Shopify bets on the “vertical integration of logistics”
Shopify’s fulfillment network has been stretched thin. The company is now making moves behind the scenes to counteract the slowing e-commerce market, betting on its own fulfillment capabilities to ease the substantial logistics burden upon its sellers.
The company’s CEO Tobias Lütke cited competitors such as Amazon on a Q2 earnings call, hoping to snatch some of the dwindling e-commerce business after Amazon struggled with profits earlier this year. Shopify itself suffered a $1.2 billion net loss in Q2 after incorrectly forecasting that e-commerce spending would continue to far surpass physical retail. Company CFO Amy Shapero is now suggesting that inflation will instead further dampen the e-commerce trend that reached its height during the pandemic years.
A few years back, Hertz took a bold step by purchasing 30,000 Teslas, aiming to electrify 20% of its rental fleet.