Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) has signed a deal to make eligible Shopify stores fully shoppable through Meta’s new AI agent Muse. Amazon is taking the opposite approach, actively blocking Muse and a growing list of AI shopping tools from its platform. The contrast reflects two different approaches to agentic commerce. Shopify is opening its doors on the view that AI-driven checkout can generate incremental sales, while Amazon is protecting its shopping experience and advertising economics.
While Amazon fights off competition from negatively impacting its business, it continues to suffer elsewhere. Most recently, it faced backlash on how it treated pregnant warehouse workers and continues to tap into multple sources to raise money.
What It Means for Shopify?
Shopify is partnering with Meta to allow Muse to complete purchases from eligible Shopify stores, with Shop Pay available as a checkout option, its accelerated checkout service. The news sent shares more than 5% higher on September 22, extending the gains from the day earlier.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke highlighted:
We are partnering deeply with Muse to enable agentic checkout with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores, offering people an easy and delightful way to shop and check out with Muse.
The integration requires no added factual characterization on cost and strengthens its position as an open alternative to Amazon at a time when AI shopping agents are expanding. The key uncertainty is whether Muse can attract enough customers to drive meaningful sales, as adoption remains early and unproven. But if Muse usage takes off, Shopify wants to be on the right side of history with this move.
Why Amazon Wants To Ban Muse?
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) blocked Muse in the same week, arguing that third-party apps should respect a retailer’s decision not to participate. The company also asked Meta to remove Amazon from Muse and has blocked ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity’s Comet. Amazon’s $68.6 billion advertising business adds to the commercial stakes, since outside agents could reduce shoppers’ exposure to Amazon’s sponsored placements. However, the company’s legal position took a hit in August when a Ninth Circuit appeals court overturned its injunction against Perplexity, ruling that Comet users were accessing Amazon’s site rather than Perplexity itself.
Amazon also operates its own agentic shopping assistant, Alexa for Shopping, which brings together Alexa+ and Rufus. Amazon said Rufus had helped deliver nearly $12 billion in incremental annualized sales in 2025. That suggests the company’s concern is less about agentic shopping itself and more about giving a rival control of that layer.
Hedge fund ownership of Shopify fell modestly, with the number of funds holding the stock declining from 88 at the end of Q1 2026 to 82 at the end of Q2 2026. Short interest remained low at 1.53% of float as of August 31, 2026, indicating minimal bearish positioning despite sensitivity to spending concerns.
Amazon saw a rise in hedge fund ownership, with the number of funds holding the stock increasing from 353 at the end of Q1 2026 to 369 at the end of Q2 2026, marking a solid gain in institutional interest. Short interest remained minimal at 0.94% of float as of August 31, 2026.
Shopify is gaining a low-risk position in agentic commerce, while Amazon is protecting its advertising economics with a legal theory that has already faced a setback in court. Both are betting on the same technology, but each is approaching it from a different side of the storefront.
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