(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Shopify makes setting up an online store easy by selling tools that manage orders, help with branding, and analyze performance. There are more than 1 million companies selling everything from heirloom popcorn to cars (Tesla Inc.) with Shopify software.
Investor confidence stems, in part, from the news that Shopify is building out a U.S. delivery network. The September announcement that it was buying 6 River Systems Inc. for $450 million—part of a $1 billion investment in fulfillment—could help Shopify win over small merchants wary of being too reliant on Amazon, which is focusing more on megabrands.
Lütke, a German immigrant to Canada, started Shopify in 2006 after realizing that the software he built to sell snowboards online was more valuable than the product. Now he’s a billionaire and has helped restore dignity to a Canadian tech scene traumatized by flops such as BlackBerry Ltd. and Nortel Networks Corp.
To contact the author of this story: Jacqueline Thorpe in Toronto at jthorpe23@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net, Max Chafkin
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