Marketplace Briefing: Shopify President Harley Finkelstein on why AI shopping ‘can’t just scrape information’ 

Shopify has also introduced an “Agentic plan” that will let non-Shopify merchants sell through AI channels — including ChatGPT, GoogleAI Mode and Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity — as well as the Shop app and future partners. The plan lets merchants add their product data to the “Shopify Catalog,” a database of all the products sold by stores on Shopify, to appear in AI chat platforms. Prospective merchants can join a waitlist to participate in the program.

The announcements come as the retail industry grapples with how agentic shopping should work in practice. Earlier this month, Amazon’s “Buy for Me” tool, which allows customers to purchase products from third-party websites without leaving Amazon’s app, has drawn criticism from brands that say their products appeared on Amazon without permission, raising questions about consent, data scraping and how much control merchants should have over where and how their products are sold.

In an interview with Modern Retail, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said the company is focused on giving brands control over where and how their products are sold through AI tools. He also explained why Shopify sees agentic commerce as the next major trend in online shopping and why it is investing early in the infrastructure to support it. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What signals are you seeing that suggest consumers want to shop using AI?

“If you look at Shopify’s data, specifically at checkouts from January 2025 to January 2026, merchants have seen 14x more orders coming from agents compared to last year at the same time. That’s a real opportunity and real leverage.”

Shopify announced the Universal Commerce Protocol, co-developed with Google. Why does agentic commerce need an open standard?

“Part of the reason we created this open protocol is because we believe agents need a way to speak directly with merchants. Merchandising is a real thing. You can’t just scrape information and expect a great experience. Creating this open protocol with Google was about enabling merchants to provide all the details and nuances of their business — like bundling, fulfillment, options, discounts and loyalty — so every agent, whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, AI mode or Microsoft Copilot, knows exactly what the merchant wants. That is the way agentic commerce will take off, not by just focusing on a simple transaction.

We don’t necessarily know which agentic application will be most widely used by consumers. Many consumers are still new to using OpenAI; most have only been using it for five or six months, or a year at max. If we show them a really great experience on their first or second purchase, they’re much more likely to make this a regular way they shop — and that’s what we’re hoping for.”

Shopify is also opening its Catalog to non-Shopify merchants through a new Agentic plan. Why bring outside brands into your ecosystem?

“This is the first time we’re actually working with non-Shopify merchants to help them. Part of our goal is to show them what Shopify can do, but we also believe it’s better for consumers. If agentic commerce is going to take off, consumers need access to all their favorite brands, not just some. Shopify powers 12% of retail e-commerce in the U.S. Enabling non-Shopify brands to join is a big deal for the industry.”

Where’s the line drawn between helping consumers shop across the Internet and respecting a merchant’s control over where and how their products are sold?

“That is a real thing. That’s the reason why, through the Shopify admin, you get to decide where your products show up in the agentic tools. If you don’t want to be part of the Catalog, you don’t have to be. For us, if we can showcase products to the right consumers at the right time, and the buying process includes all the right elements of merchandising, it’s a great new surface area. We’re really building the rails so it’s done in the right way, which is why it may, to some people, seem like agentic is taking a long time. Part of the reason is commerce is really complicated, and so we’re trying to build the right infrastructure so everything built on top of it is done the right way.”

Amazon’s “Buy for Me” tool has sparked backlash from some Shopify merchants who say their products were listed on Amazon’s e-commerce site without permission. How is Shopify responding to those concerns?

“It’s an open web, so I can’t speak to exactly what Amazon is doing or what their strategy is. What I can speak to is the fact that we think we have a better way to do this.”

Last year, Shopify added a “Robots & Agent policy” to its merchants’ website saying “buy for me agents” are not permitted. Does Amazon’s “Buy for Me” tool violate that policy?

“I can’t speak to that.”

To what extent will agentic commerce challenge the role of the e-commerce site? Could they become obsolete?

“It’s still always going to be important. If you ask the million stores on Shopify, their online store is their home — it’s where they showcase their products, share news and host media. Whereas brick-and-mortar stores used to be the hub, for modern brands like Gymshark and Skims, the online store is now the central hub. So, I don’t think the online store goes away; I just think you’ll have more alternative channels. For example, some brands use Roblox, YouTube Shopping, Instagram or even agentic tools as channels, but these don’t work for everyone. Our goal is to make it easy for consumers to purchase from you — wherever they are — directly from Shopify, and that’s what matters most to us.”

What I’m reading

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC in an interview that tariffs have started to “creep” into the price of some items.
• Shopify merchants using ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout feature will pay OpenAI a 4% fee on such sales on top of the fees charged by Shopify, according to The Information.
• OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT, asking select advertisers to spend under $1 million as part of an early trial, The Information reported.

What we’ve covered

• Walmart says ‘open partnerships’ are central to its AI strategy 
• How brands like Vuori, Rothy’s and Away have adapted to the new DTC landscape 
• How leaders at Fabletcis, PayPal and more are thinking about the agentic AI opportunity