Shopify to Offer Merchants NFT Minting Services

Shopify has opened its non-fungible token (NFT) beta that allows participants to mint and trade their own branded NFTs on its platform. The multinational e-commerce company has partnered with blockchain company GigLabs to integrate NFT utilities on its platform.

Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke announced the release on December 16, having previously shown interest in the DeFi and crypto space.

The Shopify application is built on Flow, a decentralised blockchain, and for the time being the “NFT Beta program” will only be available to US-based merchants on Shopify Plus. Participants will be able to buy the digital collectibles with Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, crypto payment gateways, credit/debit cards, and others. Users can also choose on which blockchain they want their NFTs minted, including Ethereum, Polygon, Near and Flow.

NFTs for Branding and Customer Engagement

Earlier in the year, Shopify made it possible to sell NFTs on its platform but now users will be able to access a host of additional functionalities. Included among these will be the ability to “forge [their] own branded experience” by minting NFTs, scheduling airdrops, memberships, and content-gating.

The platform has simplified much of the convoluted procedure required to get your hands on an NFT. Customers can easily claim their NFTs via email and add them directly to their wallets from there. Other companies, such as the entertainment company Superplastic, have praised the application for helping with a successful NFT drop for their brand.

Shopify’s platform is f****** amazing. It helped Superplastic and our partner Christie’s create a massively successful NFT drop for Janky and Guggimon.

Paul Budnitz, founder and CEO, Superplastic

NFT Industry Continues to Boom

Just last month, leading NFT marketplace OpenSea surpassed US$10 billion in all-time trading volume, marking quite an achievement since its total volume trading for all of 2020 was just US$21 million.

Other massive multinational companies have also jumped aboard the bandwagon. For example, sports apparel giant Nike flagged its interest in NFTs earlier this week with the acquisition of RTFKT, a digital arts studio specialising in NFT collectibles.