Shopify Editions Summer 2025 Updates: the "Horizons" Release

Shopify's Summer 2025 Edition, codenamed "Horizons," has over 150 new features and updates designed to help merchants build, grow, and scale faster than ever. This release focuses heavily on AI capabilities, improved design freedom, and better developer tools—all crafted to meet the evolving demands of modern e-commerce.

Total Design Freedom with Horizon Themes & Visual Editing 

Shopify has introduced three major theme updates that give merchants more flexibility and control without relying on heavy development support.

• Horizon Themes is a brand-new collection that includes 10 free themes optimized for conversions across different verticals. These themes have built-in AI support for easier customization.

• AI-Generated Themes and Blocks allow merchants to generate entire storefronts based on simple prompts, enabling quick seasonal changes or fast launches for new stores.

• Enhanced Theme Editor upgrades the UX experience significantly. New features include hover-to-preview blocks, category filters, predictive search, conditional settings, and block copy/paste tools. These changes dramatically streamline the design process.

Sidekick, Smarter and Now Available in 20 Languages

Sidekick, Shopify’s AI-powered assistant, is getting a significant upgrade. Now equipped with multi-step reasoning, Sidekick can help merchants solve complex problems like identifying sudden drops in sales. It also supports visual generation through prompts, letting you generate images inside the admin dashboard. On top of that, Sidekick is now accessible through mobile, voice chat, and screen sharing, making it more user-friendly.

Perhaps most notably, it now supports 20 different languages, opening the doors for global teams and multilingual users.

New Developer Tools & APIs of Shopify 2025 Summer Edition

The Summer 2025 Edition of Shopify unlocks a host of improvements that make it easier for developers to build, test, and ship apps and custom solutions. From updated tooling to real-time visual editing, these features empower teams to deliver better experiences with less overhead.

Shopify 2025 Summer Edition Platform Updates for Developers

• The new Next-Gen Dev Platform includes a unified Dev Dashboard and CLI tools that support AI-powered code generation. However, the platform is available only to organizations participating in the early-access program.

• Modern tooling now allows localhost app development without rate-limited tunnels or firewall issues.

• Unified Dev Stores provide realistic environments even on Plus plans, letting developers preview apps and features accurately.

• Declarative Custom Data Definitions simplify data management via TOML files, reducing reliance on manual scripts or complex API calls.

Storefront Updates of Summer 2025 Edition

• Hydrogen Visual Editor, a new visual editor, simplifies the design, development, and merchandising processes, enabling collaboration across teams.

• Drag-and-Drop Functionality simplifies the design process, allowing users to create and modify web pages without extensive coding knowledge.

• With Real-Time Collaboration, teams can work together in real time, ensuring that design changes are implemented quickly and efficiently.

Tools and Updates for Developers in Shopify Summer 2025

• Unified UI Components leverages Polaris, a unified UI toolkit of custom web elements that automatically update from Shopify's CDN, ensuring consistency across Admin, Checkout, and Customer Accounts.

• Through Flow Templates for Apps, app developers can showcase automation potential with pre-built templates.

Growth and Extension Updates

• Shopify Marketplace Connect enables merchants to link their Shopify catalogs directly to top marketplaces, centralizing product details, orders, fulfillment, pricing, and inventory management.

• Shopify has lifted the restriction on the number of variants you can sell for a single product, simplifying product line management.

• New APIs improve functionality and integration capabilities, such as return management, exchange processes, and address autocomplete.

• The Combined Listings App allows Plus stores to create “combined listings” directly from the admin, showcasing multiple products as a single product with its own URL, image, and listing.

Key Shopify Summer 2025 Edition Updates for Merchants

• Multi-Entity Retail Support now supports multi-entity retail setups for global brands (Shopify Plus only).

• Split Shipping in Checkout allows customers to select different shipping options for each item in their order, providing clear expectations regarding delivery dates and shipping costs.

• Shopify Markets centralizes the management of cross-border, B2B, and retail operations, allowing businesses to customize buyer experiences for each market without the need for multiple stores.

• Shopify Audiences enhances ad targeting capabilities by leveraging aggregated data to create high-performing audience segments.

• Customized B2B Stores allow merchants to create customized stores for each B2B market with unique catalogs and themes without any need for expert coding.

• The newly redesigned Shopify POS system includes:

  •  a new interface for easier navigation, custom branding on screens, carts, and receipts, 

  • Support for ship and carry-out in one order, store credit, smarter search, and granular payment settings,

  • Multi-entity retail support, available for Shopify Plus users, ideal for global retail brands.

Operational Updates

• A new Unified Dashboard system integrates various data sources into a single view, simplifying data analysis and reporting.

• Through customizable reports, merchants can tailor reports to meet specific business needs, focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most.

• Predictive Analytics utilizes machine learning to predict future trends and outcomes, helping businesses stay ahead of the competition

Other Updates in Shopify Summer 2025 Edition Worth Noting

Shopify has also introduced several complementary features that enhance the overall ecosystem:

• Shopify Collective allows merchants to partner with others to sell complementary products without holding inventory.

• Shopify Subscriptions brings native tools to manage recurring orders with ease.

• Shopify Audiences leverages collective platform data to help merchants create high-performing ad audiences for better campaign results.

Unmatched E-commerce Growth with Shopify’s Summer 2025 Editions

Shopify’s Summer 2025 “Horizons” release marks a significant evolution in the platform’s development, especially when compared to previous editions. The Summer 2024 “Unified” release primarily focused on strengthening infrastructure and improving user experience, with tools like centralized analytics and improved multi-market management helping merchants scale across regions more effectively.

The Winter 2025 “Boring” release—despite its understated name—delivered impactful backend improvements. It introduced greater customization in customer accounts and checkout experiences, aimed at streamlining operational workflows and enhancing flexibility for merchants managing complex storefronts.

Now, with Summer 2025, Shopify shifts the spotlight to AI-driven innovation and visual freedom. From AI-generated themes to the multilingual Sidekick assistant, this release empowers merchants to scale faster while offering highly personalized shopping experiences. For global brands and agile teams alike, “Horizons” represents Shopify’s most forward-looking and transformative update to date. These enhancements collectively position Shopify as a more powerful and flexible platform for merchants and developers aiming to grow their businesses.

From design to marketing, from development to sales operations—every aspect now offers a much more powerful experience. At Byte, we closely follow all of Shopify’s latest features and updates to stand by your side every step of the way!