The Entrepreneur Effect: $101.1B in Economic Impact and 300,000 Jobs
marketing digital commerce
MTE
Published on : Oct 15, 2026
New Shopify data shows Shopify-powered businesses supported 300,000 jobs in Australia, while Australian Shopify merchants saw an increase of 119% in cross-border sales since 2022.
SYDNEY, Australia, 14 October 2026 - Entrepreneurs are an economic force, and their influence is growing, as new Shopify data shows its merchant and partner ecosystem generated more than $1.73 trillion in global economic activity in the past year, increasing 110% from 2022.
Shopify-powered businesses supported approximately 9.6 million jobs worldwide in the last year, up 193% from 2022. In the year ending June 30, 2026, Shopify merchants also generated $98.1 billion in cross-border sales, showing the reach of businesses selling beyond their home markets. The data reveals that the impact of entrepreneurship extends far beyond a single business, supporting jobs, generating economic activity, and connecting businesses with customers around the world.
Launching today, The Entrepreneur Effect is a new global data hub examining the rising impact of entrepreneurship. Drawing on Shopify’s platform data, merchant & third-party surveys, and economic-impact modelling, it shows what happens when more people have the tools and opportunity to build a business.
Further data from The Entrepreneur Effect points to a shift in both the path to entrepreneurship and how quickly they can scale. In 2025, approximately 1.2 million stores made their first sale on Shopify, roughly one every 26 seconds. Since 2018, the number of first-time sellers on Shopify has grown sevenfold, a sign of how quickly entrepreneurship is accelerating. Today, ecommerce and AI are giving entrepreneurs new ways to build, operate and reach customers, reducing some of the traditional barriers around skills, time, cost, and geography.
"Entrepreneurship is what happens when ambition meets agency,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. “We've never seen that happening faster, in more places, and with greater success, than we're seeing today. The future of commerce is being written now.”
In Australia, the ripple effect of entrepreneurship is clear. In the last year, Shopify data shows $101.1 billion in economic activity and 300,000 jobs supported. Australian cross-border sales have also increased 119% since 2022, as Australian entrepreneurs reach more customers beyond their home market.
James Lewin, Chief Operations Officer & Co. Founder at Empress Athleticus said: “For sure, entrepreneurship is worth it, but it’s not for everyone. The barrier to entry is as easy as possible now with Shopify and AI, but you still have to be willing to keep learning and keep pivoting. AI has opened up so much more of what we can do. We’re not limited by finances in the same way anymore. We’re limited by our imagination and our effort.
We have 14 staff in the business now, and our car park is full of women with lives and stories. We’ve also had friends start businesses because they’ve seen what’s possible through us. If you’re ready to chase something different, go for it.”
Further findings from The Entrepreneur Effect include:
Technology is lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship. Technology is reducing the time, skills, and resources needed to test an idea and get a business moving:
- 78% of surveyed Shopify merchants built their Shopify stores themselves.
- 41% of stores launch with a single product.
- Shopify merchants installed 21 million apps in 2025, up 19.5% from 2024.
- Compared with 2022, 43% more stores now make their first sale within one day of signing up.
- Onboarding support from Sidekick increased the share of new merchants reaching five orders within 15 days by 8%.
AI gives superpowers to entrepreneurs
AI tools can help smaller teams do work that once required specialist support, while AI-led discovery is opening new paths between entrepreneurs and customers:
- AI-referred sessions had an 80% higher conversion rate than organic-search sessions from April to June 2026.
- AI-referred orders had 14% higher average order values over the same period.
- AI channels drove nearly twice as many orders from new buyers as other channels.
- 75% of AI-referred sales came from merchants selling outside Shopify's 100 most common product categories.
The opportunity is expanding. Digital commerce is giving entrepreneurs access to customers well beyond their immediate communities, opening up new opportunities for businesses of all sizes:
- 186 million people bought from a Shopify merchant for the first time in 2025, equivalent to around six first-time buyers every second
- Shopify merchants generated more than $1.44 billion in sales per day on average in 2025.
- Shopify merchants shipped orders to one billion distinct addresses in 2025.
- Rural cross-border sales increased 342% over 6 years. From $943 million in 2019 to $4.2 billion in 2025.
The Entrepreneur Effect includes global and market-level data, merchant stories, FAQs, and detailed methodology. Visit shopify.com/entrepreneur for the report, findings, definitions, and source information.
About the research
The Entrepreneur Effect combines aggregated Shopify platform data, merchant surveys, third-party research, and economic-impact modelling. Reporting periods vary by finding. Economic activity and jobs supported cover July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026; cross-border sales cover the same period; the AI referral findings cited above cover April to June 2026. Estimates of economic impact use a standard input-output framework informed by Shopify merchant and partner activity and OECD global supply-chain data.
About Shopify
Shopify provides essential internet infrastructure for commerce. Shopify’s all-in-one platform makes it easier to start, run, and grow a business, powering sales online, in store, and everywhere in between. Millions of businesses in 175+ countries use Shopify—from entrepreneurs to brands like JB HiFi, July, Culture Kings, Meta, On Running, SKIMS, HiSmile, and Supreme.
