Understanding Shopify: The E-commerce Platform for Developers

As one of the most popular e-commerce platforms today, Shopify has transformed how businesses create and manage their online stores. For developers, Shopify offers a rich set of tools and an intuitive framework that makes it easy to build, customize, and scale digital storefronts. Whether you're new to the platform or looking to expand your knowledge, this article will show you through the essential elements of Shopify—its history, features, and the potential it holds for developers looking to leverage a leading platform in e-commerce.

A. Shopify 101

1. What is Shopify?

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that empowers businesses to build, develop, and manage their online stores. Founded in Canada in 2006, it offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface that allows even those with minimal experience to navigate and operate with ease.

2. Plans & pricing

Shopify offers flexible pricing plans to suit businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.

Basic Shopify: provides essential features for small businesses,
Shopify: for growing brands with advanced reporting and more tools
Advanced Shopify: includes powerful analytics and lower transaction fees
Shopify Plus: a customizable solution designed for high-volume enterprises needing tailored features and support

3. Main services and features Shopify

Shopify offers dozens of different services and products, here are some of their standout offerings:

Shopify Store: Shopify's core product, allowing merchants to set up, customize and manage online stores
Shopify POS (Point of Sale): A physical store sales system, allowing integration and synchronous management of sales between online and offline sales in the same platform.
Shopify Payments: Shopify's payment processing service helps businesses accept credit cards and other payment methods directly without going through a third party.
Shop Pay: Express checkout lets customers store payment and shipping information, speeding up checkout for future purchases on any Shopify site.
Shopify App Store: A hub for third-party apps to extend and customize the functionality of your Shopify store, from marketing to product management and shipping.
Shopify CLI: A command line tool that helps developers build Shopify apps faster and easier, especially suitable for developing custom apps for Shopify stores.
Shop Minis: A feature that allows merchants to create shopping experiences within Shopify's marketplace app, making it easier for customers to discover products.
Shopify App Bridge: A tool that allows integrated apps to interact directly with the Shopify admin interface, helping custom apps display and operate smoothly in the Shopify Admin interface.
Hydrogen: A framework developed by Shopify based on React, helping developers build headless commerce pages with Shopify easier, faster, and more flexible.
Oxygen: a hosting platform for headless stores built with Hydrogen, allowing headless storefronts to be hosted directly on Shopify with high speed and performance.
Dev Degree: a work-study program developed by Shopify, helping university students develop programming skills and practice directly in the work environment.

...and many more of their products.

As such, they provide a comprehensive solution for building and developing an online store with a user-friendly, easy-to-use system.

B. Fun facts about Shopify

Over the years, Shopify has grown into a leading business in the field of e-commerce. Here are some fun facts about Shopify.

Shopify is present in more than 175 countries and territories.
The number of merchants using Shopify exceeded 1 million worldwide in October 2019, currently more than 2 million merchants with more than 4 million actived stores
Shopify's market capitalization is about 103.69 billion USD, in the top 200 largest company in the world (ranked 165) Equivalent to brands such as Starbucks (top 149), Sony (top 155), Intel (top 173)
Some major brands using Shopify services: Oreo, Tesla, Colgate, Gymshark
Shopify accounts for about 10% of the e-commerce market share in the US, competing directly with large platforms such as WooCommerce, Magento and BigCommerce.
Shopify Developer is one of the hot jobs in the e-commerce field, with an average income of $80,000 - $120,000 USD/year in North America.
According to statistics, 90% of merchants are satisfied with Shopify, especially thanks to the friendliness and ease of use of the platform.
Remix js, an open-source web framework similar to Next.js, was acquired by Shopify in 2022
Shopify Rebellion, a Canadian esports organization founded in February 2021 by Shopify

(Note that the above statistics are calculated before October 30, 2024.)

C. Career opportunities with Shopify developer

As a Shopify developer, you have the following opportunities and advantages:

Large market demand: With over 2 million merchants using Shopify, the demand for Shopify Developers is rising significantly. Currently, there are approximately 9,000 developers from 109 countries, which falls short of meeting market needs. With over 4 million active stores, each developer on average would need to cover about 450 stores.
Location flexibility: Shopify Developers can work for international companies or become freelancers, working remotely for businesses around the globe.
Diverse roles available: Opportunities include roles as Front-End Developer, Back-End Developer, Full-Stack Developer, App Developer, Solutions Engineer, and more, allowing developers to specialize or broaden their expertise within the Shopify ecosystem.
Easy to get started with Shopify: Shopify's user-friendly interface and resources make it straightforward for developers to begin building and customizing stores, regardless of prior experience
Rich ecosystem and comprehensive resources: Developers have access to extensive support through resources like Shopify Academy, Shopify.dev, the Shopify community, as well as channels like Slack and Discord.
Opportunities to learn new technologies: Shopify offers a range of technologies and popular frameworks, including Liquid, JavaScript, React, Remix, GraphQL, and Headless commerce, providing developers with the chance to expand their technical skills.
Supportive community: Shopify has a vast community of developers available on forums, social networks, and Shopify’s own developer events, offering collaborative support and networking opportunities.

D. Useful resources for Shopify theme developers

In conclusion, Shopify offers developers a robust, flexible platform to build and customize online stores for clients across industries. Since its founding in 2006, Shopify has provided not only an intuitive interface for end users but also extensive tools, APIs, and support for developers to create tailored solutions. With various plans available, developers can choose the features that align with client needs, from essential functionality to advanced customization options on Shopify Plus. Embracing Shopify allows developers to scale their expertise and deliver impactful, high-performing e-commerce experiences for any business."

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