Shopify launches a new mobile shopping app

With almost the whole world currently in a pandemic-related lockdown situation, tech companies are looking for ways to further develop their business for online and mobile use. Now, TechCrunch reports that Shopify, a Canadian-based platform for online shopping, has launched a separate mobile application for its customers, called Shop.

Shopify is popular for offering an online platform for stores and 1 million businesses are registered on it, but now it will provide a consumer-focused shopping app. The app will reportedly allow people to follow local businesses, buy from them and follow an easy checkout process.



The app, based on an update and rebrand of a package tracking app called Arrive, offers package tracking features, allows browsing for recommended products, and learning more about different brands. The interesting thing about it is that the app will reportedly not have advertisements on it, it will display a feed of recommended products based on which businesses you follow and purchases you previously made on Shopify.

Carl Rivera, the general manager of Shop, stated that the creation of such an app is linked to the shift in the way people make purchases these days. He underlined that there is a shift not only from desktop to mobile, but also from mobile web to native mobile apps. Independent or local brands may have a more challenging time to launch their own shopping apps, so Rivera stated that the Shop app can be a place for local businesses to “call their own”.

Additionally, Rivera added that the app will be offered for free for both local business owners and consumers.