Shopify 2025 Horizons Update: Everything You Need to Know

Shopify's Summer 2025 Edition is here. It's aptly named "Horizons" and unveils over 150 very interesting and innovative features designed to revolutionize the e-commerce landscape - something we haven’t seen at this scale until now. From AI-powered design tools to enhanced developer experiences, this update empowers merchants to build, scale, and personalize their online stores like never before. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or an established brand, these innovations are set to redefine your Shopify journey.

Horizon: "A New Era" of Theme Customization

At the heart of this edition lies the Horizon theme framework, a transformative approach to store design. With Horizon, merchants can:

• Access 10 free, conversion-optimized themes tailored for various industries.
• Utilize AI-generated theme blocks by simply describing desired features, eliminating the need for coding.
• Benefit from an upgraded theme editor featuring hover-to-preview, predictive search, and conditional settings for a streamlined design experience.

This intuitive system ensures that both novices and seasoned developers can craft visually stunning and highly functional storefronts with ease.

Sidekick AI: Your Intelligent Business Partner

Shopify's AI assistant, Sidekick, has evolved into a multifaceted tool offering

• Multi-step reasoning to analyze sales trends and suggest actionable strategies.
• Image generation capabilities, allowing for the creation of high-quality visuals directly within the admin dashboard.
• Support for 20 languages, ensuring global accessibility.
• Mobile app integration, voice chat, and screen sharing for real-time collaboration.

These enhancements position Sidekick as an indispensable asset for merchants aiming to optimize operations and drive growth.

Unified Markets and Enhanced Checkout Experience

The updated Markets feature now offers:

• Segmentation by customer type (B2C vs. B2B), geography, and sales channel.
• A consolidated dashboard to manage currencies, languages, and payment options across different markets.
• Submarket creation within existing markets for more granular control.

Additionally, the checkout process has been refined to include

• Faster load times for improved customer experience.
• Apple Pay is listed as a standard payment option, enhancing payment flexibility.
• The ability to apply discount codes directly in the cart, streamlining the purchasing process.

Developer-Centric Innovations

For developers, Shopify introduces a suite of tools aimed at simplifying app and theme development:

• A centralized Dev Dashboard and Command Line Interface (CLI) for efficient workflow management.
• Localhost app development support, removing the dependency on external tunneling services.
• Declarative custom data definitions using TOML files, facilitating easier data management.
• Unified development stores across all Shopify plans, including Plus, for comprehensive testing environments.

These tools are designed to reduce development time and enhance the overall quality of Shopify applications.

AI-Driven Storefront Enhancements

Embracing the power of AI, Shopify now offers:

• AI-generated theme blocks through Shopify Magic, allowing for rapid customization based on simple text prompts.
• Integration with conversational AI platforms via the Shopify Catalog, expanding product visibility.
• The Knowledge Base App, which generates AI-readable FAQs to assist customers and improve brand representation in AI-driven shopping experiences.

These features aim to create a more interactive and personalized shopping experience for customers.

Wrap up

Shopify's Summer 2025 Edition marks a significant leap forward in e-commerce capabilities. By integrating advanced AI tools, enhancing theme customization, and streamlining developer workflows, Shopify empowers merchants to deliver exceptional shopping experiences. As the digital commerce landscape continues to evolve, these innovations position Shopify users at the forefront of the industry.

For a visual overview of these updates, check out the official Shopify Editions Summer '25 video.