Shopify Spring ‘26 – AI is now Everywhere

Like clockwork, Shopify announced its Summer '26 Edition with more than 150 new features, though this time they're calling it a Spring edition. It’s not entirely clear why they did that, but one thing is certain: they christened this edition “Everywhere”, because that’s what they’re aiming at. Bring Shopify from online to offline, B2B and B2C, all strengthened with AI tools. 

This time, the Summer Edition will help merchants get even more out of Shopify, no matter where they are. Or as they wrote it: “Sell online, face to face, in AI and beyond.” This summarizes the focus of the new edition well, as they really created an all-rounder update for the e-commerce engine. Here are some key novelties from the Summer edition: 

• AI functions in Sidekick are getting much smarter, and automated advertising arrives
• We’re getting more and more clarity about Agentic Shopping, and how it will work
• Shopify redesigned the POS checkout process, and B2B capabilities are now available in more plans
• They also introduced new tools that will help developers deliver better performance faster

AI and automation are an even more important part of Shopify

In our post about the Winter Edition, we already highlighted how Shopify is focusing on AI features, including Sidekick, A/B testing, and more. With their new editions, they made these capabilities even better. For example, Sidekick can now talk to 3rd party apps, bringing even more insights and suggestions. Sidekick also got a significant update for Shopify Flow, which can now generate test events to verify Flow logic. 

Sidekick also got a neat update that lets you create rules to buy shipping labels when specific triggers occur. It also received an update for B2B merchants that lets them charge customers based on different actions such as fulfillment, due dates, or invoicing.

What’s more, they’re introducing a “Campaign Autopilot” function that will allow users to run campaigns across several channels (Meta, Google, Pinterest, WhatsApp) easily and automatically. As they promise, merchants will also be able to “set guardrails to stay in control, and track results over time.” 

There was also a hidden but quite important update: Shopify is redefining how its search function works. Now the tool will use AI to deliver relevant results “even when shoppers search on your store using typos or unusual phrasing.”

More options and clarity for Agentic shopping

Agentic Storefronts were also announced earlier, and we already wrote about them several times. What’s new in the Summer edition is that we’re learning more about how these will work. For example, we have already heard about the Shopify Catalog and how it will be the connector between Shopify databases and AI agents. What we didn’t know was that the Catalog “automatically standardizes and enriches your product data. Data syndicated by Shopify drives 2x more conversion in AI chats.” So the AI tool got its own AI tool. 

Through the Catalog and the Universal Commerce Protocol, new options will also be available in ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, and users can purchase products “soon” from Meta ads. These options will work seamlessly with Shopify Pay, too. What’s more, customers will be able to sign in to agents with their Shop accounts and get customized suggestions. 

What’s even more interesting is that merchants who are not using Shopify will also be able to leverage the Catalog to connect to agentic storefronts. As of now, however, agentic shopping is only available in the US.

Shopify is omnichannel & omnipresent  

An important part of the “Everywhere” edition is how Shopify is working to connect merchants with customers, wherever they are. They redesigned their entire POS process to make it faster than ever, delivering a better customer experience and easier workflows for merchants.

They also put great effort into improving inventory management, focusing heavily on managing multiple locations “without duplicating inventory items.” They also offer faster syncing between the backend and frontend, and are trying to make the pickup and fulfillment processes easier. 

They also added B2B features to more plans (basic, grow, advanced), so now more users can “access company profiles, volume pricing, up to three B2B catalogs, and more from your admin at no extra cost.” 

All that leads us to believe that Shopify is aiming to evolve from being an e-commerce giant to simply a commerce powerhouse, especially as they’re focusing on bringing any brand into Shopify Pay, even if they don’t use the company’s engine. 

New developer tools: Building smarter and faster

The Summer Edition also brings improvements to the developer ecosystem. By centralizing the development process within a new, streamlined Dev Dashboard, Shopify is making it simpler and faster for teams to build and manage custom applications. Operational control is also enhanced by new tools that are designed to monitor app performance. 

They’re also introducing “metaobject data in checkout functions”, which will allow developers (and therefore merchants) to power “custom discounts, product rules, and personalized checkout logic.” This might also be useful for 3rd party app developers, such as Delivery Gateway, which can now use these built-in functions more efficiently.

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