Shopify is a popular ecommerce platform—so much so that it is becoming a household name. Over 8 million websites are powered by Shopify worldwide, and it has the largest ecommerce platform market share in the US.
Below, we offer an overview of Shopify, essential sales and usage statistics, insights into Shopify stores, and consumer behavior on Shopify sites.
Shopify Stats: The Basics
1. Shopify has been around for 18 years
The company launched in 2006. Founder and CEO Tobi Lütke established an online store selling snowboards in 2004. When he realized that the software was more valuable than his products, the founding team launched Shopify as an ecommerce platform. It has since created a whole suite of business tools, including point of sale, shipping services, and chatbots, to name a few.
2. Shopify’s brand value is worth about $960 million
As of 2022, Shopify’s brand value was Can$1.3 billion (or about $960 million). This represents a 68% increase from the year prior.
3. Shopify has a presence in 175 countries
The Canadian company is global. It has a presence in 175 countries around the world. Out of these countries, the US takes up 41% of all the Shopify stores worldwide.
4. More than 8,300 employees work at Shopify
Shopify is a big-time employer. According to its website, it has more than 8,300 employees.
5. More than 780 professionals are Shopify Experts
Among Shopify’s resources are Shopify Experts. These are professionals with expertise in a specific vertical to help you build, manage, and grow your Shopify store. There are more than 780 official Shopify Experts.
Shopify Stats: About the Platform
6. Shopify supports more than 10 sales channels
Multichannel selling is where Shopify really shines as a platform. It offers over 10 distinct selling channels, all of which are free:
- Online store
- Shop app
- Buy button
- Linkpop
- Shopify Inbox (chat)
- POS (in-person)
- Facebook and Instagram by Meta
- Google & YouTube
- TikTok Shop
- Shopify Collective
- Faire wholesale marketplace
- Shopify Marketplace Connect app
There are also several third-party apps for online selling in the Shopify App Store.
7. There are more than 13,000 Shopify apps
One of Shopify’s biggest advantages over other ecommerce platforms is the sheer size of its integrations (or Shopify apps). Shopify has more than 13,000 apps to date, which you can easily add to your Shopify store with a click of a button.
Shopify apps can be free or paid, and they answer a specific business need, whether it’s for customer service, marketing, lead generation, or design.
Shopify lets merchants choose from over 10,000 integrations in its App Store.
8. Shopify Inbox is the most downloaded Shopify app
Shopify Inbox, a free chat messaging tool, is the most downloaded app in the Shopify App Store, used by nearly 400,000 Shopify stores—16.1% of Shopify stores.
The Geolocation app is a close second with over 15.9% of Shopify stores having installed the app.
9. Shopify has more than 200 themes in its theme store
When building an online store, you can use a selection of premade themes, some paid and some free. As of this writing, you’ll find more than 200 options in the Shopify theme store—more than 10 free themes and 200 paid ones.
Shopify’s website themes are all mobile-first. And with the latest feature update on its website builder, you get flex sections where you can now easily drag, drop, resize, group, and edit content from the OS 2.0 editor.
10. The Dawn Theme is the most popular and used website template of Shopify store
Shopify’s default and free theme, Dawn, is used by more than 600,000 Shopify stores—almost 26% of Shopify stores. It is the most popular theme in Shopify, with Debut (no longer offered in the Theme store) and Refresh rounding up the top three themes.
You can learn more about Shopify’s full suite of offerings by exploring our related articles below:
- Shopify Review
- Shopify Pricing Plans
- Shopify POS Review
- Shopify Payments Review
- How to Set Up a Shopify Store
Shopify Usage Statistics
11. More than 8 million websites use Shopify
Among the billions of websites out there, 8,207,356 use Shopify as their chosen website builder. Nearly 64% of those (around 5.2 million) are currently live, with the rest historical. An additional 1.8 million domains redirect to sites using Shopify.
12. Shopify powers more than 20% of ecommerce stores in the US
Out of more than 14 million ecommerce stores in the US, a little over 3 million use Shopify—representing 21.37% of the population.
13. Majority of Shopify users are small businesses
Among Shopify store owners, a majority (66%) are small businesses (<$50M in annual revenue), 17% are medium-sized, and 9% are enterprises (>$1,000M in annual revenue).
