“Shopify Inc., Canada’s largest e-commerce company, announced Tuesday that it will start selling new hardware for brick-and-mortar retailers, as it attempts to recover from an overly aggressive bet on the speed at which the economy would move online.  The device, called POS Go, resembles a smartphone and will allow retailers to provide wireless checkout anywhere in store, while also allowing merchants to view analytics and data on such things as sales, inventory and product information.”

“Shopify and YouTube‘s new partnership enables merchants on the e-commerce giant to integrate their online store into the video-sharing platform. With the launch of YouTube Shopping on Shopify, merchants can sell their full range of products via live streams, videos, and a store tab to reach the platform’s 2 billion monthly logged-in users…With livestreams, merchants can tag and pin products at key points during the video. YouTube will offer picture-in-picture playback so consumers can continue to watch while they check out. The standard video option enables merchants to show a curated list of items in a “product shelf” listed below on-demand videos. And the store tab will be added to every merchant’s YouTube channel so they can feature their entire selection of products.”

“Small-business formation is surging in the U.S., and e-commerce company Shopify Inc.  has been reaping the gains of that business boom. More Americans are opening online stores and selling goods and services to make money as the effects of the pandemic have wiped out jobs and disrupted in-person activities like dining and shopping. The shift has brought a wave of new business to Shopify, which sells subscription services that enable people to put up websites, accept online payments, and ship and track orders to customers. But Shopify’s business model carries risks. Analysts expect the surge in e-commerce that drove much of the company’s growth to taper as the pandemic ebbs. “There could be a material deceleration in sales growth,” said Tom Forte, an analyst with DA Davidson.”

“Shopify is expanding its efforts in brick-and-mortar retailer with the launch of its new retail hardware collection . The company is best-known as a platform for building online stores, but it also offers point-of-sale software for physical stores, and it launched a credit card reader a couple years ago. With the new collection — which includes a redesigned Tap & Chip Reader, as well as the Dock and Retail Stand — Shopify has created a more comprehensive solution for offline retail.”