Discover How to Enhance Your Shopify Store With OuterBox Solutions

It seems like Shopify’s growth won’t be slowing down any time soon. Shopify is consistently becoming more profitable, popular and packed with features year after year. If you’re considering making the jump to Shopify, or you’re looking to get the most out of your investment, the expert team at OuterBox can help. OuterBox is a combination of experienced SEO strategists, specialists, content writers and account managers, all with extensive knowledge on how to get the most out of your Shopify SEO and help your business reach the top of the ranks. We’ve worked with Shopify for over 10 years, so we know all the ins and outs that can help improve your campaign. Speak with an SEO expert today to learn how you can get the most out of your Shopify experience.