Shopify Brings 150+ AI And Other Updates To Its Platform

As the multifaceted benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) continue to expand, all businesses and software companies find themselves revamping, reimagining and rebuilding their products and services.

Shopify, the multinational e-commerce company offering a platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems, is not exempt from such enhancements.

Through the Summer ‘24 Edition of Shopify Editions, its listing of new updates, the company introduced a range of new updates meant to enhance customer and merchant experiences with the platform, with many of them focusing on AI and GenAI.

So, what did the e-commerce platform reveal about its updates? Let’s explore!
 

What AI Enhancements Has Shopify Brought?

 

• Through a video and news release published on its website, Shopify announced a range of AI updates for its platform.

• This includes enhancements made to its Media Editor application, which includes extending the use of AI image editing to all places where a business would use images, such as the Online Store Editor and Email Editor.

• Shopify is also expanding the feature to the Shopify mobile app, enabling users to make professional image edits on the go.

• This move follows one that Shopify made six months ago, which saw the rollout of AI image generation in the Media Editor tool.

• Since then, merchants using the platform have saved over 1 million AI-generated images to their storefronts.

• Shopify is also bringing AI-powered product creation, which makes it easier, better and faster to add new products to a merchant’s store – by using Shopify’s Magic tool.

• Magic will be able to suggest personalized and intelligent recommendations for all product categories, assisting with picking the right attributes spanning color, size and style.

• Furthermore, this will reduce listing errors, enabling customers to find them easily across the platform, social media and marketplaces.

 

• Ahead of this, the platform will enable businesses to provide answers and responses to questions asked by customers in real-time. This will be enabled through suggested replies powered by the platform’s generative AI model.

• Responders can approve or edit the suggestions, facilitating instant responses and saving time and effort exerted in such exercises otherwise.

• Shopify also introduced Sidekick, its AI-enabled, always-available commerce assistant, which is in early access.

• “Sidekick offers all the context and guidance you need to make good decisions, resolve tasks, and make the most of all the features in Shopify.”

• The feature helps merchants achieve more, faster and get personalized and expert advice.

• This AI assistant can also help generate customer segments and provide insights using analytics, as it can easily understand a business’ specific products, orders and customers.

• Shopify is inviting merchants interested in this feature to sign up for it.

 

What Other Updates Did Shopify Reveal?

 

• Shopify has revamped its Markets as a consolidated platform, enabling merchants to sell internationally, expand into B2B and sell in person with its Shopify POS (Point of Sale) tool.

• “No more navigating multiple stores or different workflows. The process stays consistent: simply create a new market, make your customizations, and you’re ready to launch.”

• This also includes features that simplify selling in person, which come in the form of merchants offering one-tap digital receipts and automatic detections if a product can be returned and why.

• Essentially, this will offer smoother transactions and happier customers.

• Shopify also rebuilt its analytics capabilities, which will now offer merchants smarter, faster and more intuitive ways to see, explore and curate data in real time.

• “Our Summer ’24 Edition reflects our unwavering belief that not all unified software is great, but all great software is unified.”

• “Scale revenue, not expenses.”

 

What Did Shopify Say About The Move?

 

• Through the news release, Shopify said, “True craftsmanship lies in creating a seamless, unified experience. It’s not just about building new products and features; it’s just as important that they work together harmoniously.”

• [Contd.] “Our Summer ’24 Edition is a testament to this belief, featuring 150+ updates designed to create a faster, more resilient, and more integrated platform for our merchants.”

Do you think this move by Shopify will help garner more customers and gain a stronger market position? Do you think its competitors need to make similar moves?

Let us know in the comments below!