Canada’s e-commerce giant Shopify beat second-quarter revenue expectations on Wednesday, on the back of a resilient online shopping trend precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shopify’s value nearly tripled over the last year due to unprecedented growth of the e-commerce sector as customers looked towards online shopping as the only viable alternative during the pandemic.

Even as vaccine rollouts ramp up and economies re-open, the boom in online shopping has been widely seen as a trend that is here to stay owing to ease of access, comfort and general shift in people’s lifestyles in a post-pandemic world.

Shopify, which helps businesses setup their online shops and also with payments processing on its platform, has been ramping up its efforts to expand in Europe to add more merchants to its platform.

Gross merchandise volume (GMV), a widely watched figure for the e-commerce industry’s performance, rose 40 percent to $42.2 billion (roughly Rs. 3,14,000 crores) in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected $40.49 billion (roughly Rs. 3,01,292 crores), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income rose to $879.1 million (roughly Rs. 6,540 crores), or $6.90 (roughly Rs. 513) per share, from about $36 million (roughly Rs. 267.84 crores), or 29 cents (roughly Rs. 21) per share, a year earlier.

The company reported revenue of $1.12 billion (roughly Rs. 8,332 crores) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.05 billion (roughly Rs. 7,812 crores), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

This is the first time ever that Shopify’s quarterly revenue has shot above $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,440 crores).

© Thomson Reuters 2021