New York, Jan 11, 2026, 15:33 EST — Market closed.
- Shopify unveiled a new checkout standard with Google aimed at letting AI agents complete purchases inside chat tools.
- Shares last closed lower on Friday, despite a broader rally to record highs.
- Traders now look to Monday’s open, fresh headlines from NRF 2026, and Tuesday’s U.S. inflation data.
Shopify (SHOP) said on Sunday it has teamed up with Google on a new “Universal Commerce Protocol” meant to let AI agents complete checkouts inside chat-style tools, a shift that could reshape how its merchants reach buyers. The e-commerce software firm said the protocol is designed to handle steps such as discount codes and loyalty credentials, and that Shopify merchants will be able to sell directly inside Google Search’s AI Mode and the Gemini app. “We have taken everything we’ve seen over the decades to make UCP a robust commerce standard that can scale,” Vanessa Lee, a Shopify vice president, said. 1
The timing is the point. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, speaking at NRF 2026, called the protocol “open” and said it was built with Shopify and retailers including Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart, with more than 20 additional backers. “Agentic commerce,” in plain terms, is when an AI tool doesn’t just recommend a product — it can also take the steps to buy it.
Google’s push is already landing in consumer products. Google said on Sunday it is expanding shopping features in its Gemini chatbot with retailers including Shopify, using instant checkout so customers can buy without leaving the chat — part of a wider race with OpenAI and Amazon. The National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York kicked off the same day, with organisers expecting about 40,000 attendees over three days. Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke told reporters the company wants to make sure it doesn’t “over automate.” 2
Shopify shares closed down 2.26% at $164.48 on Friday, with about 5.1 million shares changing hands, according to the company’s investor relations site. 3
The slide came even as Wall Street logged fresh highs after a soft-but-steady U.S. jobs report, with the S&P 500 finishing up 0.65%. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December and the unemployment rate eased to 4.4%, Reuters reported. “Payrolls were a little bit light relative to consensus,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder. 4
For Shopify investors, the near-term question is whether these AI channels become real checkout lanes or stay a neat demo. A big part of the pitch is control: the company wants merchants to stay visible and keep the relationship even as shopping moves into assistants.
Investors will also be listening for how quickly the partners ship the new flows, and what the rules look like when orders happen inside a third-party chat window. The commercial plumbing matters here — who owns the customer, how returns work, who pays what.
But trust is the hurdle, and it can slow adoption. Google executive Vidhya Srinivasan said “roadblocks are costing retailers a lot of money” because carts are abandoned, and an industry survey cited by Axios found only 17% of shoppers were comfortable letting AI complete a purchase.
Monday’s open will be the first read on whether the weekend’s announcements change sentiment around Shopify. Newsflow out of NRF could keep the stock jumpy.
A bigger macro test arrives on Tuesday: the U.S. Consumer Price Index, a closely watched inflation gauge, is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. 5
