Digital Marketing & Inbound Marketing| DaBrian Marketing Blog

Horizon - 10 Key New Features in Shopify’s 2025 Summer Edition

Written by Mark Mapp | Jul 9, 2025 12:00:00 PM

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify operates on a seasonal release cycle, In March, 2025 Shopify released Horizon. Horizon is Shopify's Summer 2025 Edition release, which includes over 150+ updates from design flexibility to AI-powered workflows. Whether you work as a developer or an ecommerce business owner, there's an update or feature to help streamline how you sell, scale, and support your customers.

In this overview, we will explore some of the most important Horizon updates and how they can enhance your online business.

Horizon - Shopify’s New Theme Design System

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify has rolled out 3 major theme updates:

  1. Horizon Themes: A fresh design system featuring 10 free themes tailored for different industries, with built-in AI to simplify editing and improve conversions opportunities.
  2. AI-Generated Themes & Blocks: Merchants can enter a description of their brand, and Shopify will generate a complete theme for that input. Additionally, Instant will also integrate with Shopify blocks.
  3. Revamped Theme Editor: A major UX overhaul includes hover-to-preview blocks, category filters, predictive search, conditional settings, and faster block copy/paste options—all designed to streamline the editing process.

With these new updates Shopify is enhancing creative flexibility while maintaining its ease of use. This will give developers and merchants more control while eliminating the usual design and development roadblocks.

Sidekick Gets Smarter, and Less Reactive

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify’s AI-powered assistant, Sidekick, just got a major upgrade which includes:

  • Multi-step reasoning: It can now tackle complex issues (like identifying sales dips) with ease.
  • Visual generation: Create visuals directly in the admin using simple prompts.
  • Mobile support: Access it on the go, with voice chat and screen share capabilities.
  • Expanded language support: Now available in 20 languages to help global teams.

These upgrades give it the ability to think across steps, synthesize insights, and offer more relevant suggestions. It’s still early, and skepticism is warranted, but if this helps operators solve problems faster, it’s a step in the right direction.

New Look for Shopify POS App

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify’s Point-of-Sale system has undergone a complete redesign:

  • Streamlined POS interface for easier navigation.
  • Custom branding on screens, carts, and receipts.
  • Features like ship & carry-out orders, store credit, smarter search, and more detailed payment settings.
  • Supports multi-entity retail setups for global brands (available for Shopify Plus users).

Whether you’re running a pop-up shop or managing multiple locations, the new POS system brings the efficiency and personalization of online selling to physical retail.

Checkout Options & Processes That Converts

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify’s checkout process just got a major boost in speed, flexibility, and security:

  • Up to 2 seconds faster load times for a quicker checkout experience.
  • Flat rates for split shipping across multiple fulfillment locations.
  • Shopify Checkout in Roblox: Customers can now purchase physical products directly within virtual worlds.
  • Apple Pay support for subscriptions and custom checkouts.
    Carbon-neutral shipping options and enhanced fraud prevention with AI.
  • B2B: Min & Max Order Totals in Checkout Blocks: Blended stores no longer need a tangle of third-party rules to enforce purchase logic.

The checkout experience is one of the most critical moments in the customer journey—it's where interest turns into revenue. With performance improvements that reduce load times and lower drop-off rates, new global shipping options that simplify cross-border fulfillment, and expanded channel support—including the ability to sell physical products in virtual environments like Roblox—Shopify is turning checkout into a powerful engine for growth.

International Sales with Less Overhead & Better Management

Image Source: Shopify

Selling internationally is now easier than ever:

  • Shopify Payments launched in 16 new countries.
  • Payouts in multiple currencies to reduce FX fees.
  • Duties included in product prices, DDP shipping, and Klarna expansion across more EU countries.
  • Markets updates: Create sub-markets and tailor the experience by region.

This unlocks real operational value. Merchants operating across different legal entities can now manage them from one admin. No more spinning up duplicate stores just to separate taxes or ownership. Not flashy, but an actual infrastructure shift for global ecommerce teams.

Growth & Marketing Simplified

Marketers and retention teams now have access to several powerful updates:

  • One discount code for everything (products, shipping, orders).
  • Ready-to-use customer segments and smarter automation templates.
  • Campaigns tool to track and optimize marketing efforts across channels.
  • Collabs mobile app for creators, with smarter targeting in the app store.

The Campaigns tool includes QR codes, UTM tracking, shareable links, and better attribution controls all in one place. For marketers who need to measure success, this is a huge time-saver. It’ll be interesting to see how it integrates with more advanced external analytics, but it’s great to see Shopify addressing this need.

Shop App: Now More Powerful & More Personalized

Shopify’s consumer-facing app continues to evolve as a discovery and loyalty channel.

  • Smarter product recommendations in real time.
  • Shoppable product detail pages that sync with your storefront.
  • Customer-curated collections, store credit support, and enhanced tracking.

Shop is quietly becoming a key sales and retention channel for brands, especially as it improves discovery and mobile experience.

B2B tools for Bulk Operations

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify continues investing in B2B commerce, especially for wholesale operations.

  • Create markets for B2B with custom catalogs and storefronts.
  • VAT number validation and min/max order limits.
  • Gift cards now work in B2B, and there’s tighter NetSuite integration.
  • More B2B-compatible apps and no more sales minimum to join Shopify Collective.

Online store owners selling to both retail and wholesale customers can now manage everything in one place—no more duplicate sites or clunky workarounds.

Operations, Shipping & Fulfillment Streamlined for Growth

Fulfillment improvements focus on speed, scale, and simplicity:

  • Bulk print up to 250 labels at once.
  • Barcode scanning for transfers and more robust tracking.
  • Flat-rate shipping for multi-location orders.
  • Expanded support for new carriers (Purolator, SEUR, BRT).
  • Refund to store credit, editable subscription orders, and Tap to Pay on mobile.

Faster fulfillment leads to happier customers—and now, Shopify is making it easier than ever to deliver speed and reliability without increasing overhead. Whether you're managing inventory, routing shipments, or tracking orders, everything works together to support growth while keeping your operations lean and effective

Developer: Next-Gen Developer Platform

Image Source: Shopify

Shopify’s development experience just got a major upgrade—cleaner, more flexible, and AI-enhanced:

  • No-tunnel local dev, hot reload, and POS API access for quicker, smoother development.
  • Unified Polaris UI components across different surfaces.
  • New features like app-owned metafields, Flow improvements, and bulk data management via CLI.
  • A brand-new AI-first Hydrogen Cookbook and Shopify Catalog API to help developers build AI-powered shopping agents.

Big Win for Developers: The new app management dashboard, introduced during Shopify Summer Edition, lets developers preview changes before deployment and provides early access to Plus-only features in dev stores. This update brings more transparency and better tools, which can lead to the creation of better apps—improving the entire Shopify landscape.

Looking to Update your Shopify Store?

Wondering how these updates will affect your store? Let DaBrian Marketing Group guide you through the Shopify Summer ’25 Edition. Reach out today to discuss your Shopify needs and make sure you’re fully leveraging these exciting new features!