What’s new in the Shopify Summer 2025 Edition?

Shopify has launched its Summer 2025 Edition, introducing over 150 new features and improvements. This edition is designed to give merchants more control, speed, and creativity when setting up and running their online stores. Below is a comprehensive overview of the key innovations, with special attention to the new themes.

New Theme Structure: Horizon

One of the most notable updates is the introduction of the Horizon theme platform. This update offers maximum design flexibility, an improved shopping experience for customers, and built-in AI to make store customization easier than ever.

• Ten free, professionally designed themes optimized for conversion and fully customizable without coding knowledge. New themes include Ritual, Fabric, Tinker, and Dwell, each with its unique style and layout.

• Theme Blocks: Easily add, remove, or rearrange sections on a page. Blocks can be copied and pasted between pages, and the editor now includes previews and visual feedback, organized into categories for easier navigation.

Smarter AI Blocks in the Editor

Shopify introduces AI-generated blocks that can be added with simple instructions. For example, merchants can type “add a banner for summer promotions,” and the editor will generate a suitable design block automatically. This combines creative freedom with simplicity, enabling professional store design without technical skills.

AI Store Builder: Build a Store from a Description

Shopify is launching the AI Store Builder, allowing users to generate a complete webshop in minutes using only a brief description of their brand, target audience, or product offerings. The AI generates three unique designs with images, colors, and text, all editable in the new Horizon editor. This significantly lowers the barrier for new entrepreneurs.

Upgrades to the POS Experience

The updated Point-of-Sale (POS) system offers a faster and more intuitive interface with features such as:

• Faster checkouts with improved search and navigation

• Ship and Carry Out: Customers can take part of their order home and have the rest shipped

• Customizable branding for the POS interface

• Tap to Pay: Accept payments via smartphone without extra hardware

These upgrades streamline the in-store experience for both merchants and customers.

Sidekick: Enhanced AI Assistant

The AI assistant Sidekick is more powerful than ever, acting as a virtual team member to help with daily tasks like reports, customer segmentation, and discount management.

New features include:

• Multilingual support in 20 languages, including Dutch

• Voice commands for hands-free interaction

• Advanced analytics for questions like “Why did my revenue drop last month?”

• Automations for handling routine tasks

Sidekick is now a strategic partner for entrepreneurs looking to optimize their time.

Improvements for International Selling

Shopify makes international sales easier with these updates:

• Shopify Payments available in 16 new countries

• Support for multi-currency payouts

• Ability to display prices inclusive of duties and taxes

• Expanded Klarna integration for more European countries

These features simplify reaching global customers for small and medium businesses.

Other Changes

Refunds in Store Credit

Merchants can now issue refunds as store credit, regardless of the original payment method. Store credit can be customized with amount and expiry date and managed via Shopify Admin or GraphQL Admin API.

Expanded Shopify Flow Capabilities

The Send HTTP request action in Shopify Flow now allows secure connections with external systems, parsing returned data for use in workflows. Sensitive data, like API keys, can now be safely stored and used within Flow automations.

Improved Customer Segmentation with ShopifyQL

ShopifyQL Segments 2.0 enables advanced segmentation based on location, purchase behavior, and engagement, automatically updating as customer behavior changes for targeted marketing and personalized communication.

Conclusion

The Shopify Summer 2025 Edition demonstrates Shopify’s continued evolution into a powerful and accessible e-commerce platform. Horizon sets a new standard for theme development, emphasizing flexibility and ease of use. Combined with AI integration, enhanced POS capabilities, and international selling support, this edition is one of Shopify’s most complete and innovative releases yet.

For merchants, this means: faster store building, smarter management, and easier scaling. Shopify continues to prove why it remains a leading platform for modern commerce.

Learn more about Shopify Summer ’25 Edition