At @Shopify, D2C is in our DNA. In the last 16yrs, we have sought to level the playing field and pave the way to make entrepreneurship more accessible. We disrupted commerce with D2C. And we're doing it again. The next era of commerce is here: Connect To Consumer (C2C).

Commerce today is so much more than just a direct transaction with a brand - it's about the connection & the brand loyalty you feel towards that brand. It's about connecting at every stage of the commerce journey.

Don’t let budget get in the way of your ambitions. Here’s a story about how this played out when @Shopify launched (a thread🧵) To officially launch @Shopify, we needed to develop themes, but we had no money and no theme designers. This was at the time that iPod Minis were all the rage. So we got creative.

One thing you notice when you talk to entrepreneurs is there is always someone who inspired them to become one. An uncle, a mother, a friend's parent, the local store owner, a figure who motivated us. For me, it was my grandfather Arthur. Over the years he’s taught me 3 things about entrepreneurship👇

More people need to start businesses in college. Better yet - you should start multiple businesses while in college.

Here are 4 reasons why 🧵👇 1. Audience access - Your classmates act as early adopters and provide you a wealth of feedback to iterate and improve your business idea/products.

DTC Twitter, what’s up? Speaking of great DTC brands, new one for me: just got this jacket from @distortedpeople - beautifully made great design 🙌

It’s time! Episode 2 of #IQuit is just about to start on #Discovery So excited to watch Episode 2 of #IQuit on #Discovery! Who’s watching with me?

It’s time! #IQuit is premiering on @Discovery and @Tricia002 @debbieblox and I are watching it along with you! Did I mention that $100,000 is up for grabs on #IQuit?! What we’re looking for from the deserving entrepreneur:
-risk taker
-grit
-passion
-ingenuity

We’re giving it to the person behind the business more than the business.

We always talk about thriving on change at @Shopify but seeing it in the numbers is even better. Some of our latest stats:

📈 New stores created on Shopify grew 62% between March 13 and April 24, compared to the prior six weeks. 🛍️ Consumers are moving online too:

The number of consumers estimated to have purchased for the 1st time from any Shopify merchant grew 8% and from merchants they'd never shopped at before by 45% between March 13 and April 24, compared to the six-week period immediately prior.

Uncertainty has driven years of digital innovation forward in just weeks. @MarketWatch forecasts e-commerce will reach 25% of total retail sales by 2025. It’s currently 15%.

That’s an enormous increase. 📈

marketwatch.com/story/neiman-m… Our data shows that new global online store creations increased in March—a trend likely due to many brick & mortar businesses moving online to accommodate the current environment.

Today is the day: Summit 2020! 🎉 So much hard work goes into making this yearly gathering of Shopifolk happen. 💪

*Some Personal News*

Earlier this year, my wife Lindsay and I had one of the scariest days of our lives when she went into labour with our second daughter. Linds was rushed into surgery for an emergency C-section as we watched our baby’s heart rate drop. We’re thankful to this day that Zoe was born completely healthy, but the experience left us thinking about how we can help other families that have to deal with a difficult labour or complicated delivery.

Today we’re releasing @Shopify’s Economic Impact Report.

Four highlights that I’m really proud of - a thread 👇🏼 1. Independent businesses are challenging corporations as employers:

📈 Shopify merchants employ more than 1.4 million full time employees; that’s bigger than the combined global workforces of Amazon and Volkswagen.

Challenge: what's the best brand (or your fave brand) with the worst online buying experience? 🛒 These are great. Please keep sending 🙏

Thanks #DMEXCO19! It was awesome to share the stage with this crew @BenFrancis1992 @ianjindal. #ShopifyDMEXCO

ICYMI…some key takeaways about the future of retail from our talk: @BenFrancis1992 @ianjindal @Gymshark @Shopify @dmexco [1/4]: 90s e-commerce was built to take existing brands and make them bigger.

Today, merchants are taking back control of their own distribution and people anywhere are able to build businesses that compete with the largest companies in the world. #DMEXCO19 #ShopifyDMEXCO