Shopify could benefit from its new agentic shopping partnership with Muse. x.com 

Amazon keeps hurting itself with its AI strategy by blocking AI shopping agents such as Muse to protect its high-margin sponsored-product revenue. That hands Shopify, which just partnered with Muse to enable agentic checkout with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores, an easy win. The tradeoff works for now because agentic shopping is a small share of volume, but if Amazon stays this stubborn it faces a long-run disintermediation threat as AI comes to facilitate something like 25% of online shopping. … Show more

Shopify faces a lot of risk in the AI revolution, which limits its upside at a $185 billion market cap and its current multiple. It has executed very well, and management may stay ahead so its infrastructure capitalizes on the agentic wave instead of being overrun, but that is not guaranteed. Against other plays and an already heavy software allocation, it is a candidate to offload, possibly after another chance at its all-time high. x.com 

Shopify can take on Amazon in agentic shopping by attacking weak spots Amazon can't address because it must protect its ads business and walled garden. Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi described overtaking Snowflake by studying the competition and going after its weaknesses, a similar opportunity for Shopify. It isn't one-to-one: Prime and logistics mean Amazon could shut out agents and be fine, and @Appyg99 points to Amazon's fast fulfillment. x.com  x.com 

Platform-agnostic shopping agents could bring Shopify meaningfully more transactions rather than favoring Amazon or Walmart. Amazon banning agents makes that prospect even more bullish for Shopify. x.com  x.com 

Shopify's valuation leaves no cushion for any growth deceleration. x.com 

Amazon is losing ground in shopping and should not hide behind a far-off $1T AWS. Customers go where the experience is easy, products are solid and prices great, and Amazon has lost the price battle. Blocking AI shopping agents would cost it the easy experience, while agents predicting orders from a user's history would erase its delivery-speed advantage. Shopify's CEO lifted Shopify 14% with one post on agentic commerce while Amazon fumbled; Amazon needs to wake up before losing share. x.com  … Show more

Meta's Muse is gaining a potential toll booth on online checkout, which squeezes Booking and Airbnb. Within 48 hours Shopify, PayPal and Expedia joined Muse checkout, since each merchant has reason to join early if agents steer demand. For Booking and Airbnb, joining could mean paying fees on bookings that would have come direct anyway, about 90% of Airbnb's traffic as of Q3 2023; staying out bets booking habits won't move to Muse. No deal has disclosed economics, the number to watch. x.com 

Shopify's moat may not last if AI can build and run a store end to end without a platform taking 3% of GMV. CEO Tobi Lütke says over 50% of its code is now AI-generated; if that reaches 80% and then 95%, merchants and new AI-native startups can use the same models directly. The $101B GMV, 34% revenue growth and 15% FCF margin are real, so the 16% drop after a beat prices the moat's duration, not the quarter. The bypass need not be sudden, only a growing share of new commerce spend. x.com 

Meta and Muse remain bullish, but Amazon cutting off Muse shows a digital knife fight is coming that many are overlooking, since no platform wants to be commoditized or layered over. Meta's heavy spending on talent and infrastructure leaves it well equipped for that fight. x.com  x.com