The e-commerce software company, which keeps its books in
That compared with a profit of
Revenue for the quarter totalled
The results pushed Shopify’s share price down
But revenue growth is expected to slow in the company's next quarter to a "high-teens percentage," it said in its outlook.
It attributed the sale of Shopify's logistics business — announced last May when the company also revealed it was reducing its headcount by about 20 per cent — for the forecast. The outlook anticipates revenue growth falling by three to four per cent in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis.
Shopify also expects its gross margin to fall half a percentage point from the first quarter.
Other challenges in the forecast include a stronger
"
Hoffmeister also highlighted the anticipated smaller benefit from pricing changes in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year.
"We remain resolutely confident in the great products and go-to-market initiatives fuelling our continuous growth and our ability to further strengthen our position as a leader in unified commerce," he said.
"We expect Q2 to be a continuation of our strong momentum."
The company said its merchants solutions revenue amounted to
Meanwhile, subscription solutions revenue totalled
On an adjusted basis, Shopify said it earned
That compared with analysts' expectations of
Following last year's job cuts, Shopify has kept its headcount flat for three consecutive quarters, said president
He said he believes Shopify can limit headcount growth while "achieving a continued combination of consistent top-line growth and profitability" in part because of automation.
"Over the past 18 months, we've committed significant effort into building efficient infrastructure and systems, which are instrumental in streamlining our work and maintaining our high velocity product releases," Finkelstein said.
"Essentially, these systems and this infrastructure act as catalysts, enabling us to operate with increased efficiency and speed."
Hoffmeister pointed to increased use of artificial intelligence for merchant support. He said more than half of Shopify's merchant support interactions in the first quarter were assisted by AI "and often fully resolved with the help of AI."
AI has also enabled 24/7 live support in eight languages that previously were offered only certain hours of the day.
"We have significantly enhanced the merchant experience," he said.
"The average duration of support interactions has decreased, and the introduction of AI has helped reduce the reluctance that some merchants previously had towards asking questions that they might perceive as trivial or naïve."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
© 2024 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved., source