In a new piece, Atlee Clark, Shopify's VP of Partnerships, describes how the entire ecosystem around Shopify, agencies, app developers and service providers, is essentially made up of entrepreneurs taking their own bet. She points to the story of Gorgias, which started in a garage in San Francisco in 2016 and today runs customer service software for more than 17,000 brands.
A growing, connected network
Clark describes the ecosystem as something that keeps growing and shaping itself, rather than spokes around a Shopify-shaped hub. Partners who compete for the same customers still share what they know with each other, because it leads to better outcomes for everyone, sellers included.
The numbers behind the growth
In 2025, the partner ecosystem generated nearly seven times Shopify's own revenue: for every dollar Shopify earns, the ecosystem generates around $6.86. The ecosystem supported more than 1.5 million jobs last year, up 2.5 times since 2021. Last year, 40,000 partners referred a new merchant to Shopify.
AI raises the value of expertise
While AI makes it easier to get started, Clark argues it makes real expertise even more valuable further along the journey. Merchants still need judgment and experience once they move past the first steps, something reflected in rising App Store installs.
New incentives for partners
Shopify has simplified how partners are rewarded, tying it more closely to merchant success: agencies that launch stores now share in the growth of the merchants they've helped, while app developers keep earning from an app ecosystem that alone generated $1.3 billion last year.
