Canada’s Shopify sold on ‘livable’ Wellington
Canadian software giant Shopify plans to create 100 jobs in Wellington over the next year for e-shopping ‘‘gurus’’.
They will work from home helping Shopify customers around the world use its software and build online businesses.
Shopify is valued at US$16 billion (NZ$24 billion) on the New York Stock Exchange and sells software that helps people set up and run online stores.
The company’s global director of support, Marcie Murray, said it had selected Wellington as its first ‘‘remote hub’’ in the region in part because it was a livable city.
Wellington mayor Justin Lester said it was also testament to the ‘‘talent we have in the city’’.
Murray said there were no minimum qualifications for its gurus, who would instead get six weeks’ training, but Shopify was keen on hiring people with an entrepreneurial bent.
‘‘We look for people who can identify with entrepreneurship – someone who has a big entrepreneurial spirit – and who are early adopters of technology.’’
The jobs would be permanent and full-time, she said.
Many Shopify staff members – including Murray herself – set up online stores themselves as a sideline, which the company encourages.
Shopify has a prominent critic in the United States, Citron Research analyst Andrew Left, who has disparagingly compared the company to multi-level marketing firm Herbalife.
Shopify’s 600,000 customers include many established businesses such as Kiwi clients Mojo Coffee and jeweller Walker & Hall.
Many others are home businesses trying to make a living out of ‘‘drop shipping’’ – a practice that describes buying and selling items online without holding stock, and without necessarily having that much to do with the products being sold, beyond marketing them.
Shopify and Kiwi cloud software company VendHQ – whose investors include Trade Me founder Sam Morgan and controversial US businessman Peter Thiel – are rivals to a degree, in the point-of-sale software market.
Both have pages on their websites making the case for why online businesses should buy their software, and not the other’s.
Shopify was founded in 2004 by a group of Canadians who were unimpressed with the software that was available to run an online store for snowboarding equipment that they had set up, and so decided to write their own.
Mojo Coffee co-founder Steve Gianoutsos said Shopify had been instrumental in getting his business off the ground.
‘‘It’s accessible for small-business owners and robust enough for fastgrowing business,’’ he said.
Murray said Shopify would make its first Wellington hires next month.
‘‘Our gurus are multi-talented and will handle anything, including helping people work out whether Shopify is the right for them, sorting out technical problems and helping them figure out how to make more sales.’’
Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) chief executive Lance Walker said it was thrilled Shopify had decided to make Wellington a base. Shopify had not received any financial incentives from Wreda or ratepayers, he said.