Shopify's robust growth is exacting a steep price

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has increased its spending to expand its customer network, but the company might be paying too high a price as it reported a widening of its quarterly net loss.

Early trading on Tuesday (October 29) showed that the company’s third quarter net loss was US$72.8 million, amounting to 64 cents US a share. This far exceeded the US$23.2 million (22 cents US per share) during the same time a year ago, Bloomberg reported.

Shopify’s Q3 revenue went up by 45% to US$390.6 million, exceeding analysts’ estimate of US$383.8 million for the quarter. Despite the seemingly strong figure, however, this pace was the firm’s slowest Q3 reading so far.

At present, more than one million merchants globally use Shopify, the company stated.

In recent years, Shopify has been at the forefront of e-commerce innovations with its recent push in its delivery and online checkout systems.

Earlier this year, the company announced that it will be doubling its workforce in the Greater Toronto Area to 1,500. This will come amid its 3.2-hectare mixed-use centre in the downtown core, which is slated to begin operations by 2022.

Said facility is an important step in the e-commerce firm’s publicly stated goal to compete with Amazon.com. The end step will be a network of fulfilment warehouses, projected to provide two-day shipping for approximately 99% of Shopify’s North American coverage.