Shopify says AI-driven traffic and orders tripled year over year, splitting sharply from publishers

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On the Q2 2026 earnings call, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said AI-driven traffic and orders to Shopify stores tripled year over year, alongside revenue of $3.6B (up 36%, beating a $3.4B forecast) and gross operating profit of $1.71B (up 31%). Traditional search sessions also grew 1.3x over two years and still make up roughly a third of storefront sessions — so AI search is additive here, not substitutive. That is the exact inverse of the publisher experience, where AI summaries measurably cut click-through, and it suggests the AI-traffic story is transactional-intent-dependent rather than universal.