When you run an online store, having the right tools is crucial to moving faster, delivering exceptional customer service and scaling your business as demand grows in today’s ever-changing global retail landscape.
Shopify is listening. This month, the company unveiled its Summer ‘25 Edition, Horizons, which encompasses over 150 product highlights, heralding a paradigm shift for Shopify. This release includes a new store design foundation, Horizon, an improved Sidekick with advanced, multi-step reasoning and image generation, a redesigned point-of-sale interface, a new developer platform, updates to Shop app, and more.
Shaun Broughton, MD, Apac, at Shopify explains that the platform’s mission has always been to make commerce better for everyone by breaking down the technical, operational and financial barriers that stand in the way of building a thriving business.
“We’re proud to see this mission come to life through our millions of talented merchants, and the growth they achieve every day. During last year’s Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend alone, we supported US$11.5 billion in sales globally, a 24 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Against the odds, the number of Australians purchasing from our merchants during BFCM grew by 14 per cent, and average cart size grew by 23 per cent.”
He says the new Edition extends Shopify’s mission, with AI components playing a significant role in enhancing merchant productivity. “We truly believe that AI has the potential to be a great equaliser, making valuable commerce tools accessible to everyone, regardless of their economic situation or technical expertise.”
Shopify Payments now supports multi-entity management
A key component of Horizons is the introduction of multi-entity management within Shopify Payments, which enables merchants to manage their online and offline entities worldwide from a single store. The feature effortlessly combines all business and legal structures into a single admin point, explains Broughton.
“This enables teams to streamline their operations and reporting, and avoid international and foreign exchange fees, duplicate apps and multiple integrations, which is often the case when managing additional stores.”
For retailers, going global has historically come with high costs, complexity and operational challenges. Not any more.
“Shopify removes those barriers, empowering merchants with the tools to make international business feel like business as usual.”
Shopify’s upgrade also allows merchants to pay in up to eight currencies and accept more than 130 currencies seamlessly, minimising foreign exchange fees and streamlining cross-border transactions from a single store.
POS has a new look and feel
Likewise, Shopify’s Point of Sale (POS) app has had a redesign, including a new look and feel with a revised navigation allowing faster access, smarter search functionality and cart enhancements to help retail staff provide personalised, efficient service as quickly as possible.
“For retailers who prioritise in-person selling, Shopify’s redesigned POS app makes day-to-day transactions more efficient,” says Broughton. “Alongside a customisable display and more intuitive navigation, Shopify’s ‘Ship and Carry Out’ capability enables split delivery methods so customers can choose in-store pickup or home delivery for each individual item. This gives retailers the flexibility to fulfil orders based on different fulfilment needs and delivery expectations, and improves operational efficiency at checkout, addressing a top merchant frustration by supporting different fulfilment methods with a single checkout.”
Shopify POS now also offers customisable brand displays on the lock screen and POS terminal, so retailers can build a POS experience that truly distinguishes their brand.
With Shopify, retailers can quickly scale up
Whether merchants are looking to drive growth online, in-store or overseas, Shopify’s fresh upgrade is all about making scaling a retail business seamless and straightforward, says Broughton.
“Ultimately, we aim to create a unified commerce experience for our merchants, giving them the tools to scale and innovate without the complexity that can so often hinder business growth.”
Shopify is also helping merchants scale demand through its Shop app, which has been upgraded to better connect retailers with high-intent buyers.
“As potential customers interact with the app – refreshing their feed, browsing products, or adding items to cart – content dynamically updates to reflect their preferences, creating a deeply personalised shopping experience.”
Whether retailers are opening their first store or expanding globally, merchants need flexible, intuitive tools that work as hard as they do. Shopify offers a unified platform that meets retailers where they are and grows with them as they scale.
“For brands just starting out, Shopify makes building and scaling a store easy and intuitive, simplifying what can be a daunting and difficult process. Take Funday Natural Sweets, a homegrown, no-added-sugar confectionery brand founded during the midst of the pandemic, for example. Through Shopify, Funday had the tools to pivot quickly during a turbulent time, leveraging advanced analytics to make data-driven decisions, taking advantage of a streamlined checkout and payment system, and integrating subscription and loyalty programs to drive repeat purchases,” shares Broughton.
For larger retailers operating across different channels and markets, Shopify provides a unified infrastructure that enables flexibility, reliability and scalability without disruptions. For example, JB Hi-Fi uses Shopify’s API architecture to be able to innovate quickly while relying on the Shopify platform to take care of its core commerce needs.
“The flexibility provided by Shopify’s API capabilities has also led to JB Hi-Fi’s ongoing store-to-door service, which uses Uber drivers and their vehicles to deliver items within 90 minutes of a customer placing an order.”
