There is no doubt that COVID-19 had a significant impact on the eCommerce business, but Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein quantifies the impact of this growth and their activities in the below video:
The Walmart Marketplace Seller expansion
Back in June 2020, Shopify/Walmart announced their partnership on expanding its Marketplace Seller space. The impact is as of the end of June (3000), the expansion is 3x from what was set as a goal in January (1200) 2020, with 3600 by the end of July 2020.
The way forward is Omni-channel
Given that the Walmart Marketplace is emerging vs. Amazon being established, the Walmart ramp-up is significant. Merchants are viewing “Marketplaces” as the way of merchandise, not just their own eCommerce stores.
ERP’s seeing demand
With the increase in the Omni-channel space, ERP’s (Enterprise Resource Planning) are seeing both an increase in business and seeing the importance of their APIs and integrations. The need to manage and control your business across several channels and manage inventory in a cost-effective way is paramount to stay competitive in eCommerce.
Below is a recent Brightpearl testimonial by Lovepop
Source: https://retailtechinnovationhub.com/home/2020/7/29/brightpearl-has-what-lovepop-is-looking-for
Background on "Walmart’s Marketplace strategy with Shopify" can be found here.