Editions Spring ’26: Agentic Commerce and AI Automation Take Center Stage

Research evidence excerpt

Editions Spring ’26: Agentic Commerce and AI Automation Take Center Stage

ployed across selected channels with

guardrails to pause once budgets are reached. Merchants can also customize approval workflows

and opt to reject recommendations. Campaign leverages performance patterns across SHOP's

merchant base and creates campaigns, allocates spend, and optimizes over time. The offering

is free on paid plans, with merchants paying only for ad spend. We see the new offering as a

meaningful lever to drive platform stickiness, drive merchant GMV, and capture ad spend.

Sidekick Available Across Apps, Surfaces. Sidekick can now answer questions and take action

within third-party apps, including KVYO, Loop, and others. We see this as a meaningful step

toward Sidekick orchestrating the broader app ecosystem rather than acting as just a core admin.

Furthermore, it is now also able to continue working in the background across multiple chats and

tasks, ask clarifying follow-up questions, and surface actionable suggestions to drive conversion

and repeat sales. Separately, Sidekick is now accessible everywhere within the Shopify app via text

and voice as well as on Apple Watch. On the developer side, Sidekick now features improved editing,

preview, and version history for Sidekick-generated apps. We see the improvements as positioning

Sidekick as the workflow hub, increasing admin engagement, deepening ecosystem lock-in, and

laying the groundwork for AI monetization.

Managed Markets 2.0 Highlights. SHOP highlighted multiple new improvements to Managed

Markets, including faster onboarding and instant customer experience localization available across

markets. Furthermore, merchants can now implement dynamically localized pricing inclusive of

duties, taxes, and fees.