Shopify lets browser-based AI agents complete checkout for shoppers

In short: Shopify says AI agents running in a shopper’s web browser can now finish checkout on Shopify stores, with the shopper’s authorization.

What happened

Shopify announced that it is extending support for WebMCP to the checkout step, including Shop Pay. WebMCP is a set of built-in tools that helps an AI agent work with a Shopify store from inside your browser, instead of trying to guess what to click like a person would.

Until now, Shopify supported WebMCP for storefronts and carts. That meant an AI agent could search a store, find items, and add them to your cart. With this update, the agent can also read the checkout page, update order details, and submit the purchase after you approve it.

Shopify says this avoids unreliable methods like using screenshots or “scraping” webpages, which is when software tries to pull information from a page by reading the page’s layout. Shopify also introduced three new checkout tools for agents: get_checkout, update_checkout, and complete_checkout. These are meant to let an agent review a checkout, change things like your address or delivery option, and then place the order.

A Shopify product manager, Gil Greenberg, said the feature is rolling out to all eligible Shopify merchants. The news comes as some retailers have been blocking AI agents from buying items on users’ behalf.

Why it matters

For shoppers, this could make “shopping with an assistant” faster, like having a helper fill in the form fields for you. It also raises practical questions about trust and control, since the agent can change checkout details, even though Shopify says purchases still require the buyer’s authorization.

Source: TechCrunch AI