With expanses of commercial/industrial real estate at its disposal, this Ottawa-based company is counting on its technological advantage
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With this month’s legalization of the herb, Canadian provincial governments adopted Shopify Inc.’s platform en masse for online sales of recreational marijuana, which has given the Ottawa-based e-commerce giant a significant edge as other nations are looking at legalizing the drug for medical and recreational purposes.
Private ventures like Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc., and Hexo Corp. – who now represent a significant proportion of Canada’s commercial and industrial spaces – have also adopted Shopify’s point-of-sale system.
These have given Shopify an unparalleled credibility in handling regulated industries, a task that requires “nimbleness because compliance with laws is always changing,” according to CEO Tobias Lutke.
“As more countries think about their own regulated industries, whether it’s cannabis or otherwise, we become that first phone call,” he told Bloomberg last week.
Read more: Canadian pot will eventually have to contend with U.S. giants
Shopify’s revenue for the third quarter of the year exceeded initial estimates of $258 million, reaching $270.1 million and growing by 58% year-over-year.
The company has adjusted its 2018 revenue expectations to between $1.05 billion and $1.06 billion. Initial projections were at between $1.02 billion and $1.03 billion.
