Shopify shares fall as analysts find nobody left to buy anything
Shopify came in below revenue forecasts this week, and the fear on Wall Street is that the last true shopper has opened a store.
A candle store in Boise went three hours without an order on Sunday. The owner refreshed her dashboard twice. On Wall Street, this is now treated as a systemic event.
Shopify fell short of revenue forecasts this week, and its shares sank in a market with little patience left for tech. Analysts say the number itself is survivable. The explanation is not: everyone who might buy something online already sells something online.
"We ran the figures," said Dana Reyes, an e-commerce analyst at Holderness & Blount. "There are now three online stores for every online shopper. The average American wakes up, opens their own store and checks it for orders. Demand has vanished. Supply has a loyalty program."
Traders have responded by repricing the sector around a single question: can anyone still be found who lacks a storefront, a newsletter and a discount code? The search has produced three candidates, all of whom turned out to be dropshippers.
Shopify said it would close the gap with a new plan letting merchants buy their own products, at scale.
