Online-store provider, Shopify, updated their terms of use earlier this week and now prohibits the sale of many types of guns, ammunition, and firearms accessories. The eCommerce giant serves more than 600,000 small businesses, many within the outdoor industry who are now facing issues with being unable to sell items from their inventory.
Not only are firearm sales being affected, these new regulations also affect the sale of firearm accessories. This makes even those retailers who no longer sell firearms at all, still susceptible to the rigidity of the changes.
“From time to time, Shopify reviews and amends the terms, conditions and policies governing the use of our platform. We have recently amended our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to restrict the sale of certain firearms and parts on our platform,” the company stated in an email. “As we continue to scale globally, we may further refine our policies as needed.”
While this doesn’t have any effect on retailer’s brick-and-mortar sales of firearms and accessories, this can directly impact their bottom line. According to Business Insider, trends point toward total eCommerce sales to account for more than 17% of total retail sales by 2022. Last year, eCommerce Sales accounted for 13% of total retail sales overall. All stores must be in compliance with these new rules by end-of-year or face shop suspension.
The changes in policy come as no surprise though as more and more restrictions are being placed on advertisement and sale of firearms from organizations like Facebook and Instagram, as the gun control debate in the US wages on.
“Solely deferring to the law, in this age of political gridlock, is too idealistic and functionally unworkable on the fast moving internet,” Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said in a blog post. “The legislative process is no match for the realities of the internet and has ground to a halt on contentious issues.” He added, “We addressed this vacuum by creating a carefully crafted Acceptable Use Policy which allows space for all types of products, even the ones that we disagree with, but not for the kind of products intended to harm.”
Stone Road Media, an outdoor industry marketing leader, believes that now is the time to get ahead of the changes, before more regulations are handed down. More powerful eCommerce systems such as BigCommerce and Magento are being looked toward by businesses in the outdoor industry as they currently place no restrictions on the sale of firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories.
In addition to lack of restrictions, these platforms enable users to further customize the shops to fit the look and feel of their business, something extremely valuable as outdoor businesses continue to try and differentiate themselves in this landscape.
“As many retailers look to reach customers directly, the ability to ensure the investment made on an optimal platform is critical,” said Jeremy Flinn, owner of Stone Road Media. “Although eCommerce is not a cheap venture out of the gate, choosing the wrong platform and having to do it twice is even more detrimental.”
Contact Stone Road Media today for more information in development on a more powerful eCommerce system!