10 Most Successful Shopify Stores

The Most Successful Shopify Stores 🦾

There’s so much talk about Shopify’s incredible capabilities across the web, but if you’ve been keeping up with our journal for a while, you’ll know that we often dive deep into the reason why countless inexperienced and established merchants turn to the platform like clockwork.

However, the real question is - who’s managed to claim and maintain their place at the top? Well, the simple truth is that Shopify plays host to a vast array of evolving businesses of which many brands are considered to be ‘industry-leading giants’.

Nevertheless, it would be impossible for us to give a nod to each one in existence. So for today’s article, we have decided to select 10 businesses from the rather large list of companies that are considered to be the most successful Shopify stores on the platform to share within today's guide.

Shopify’s Ecommerce Solution

First things first, it would be rude to steam ahead without introductions in order. For those of you who are new to the empire of all things ecommerce, Shopify is one of the leading subscription-based platforms within the industry which enables its customers to create online stores and sell goods across the web.

Users can either create a basic website within seconds or design a uniquely tailored store that embodies features that will drive a surplus of traffic, converting into sales.

Shopify’s Success

As enthusiasts and experts of the platform, the team here at Karmoon know all too well that Shopify is one of the biggest and most profitable ecommerce companies in the world, with a market cap hitting $141.3 billion.

As a result of its ever-growing success, Shopify has expanded in recent years to keep up with its continuous evolution and increasing consumer demands.

We believe that the platform was always a force to be reckoned with, but the pandemic pressed the button for ‘full speed ahead’ which meant that the world of ecommerce was taken by storm.

In the early months of 2020, the buzz for ecommerce grew more rapidly than ever before, as online sales became a way for brick and mortar stores to stay in business. Additionally, the time factor that lockdown provided acted as an outlet for those with an enthusiasm for business to start a company themselves.

So, as Shopify's community continued to grow alongside the wave of startups and brick and mortar business owners, the platform welcomed an influx of small businesses, resulting in a record-breaking surge.

In the months that followed, the occurrence of the pandemic urged further businesses to broaden their horizons. As a result, Shopify's revenue skyrocketed to $2.9 billion, which is an increase of 86% up against 2019’s figures.

Since then, the platform has continued to expand via; rising stock shares, providing additional opportunities, marketing tools and customisable integrations than ever before.

The Ecommerce Boom

The ecommerce boom was already in progress when the pandemic hit, but as billions of consumers began to turn to online services across the globe; lockdowns, travel bans and store closures increased the demand for online shopping outlets and resources drastically.

Therefore, to capture this huge user base, the world's biggest retailers, small businesses and eager learners dreamed up a way of selling their products online to make ecommerce an all-mighty industry for those with a digital presence.

So, what's the secret of the retailers at the top? It's a well-known fact that the biggest Shopify stores have utilised the platform to expand their business by creating a multi-channel presence, as the most successful stores possess the capabilities to sell their goods via multiple sites and/ or channels across the web.

Ultimately, this means that the giants within the industry have managed to maintain their place by interacting with their customers in the main places they hang out and spend time online.

Shopify’s Status

In 2022, Shopify is the second-largest platform in the US, with over 1.1 million stores in its ranks. The platform services a variety of industries such as; automotive, health, food products, sports and apparel, but that’s just to name a few.

In recent months, Shopify and Shopify Plus have continued to attract many more customers, which has contributed to the solution’s growing market share within the global ecommerce segment.

Ultimately, the pandemic has changed how we live our lives, from our daily habits and personal interests to the number of virtual stores on the market and their astonishing capabilities, opportunities for merchants have reached new heights and we have no doubt that Shopify will continue to expand its presence in the years to come.

10 Most Successful Shopify Stores

We’ve delivered the statistics and now it’s time to take a look at the following collection of hand-selected retailers which have become some of the biggest Shopify stores across the web:

N0.1: KKW Beauty

Market Value: $1 billion

As you may recall from our article - ‘The Best Cosmetic and Beauty Brands’, KKW Beauty, the celebrity-owned cosmetic line is one of the biggest Shopify stores on the platform.

Founded in 2017 by newly listed Forbes billionaire (Kim Kardashian), KKW Beauty is one of the most successful stores on Shopify.

KKW holds annual sales that sell out within minutes, if not seconds, which reflects the true popularity of this brand and its products.

In 2020, the American beauty products manufacturer Coty Inc. purchased a 20% stake in the cosmetics line for $200 million which has increased by 59% in the last twelve months.

N0.2: Kylie Cosmetics

Market Value: $1.2 billion

Another of the most successful Shopify stores on the ecommerce platform is KKW Beauty's rival - Kylie Cosmetics.

