Shopify's (SHOP.US) 2024Q4 financial report conference call: International business GMV up 33%, with particularly strong growth in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In the sales scenario, achieving sales while also focusing on merchant solutions and product adoption. The company is confident in achieving these goals without significantly increasing the number of employees.2023 GMV Shopify 2024 GMVThere is much to interpret in terms of the trends. However, there is not much content that can be interpreted for predicting the user group situation in 2024. Looking back about two years ago, the company began to launch many new businesses, such as Capital and Tax, conducting B2B, POS, enterprise-level initiatives, around that time the company achieved better product market fit in Europe. So in the past few years, many of the achievements the company has seen are related to expanding into other merchant solutions. We do not intend to predict what this means for the user group in 2024, but we believe the company has done well in expanding solutions available to merchants, helping merchants achieve greater success, no matter where they are, or how they conduct their business, this is an encouraging trend, there are currently no specific indicators available.Q: Regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and its internal use issues. There has been a significant amount of investment in the past year or so. What is the biggest impact seen in operations? How much has productivity improved? A: Shopify will be one of the main beneficiaries in the new AI era. The company excels in cultivating long-term partnerships, and in terms of AI collaboration, it has partnered with Perplexity to support its product catalog through search results, and directly uses OpenAI's API to assist in internal work. From the merchant's perspective, the company aims to help merchants succeed and operate more efficiently with AI. It has launched features such as Sidekick, Media Editor, Shopify Inbox, and Semantic Search, which are currently only offered by Shopify. These features are designed to free merchants from tedious tasks so they can focus on their core business. In terms of talent, the addition of new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mikhail has attracted more talent in the AI and machine learning industries, supplementing the workforce with skilled individuals while maintaining a stable total number of employees. Within the company, the impact of AI is more pronounced. It can make developers more efficient, and it can also improve the quality of conversations between the support team and merchants, with AI handling low-quality conversations such as domain configuration issues. In conclusion, the company is in a favorable position both in the internal use of AI and in helping merchants succeed. AI will unlock unprecedented capabilities for both merchants and Shopify (specific data on the magnitude of productivity improvement was not mentioned). Q: You mentioned the increase in the use of Shopify products, such as Shop App and Shop Pay. As a platform aimed at buyers, what is your ultimate vision? There seems to be many opportunities to add features, such as merging shopping carts, which could potentially increase the number of shoppers using these apps. Any comments on this year's capital allocation plan? A: Shop App saw an 84% increase in GMV in the fourth quarter, and the company is committed to making it a more appealing destination for buyers looking for favorite brands on mobile devices. Shop is Shopify's platform for buyers, aiming to make shopping simpler and more enjoyable. It has gradually gained consumer recognition, as consumers are more willing to check out when they see the Shop Pay purple button. The company will continue to invest with the goal of making Shopify the gold standard in internet commerce, enhancing trust and security in the business field through continuous improvement of product suite. Shop is a channel for merchants to attract traffic, and can only be realized by using Shopify. In the future, the company will deep dive into personalization investment, bringing in more high-quality new brands to create conditions for merchants to establish meaningful connections with customers. Capital allocation is a topic actively discussed within the company, as the importance of being a good steward of capital is well understood. Maintaining a healthy cash cushion is a wise move, and the company will evaluate cash balances against various benchmarks and overall absolute amounts when making daily decisions on capital allocation, including research and development expenses, marketing spend, and capital returns. There are also convertible bonds that will mature later this year, with an amount just below $1 billion. Approximately 6 small-scale talent acquisitions have been made in the past year, bringing in crucial AI talent and other individuals, with the company looking to continue strategic investments through this approach. Currently, there are no plans for large-scale acquisitions, as the company aims to manage cash prudently, proactively, and wisely, with no specific news regarding capital returns to announce at present.