Amazon.com Inc. and Shopify Inc. have struck a deal to allow merchants who pay for Shopify’s ecommerce tools to use Amazon’s logistics network.

The two companies both sell ecommerce software and services to brands and merchants. They said Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” will soon be among the tools available to Shopify’s merchants in the U.S. The program started Aug. 30 for invited Shopify sellers. It will roll out to all Shopify merchants who want to use Amazon’s logistics network by the end of September, Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by 2023 third-party GMV. The latest analysis of the industry as a whole is published within the 2023 Global Online Marketplaces Report.

Context behind the Amazon Shopify deal

Amazon launched Buy with Prime last year, a move widely seen as an effort to blunt the momentum of Shopify. The Canada-based company grew rapidly in recent years by building ecommerce tools that promised to help brands sell goods from their own websites, rather than on a marketplace like Amazon or eBay.

Amazon, the largest U.S. online retailer, commands a gigantic customer base. But it has drawn complaints from some of its sellers for dictating terms and being slow to respond to their concerns.

Buy with Prime enables merchants who use Amazon’s payment and fulfillment services to include Amazon’s checkout service and speedy shipping guarantees on items sold from their own sites. Amazon says the integration makes shoppers more likely to make purchases from unfamiliar brands or websites because they trust the experience with Amazon.

Under the Amazon Shopify deal announced Aug. 30, Shopify Payments will process the payments through the company’s checkout service. Previously, Shopify had warned merchants who used Buy with Prime that the integration violated Shopify’s terms of service. Shopify prevented it from protecting against fraud, according to Marketplace Pulse, which tracks online sellers.

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