Ottawa-based Shopify Inc. is cancelling Unite, the company’s annual developer and partner conference, due to concerns about the COVID-19 virus.
The company said that it was cancelling the “in-person element” of the gathering.
“We believe this is the best option to make sure we don’t put anyone’s health and safety at risk” the company said in an online post . We’ll share more updates in the coming weeks.”
Shopify Unite, which was to be held in Toronto May 6-8, tends to focus heavily on the developers and partners who plug into the Shopify ecosystem and offer ancillary services to the merchants who use Shopify as an e-commerce platform.
It was at Unite in 2019 when the company announced that it would be spending US$1 billion to build an order fulfillment network in the United States. In 2018, the company announced that it would start selling a credit and debit card reader, which signalled a major push into physical retail for the company that has traditionally focused on e-commerce.
Chief executive Tobi Lutke suggested on Twitter that Unite events might still continue in some form, just without the in-person aspect with more than a thousand people gathering in Toronto for the event.
“Was really looking forward to see everyone,” Lutke wrote. “We’ll figure out a way to still make it a memorable event.”
The announcement comes one day after Facebook cancelled its major F8 conference slotted for May 5-6 also due to COVID-19, and with speculation swirling about whether Google and Apple will cancel their annual gatherings this spring.
The novel coronavirus strain which originated in China has spread to countries in Europe; in all, more than 50 countries have now reported cases of COVID-19.
According to the World Health Organization, globally there are 82, 294 people infected with the virus, including 1,185 just in the past 24 hours. In China, the disease has killed 2,747 people, and 57 people have died outside China.
Shopify’s stock is down nearly 20 per cent from it’s high-water mark earlier in February, as part of a broader market reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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