Source: Enlyft
14. Shopify has a bigger market share over the top 100, 100K, and 100M websites than WooCommerce
According to the latest worldwide Statista study (July 2023), Shopify had a larger market share of the top 10,000, top 100,000, and top 1 million websites than WooCommerce.
BuiltWith further validates this, as it finds that Shopify is the leading platform of ecommerce websites in the top 1 million sites as of August 2024.
15. Retail is the top industry using Shopify
Regarding which industries use Shopify the most, retail takes the top spot. Other top industries include manufacturing, food and beverage, and construction.
Source: Enlyft
16. Nearly a quarter of Shopify Stores sell apparel clothing
When it comes to retail industry verticals, apparel products take the top spot on product offerings in most Shopify stores (more than 500,000 stores or 22%).
Home and garden products come in at a distant second (around 230,000 or 10%), followed closely by beauty and fitness products (200,000 or 8%).
17. Clothing accessories are the most popular apparel product for Shopify stores
The top three most popular subcategory products under apparel for Shopify stores are clothing accessories (20.%), women’s clothing (12%), and casual apparel (9%).
18. Majority of Shopify stores worldwide carry fewer than 10 products
Statista reports that there is an inverse relationship between the number of Shopify stores and the number of products sold per store. There are 621,899 Shopify stores that sold less than 10 products, while 376,418 sold between 10 and 24 products.
19. There are over 45,000 ecommerce stores running on Shopify Plus
There are more than 45,000 domains running Shopify’s top tier, Shopify Plus. It lets merchants run stores on multiple domains, and there are approximately 30,000 distinct merchants running Shopify Plus.
Among these online stores, 41% are in the US, and 21% sell 250 to 999 different products.
Related: Shopify vs Shopify Plus
20. 16% of sellers say Shopify is their preferred Amazon alternative
As many as 16% of sellers say Shopify is their top choice as an alternative to Amazon. Shopify is edged out by eBay, which nearly a quarter of merchants choose as their top Amazon alternative. Walmart came in third, with 15% of sellers.
21. Shop has around 2.4 million monthly downloads
Shop, Shopify’s shopping app, gets around 2.4 million monthly downloads. Through the app, customers can track shipments for orders placed through Shopify stores, earn Shop Cash, and shop stores powered by Shopify directly through the app.
It’s also powered by Shop Pay, Shopify’s powerful one-click checkout,
Source: Shopify
22. USPS is the most used shipping service by Shopify stores
USPS is the most used shipping courier by Shopify stores worldwide, with almost 149,000 online shops using their service. UPS and FedEx followed, with 101,628 and 67,894 stores, respectively.
23. Shopify Payments is the third most used payment processing technology on websites in the world
As of August 2024, Shopify Payments has nearly 14% of the worldwide market share of online payment processing technologies, ranking third after popular payment services PayPal and Stripe.
Shopify Store Statistics: The Financials
24. Shopify has a $95.45 billion market capitalization
One of the more impressive Shopify facts is that it sits in spot #12 in the list of biggest internet companies ranked by market capitalization as of August 2024.
25. Shopify’s GMV is $235.9 billion
According to Shopify’s 2023 full-year financials, its gross merchandise volume (GMV) is $235.9 billion, a 20% increase of $38.7 billion over the prior year.
GMV “represents the total dollar value of orders facilitated through the Shopify platform including certain apps and channels for which a revenue-sharing arrangement is in place in the period, net of refunds, and inclusive of shipping and handling, duty, and value-added taxes.”
26. Shopify drove $7 billion in total revenue in 2023
Shopify earned about $7 billion in total revenue in 2023, up from $5.6 billion the year prior. Its revenue has grown by over $5 billion since 2015.
27. Shopify’s subscription services generated $1.8 billion in revenue in 2023
In 2023, the revenue for Shopify’s subscription services grew 23% to $1.8 billion.
28. Shopify’s merchant solutions generated $5.2 billion in revenue in 2023
Shopify is more than just an ecommerce site builder. It includes a suite of tools and services for merchants. In 2023, the revenue for Shopify’s merchant solutions had a 27% increase from the year prior at $5.2 billion.
29. Shopify’s revenue is up 21% as of the second quarter of 2024
Shopify released its second quarter financial results in 2024, and it shows a 21% revenue increase and a 25% increase in gross profit year over year (YOY).
