Shopify lets AI agents shop across 1 billion listings
What's the story
Shopify is expanding its agentic commerce ambitions by allowing more artificial intelligence (AI) agents to browse and buy from its listings. The company announced on Tuesday that shoppers will be able to configure their AI agents to buy products on their behalf. This will give these agents access to over a billion listings in Shopify's catalog, which includes items both on and off Shopify storefronts.
Enhanced functionality
How to use the new feature
To use this new feature, customers have to connect an agent with their account on Shop, a Shopify-owned platform that consolidates orders, tracks packages, and recommends products.
Just like the Muse partnership with Meta last month, customers can use the one-click Shop Pay feature to check out within the conversation with the agent.
The orders placed through these agents are funneled back into the Shop app.
Customization options
AI personal shopper can have budget guardrails
Shopify is marketing this feature as a "personal shopper" that humans can give rules to, such as setting budget guardrails or only displaying products with fast shipping.
However, it's worth noting that buyers have to approve each purchase made by their AI agent.
This move comes as e-commerce continues to be a major battleground in the AI era, with tech giants like Google and Amazon investing in these tools.