Shopify is partnering with Thirdweb, the revolutionary technology platform for creating NFTs and Web3 apps, to launch Commercekit.

As a reminder, Shopify is a Canadian company that develops and markets the e-commerce platform of the same name, the Shopify POS (Point-Of-Sale) system, and marketing tools dedicated to businesses

Full details below.

Shopify, Thirdweb, NFTs and Web3: what it’s all about

As anticipated, Shopify is partnering with Thirdweb to launch Commercekit, a kit designed to enable developers to easily create Web3 commerce apps.

The US Consensus Bureau News states that 13% of total retail sales are acquired through e-commerce sales.

Thus, Web3 is set to accelerate this e-commerce revolution by providing merchants with new ways to engage their audiences, execute marketing campaigns, and reward customers for their loyalty.

Specifically, key capabilities of the partnership include several objectives. Among them, uniting the physical and digital.

Indeed, the new kit will enable merchants to merge customers’ off-chain physical purchase history with their on-chain digital wallet activity, creating a unified profile in the physical and digital worlds.

In addition, there will be the ability to reward new and loyal customers. In this regard, developers can use these new tools to unlock apps that enable many benefits such as discounts, exclusive products with tokens, in real-life shopping experiences and time-based sales for audience segments.

Alex Danco, Director of Product at Shopify, said the following about the partnership:

“As a merchant, understanding your customers and finding new buyer segments is mission-critical for running a successful business.”

Commercekit’s capabilities

Under the new partnership, Commercekit will provide developers with the tools to easily create Web3 commerce experiences.

Specifically, Commercekit will enable the creation of apps that allow merchants new and powerful ways to interact with their shoppers.

These will include deploying NFTs to create customer segments for future campaigns, reward loyal customers, sell non-fungible tokens as a new distinct product category, and more.

In fact, the current tools available to create Web3 e-commerce experiences are now found to be limited and outdated.

Combining thirdweb’s simplified smart contract implementation and Shopify’s e-commerce tools to transform the workflow for developers, Commercekit is designed to accelerate the integration of Web3 products into Shopify storefronts.

Statements regarding the NFT partnership between Shopify and Thirdweb

Jake Loo, CTO and co-founder of thirdweb stated the following about the partnership with Shopify:

“We’ve spent the last 18 months working closely with Web3 developers and brands interested in building blockchain apps. It became clear that integrating Web3 with commerce had huge demand and we believe Shopify is the best possible partner we could work with to build these tools.”

Indeed, Thirdweb is enthusiastic about combining its best Web3 development tools with Shopify’s commerce tools. Moreover, it firmly believes that this will kick-start the Web3 commerce revolution.

On the other hand, Alex Danco, Director of Product at Shopify said:

“We’re excited to partner with thirdweb, the fastest shipping team in Web3, to help make smart contracts and Web3 wallet addresses an essential part of the commerce and loyalty toolkit.”

In just twelve months, thirdweb has grown to more than 50,000 active monthly developers using their tools and nearly 10,000 active developers performing more than 500,000 blockchain transactions per month. Not only that, over 200,000 smart contracts have been implemented on eight different blockchains.

Shopify and the introduction of Avalanche-based NFT

In January, Shopify, through the Venly app, introduced Avalanche-based NFTs for its millions of merchants to be sold through their online stores.

Hence, after Polygon, Shopify merchants can now also design, mint and sell Avalanche NFTs through their online store.

This new integration was made possible by Venly’s app, which creates an easy experience for the ecommerce giant’s buyers and merchants.

Indeed, it is the latter that takes care of the technological part, so that NFT buying and selling on Shopify does not have to be done by technically knowing the Blockchain.

The news was also an excellent opportunity for Avalanche’s ‘green’ blockchain, which makes its NFTs available to a giant that generates $1 billion in revenue per quarter.

Buying and selling NFTs for customers will be as seamless as the merchant’s existing experience, as Avalanche is able to finalize almost instantly and at low cost.

The popular platform for creating e-commerce, Shopify, recently launched over 100 new features, including one dedicated to the world of NFTs. 

Shopify’s new features include support for NFTs

It is called Tokengated Commerce and allows customers to link their crypto wallets to stores on Shopify, so that those with specific NFTs can unlock exclusive products and experiences.

The initiative is part of the Connect to Consumer (C2C) strategy, which is the call for brands to create strong connections with consumers based on authenticity, loyalty and trust.

Through Tokengated Commerce, merchants will be able to leverage NFTs to further strengthen their relationship with their community, rewarding loyal customers and turning them into true fans. 

In addition, they will also be able to experience special moments both online and in their physical shops via Shopify Point of Sales. 

Tokengated Commerce will also enable collaborative synergies between brands like never before, as one brand’s NFT could also provide access to other shops.

Shopify also announced an alliance with Google to simplify local proximity shopping. The partnership includes the ability to synchronize one’s inventory with Google, so that, for example, nearby customers are automatically informed when a product is available in the shop

Shopify is used by millions of companies in 175 countries worldwide, including Italian companies such as Velasca, Manebì, Depuravita and Benedetta Boroli. 

Shopify’s ambitions in the e-c world

Shopify founder and CEO Tobi Lütke said: 

“At Shopify, we believe in the infinite game. That means we’re constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for entrepreneurs. We work hard to solve the complex challenges merchants face today while imagining entirely new ways for them to grow their businesses. With Shopify Editions, we’re sharing our big bets and latest innovations in commerce so that those ambitious enough to try their hand at entrepreneurship can start and scale faster than ever before”.

Shopify’s Country Manager Italy, Paolo Picazio, added: 

“Shopify is betting on Connect to Consumer as the new era of commerce in which brands can succeed if they can cultivate a community of brand loyalists. Today, personalisation is the key to development and independent brands need to be able to create bespoke experiences across all touchpoints that keep the relationship with customers alive. 

With the innovations presented at Editions, we will give them the concrete support they need to achieve this goal. The series of announcements comes at a time of strong growth for Shopify in Europe and Italy, a strategic market for the company, where the number of merchants is constantly increasing”.