The Backlog

Thoughts and insights from the 40rty garage

Newsletter March 2026: The Shopify catalog is now your AI shelf

ChatGPT shopping is live. Here's what Shopify's agentic storefront rollout means for your catalog and sales channel.

The New Zero: How to Win When Every Catalog is AI Connected

When every store goes AI-ready, connection becomes table stakes. Here's how to actually get picked by the agent.

Newsletter February 2026: A playbook to win agentic storefronts in the next 90 days

Agentic storefronts are live on ChatGPT and Gemini. Here's your 90-day operator playbook to go from listed to chosen.

The Discipline of Rejection: Winning AI Trust by Saying "No"

AI agents are risk-averse. Telling them who your product is not for may be your strongest competitive move.

Newsletter Mid January 2026: Agentic Storefronts rollout

On January 26, Shopify flipped the switch. Here's the practical operator guide to what changed and what to do this week.

Newsletter January 2026: Global Catalog and Intent lab

40rty got early access to Shopify's Agents Marketplace Catalog — and shipped Intent Lab in direct response to what operators were asking.

UCP: the boring-sounding protocol that could quietly change how people buy online

A new open standard lets AI agents find, compare, and buy products without ever loading your website. Here's what that means for brands.