In a move that will almost certainly dismay many, the future for Canadian ecommerce giant Shopify, (TSE:SHOP) will likely have a lot more artificial intelligence (AI) in it. In fact, reports suggest that Shopify is working on a new deal with ChatGPT, which will potentially “…make shopping simpler,” and improve user experience. The news was good enough for investors, though not particularly good, as shares notched up fractionally in Friday morning’s trading.
A recent LinkedIn post from OpenAI noted that Shopify was looking to build a new connection that would make “shopping simpler,” and, ultimately, make it “…faster to find, compare, and buy products in ChatGPT.” Product search results got an upgrade, as did new visuals of product pricing, details, and of course, reviews from prior users. In perhaps the greatest step of all, it offered direct links to buy the products in question.
OpenAI did, however, make it clear that its product results were, so far, chosen independently. These were not paid advertisements, though many likely wonder if that is the next step. And it also served as a means to wonder how much more needs to be done before a formal deal between OpenAI and Shopify is established.
Will This Hurt Google?
A Shopify / ChatGPT connection would likely be a powerful new arrangement, and that led some to posit that it might actually do a number on Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google search as well. Indeed, some have been using ChatGPT like a search engine, and reporting some solid results. My own efforts on that front have been oddly fruitful, as it seems like ChatGPT’s tendency toward natural language prevents me from having to edit my own searches as hard as I had to with Google.
And indeed, some posit, the idea could take root and grow from there. The process could be expanded, as such a platform could “…index product data from the store and recommend users with products based on user message.” The use of “dynamic web-scrapers” and “Selenium” also came into play, and represented some exciting—and in some cases terrifying—potential developments.
Is Shopify Stock a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSE:SHOP stock based on 24 Buys and 13 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 32.81% rally in its share price over the past year, the average SHOP price target of C$167.27 per share implies 23.56% upside potential.
