1. Consumers are “voting with their wallets”, with purchases often reflecting their deeper values. In response, last year Shopify launched a mobile-shopping assistant, called “Shop”, that offers lists of curated merchants, including local stores and Black-owned businesses.
2. Retailers are focusing on buyer retention. “We see large companies are pushing acquisition costs up in their bid to attract customers,” said Harvey Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, on a quarterly earnings call. Achieving a superior customer experience is part of this endeavour, for instance with: a seamless checkout process; buy now, pay later options; and real-time delivery tracking.
3. Entrepreneurs and smaller merchants require “modern financial solutions” as they struggle to garner the support of traditional banks. That could involve providing access to capital, no-fee business accounts, and/or the ability for retailers to provide flexible payment options to customers.
4. The “power of omnichannel” is growing, argued Finkelstein, whether that involves people discovering and buying goods on Instagram, the photo-sharing service, or purchasing items through e-commerce channels and picking them up curb-side or in a physical store.

Sourced from SeekingAlpha