Shopify’s Summer Edition 2025 – “…is a new horizon of 150+ upgrades that unlock your creativity”, said Shopify. With a playful nod to creativity, Shopify even includes Horizon Drive, a viral game reminiscent of last winter’s “Boring” Editions. Frankly, no Shopify merchants have time to learn about all of them in detail.
In this blog, Omni Themes will run you through all the most critical updates, as claimed by Shopify themselves. And, together, we’ll compare the new features side-by-side to help you decide whether it’s worth us, the sellers, giving it a try, or even actually using it, or just… ignoring it.
1. What’s New in Shopify Summer Edition 2025 for Merchants?
Let’s break down the eight most impactful updates for merchants, complete with before-and-after comparisons and practical advice on whether to adopt them.
1.1. Summer ’25 Edition update 1: New Free Themes & Design Flexibility
🧐 What’s New?
Many new things for Themes in this Shopify Summer Edition 2025, but here are some key additions:
- Horizon: Shopify’s new theme foundation, which introduces a block-based design system for building a Shopify store.
- 10 new themes: Not exactly 10 new FREE themes, instead, we actually got a new theme with 10 different presets (Tinker, Ritual, Vessel, Heritage, Savor, Fabric, Atelier, Horizon, Dwell, Pitch), all made for conversion!
- Nested blocks: Create custom layouts by nesting a block into the existing sections.
- AI-generated themes & blocks:. AI integration allows you to generate the WHOLE THEME or just a SINGLE CUSTOM BLOCK by describing your vision (e.g., “Create a featured collection block”).
- Upgraded Theme Editor: If you use the 10 Free Shopify horizon themes, you can try more advanced features on the new Theme Editor. Some worth noticing features are: hover-to-preview, categorized blocks, one-click text editing, copy and paste blocks and sections, custom names for blocks and sections, and AI block generation.
For example: About the Categories for blocks and sections
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: 🔎 Give It a Try.
Why? Horizon’s flexibility and AI tools are a game-changer. However, the Horizon themes are still new and need some more time to mature and become stable. Therefore, if you are planning to have a Shopify store, you definitely can try the new technologies, but to actually launch your store, consider some more durable option, such as Dawn (the old free theme) or some best Shopify premium themes.
1.2. Summer ’25 Edition update 2: Sidekick – Smarter AI
🧐 What’s New?
Let’s run through the outstanding new things about Sidekick in this Summer Edition 2025. Now, Sidekick has the power for:
- Multi-step reasoning: Shopify AI can help you solve hard problems, such as diagnosing sales spikes (e.g., promotions, influencer impact), or suggest product strategies based on customer behavior.
- Image generation: Generate content or image assets from your voice or text prompts.
- 20 languages supported – so you can talk with Sidekick in any language that you feel comfortable.
- Mobile support makes it accessible anywhere, enhancing daily operations.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: 🔎 Give it a try
Sidekick’s upgrades are a boon for busy merchants. There are no risks using it to support your daily tasks on Shopify. Test it for tasks like product edits or analytics, but refine outputs to align with your brand, as some users report generic content.
Some fellow sellers also praised the helpfulness of Sidekick throughout their store launch, such as Klavs Steenhof, head of digital at INTERSPORT Group: “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface with Sidekick. In our initial trial, it proved remarkably effective at inventory management – identifying the exact restocking priorities our purchasing team would have chosen.” (according to Shopify).
1.3. Summer ’25 Edition update 3: Retail – a.k.a Shopify POS Got a New Look & Power
🧐 What’s New?
What’s to know about the updates for Shopify POS in this Summer Edition?
- Store Credit: You can issue, accept, and refund store credit directly in Shopify POS.
- Multi-Store Sales: Run global retail stores under one admin using Shopify Payments (Plus only).
- SMS Opt-In: Staff or customers can easily sign up for SMS marketing during checkout.
- Draft Order Discounts: Apply advanced discounts like “buy X get Y” to draft orders (POS Pro only).
- Custom Payments per Device: Set different payment options for each POS device (POS Pro only).
- Cash Rounding: Round cash payments to match local coin rules.
- Better Search: POS now handles typos and misspellings for faster product search.
- All-in-One Discount: Use one discount to cover items, orders, and shipping (POS Pro only).
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: ⚠️ Update if You’re in Retail:
For online-only stores, this won’t matter. But if you have physical shops, the new POS could reduce friction and improve CX (customer experience).
Omnichannel merchants can take advantage of this overhaul. Preston Arroyo of Tecovas praised its usability and engaging design. The mixed fulfillment and Tap to Pay features streamline retail, making this essential for physical stores or pop-ups.
1.4. Summer ’25 Edition update 4: Checkout Optimized for Higher Conversion!
🧐 What’s New?
