How AI is boosting Shopify’s quarterly results

globalnews.ca:

Shopify SHOP.TO beat analysts’ estimates for second-quarter results and forecast upbeat sales growth as its AI-enabled tools attracted more merchants to its e-commerce services, sending its U.S. shares up 17% before the bell on Wednesday.

The Canadian company, which helps small and medium businesses build an online store as well as sell, has been rolling out artificial intelligence-powered features and in June increased the availability of such tools.

“More and more merchants across the world are putting their trust in Shopify’s unified commerce operating system to fuel growth and simplify complex operations,” company President Harley Finkelstein said in a statement.

Shopify reported a 21% jump in second-quarter revenue to $2.05 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.01 billion, according to LSEG data.

Merchants utilize Shopify’s platform to collect, retain, and leverage buyer data for payment collection, order management, targeted advertising, and other related tasks.

Gross merchandise volume, which is the total amount of sales, rose 22% to $67.2 billion in the quarter ended June.

Excluding items, Shopify reported earnings of 26 cents per share, beating estimates of 20 cents.

Early in June, Shopify launched its biggest shopping event this year, the Shop Week, which included cash backs and offers from over a thousand brands.

The company expects third-quarter revenue to grow at a low-to-mid-twenties percentage rate year-over-year, largely above estimates for a growth of 20.8%.