Shopify Highlights Black-Owned Businesses on Shop App

June 17, 2020 at 03:23PM

Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify has updated its Shop app to feature a spotlight on Black-owned businesses.

From today, when customers open the app and click on the ‘shops’ tab, they’ll see a clickable message box directing them to a list of Black-owned businesses they can shop then and there. It’s a win-win for both brands and consumers in the sense that it gives businesses greater visibility and opportunity to be discovered on site, and customers a chance to discover and support a brand they may not previously have known.

shopify black-owned businesses — Photograph courtesy of Spotify

Writing about the change on its blog, the Ottawa-based company wrote, “Shopify’s mission has always been to help all people – no matter their race, religion, gender, sexuality or otherwise – achieve independence by making it easier to start, run and grow a business. We are committed to elevating the awareness of Black-owned businesses to support more voices in entrepreneurship, democratize commerce and reduce the barriers to starting a business for everyone.” Shopify added that it will continue to “evolve the [app] experience to present a diversity of voices that reflects our mission to make commerce better for everyone.”