I must confess this article went to a different place vs than I thought. Shopify is clearly under pressure, and surprise lending to sellers is something its competitors have done for longer than they have. The question that no-one seems to want to ask is - what can Shopify do to make more revenue? Do not bother selling me logistics.
Lending money to struggling small merchants seems like a different business and a subsidy for their platform.
Which I guess is where their model is moving. Software is free or nearly free, but to run the business you need to adopt one or more of these other things which will cost.