Each Shopify Editions release marks a shift in how the platform is shaping the future of commerce. This time, Shopify made it clear: it’s not just building features, it’s building infrastructure for the future of how commerce works at scale. From deeper investments in AI and operational efficiency to a growing emphasis on interoperability across its ecosystem, Summer Editions ‘25 positions Shopify as a serious enterprise player, without abandoning the usability that made it beloved by entrepreneurs.
We caught up with the industry at Editions.dev in Toronto, to get the scoop on what left the biggest impression. Let’s unpack what stood out to industry leaders, from AI-powered storefronts to a major rethink of themes.
Sidekick Becomes the Star of the Show
For the first time, Editions opened with a dedicated section for Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant. That placement alone signals Shopify’s shift from AI as a productivity add-on to AI as a commerce co-pilot.
Sidekick is now agentic, meaning it can reason toward a goal and orchestrate complex workflows. Ask it to “run a Father’s Day campaign,” and it’ll create customer segments, recommend strategies, and launch the promotion, rather than just telling you how to do it. It also synthesizes insights from multiple data sources, making it possible to ask questions like “Why are sales dipping?” and receive hypotheses with supporting data.
The updates go beyond reasoning:
- Sidekick is now available in 20 languages.
- You can screen share and speak to it directly.
- It’s built to support goal-based commerce strategies, not just tasks.
While Sidekick can help brands move fast, it isn’t a substitute for strategic implementation. As our team noted, we’re increasingly seeing clients use Sidekick to experiment with ideas or campaigns, then bring in experts like Domaine to scale the concept within a complex system.
Horizon Theme: A New Era of Storefront Flexibility
With the launch of Horizon, Shopify is signaling a quiet but clear evolution of its theme framework. While it isn’t formally branded as “Online Store 3.0,” the update feels like a generational leap.
The new Horizon theme builds on the drag-and-drop flexibility of the Dawn theme (Online Store 2.0), but goes further:
- Theme blocks are now a default feature; no need for custom implementation.
- AI-generated theme blocks enable merchants to experiment with ideas more quickly.
- Shopify has introduced 10 distinct design presets, allowing brands to start with a look that feels more tailored and less templated.
Shopify calls them “themes within a theme,” and it’s a smart move. Smaller brands can begin with a fully designed baseline and iterate from there, unlocking speed to market without compromising brand specificity.
Under the hood, Horizon also benefits from major R&D investment in performance and conversion-optimized UX. While Dawn isn’t going anywhere, Horizon is now Shopify’s flagship theme, and the foundation for modern, scalable storefronts.
Operational Efficiency Through AI Tooling
One of the major throughlines of Summer ‘25 is efficiency, not just for brands, but for the teams building on Shopify.
The introduction of the Storefront MCP server is a big deal for developers. It allows customer-facing AI agents to query real-time Shopify storefront data, making AI-generated experiences more contextual and brand-specific. This could unlock a wave of intelligent, conversational commerce that feels native to each store.
On the backend, developers can now use conditional theme settings, letting them dynamically hide or show options based on who’s editing the theme. It’s a small but mighty quality-of-life improvement for teams with multiple contributors.
The combination of the Storefront MCP server, theme AI blocks, and developer-facing AI APIs speaks to a unified direction: Shopify wants to help brands build, test, and optimize faster, with AI layered across every part of the workflow.
Strengthening the Shopify Ecosystem
Summer Editions ‘25 also saw Shopify double down on its growing Shop ecosystem, with updates including:
- Shop Login: A universal login that simplifies customer access and improves conversion.
- Shop Campaigns: A new tool for running promotions across the Shop network.
- Shop Pay: Now reaching even more merchants and shoppers across the globe.
- Shop App: Enhanced personalization and loyalty features baked in.
Shopify is building a vertically integrated system, one where brand tools, customer experiences, and checkout infrastructure all reinforce each other. It’s not just about launching new features; it’s about making sure every Shopify component works better together.
Enterprise Momentum
With Summer Editions ‘25, Shopify is continuing to shape its enterprise story, without compromising its entrepreneur-first roots. The platform is leaning into its strengths: fast experimentation, connected data, and a robust ecosystem that scales.
Shopify’s focus on interoperability across tools like Shop Pay, Shop Login, and Shop Campaigns simplifies operations and improves attribution. Customers increasingly recognize the Shop ecosystem and that brand familiarity also helps enterprise brands build trust and drive conversion across markets.
Shopify’s continued investments in checkout performance prove the platform is scale-proof and their improvements to internationalization with multi-entity payouts for different regions unlock barriers to global growth.
Final Take
If Shopify Winter Editions ‘25 was about expanding functionality, Summer Editions ‘25 is about sharpening focus. As always, brands will need strategic partners to tailor this evolving toolkit and new functionality to their unique architecture and customer experience. But with Summer Editions ‘25, Shopify has laid out a vision of commerce that is faster, smarter, and more connected than ever.
Bonus Question for the Industry: What is the Last Thing You Bought Online?
Explore our full coverage of Shopify Editions Summer ‘25 in the video library here.