Here are some of the notable highlights (all comparisons are to the Q2 of 2023):
- GMV increased 22% to $67.2 billion.
- Revenue increased 21% to $2.0 billion—a 25% YOY growth after adjusting for the sale of logistics businesses.
- Merchant Solutions revenue went up 19% to $1.5 billion—primarily by the growth of GMV and continued penetration of Shopify Payments.
- Subscription Solutions revenue went up 27% to $563 million.
Shopify Sales Statistics: Store Stats & Sales
30. There have been around $1 trillion in sales on Shopify
Since its 2006 launch, Shopify has hosted around $1 trillion in ecommerce sales.
31. The AOV on Shopify stores is $85
One survey of Shopify stores conducted by Littledata in September 2022 found the average order value (AOV) for Shopify sites to be $85. As far as benchmarking goes, the top 20% of Shopify stores have an AOV of at least $192, while the bottom-performing 20% of Shopify stores have an AOV of $50 or less.
32. The average revenue per customer on Shopify stores is $92
The same September 2022 survey concluded that Shopify merchants’ average revenue per customer was $92. The top 20% of Shopify sites earn more than $209 in revenue per customer, while the bottom 20% earn $53 or less in revenue per customer.
33. Shopify stores have an average conversion rate of 1.4%
Littledata reports that Shopify stores see an average conversion rate of 1.4% across all devices. Meanwhile, the top 10% of Shopify stores report conversion rates of 4.7% and above. According to them, a conversion rate of between 0.4% and 3.2% is considered average and satisfactory for a Shopify store.
34. The average mobile conversion rate on Shopify stores is 1.2%
Littledata also looked at conversation rates and found that the average mobile conversion rate for Shopify stores is 1.2%. For benchmarking purposes, businesses with a mobile conversion rate of at least 2.7% fall into the top 20% of Shopify stores. On the other side of things, anything less than 0.3% falls into the bottom-performing 20% of Shopify stores.
35. More than 675 million shoppers purchased from Shopify stores in 2023
According to Shopify’s 2023 year-in-review report, more than 675 million unique shoppers purchased from Shopify merchants in 2023 alone, compared with 561 million in 2022.
36. Shopify’s overall conversion rate surpasses competition by up to 36%
According to the same 2023 report, Shopify Checkout has been streamlined to a one-page checkout experience and, as such, has surpassed competitors by up to 36% in terms of conversion.
Furthermore, Shopify Checkout converts 15% higher than other checkout pages on average.
37. Shop Pay increases conversions by as much as 50%
Shop Pay, Shopify’s one-click checkout or accelerated checkout option, increases conversion as much as 50%. The mere presence of Shop Pay on checkout drives a 5% higher conversion.
You will know Shop Pay express checkout by its purple button.
Consumer Behavior on Shopify
38. ColourPop Cosmetics is the most-visited Shopify store
In terms of traffic, ColourPop Cosmetics earns the most visits of all Shopify merchants. According to November 2022 data, its traffic ranking from Alexa (web traffic analytics firm) was 3,311.
California-based beauty brand, ColourPop Cosmetics, is the most visited Shopify store. (Source: ColourPop)
However, there’s plenty of traffic to go around—ColourPop isn’t the only Shopify merchant with such visibility and success. The top Shopify stores and their respective Alexa traffic rankings are as follows:
- ColourPop Cosmetics: 3,311
- Jeffree Star Cosmetics: 4,262
- Fashion Nova: 5,015
- Red Dress Boutique: 8,014
- Gymshark: 9,848
- Cupshe: 15,785
- Omaze: 16,579
- Mnml: 17,065
- Kith: 18,733
39. 10% of American consumers buy secondhand products on Shopify
While eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and OfferUp dominate the secondhand market, Shopify sites are earning traction. One in 10 US-based consumers say they’ve purchased a secondhand product from a Shopify merchant. This is one of the more interesting and outlying Shopify trends to consider.
Bottom Line
Since 2006, Shopify has evolved from a simple ecommerce platform into a comprehensive suite of tools and services catering to a wide range of business needs. With more than 13,000 apps, over 200 themes, and over 10 selling channels, Shopify has all the tools you need to create an online presence that syncs with your physical retail business.
