Shopify Unveils Major AI Upgrades For Ecommerce

Shopify Inc. is significantly advancing its use of artificial intelligence, with new developments aimed at assisting merchants and developers in creating everything from online stores to sophisticated shopping assistants. This AI focus was a major theme in the 150 product launches and enhancements announced by the e-commerce software giant during its semi-annual Editions showcase on Wednesday.

Shopify Embraces Declarative Commerce with AI

According to Shopify, these updates signify a "broader shift" towards what it terms "declarative commerce". The vision is for business owners to simply articulate their objectives, and AI will manage the underlying technical complexities. This approach is designed to free entrepreneurs, allowing them to concentrate more on their creative endeavors and business growth rather than getting bogged down in technical details.

Sidekick Supercharged Your AI Business Assistant

Among the most talked-about enhancements are those to Sidekick, an AI tool initially launched in 2023. Sidekick now features advanced reasoning capabilities, enabling merchants to pose practical questions about their business operations. For example, Shopify’s Vice-President of Product, Vanessa Lee, explained that merchants can ask Sidekick to investigate causes for a sales drop in the previous month.

Sidekick will delve into the store's analytics, examining sales figures, order history, product performance, and customer purchase patterns. It can then compute metrics like sales declines and revenue comparisons over specified periods, offering breakdowns by geographic location, customer segments, or sales channels. Lee stated that the objective is to provide data that clearly indicates what is going wrong, empowering merchants to decide on corrective actions.

If a merchant considers discounts or marketing campaigns as potential solutions, Sidekick can guide them through implementing these strategies. The tool is also capable of assisting merchants who wish to expand their sales across borders or target new customer segments.

Furthermore, Sidekick is being upgraded to support voice chat and screen sharing. It also now includes image generation capabilities, allowing users to type a description of a desired photo and receive the AI-generated image moments later. This feature can be particularly useful when merchants need new visual content.

AI Powered Store Creation and Design

In addition to the Sidekick enhancements, Shopify is integrating AI into its other software offerings. This will allow merchants to input a few descriptive keywords and have AI instantly design online stores, complete with all necessary images and text.

Empowering Developers with AI Shopping Assistants

Developers, who generate revenue by selling tools that integrate with Shopify’s software, are also set to receive a significant boost from AI. They will now have the ability to develop AI-powered shopping assistants that can access Shopify data in real-time. This capability is being built on Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, an open standard designed for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data resides.

In Shopify's ecosystem, this means developers can use third-party AI agents. These agents can seamlessly search product catalogs, manage shopping carts, access customer orders, and retrieve accurate store policies. This functionality aims to personalize the conversations that AI assistants have with customers, enhancing the shopping experience.

Expert Insights on Shopifys AI Trajectory

Rick Watson, founder of RMW Commerce Consulting, commented on these updates, viewing them as a strong indication that Shopify is "moving ahead fast" on its AI initiatives. However, he also noted that it might take several years before the company fully realizes the benefits from certain developments, such as the model context protocol.

Watson believes that a primary goal of many of Shopify’s AI-driven changes is to reduce or eliminate the need for merchants to invest in a separate content management system (CMS). A CMS is software that helps users display, organize, and modify content on websites without requiring extensive technical knowledge. Watson explained in an email that Shopify aims for "anyone and any team to be able to manage the Shopify front-end without having to add in additional software."

AI as a Core Company Mandate

Shopify’s commitment to AI is further highlighted by recent internal communications. Just a month prior to these announcements, CEO Tobi Lütke informed staff that AI is a "fundamental expectation" for all employees. He emphasized that AI will be embedded into all aspects of the company, from performance reviews to product development processes.

Beyond AI Other Key Shopify Enhancements

Aside from its extensive AI updates, Shopify also announced on Wednesday other significant platform improvements. The company has redesigned its point-of-sale (POS) app to make workflows more intuitive for merchants.

Additionally, Shopify has upgraded its payments platform. This enhancement allows merchants to use a single store to manage sales from multiple business entities globally. The updated platform supports accepting payments in over 130 currencies and settling funds in up to eight different currencies. This feature is designed to help merchants minimize foreign exchange fees associated with payouts, refunds, chargebacks, and supplier payments.

Perspective on Non AI Updates

Regarding these non-AI updates, Rick Watson offered a more reserved opinion. He suggested that the point-of-sale enhancements are primarily a way for Shopify "to catch up to more established players" in the market. Watson commented that while these updates are welcome, they are not "revolutionary."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025. Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press