Shopify's Summer Editions '25 is now live as of May 22nd and aptly named "Horizons" after the leading highlight update, a new design foundation that makes use of theme blocks. It evokes a summer in Malibu during the 1980s — Think palm trees, new wave music, Hawaiian shirts and a retro driving game!
But beyond the entertaining theme, Shopify Summer Editions '25 is packed with more than 150 additions across all aspects of the platform, including themes, marketing, checkout, and operations. In this blog, we take a look at the most noteworthy new features from the release.
New Theme Foundations
The addition of 10 new themes is one of the most important changes in this release. These themes make it easy to nest blocks inside existing sections to make your own layouts. These themes also offer drag and drops and click to edit components, giving more flexibility over the look and feel of your website.
The new themes also unlock the power of AI to generate custom theme blocks. Simply describe your desired block, and the AI brings it to life. Imagine instantly creating “floating cards with a 3D tilt effect and shimmer on hover” or an “image slider with a before and after comparison”.
Additionally, there have been some big changes to the editor, offering more flexibility when building online stores. Key upgrades include direct text editing and reusable sections, configurable theme blocks and an AI block generator for custom components. Interactive product cards make it easier for customers to see all your product images and add products easily to cart.
Sidekick: Shopify's AI Assistant
And speaking of AI, this release sees some noteworthy updates to Shopify’s Sidekick. Originally launched in February 2024, Sidekick is, as the website states, “trained to know all of Shopify and is designed to operate within the context of each merchant's shop.” Its key features include the ability to speak 20 languages, assisting with tasks such as organising collections, writing product copy, and setting up payments, multistep reasoning and data analysis. It also includes the ability to screen share and voice chat with Sidekick directly in the admin, allowing for real-time guidance.
Omnichannel Power Up — Retail and Checkout Experiences
Smarter, faster and more customisable — Shopify POS Version 10 focuses on speed and ease of use for retail staff. It now offers custom branding options for customer displays and receipt selection, alongside the ability to process mixed fulfilment orders in a single transaction — letting customers take some items home while others are shipped. Other notable additions include store credit functionality, the power to sell from multiple retail entities through a single admin with Shopify Payments, and SMS marketing opt-in options. Discounts can now be applied to draft orders, and device-level payment customisation offers greater flexibility. The smarter search even handles typos, making product discovery faster and easier.
The online checkout experience also received some updates. New features include flat rates for split shipping, helping to reduce unexpected costs when fulfilling from multiple locations. Retailers can now tailor their thank you and order status pages, and expect noticeably faster checkout loading times.
This update also provides customers with additional delivery options for items that are currently unavailable and the ability to modify the delivery address or pickup location. Plus, Apple Pay is now enabled as a payment method for merchants who've set it up as an express checkout option, giving your customers more ways to pay.
And of course, the Roblox integration, however whimsical, demonstrates a step into the blending of real and virtual worlds — Customers can now buy physical products virtually through a Shopify Checkout integration.
Global Reach and Shipping
Managing your stock and getting orders to customers just got a lot easier. Shopify now offers smarter ways to track inventory, even when it's moving between locations in multiple shipments, and you can manage all your delivery options – shipping, local pickup, and in-store collection – from one central spot.
Shopify Payments is expanding its global reach, now available in 16 additional countries (primarily across the EU) and offering payouts in up to 8 currencies to help reduce foreign exchange fees. For Plus merchants, this also includes the ability to sell from multiple business entities both online and in-person through a single store.
To boost transparency and reduce surprises for customers, duties collection is now available at checkout for all plans, complemented by Tariffguide.ai to easily classify products giving a nod to the global economic climate. The platform also enhances compliance and customer trust with improved cookie consent management by region and in checkout.
What This Means for You
This blog only scratches the surface of the abundance of new features Shopify has rolled out. To find out more, you can explore Shopify's official Summer Editions '25 landing page.
Our team is already busy reviewing these new tools to ensure our clients stay ahead. If you are curious about how these updates could specifically benefit your store, feel free to reach out to us.
