Shopify just launched an AI-powered store builder as part of its new Editions Spring 2025 update, letting anyone spin up a full online shop using natural language prompts—no coding, no design experience, just a few words and Sidekick takes it from there.

But there’s more going on under the hood than drag-and-drop templates with a chatbot—this update hints at a bigger shift in how ecommerce is built, run, and scaled.

The tool is called Shopify Magic, and it’s baked into Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant that already helps with marketing, customer support, and content.

Now, it can build your entire site in seconds. You type something like “Create a store that sells handmade ceramic mugs inspired by Scandinavian design,” and boom—it handles layout, product listings, branding, and even starter content.

It doesn’t just generate a homepage—it builds a working storefront with product categories and visuals that actually make sense for your niche.

This goes beyond speeding up setup.

It’s about giving solo creators and small shops the kind of polish that used to require a full design team.

Sidekick understands ecommerce logic: it’ll guide you on pricing strategies, upsells, and store structure—like a cofounder who’s read every Shopify how-to guide and never sleeps.

And it’s not stopping at setup. Shopify’s latest wave of AI features includes AI product descriptions, auto-generated email campaigns, and contextual answers for store owners who want help with questions like “How do I boost conversion on mobile?” or “Why are my sales down this week?” These answers aren’t generic—they’re drawn from your actual store data.

Other updates in Editions Spring 2025 double down on performance too: a redesigned storefront editor, one-click customer accounts, and deeper analytics that finally give real answers instead of vague charts.

Sidekick also learned to speak API fluently, so devs can prompt it to write code, edit theme files, or test changes—no more flipping between docs and code previews.

Shopify’s clearly aiming to own the AI ecommerce stack, top to bottom. With tools that create, optimize, and run a store—plus a growing list of partners integrating their own AI tools into Shopify’s ecosystem—this is looking less like an assistant and more like a full-time business brain.

The takeaway: if you’ve ever hesitated to start an online store because tech felt like a wall, that wall just turned into a sidewalk.

Sidekick doesn’t just help you build a store—it helps you understand the kind of business you’re building.

And right now, that might be the most valuable tool in ecommerce.