Shopify reports a 7x jump in AI-driven traffic and an 11x surge in orders from AI-driven searches since January 2025. No wonder Shopify’s president, Harley Finkelstein, calls it the “biggest shift in technology since the internet.”

Shopify’s edge is its data: millions of merchants, billions of transactions, and AI tools that understand shopper intent with precision. That lets it bypass expensive ads and monetise organic traffic in ways most platforms can’t match.

Beyond its partnership with ChatGPT, Shopify is working with Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot to build in-chat shopping experiences. As Finkelstein puts it, what Shopify is “really trying to do is lay the rails for agentic commerce” – the next evolution after social commerce.

Like it or not, AI is now baked into the way people search, shop, and make decisions online. For ecommerce, there’s no turning back.

The message for merchants and marketers is clear: start leaning into Shopify’s AI advantage, or risk falling behind brands that already are.