@a16z Amazon, DoorDash and Instacart aren't the only ones exposed. A big chunk of Google's and Meta's ad revenue is merchants and marketplaces paying to drive shoppers to their shelves. If agents skip the browsing, they skip that toll too.
@HmOhFour@dalibali2 Agreed, but then if something better pops up, such as a faster Apple version or whatever, whatβs the switching cost? The agent itself could handle it.
@MetacriticCap I know it seems like they may be cash flow positive. If they truly are without fake SBC add backs or other stuff, thatβs great.
We will still have to see whether they can actually sustain those cash flows.
@babyfolio you can justify these prices if you extend revenue growth for many years and assume premium multiple at the end. If revenues start going up vertically and second derivative is huge, they will once again be repriced.
@TMTLongShort yes let's stop building technology that can potentially cure cancer because we're too afraid it *might* lead to bad consequences if we give it out to everybody.
Something doesn't add up.
@JerryCap 5/ Merchants get value from the sub (pricing power) + lower processing fees.
Less theme/app? But more orders/tax/fraud/payments!
Agents favor the long tail, so volumes and GMV go up. Payments attach holds: it's the default and other gateways pay a surcharge.
Itβs net positive.
@JerryCap 4/ Also, what you're describing is the $SHOP bull case: agentic commerce favors the long tail.
Humans default to Amazon because searching 100K stores is costly. Agents don't.
Differentiated small merchants get discovery they never had. Those are Shopify's core merchants.