Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) has proved to be one of the most resilient companies during this COVID-19 pandemic. Not only have the shares recovered to their February highs, but they have hit all-time highs while this pandemic is ongoing.
For comparison, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average are down 12% and 17% year to date, respectively. Shopify stock has blown these indexes out of the water, with the share price up 54% since the first of the year.
Investors had touted this company as the next Amazon, and considering how these stocks have responded despite the pandemic, that appears to be accurate.
Shopify actually provides an interesting perspective on small businesses with regard to their participation in e-commerce. As the economy and businesses in general are forced into this model by the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes increasingly important to keep the pulse of any potential return to normalcy.
Some of the stock’s recent momentum has been the result of Shopify’s expansion of its commerce platform to an app. Furthermore, look for Shopify’s second-quarter results later this week, on Wednesday.
Consumer App
On April 28, Shopify introduced a new feature to its commerce platform. This first-of-its-kind shopping assistance app looks to combine the discovery of local businesses, personalized recommendations, seamless payment and tracking. The app is called Shop.
Ultimately, the Shop app is designed to bridge gaps in online shopping. Because of social distancing and stay-at-home measures, customers have become more reliant on online ordering than ever before, as it becomes more challenging for people to stay connected.
Shop offers users the ability to easily discover local businesses, receive product recommendations from their favorite brands, check out easily and track all their online orders.
These are some of the key features of Shop:
- Local filters: Shop’s users can locate nearby merchants to support local businesses. The app identifies businesses currently offering shipping, pick-up, and highlights return policies.
- Seamless payment and checkout: Through Shop Pay, shoppers have fast and easy checkout across all brands on the app.
- Transparent tracking: With the innovative technology of Arrive, all order and tracking information is stored in one convenient place. Tracking shows the status of each package and provides real-time updates.
- Customized recommendations: Through personalized recommendations, like new releases and deals from the brands shoppers love, Shop ensures merchants’ customers consistently rediscover the storefronts of their favorite brands, as well as new brands.
Keep in mind that Shopify’s platform powers over 1 million businesses. With this app, Shopify is extending its reach to customers, and the growth from here could be huge. To date, Shop Pay has processed over $8 billion in sales, while 16 million shoppers have used Arrive to track their e-commerce orders.
Carl Rivera, general manager of Shop, hammered in this point:
Shopify has focused the last decade on solving complex problems for entrepreneurs by making commerce seamless and accessible. Now, we want to do the same for customers. We set out to solve the common pain points in the customer’s shopping journey today, while developing specific features, like local business discovery, that will be relevant today and in the future.
Even with this new app, Shopify earnings this week will give a better picture of where the company stands in the midst of this ongoing pandemic.
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