Learn more about Shopify’s history
Shopify History: Though it is now one of the best known e-commerce platforms, Shopify began life as an e-retailer itself. Snowdevil was the initial name of this Canadian company. When it was first founded in 2004, the company sold snowboards. They maintained the ‘snow’ motif for a short time even after becoming an e-commerce platform, but renaming themselves Jaded Pixel.
So why did they make that shift? According to a 2012 interview in Entrepreneur, founder Travis Hutke simply got frustrated at the options available to create an e-commerce platform. So he decided to create the software himself. Ultimately, his goal shifted from building a platform that was easy for him to building a flexible platform for other. With help from a friend, and investments from family, friends, and an angel investor the company launched as Shopify in 2006.
It only took two years for the company to turn a profit, and now the company boasts $29 billion in sales and over 377,000 active shops on its platform. It’s also grown by leaps and bounds internally. When Hutke started Shopify it was him and a few friends. Now, they have nearly 2,000 employees and five office locations.
Shopify has garnered recognition for its growth and success; in 2012 the company was named “Canada’s Smartest Company” by Profit Magazine and was also a finalist for Startup of the Year. The same year Lutke was a finalist for Entrepreneur of the year, and three years later Shopify was named Employer of the Year in the Canadian Startup Awards.
Shopify is one of the platforms that Liquid Retailer uses to manage online stores. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can manage your store for you, please contact us.