Shopify EMEA Chief: "I don’t think the retail storefront is going anywhere"

The retail storefront is not fading. Shopify's managing director for EMEA, Deann Evans, said as much in an interview published by InternetRetailing. "I don't think the retail storefront is going anywhere," Evans told managing editor Amanda Vlietstra.

Her comments directly counter the speculation that agentic commerce – AI-powered shopping through virtual assistants – will push all transactions online and gut physical stores. Evans instead positioned the storefront as a showroom and a pickup hub for online orders. "It remains a vital piece of the retail ecosystem," she argued.

The timing is telling. Shopify has been expanding its omnichannel tools: point-of-sale hardware, local delivery integrations, and inventory software that syncs online orders with physical stock. Evans's stance signals that the company sees its merchants' stores as strategic assets, not legacy drags.

For retail-tech investors, the read-through is concrete. Shopify's merchant base is the largest of any independent e-commerce platform. If that user base keeps investing in physical locations, then in-store technology – digital signage, RFID tracking, mobile checkout – stays relevant. Competitors such as BigCommerce and Salesforce's Commerce Cloud face the same question: how deeply to bind online and offline systems. Evans's answer suggests a hybrid model is what the market wants.

Some analysts had predicted that agentic commerce would shrink the store's role. Evans is effectively arguing the reverse: the storefront becomes a fulfillment node and a brand touchpoint. That makes the winners among retail software vendors those that connect both channels in a single operating system.

The interview also addressed how merchants should measure success in agentic commerce. Evans emphasized that conversion rates and customer lifetime value remain the right metrics, even when an AI assistant completes the sale. The technology, she said, should help retailers serve customers better across every channel.

Shopify has not released revenue targets for its in-store products. Evans's tone suggests the company expects its merchants' physical footprint to grow. That puts Shopify in direct competition with point-of-sale providers such as Lightspeed and, in food-and-beverage, Toast.

The core implication is narrow but useful. Evans's comments reaffirm Shopify's strategic direction. That direction validates omnichannel as a durable thesis. The storefront is staying. The software that connects it to the internet is where the growth sits.