Shopify Embraces, Amazon Rejects: How Can E-commerce Platforms Do Business with AI Entry Points?

[Ebrun Original] September 23 news: On September 21 local time in the United States, Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, announced a partnership with Meta's AI assistant, Muse, to support AI agent checkout via Shop Pay, enabling users to purchase products from Shopify merchants through Muse. Almost simultaneously, Amazon restricted Muse from shopping on Amazon.com on behalf of users. According to foreign media reports, on the evening of September 20 local time, affected users received notices stating that unauthorized AI agent access violated Amazon's terms of use. Amazon claimed that Meta did not inform it in advance that Muse would access its marketplace, the agent did not identify itself during browsing, and the operations involved customer accounts and user credentials. Meta's earlier product description stated that Muse cannot see users' passwords or payment methods, and credentials are stored securely. In March of this year, Shopify announced that it would enable merchants to sell products to ChatGPT users through Agentic Storefronts. Products are sourced from the Shopify Catalog, and users complete purchases via in-app browsers or redirection to merchant websites. Merchants' pricing, payment methods, and checkout customizations remain effective, orders enter the Shopify backend with a ChatGPT source tag, and merchants remain the sellers of record, retaining customer relationships and data. On September 8, Shopify also announced that Meta joined its backend AI channel list, allowing merchants to manage product catalog access and direct checkout permissions, as well as view channel performance. AI adds sales entry points for merchants, while product management and transaction services remain provided by Shopify. However, unlike Shopify, which offers services like store setup, checkout, and order management, Amazon operates a consumer-facing marketplace directly and provides services such as sponsored ads to merchants, with users searching and browsing products on the site, also offering opportunities for merchants to gain ad exposure. Amazon has stated that if product comparisons and filtering are shifted to external agents, the paths through which consumers encounter on-site products and ads could change. Regarding Muse, Amazon also raised account access issues. It stated that Muse could enter account pages and view order history per user instructions without disclosing its agent identity to Amazon. In response, Amazon requires third-party purchasing agents to operate transparently and respect whether service providers choose to participate. Amazon is also developing its own AI purchasing tool. In April 2025, it launched a test feature called "Buy for Me," allowing some U.S. users to delegate AI to purchase items on brand websites that are not available on Amazon's marketplace, all from within the Amazon Shopping app. Shopping needs originate from Amazon, and its tool executes off-site purchases. Amazon states that the tool identifies itself and allows brands to opt out. Meanwhile, Amazon's collaboration with external AI platforms continues. On September 10, Amazon Ads announced a partnership with OpenAI to support advertisers in extending ad campaigns to ChatGPT, with some U.S. advertisers participating in a pilot. Advertisers can reach ChatGPT users through Amazon's advertising services, but the announcement did not include opening Amazon's marketplace purchasing or checkout permissions to ChatGPT. In this collaboration, ChatGPT becomes an additional ad placement channel for Amazon Ads advertisers, with Amazon continuing to provide advertising services. In contrast, Muse entered the marketplace without Amazon's consent and shopped on behalf of users, involving account access and transaction execution. Amazon's restriction specifically targets such unauthorized access. In fact, by opening checkout to Muse, Shopify also preserves its own role in transactions. After users select products through AI, they still need to use Shop Pay to complete purchases, and merchants can manage product catalog access and direct checkout permissions for AI channels within the Shopify backend. Ebrun will continue to track this intelligence. For more related information, please scan the code to follow the author's WeChat. This article was first published on the Ebrun official website.