Founded in 2015 by Kylie Jenner, Kylie Cosmetics sells everything from; eyeshadow palettes, concealers, highlighters, blushes, accessories and more.

Coty Inc. also owns a 51% stake in Kylie Cosmetics at $600 million so, this company knew they were jumping onto a prosperous venture with Shopify at the helm.

N0.3: Gymshark

Market Value: $1.3 billion

Gymshark, the UK-based fitness apparel manufacturer is next on our list of the most successful Shopify stores.

Built by Ben Francis back in 2012, the wellness brand has now gained 5.2 million active social media followers and customers across the globe.

In 2020 the growth equity firm - General Atlantic LLC, purchased a 21% stake in Gymshark for £200 million, however, Gymshark's growth and international expansion are also supported by the private equity firm that claims the company has built its largest customer base.

N0.4: Fitbit

Market Value: $2.1 billion

The fitness wearable Fitbit Inc. is one of the biggest Shopify stores on the web.

The Fitbit brand began operations in 2007 and soon became associated with fitness monitoring as a first-mover in the wearables industry.

Fitbit's stock price jumped nearly 50% on the day of its IPO in 2015, making it one of the most successful IPOs in history and in January, Google finished its acquisition of Fitbit for $2.1 billion.

In recent years, the growing market for smart fitness wearables surged so, sports tech giants such as; Samsung, Microsoft, Nike and Garmin created their own unique sports watches to keep up with their competitors.

N0.5: Penguin Books

Market Value: $3.67 billion

Established in 1935, the UK-based publisher - Penguin Books is one of the most successful Shopify stores on the platform.

Publishing; academic, scholarly, educational, fictional and non-fictional books in a variety of formats, the company is a subsidiary of the world’s largest trade publishing group - Penguin Random House.

In 2020, the German media giant - Bertelsmann completed its full acquisition of Penguin Random House. As a result, Penguin Random House's revenue came in at $4.5 billion in 2020.

N0.6: Hyatt Hotels

Market Cap: $8.35 billion

Another of the biggest Shopify stores is Hyatt Hotels. Headquartered in Chicago, the company owns and operates resorts and hotels in the US and worldwide.

Hyatt Hotels recently opened its 1,000th global hotel (the Alila Napa Valley in St. Helena, California) whilst working on almost 350 projects in the pipeline.

In 2020, the company's revenue came in at $2.06 billion and its stock figures have increased by 59% in the last twelve months.

N0.7: Red Bull

Market Value: $12 billion

Red Bull is another of the biggest Shopify stores, as the company holds the largest share of the energy drink market in the world, calculated as 43%.

Red Bull's top competitors are; Monster Beverage Corporation, Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc.

Additionally, Red Bull owns numerous extreme sports event series as well as several sports leagues from F1 to football teams.

In 2019, Red Bull merged with the private equity firm - Verod Capital to lead the venture around funding West Africa's biggest clothing manufacturer - DTRT Apparel Ltd.

N0.8: Whole Foods Market

Market Value: $13.7 billion

Owned and operated by Amazon, the Whole Foods Market runs more than 350 supermarket chains that exclusively market natural and organic food and products within the; the US, UK and Canada.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Amazon's physical store revenues including the Whole Foods Market, fell 8% to $4.02 billion, from $4.36 billion in 2019. However, shares of AMZN have jumped 60.5% over the past twelve months.

N0.9: Lindt & Sprüngli

Market Cap: $21.9 billion

The Swiss chocolate manufacturer - Lindt & Sprüengli is the umbrella company for; Lindt, Ghirardelli, Russell Stover and Whitman's whose products are sold in over 500 retail stores around the world.

The company's sales fell in 2020 by 10.9% to $4.3 billion from $4.8 billion in 2019. However, the shares of LDSVF have climbed over 10.2% in the past twelve months.

N0.10: Kraft Heinz Co.

Market Cap: $49.7 billion

One of the biggest Shopify stores is Kraft Heinz Co.

When the pandemic struck, Heinz wanted a new way to get their food to people who couldn't shop in physical stores due to local and national lockdowns.

So, the company decided to launch their new direct-to-consumer site on Shopify Plus, which came to be in just one week.

As of 30th March 2021, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owned 325,634,818 shares of the consumer-packaged goods company, which has an estimated worth of around $11.3 billion.

KHC's full-year net sales came in at $26 billion for 2020 and its stock has increased by 44.6% in the last twelve months.

So, that’s it from us for today’s article. We hope that you have enjoyed our guide on the 10 most successful Shopify stores.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!