Shopify beats quarterly revenue estimates as AI tools attract more customers

:Shopify beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, as the Canadian company’s focus on employing AI-powered tools attracted more merchants to its e-commerce services ahead of the all-important holiday season.
U.S.-listed shares of the company rose more than 12 per cent in premarket trading.
Shopify, which enables businesses to build and run online stores by providing tools for everything from creating a website to shipping products, has spruced up its services by integrating artificial intelligence-based features this year.
The company in June rolled out its AI assistant Sidekick, which provides sellers with sales reports, data on customer behavior and helps execute tasks such as setting up discount codes, to a wider breadth of merchants on its platform.
Shopify forecast current-quarter revenue would increase in a mid-to-high-twenties percentage range, while analysts expected a rise of 22.7 per cent, according to LSEG data.
The company reported revenue of $2.16 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.11 billion, according to LSEG.