Shopify Growth Market Guide — Coding with Jan

// Slide 1 — Title

Shopify Strategy

How to Profit When
Shopify Expands into
a New Country

The growth market playbook for developers and agencies.

// Section 01 — Headline

Section 01

What Is a
Growth Market?

// Section 01 — Definition & Characteristics

SECTION 01 — WHAT IS A GROWTH MARKET?

A Growth Market is a country where Shopify is just beginning to gain traction. These markets follow a predictable pattern — and the window of opportunity is limited.

🌱

Adoption Just Starting

Shopify is new in the country. Most merchants haven't heard of it or don't take it seriously yet.

👥

Few Serious Agencies

Almost no established Shopify agencies or freelancers exist in the local market.

🤔

Merchant Skepticism

Merchants are skeptical whether Shopify can handle the complexity of their business and local requirements.

📚

Education Is Missing

Very little content exists in the local language. No tutorials, no case studies, no community yet.

💼

Shopify Investing Locally

Shopify starts hiring sales reps, sponsoring events, and building partnerships in the region.

Current Growth Markets: Portugal, Spain, Poland, Greece, South America / Latin America, Asia and Pacific (APEC)

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Section 02

Current Shopify
Market Share

// Section 02 — Stats & Diagrams

SECTION 02 — THE OPPORTUNITY

To understand where the opportunity lies, you first need context: How big is Shopify globally, and how uneven is adoption across countries?

BuiltWith.com · Jan 2026

6.9M+

Shopify stores worldwide

Over 50% (3.7 million) are based in the USA. The rest of the world is wide open.

Diagram 1 — Total Shopify Stores Worldwide

Chart showing Shopify store distribution by country, with USA dominating at over 50%

Diagram 2 — Store Distribution by Country

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Section 03

The Growth
Market Cycle

// Section 03 — The Three Phases

SECTION 03 — PREDICTABLE PATTERN

This pattern repeats in almost every country. We've seen it:

➤ US → early adoption

➤ Germany and UK → followed 2–3 years later

➤ Now: Portugal, Poland, Greece, Latin America, and APEC

Markets move in predictable phases.

Phase 1

Skepticism

→

Phase 2

First Case Studies

→

Phase 3

Acceleration

// Section 03 — Phase Details

SECTION 03 — THE GROWTH MARKET CYCLE

Phase 1 — Skepticism

Magento and custom platforms dominate. Large brands don't trust Shopify yet:

"Shopify is just a drag & drop website builder."

"Shopify is not built for our country."

This is where most developers ignore the market — but this is where positioning is cheapest. There are almost no serious local agencies, very little educational content, and low competition.

At this stage Shopify needs reliable partners. If you show up now, you have an advantage.

Phase 2 — First Serious Case Studies

➤ The first notable brands migrate to Shopify

➤ Shopify promotes local success stories

➤ Media and LinkedIn start talking about it

Perception shifts from:

Before

🚫 "Shopify is just drag & drop"

🚫 "It's not built for our country"

🚫 "It can't handle complex business logic"

After

✅ "If that brand runs on Shopify, maybe we can too"

✅ "It actually handles compliance"

✅ "The ecosystem is growing"

This is the turning point. Partners who publish educational content, organize meetups, and show up consistently benefit from Shopify's growing reach. Early partners often build visibility fast, work closer to Shopify teams, and receive referrals directly from Shopify.

Case studies are even co-promoted by Shopify → free visibility for early partners.

Phase 3 — Acceleration

The cycle compounds. Shopify becomes accepted. Early movers already have case studies, authority, SEO presence, and pricing power. New entrants now compete against established players.

The compounding growth cycle

You're already positioned → while others are just getting started.

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Section 04

The Arbitrage
Strategy

// Section 04 — The Playbook

THE PLAYBOOK

Copy from markets
that are 2 years ahead.

// Section 04 — Five Strategies

SECTION 04 — THE ARBITRAGE STRATEGY

Start by finding the top agencies in mature markets (US, UK, Germany) and make a list. Then reverse engineer their ranking pages, their offers, and their case studies.

🔍

1. Reverse Engineer SEO

Use SEO tools to find top ranking pages of agencies in mature markets. Look at top performing English content and adapt it to your market.

📚

2. Publish Local Education

YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Blog — don't reinvent, just localize. This is a huge step for building authority in a new market.

🎉

3. Host Shopify Events

Start small — a meetup of 5–10 people at a local bar. Even if just 10 people show up, you get photos and social proof.

🕵

4. Copy Agency Offers

Look at service offerings on freelance platforms. Fill out contact forms. Hop on discovery calls to reverse engineer their sales process and pricing.

5. Partner with Shopify sales → In growth markets, Shopify's sales teams are actively looking for reliable implementation partners. Deliver consistently and become the agency they recommend.

// Section 04 — Building Authority Early

SECTION 04 — BUILDING AUTHORITY EARLY

Almost all successful German agencies rank for keywords like these. In new countries, these will be the first questions merchants have. Rank for them in your local language.

Shopify costs

Shopify costs overview

Shopify pricing

Shopify pricing [country]

Shopify experience

Shopify examples [country]

Shopify [country]

Shopify vs WooCommerce

Shopify Plus benefits

Photo from an Eshop Guide Shopify meetup event showing a room full of attendees

Example: Eshop Guide Meetups (the agency I worked at)

First-mover advantage → rank early, build authority, and be the go-to when the market accelerates.

// Section 05 — Headline

Section 05

Case Study:
Portugal

// Section 05 — Portugal Transformation

SECTION 05 — PORTUGAL

Portugal is currently moving through the Growth Market cycle. Here's what changed in just two years:

Two Years Ago

⏳ 3 Shopify Plus brands in total

⏳ Very limited ecosystem

⏳ Skepticism from larger merchants

Today

🚀 40+ Shopify Plus brands

🚀 Increasing migrations from other platforms

🚀 Growing Shopify presence and events

This is not a finished story. Portugal is still expanding as we speak.

// Section 05 — Skrey Agency

CASE STUDY — SKREY

Helder &
Skrey

Helder and his agency Skrey are playing this extremely well. They focused purely on Shopify, built strong local relationships, leveraged early case studies, and actively engaged with Shopify teams. As perception shifts in Portugal, Skrey is already established and benefiting from the acceleration.

Already positioned as Portugal accelerates.

Helder from Skrey agency at a Shopify event in Portugal

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