E-commerce giant Shopify to open first bricks and mortar space this year

TORONTO — Shopify plans to open its first brick-and-mortar location later this year.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant says the space will operate as a hub for its retailer clients to get support and information about the growing their businesses.

It made the announcement at its annual Unite conference in Toronto, where it plans to unveil a new tap-and-chip payment reader that accepts all major credit cards and contactless options like Apple and Google Pay.

The company will also announce that it will offer tipping, in-store pickup and multi-channel return and exchange options.

Shopify says it will also update its technology to accept local, cashless payment methods available overseas and offer a beta version with extended capabilities for merchants running their operations in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Portuguese.

The company says is offerings are used by more than 600,000 businesses in 175 countries.