According to PYMNTS.com, Shopify announced on Wednesday, December 10, a new feature called “Agentic Storefronts.” This lets merchants publish their full product catalogs to AI platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. The goal is to let shoppers ask questions, compare items, and complete purchases all in one AI chat thread. Shopify President Harley Finkelstein revealed that AI-driven traffic to Shopify stores has increased sevenfold since January, and orders from AI searches are up elevenfold. The company also rolled out over 150 updates in its Winter ’26 Edition, including a major upgrade to its Sidekick AI assistant, which can now generate code and modify shop settings. During Black Friday, PYMNTS data showed over half of consumers used generative AI tools for purchases, with Gen Z leading at 67% adoption.
The Search-to-Conversation Shift
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a new feature. It’s Shopify’s acknowledgment that the fundamental way people find stuff to buy is changing. And it’s changing fast. We’re moving away from typing keywords into a search bar on Google or Amazon and sifting through pages of results. Now, people are just telling an AI what they want. “Find me a warm winter coat that’s waterproof and under $200.” The AI does the comparison work, asks clarifying questions, and serves up a shortlist. Shopify’s move is basically about making sure its merchants’ products are in that shortlist. If you’re not formatted for AI to understand you, you’re invisible. It’s that simple.
The Visibility Game in AI World
This creates a whole new battlefield for visibility. For years, merchants fought over SEO and Google Shopping ads. Now, the gatekeepers are ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity. Shopify’s Shopify Catalog system is their weapon here. By structuring all product data—attributes, pricing, policies—in a way AI can easily digest, they’re trying to future-proof their merchants. CEO Tobi Lütke says they’re making “every Shopify store agent-ready by default.” That’s a powerful promise. But it also highlights who the losers might be: smaller sellers on other platforms, or even on Shopify who don’t fill out their product details properly. If an AI can’t parse your info, you don’t exist.
Beyond Storefronts: The Merchant AI, Too
And Shopify isn’t just using AI to bring customers in. They’re deeply baking it into the merchant experience itself. The upgraded Sidekick is a big deal. It’s shifting from a simple helper you ask questions to, well, a proactive collaborator. It can generate code, build custom apps, and tweak settings. For a small business owner who isn’t a tech whiz, that’s huge. It democratizes a level of store customization that was previously either expensive or required serious skills. As one merchant said, tasks that took “hours upon hours” now take a minute. That’s the kind of efficiency gain that can keep a small business competitive. You can see all these merchant-focused updates in the Winter ’26 Edition notes.
So What Does This Mean?
Look, Shopify is making a massive, central bet on AI. Finkelstein said it’s “central to our engine,” not just a feature. The Agentic Storefronts announcement is the customer-facing proof. They see the traffic numbers skyrocketing and they’re building the entire infrastructure to own that new discovery channel. For merchants, it’s a mixed bag. It’s a huge opportunity to be early in a new wave of shopping. But it also introduces a new dependency: your visibility is now at the mercy of AI models and the platforms that host them. Shopify’s play is to be the essential pipe between merchant data and those AI gatekeepers. If they succeed, they solidify their platform lock-in for another decade. If they don’t, well, someone else will build that pipe. But right now, they’re moving faster than just about anyone.