Shopify is constantly tweaking its checkout – and this time, they’ve doubled down on reducing abandonment and boosting conversions.
- Shop Pay Installments (Canada): Offer “Buy Now, Pay Later” to boost sales in Canada.
- Thank You & Order Page Upgrade: Customize post-purchase pages to match your store’s setup.
- Faster Checkout: Speeds up customer info entry by about 2 seconds.
- More Delivery Options: Let customers change address or pickup location if an item is unavailable.
- Smarter Fraud Detection: Uses AI to spot and stop risky transactions with Shopify Payments.
- Carbon-Neutral Checkout: Let customers choose eco-friendly shipping (Plus only).
- PCI DSS V4 Compliance: Checkout meets new security standards as of April 1, 2025.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: ✅ Update.
Faster checkouts and flexible shipping reduce abandonment, boosting revenue. The Roblox integration opens new channels for trendy brands. Test Checkout Blocks for customization, but this update is a must for most merchants due to its conversion impact. Even a 1% boost in conversion could mean thousands in revenue.
1.5. Summer ’25 Edition update 5: Cross the Border – Sell Globally Easier
🧐 What’s New?
Expanding your business worldwide just got simpler. Shopify now lets you run multiple retail entities across different countries and legal structures – all from one central admin. That means unified reporting, smoother operations, and a global business that feels local.
- Global Selling, Local Control: Manage multiple retail entities, currencies, and taxes – all from one Shopify admin. Consolidated reporting included.
- Smarter Payments: Shopify Payments now in Mexico + 15 EU countries, support for local methods like P24, TWINT, Klarna, and Apple Pay subscriptions, and accepts 130+ currencies, settles in up to 8.
- Easier Shipping & Checkout: Upfront duties, DDP shipping (US only), and carbon-neutral checkout (Plus only).
Faster loading and flexible delivery options. - Built-In Compliance: Cookie banners, GDPR logs, regional email consent, and Canadian ID checks.
Consent is captured at checkout and account pages. - Safer Transactions: AI fraud detection + PCI DSS V4 compliance for 2025 and beyond.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: 🔎 Worth Exploring – If You Sell (or Plan to Sell) Internationally
This update is a must-use for global brands, especially those juggling multiple entities or currencies. The ability to manage everything from one admin, plus expanded payment and compliance tools, is a big win.
However, if you’re only selling domestically, you can skip most of this for now. Keep it on your radar if global expansion is in your future.
1.6. Summer ’25 Edition update 6: Marketing tools kit for growth
🧐 What’s New?
Every successful business needs a boost from Marketing techniques. Understand that deeply, Shopify has launched several new and useful features for merchants to easily promote their stores in the Shopify Summer Edition 2025:
- One discount, many ways to save: Make one discount work for products, shipping, and orders – all at once.
- Smarter customer filters: Use easier tools and shortcuts to group your customers better.
- AI-friendly FAQs: Write better store FAQs so AI helpers can answer customer questions more clearly.
- Pre-made customer groups: Use ready-to-go templates to find the right shoppers, like by location or what they bought.
- Find shoppers by address: Target customers by typing a normal street address instead of map stuff.
- Search for marketing templates: Quickly find the right marketing plan with search and filter tools.
- Collabs app for creators: Creators can now track sales and payments on their phones with the new app.
- Custom login page URL: Your store’s login page now shows your own website address, not Shopify’s.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: ✅ Update.
Not something completely new that you have to be careful with, the updates regarding the marketing aspect of this Summer Edition just give sellers more power to execute what already exists. Therefore, using the marketing tools is a safe update for your Shopify stores.
1.7. Summer ’25 Edition update 7: Shop App – Personalization on Top!
🧐 What’s New?
What exactly is the Shop app?
The Shop app is like a marketplace for all the Shopify stores. So it displays the products from different Shopify stores in one place. This helps customers find their go-to products and helps the sellers to get more exposure for their brand at the same time.
In this Summer Edition 2025 update, Shopify focuses on creating a more seamless shopping experience for customers and a convenient selling process for merchants. Plus, the personalization is now getting stronger – all for more conversion!
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: 🔎 Give It a Try.
DTC brands will see engagement and retention gains from the Shop app’s personalization. Smaller stores may find less immediate ROI, so analyze app performance before fully integrating it into your strategy. More exposure never hurts.
1.8. Summer ’25 Edition update 8: B2B Support – More Tools
🧐 What’s New?
Shopify Plus merchants can create B2B markets with custom catalogs, VAT validation, and order limits via Checkout Blocks. NetSuite integration syncs orders, and gift cards now support B2B. Shopify Collective eliminates sales minimums, broadening access for smaller wholesalers.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: 🔎 Give It a Try – if you sell wholesale
B2B merchants should adopt these tools for efficiency. Shopify Collective opens opportunities for smaller sellers. Non-B2B merchants can ignore unless planning wholesale expansion.
