Layoffs affecting more than 50 people in Shopify’s partnerships division have caused confusion about how the e-commerce giant will continue to work with third-party businesses that help merchants using its technology to run their stores.

In late January, Shopify laid off a number of staff from its partnerships division, but did not disclose the total number. The Logic has verified at least 53 people in the division whose positions were eliminated.

Sources estimated the total number of people laid off to be as high as 100, or roughly one-third of the division, noting membership of an internal Slack channel for the team dropped by that much on the day of the layoffs. The Logic is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak on the matter. Shopify did not respond to a request for comment about the number of people let go or give details of its new vision for the partnerships division.

Before the layoffs, those in the partnerships division had been anticipating changes, one insider source said, but not sweeping layoffs. They said the group hadn’t been given a “clear strategy” since the start of the new year, a time when management had traditionally explained their vision and targets for the year at a series of all-hands meetings. One team had finished work on a major project they had spent most of 2025 completing and had no clarity on what was next, they said. “Now we know why they were so quiet,” they added.

The partnerships division works with Shopify’s so-called partners—external agencies, consultancies, app builders and others—in what is meant to be a virtuous cycle: those working in the division help external partners grow their business, which earns Shopify more revenue. Shopify then shares some of that revenue with partners through commissions. In 2024, it paid out US$1 billion amongst its partners.

The division grew to around 300 people before the layoffs, one source told The Logic. One team within it focused on creating educational resources for partners, such as those found on the Shopify Academy site. Other teams worked directly with partners as partner managers, being their main point of contact within the organization, acting as a sort of concierge to help them navigate Shopify’s internal structure while also helping with marketing and other tasks.

A partner manager at Shopify could, for example, help close a sale, said Brent W. Peterson, CEO at Content Cucumber, a Shopify partner. They really “came out of the woodwork” during the pandemic, he said, and were more engaged with partners and proactively reached out about deals. They would act “as a conduit” between the agency and Shopify’s sales team, he said.

External partners told The Logic they learned of the layoffs at Shopify on social media or through friends in the industry, even if they were among the ones who lost their dedicated point person. Some have had no communication from Shopify since, gathering most of their information from a LinkedIn post from vice-president of partnerships Atlee Clark about “starting a new chapter for partners.”

In the announcement, she said that AI, especially agentic commerce, was redefining retail, and that Shopify would now focus on working with partners on “helping merchants confidently size and capture the AI opportunity.”

It’s unclear how Shopify intends to work with partners going forward, said one source. “The workload on who is left is going to be brutal,” they added, explaining that remaining staff are being asked to do the work of multiple people with little support.

Those who have lost their partner manager are in a tough spot—even if they’ve been assigned a new point person. Darin Lynch, founder and CEO of Irish Titan, a Shopify partner, said his firm has been lucky in only having its partner manager change a handful of times since joining the program in 2016. The relationship is built on trust, he said, which comes from getting to know each other over time. “The more trust you have, the more likely you are to start to share referrals,” he said. When there’s turnover and the trust has to be rebuilt, he added, it can “absolutely” impact revenue.

All external partners are now likely to get less attention from their partner managers, claimed one source working at a Shopify partner who was not authorized to speak on the matter. They added that their point person at Shopify now likely has more partners to look after than they did before the layoffs.

Even though Lynch has communicated with Shopify since the layoffs, he’s still unsure about the future direction of partner relations. “I would say it’s still a little murky,” he said.

One source claimed it seemed as though Shopify was looking to “provide less human resources for partners and expect them to do the work of understanding Shopify on their own.” There might also be more of a reliance on Sidekick, an AI tool Shopify released in July 2023 that can implement discounts, edit how web stores appear and perform a growing list of tasks. Shopify has previously turned to AI to replace human help for merchants in its support division, causing frustration for some trying to get help from a new chatbot. The e-commerce firm later abandoned some changes and once again made it possible for merchants to chat with a human representative through its help page.

Shopify has been de-emphasizing community for partners for some time, one source said. Late last year, the firm shut down Partner Slack, a forum where partners were able to share questions, concerns and requests for help with partner managers and other corporate staff.

Following the layoffs and the lack of clarity about what comes next, one source said it seemed likely Shopify would be focusing more on partners who are helping merchants grow their businesses by using AI. They pointed out that Shopify has invested in launching more AI tools for merchants in recent months. Some see the future as one where smaller partners struggle and maybe even have to close up shop. AI is making execution easier, said Lynch, so Shopify partners that don’t stand out may suffer to attract business. “It’s going to thin the herd,” he said.

Newer partners may also struggle with less or no support from Shopify. “Up-and-coming partners will have a harder time breaking in with the salesperson,” said Peterson. “The introduction that happens from a partner manager is really important.” A human being in Shopify’s partnerships division could have persuaded someone to give a partner a chance, he said—an AI, he added, can’t.