Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform. It covers the online store, checkout, payments, shipping tools and point of sale, and an app store adds extra features.
You build your store in the online store editor, and Shopify can use AI to generate a custom theme from a description of your brand or products. Themes are mobile-friendly and can be customized without coding. Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant, can write product descriptions and other original content. Shop Pay gives shoppers one-tap checkout. Inventory stays synced across your online and physical storefronts, and the shipping tools let you print labels, collect import taxes and provide order tracking.
Shopify says entrepreneurs, retailers and global brands use it, ranging from small online side businesses to very large international retailers. Beginners can create a store with drag-and-drop templates. One platform handles your direct-to-consumer, business-to-business, retail and international selling, and you can also sell through marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay and Etsy. Shopify Markets lets you localize your store for each region, give each market its own URL or subfolder, and let people pay in their own currency with Shopify Payments.
Third-party apps built by Shopify partners extend your store, covering everything from dropshipping to AI-powered customer support. Developers get API documentation, a CLI and dev docs. Merchants can chat with a human around the clock from the Help Center, where AI Search is also available. Inbound phone and email support are offered to stores on the Plus and Retail plans. The Shopify Community forums are a place to ask questions, and you can hire a Shopify Partner for help customizing a paid theme.
Plans are priced per month, with lower monthly prices on yearly billing. Higher plans add staff accounts and lower card rates, and Plus serves large brands. Current prices are in the pricing box above.