1.9. Summer ’25 Edition update 9: Shipping Is More Convenient
🧐 What’s New?
Shopify is slowly solving shipping pain points in this Summer update. The improvements put a focus on the automation, savings, and speed:
- Flat-rate shipping: The same equal shipping charge for multi-location orders.
- Barcode scanning streamline fulfillment.
- New carriers (Purolator, SEUR, BRT)
- Tap to Pay enhance operations.
- Shopify Plus offers carbon-neutral shipping via the Planet app.
🤔 So, Update, Ignore, or Give It a Try?
Verdict: ⚠️ Update if You Ship Internationally
High-volume or multi-location merchants should adopt these tools to reduce costs and errors. Flat rates lower cart abandonment, and new carriers expand reach. Simple setups may not need immediate action, but should test for scalability.
2. What do Shopify users & experts think about this big update?
The discussions and expert insights reveal excitement for Horizon themes, the reactions to Shopify’s big updates through this Summer Edition 2025 are mixed:
- “The Summer ’25 Edition is out, and once again — no update on the variant limit.” – TK, Shopify Partner, on Shopify community.
- “Lol…we all want the variant increase…no mention…a whole lot of nothing…” – ux, ra***, on Reddit.
- “Big push on AI and new theme with other small features sprinkled in.” – Ronal***, on Reddit
- “I’m really excited about the AI Block Generation!” – azur****, on Reddit.
- “RIP Dawn, Even the CLI will use the skeleton theme.” – Visual****, on Reddit
- “This looks like another strong update – especially the new developer tools are a real step forward. I’ve been working in IT for over 20 years now, and honestly: There haven’t been many platforms that made building and working this much fun. Shopify continues to deliver not just features – but momentum.” – Andreas ***, on Linkedin
Many express their frustration due to no update on the variant limit, some are getting more excited and want to try the new theme immediately. Some also have questions about the future of Dawn Theme – the old default free theme of Shopify.
👉 Take a look at the in-depth theme comparison between Shopify Horizon Theme vs Dawn Theme.
3. Diving deeper: AI Innovation in Shopify Summer Edition 2025
AI powers Horizons, and the new things brought to the table for this Summer Edition about AI are claimed as “game-changers” from Shopify themselves.
3.1. AI Shopping Agents:
3 powerful tools we have to support merchants drive more sales, including Shopify Catalog, Shopify Knowledge Base App, and Storefront MCP.
- Shopify Catalog: Imagine a cool tool that lets app builders make AI helpers to show your store’s products to tons of people who shop using AI chats. Some big names like Perplexity are already using it to share Shopify products with shoppers. If your store fits the rules, your stuff gets added to a huge product list automatically!
- Shopify Knowledge Base App: This app makes your store look good in AI shopping chats. It creates easy answers to questions like “Can I return this?” using your store’s rules. You can change these answers or add new ones. You also get to see what shoppers are asking about your store, so you can make your info even better.
- Storefront MCP: Think of this as a way to put an AI helper right in your store! App builders can make AI buddies that suggest products, answer questions, put items in a cart, and help people buy stuff. It feels like chatting with a friend while shopping. Want your own AI helper? Learn how to make one!
3.2. Sidekick = Your Smart Assistant
Sidekick has become way more powerful. It can:
- Analyze why sales dropped – with deeper reasoning, not just simple, general answers.
- Create discount codes or reports – support you in doing the repetitive work and save your time.
- Help you with voice + screen sharing – not just chat.
- Speak 20+ languages – meaning Sidekick now speaks your language.
- Even generate images for your store – and they are free!
3.3. AI Store Builder
Starting a store is now easier than ever. Just describe your brand, and AI will build a design for you. You can also ask it to create custom blocks for the Horizon theme – no coding needed.
4. The last thought: Is Shopify Summer Edition 2025 worth it?
Yes, but not all at once. The 9 main updates for the Shopify Summer Edition include: 10 new free Horizon themes, Sidekick’s AI, POS 2.0, optimized checkouts, global selling, Shop App, enhanced B2B, and shipping features cater to diverse needs. All of the new features are definitely helpful for sellers to create stunning, efficient, and global stores.
A cheatsheet of the update in Shopify Summer Edition 2025, and what to try, update, or just ignore:
Follow us on Omni Themes to stay up to date with the newest Shopify knowledge, tips & tricks to run a business with ease. If you need help with building Shopify stores from scratch, take a look at our Shopify store design & set up service! Or simply get the Eurus theme to enjoy those services for free!
