What's Ready to Use in Shopify's Winter '26 Edition
Shopify released its Winter '26 Edition on December 10 with more than 150 launches and updates. The theme is AI that does the work instead of only answering questions. Sidekick can now build Flow automations and admin apps, and Agentic Storefronts aim to put your products into AI chats. This is how we're sorting what to use now from what to watch.
Image: Shopify
Published Dec 11, 2025. Author: Ecomm Guys. 4 min read.
Key Points
- Sidekick moves from answering questions to taking action, with Pulse, app building, theme edits, and Flow building.
- Agentic Storefronts aim to list your products in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot from one admin setup.
- SimGym tests store changes with AI shoppers and launches as an AI Research Preview.
- Rollouts lets you schedule and test storefront changes inside the admin.
- Some features, like the Tinker app and Checkout MCP tools, are still coming or limited to select partners.
Sidekick Starts Doing the Work
The biggest change is Sidekick. Shopify describes it moving from a reactive assistant to a proactive collaborator that can make changes with your oversight. The updates include:
- Sidekick Pulse, which researches your store and suggests improvements.
- Building custom admin apps by describing them to Sidekick.
- Editing your theme by asking, for example to make a button rounded.
- Sidekick Skills, saved prompts you can reuse and share with your team.
- Building Shopify Flow automations by describing what you want.
- AI photo editing tools in the file editor.
How We'd Use the Sidekick Updates
Flow building is the update we expect merchants to use first. Describing an automation, such as tagging customers who spend over a set amount, and having Sidekick build and visualize it removes a real barrier for teams who never learned Flow. Review each workflow before you turn it on, just as you'd review one a person built.
We're more careful with theme edits and generated apps on a live store. Make those changes on a duplicate theme or a development store first, and keep a record of what changed. A quick request in plain language can still touch settings you didn't expect.
Agentic Storefronts and Product Network
Agentic Storefronts is Shopify's way of putting your products into AI conversations on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot from one setup in the admin. You choose which platforms show your products, keep your checkout and customer relationships, and see attribution in your admin. We'll cover setup in more detail in a separate post.
Shopify Product Network lets you show complementary products from other Shopify merchants in places such as search, collections, and post-checkout pages. You earn a commission on each sale. You control where recommendations appear and can exclude competitors or categories. It's worth testing for stores with frequent search dead ends, but think about brand fit before you turn it on.
Testing Changes With SimGym and Rollouts
SimGym runs AI shoppers built from aggregated shopping patterns against your store so you can get early signals on a change, such as a new theme, before real customers see it. It launches as an AI Research Preview, so treat its results as a guide to test against real data.
Rollouts is the more practical update for most teams. It lets you schedule, test, and ship storefront changes inside the admin, with insights on conversion. For stores that have relied on separate testing tools, it's worth a look.
What's Ready and What to Watch
For in-person retail, POS Hub connects card readers, printers, scanners, and cash drawers to iOS or Android tablets with wired connections. For developers, Shopify Catalog is now open to every developer through MCP tools or a REST API, and the Shop Minis SDK is generally available.
Some items are still coming. The Tinker mobile app for AI visuals launches in early 2026. Checkout MCP tools are a preview for select partners. SimGym is a research preview. When you see a feature in your admin, check its label before you plan around it.
This Month and January
Try Sidekick's Flow builder on one repetitive task this month. Review your product data before you think about Agentic Storefronts, because that data is what AI platforms will read. Save SimGym and Product Network for January, after the holiday rush, and test them on a copy of your theme first.
Not sure which Winter '26 features to adopt? Book a call with our team.
Sources
- Renaissance for the modern era: Winter '26 Edition reimagines what's possible Shopify, December 2025
- AI-native, developer-ready: Unpacking Winter '26 Edition Shopify, December 2025
- The Winter '26 Edition is live Shopify Changelog, December 2025