Can Shopify Compete With Amazon Without Becoming Amazon? Amazon is trying to build an empire, and Shopify is trying to arm the rebels. The pampering of Amazon’s customers has been a boon both to them and to Amazon, securing its dominance, but the merchants — the other panel of the triptych — have not fared as well. Since Amazon first opened up its marketplace in 1999 to third-party sellers, 1.7 million of them have signed up,