Shopify opens Singapore office

Shopify has opened an office in Singapore, with Arun Verma appointed as country manager.

Local teams will handle sales, partnerships, marketing and product operations.

"The challenge with a web business is that you're kind of borderless by default," said Brennan Loh, director of international markets. "Today we have 600,000 merchants in 175 different countries. Most of those merchants have been in markets that resemble conditions to the place that we built Shopify, which is Canada: English speaking, developed countries."

Loh said these factors explain the brand's worldwide adoption, and why Singapore is a robust market, representing several thousand merchant and a steadily growing sales volume.

In 2013, Shopify became available to Singapore through SingTel, acquiring over 1,000 merchants in the first year, with a net gross merchandise valued at $14 million.

According to Loh, lifetime gross merchandise value for Singapore merchants recently crossed the $600 million mark, representing 6.6% of global 2017 merchant revenues.

Shopify signed on Lion & Lion as a launch partner, tasked with connecting the e-commerce company with sales channels, payment partners and logistics partners.

"We really run an open ecosystem, and so we have many agencies in Singapore that will be building shops on behalf of customers for quite some time," said Loh.

He added that Lion & Lion is tasked with bringing credibility to the idea that Shopify is a must-have first step for any person or business looking to diversify income streams and have a side hustle.