Shopify Unveils Powerful New AI Tools in Summer '25 Edition

Shopify is doubling down on its vision for AI as a core part of the entrepreneurial toolkit. In its Summer '25 Edition, the company introduced a wide range of AI-driven tools designed to help merchants start, run, and grow their businesses more intuitively and efficiently—tools that move beyond small updates and into what Shopify calls "game-changers."

From a smarter version of its Sidekick assistant to new ways to connect with conversational shopping platforms like Perplexity, Shopify says its goal is simple: make AI feel as natural and accessible as talking about your next big idea over coffee.

“AI is a great multiplier of human ambition,” the company said in its announcement. “That’s why we’re weaving powerful and intuitive AI tools into every part of our platform.”

Smarter AI Shopping Agents, Built to Sell

One of the headline features in this release is the Shopify Catalog, a new integration that allows select developers to build AI shopping agents capable of recommending and showcasing products to users on conversational platforms. Shopify says merchants who meet eligibility criteria will be automatically included in the Global Catalog.

Among early partners is Perplexity, which is using Shopify Catalog to show merchant's products to shoppers on their platform. As this kind of conversational commerce grows, Shopify is positioning itself to ensure its merchants are discoverable wherever AI-driven product searches are happening.

Knowledge Base App

To help merchants control how their brand is represented in AI-powered shopping conversations, Shopify launched the new Knowledge Base app. The app automatically generates a set of AI-readable FAQs based on each store’s policies, settings, and content—allowing AI agents to answer shopper questions accurately, such as inquiries about return policies or shipping timelines. Merchants can customize these answers, add their own frequently asked questions, and update content as their business evolves. The app also provides visibility into real questions being asked by shoppers through AI platforms, offering valuable insights into what customers care about most—and giving merchants a new tool to refine messaging, anticipate objections, and guide buying decisions.

Storefront MCP

On the developer side, Shopify introduced Storefront MCP, powered by Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, which allows developers to build custom AI agents directly into merchant storefronts. These agents can:

• Make intent-based product recommendations

• Answer questions

• Build carts

• Guide customers to checkout

The goal: make shopping on a merchant’s own site feel as intuitive as chatting with an expert.

Store Design, Powered by AI

Shopify is also rolling out more powerful AI tools to help merchants set up and design their stores faster. With the AI store builder, users can input a few keywords about their brand and instantly generate a custom storefront layout.

The new Horizon theme builds on that with AI-driven customization. Merchants can describe the look or layout they want, and the system will generate a Theme Block to match—enabling nearly limitless design flexibility, even without technical skills.

A Major Upgrade to Sidekick

Shopify’s AI assistant Sidekick has been reintroduced as more than just a chatbot. It now acts as a full-featured business partner with:

• Stronger reasoning skills – able to analyze issues like sales declines and identify trends or root causes

• Action-oriented responses – not just insights, but actions like setting up discounts, running reports, creating customer segments, and filtering orders

• Multilingual support – available in all 20 languages supported in the Shopify admin

• Voice interaction – merchants can now speak to Sidekick, show it their screen, and describe what they want to do more quickly and efficiently

• Built-in image generation – for banners, product shots, and marketing assets, without leaving the platform

This version of Sidekick is designed to go beyond helpful responses—it actively collaborates with merchants to save time, simplify decisions, and execute tasks.

What This Means

Shopify’s Summer ’25 Edition shows how AI is no longer a feature layer—it’s becoming the interface and engine behind how merchants run their businesses. Tools like Sidekick, Storefront MCP, and the Shopify Catalog reflect a broader shift in how e-commerce platforms are adapting to conversational interfaces, generative media, and AI-native search environments.

For small businesses, these tools lower the barrier to entry—offering capabilities once reserved for enterprise-level operations. For larger businesses, they provide a way to scale personalization and automation without sacrificing control.

More than anything, this update reflects Shopify’s belief that the future of commerce won’t just include AI—it will be shaped by it. And for merchants, that means a platform that doesn’t just support your work, but starts to anticipate and extend it.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.