Shopify is build through and through for the developer ecosystem. We very intentionally leave lots of profitable space in the ecosystem so that others can build companies on top of our platform.
We also sweat over every API addition, often launching new features API first before we even put UI into the product to use the same features.
The developer platform is really core to us even if it sometimes doesn't strictly make economical sense to divert so much potential revenue to others. Yet, that's the long term game we are playing and it's working.
The reason is simple: Commerce is really different business to business. There is no way to build a single (good) product that solves all requirements.
Our philosophy is pretty simple: Shopify adds whatever most people need most of the time. This changes over time - towards the end of the last decade people sold mobile optimized themes. This was something we had to build into the platform because everyone needed that. Things that only some people need some of the time ( or similar variations on the theme ) should be supplied by the app store.
If you find inconsistencies between what's happening and what I'm saying here, please email me at tobi@shopify.com
We also sweat over every API addition, often launching new features API first before we even put UI into the product to use the same features.
The developer platform is really core to us even if it sometimes doesn't strictly make economical sense to divert so much potential revenue to others. Yet, that's the long term game we are playing and it's working.
The reason is simple: Commerce is really different business to business. There is no way to build a single (good) product that solves all requirements.
Our philosophy is pretty simple: Shopify adds whatever most people need most of the time. This changes over time - towards the end of the last decade people sold mobile optimized themes. This was something we had to build into the platform because everyone needed that. Things that only some people need some of the time ( or similar variations on the theme ) should be supplied by the app store.
If you find inconsistencies between what's happening and what I'm saying here, please email me at tobi@shopify.com