Amazon Order Volumes Spike 76% Year over Year and Draws More Third-Party Merchants as Shopify's Revenue Growth Boosted by Higher-Priced Items

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Extensiv (formerly 3PL Central) — delivering omnichannel software solutions for warehouse, inventory, and order management — today announced a summary of key findings from its 3Q 2023 Market Insights research. The data reveals continued quarter over quarter growth in order volume for third-party sellers on Amazon, while Shopify volume and all other third-party marketplaces remain flat.

Launched in 2020, the Extensiv Market Insights website offers order volume trends for leading vendors such as Amazon, Shopify, and a consolidation of dozens of other smaller marketplaces. To access Extensiv trend data, visit www.extensiv.com/market-insights. 

Extensiv Market Insights shows changes in order volume per merchant processed through leading vendors such as Amazon and Shopify, including: 

• Year-over-year volume trends. Extensiv Market Insights shows a macro view of year-over-year order volume trends beginning in 2020. 

• Week-over-week volume trends. Extensiv Market Insights also shows changes to order volumes on a week-over-week basis. This enables brands to benchmark their own results to the seasonality changes across the broader e-commerce landscape.  

Key Highlights from October 2023 Extensiv Market Insights: 

• Third-party sellers rally towards Amazon: Extensiv data shows a 21% volume increase per merchant selling on Amazon in 3Q compared to 2Q and a 76% surge year-over-year in 3Q 2023. Other industry data indicates that third-party sellers accounted for 60% of all Amazon marketplace sales in the 2Q of 2023¹. Amazon claimed $32.2 billion in third-party seller services in the 2Q, an 18% increase from the comparable quarter in 2022².   

• Shopify average order volume is flat: While Shopify Average Order Volume rose by 18% year-over-year in 2023, it saw a decline to 1% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.  In August 2023, Shopify reported a 30.81 percent increase in second-quarter total revenue to $1.69 billion compared to the previous year³. Although consensus stock analyst predictions suggest a steady 17.9% revenue increase per annum for Shopify⁴, the fact that average order volumes are flat suggests merchants are selling more high-priced items.

• Other marketplaces remain flat: Critically, all other marketplaces analyzed by Extensiv Market Insights remained static. While the Average Order Volume rose by 4% year-over-year in 2023, it increased only 1% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.

"As we move into the 2023 holiday season, it's clear that brands, supply chains, and distribution tactics must remain flexible," said Andy Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer at Extensiv. "For example, if Amazon carries through with its new 2% fee for Seller Fulfilled Prime orders⁵, this could impact some retailers. Still, Amazon's third-party seller base's growth and ongoing experiments with distribution expenses and delivery durations further fuel its influential positive feedback loop. For optimal customer satisfaction, brands and 3PLs should explore geographically diverse fulfillment strategies."

Additional resources: 

• Extensiv Market Insights 
• Extensiv 2023 State of the Third-Party Logistics Industry Report 
• Extensiv 2023 State of the Ecommerce Fulfillment Industry  

About Extensiv  

Extensiv, formerly 3PL Central, is a visionary technology leader focused on creating the future of omnichannel fulfillment. We partner with warehouse professionals and entrepreneurial brands to transform their fulfillment operations in the radically changing world of commerce and consumer expectations. Through our unrivaled network of more than 1,500 connected 3PLs and a suite of integrated, cloud-native warehouse management (WMS), order management (OMS), inventory management (IMS), and integration management software, we enable modern merchants and brands to fulfill demand anywhere with superior flexibility and scale without painful platform migrations as they grow. More than 25,000 logistics professionals and thousands of brands trust Extensiv every day to drive commerce at the pace that modern consumers expect. Learn more at www.extensiv.com. 

 ¹ Marketplace Pulse: Amazon Percent of Units by Third-Party Sellers

 ² Marketplace Pulse: Amazon Third-Party Seller Services Sales

 ³ Shopify Aug 2, 2023 Earnings Announcement: Shopify Announces Second-Quarter 2023 Financial Results

 ⁴ Simply Wall St: Consensus analyst estimates of Shopify future growth

 ⁵ Modern Retail: ‘Do I take a hit in sales?’: Merchants wonder how they’re going to pay for Amazon’s new Seller Fulfilled Prime fee