Shopify Made Easy · Quarterly Update Guide · Q2 2026
Q2
Shopify Made Easy Series · sme-10
Quarterly
Update Guide
Everything that changed on Shopify this quarter — what it means, where to find it, and which book in the series it updates. Q2 2026: April through June.
Chapter 00
How to Use This Guide
This guide is published every quarter. It covers every significant Shopify update that landed in the past three months. Each update is tagged to the SME book it affects most. The members site gives you the implementation how-to. This guide tells you what changed.
The cumulative format
Starting Q3 2026, every new issue appends all prior issues as a running archive. A merchant who finds Q4 in December gets the full year automatically. This document is a reference, not a newsletter.
SME book codes used in this guide
sme-1 Launch & Thrive · sme-2 Brand & Build · sme-3 Store Designer · sme-4 Growth & Scale · sme-5 POS System · sme-6+ Forthcoming titles
Chapter 01
This Quarter at a Glance
Two major Editions and a full quarter of live changelog updates. Red rows require action on your part.
| Feature / Change | Where in Shopify | SME Book | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Scripts deprecated Action required | Admin → Apps → Scripts Report | sme-1 | Urgent |
| POS v10 redesign — all screens changed Rewrite needed | Shopify POS app | sme-5 | Urgent |
| Marketing Automations navigation changed | Marketing → Automations | sme-4 | Urgent |
| Horizon theme foundation (10 new themes) New | Online Store → Themes | sme-3 | HIGH |
| AI-generated themes and blocks New | Online Store → Customize | sme-3 | HIGH |
| 2048 product variants (was 100) | Products → Edit → Variants | sme-3 | HIGH |
| Rollouts: native A/B testing New | Online Store → Rollouts | sme-3 | HIGH |
| Sidekick: global launch + custom apps | Admin top bar → Sidekick | sme-1 | HIGH |
| Sidekick image editing + backgrounds | Admin → Sidekick → image tools | sme-2 | HIGH |
| Agentic Storefronts (ChatGPT, Copilot) New | Online Store → Agentic Commerce | sme-1 | HIGH |
| Checkout Blocks free on all plans | Online Store → Checkout | sme-1 | HIGH |
| SMS marketing in Shopify Messaging New | Apps → Shopify Messaging | sme-4 | HIGH |
| Flow + ShopifyQL: automations use live data New | Apps → Shopify Flow | sme-4 | HIGH |
| Discounts scoped by market / channel New | Admin → Discounts | sme-4 | HIGH |
| Product variant publishing by channel New | Products → Variants | sme-3 | MED |
| Customisable /llms.txt and /agents.md New | Online Store → Themes → settings | sme-1 | HIGH |
| RFM analysis reports New | Admin → Analytics → Reports | sme-4 | MED |
| POS Hub: wired local server hardware New | Hardware → POS Hub | sme-5 | HIGH |
| POS v11.5 & 11.6: returns in cart, line discounts, cash counts | Shopify POS app | sme-5 | HIGH |
| Inventory adjustment audit trail New | Admin → Inventory | sme-4/5 | MED |
| Ship + pickup in one order (preview) | Admin → Shipping settings | sme-1 | MED |
| Customer account sign-in page redesign | Settings → Customer accounts | sme-1 | MED |
| Benchmark comparisons removed from Analytics | Admin → Analytics | sme-4 | NOTE |
| Capital Flex: revolving credit (US) | Admin → Finances → Capital | sme-1 | MED |
| Multiple legal entities per country in Shopify Payments | Settings → Payments | sme-1 | MED |
Chapter 02
Shopify Edition Recaps
Two major Editions fall in this issue's scope. Both are covered in full below.
Summer '25 Horizons
Summer 2025 Edition: Horizons
Released May 21, 2025. The headline was Horizon — a completely new theme architecture with 10 free themes, block-based design, and AI-generated themes for the first time.
150+ updates
Themes and Store Design
- Horizon: 10 new free themes — Ritual, Fabric, Tinker, Dwell, Pitch, Vessel, Heritage, Savor, Atelier and more. Available in Online Store → Themes → Theme Store.Where: Online Store → Themes
- Block-based design system — total layout flexibility, no code required for most customisations.
- AI-generated themes — describe your brand, Shopify generates a full working theme.Where: Online Store → Themes → Generate with AI
- AI-generated custom blocks — describe a section, AI builds it. No developer required.Where: Theme editor → Add block → Generate
- Theme editor upgraded — hover-to-preview, category filters, right-click shortcuts, block copy/paste.
- Discount codes in cart — works natively when using Horizon + Ajax Cart API. No app required.
Checkout
- 2 seconds faster checkout loading overall.
- Apple Pay for subscriptions and custom checkouts.
- Flat shipping rate for split-location orders — one delivery rate when shipping from multiple fulfillment centres.
- Roblox checkout — sell physical products inside virtual worlds.
- PCI DSS v4 compliant checkout.
- USDC cryptocurrency payments via Shopify Payments.
- Cookie consent banner at checkout (GDPR).Where: Admin → Checkout → Privacy
Sidekick (Summer 2025)
- Multi-step reasoning — complex business problems, not just simple lookups.
- Voice-enabled — talk to your admin assistant instead of typing.
- Multilingual support for non-English merchants.
- Image generation and campaign suggestions built in.
- AI Shopping Agent support — Sidekick can answer product questions on your behalf.
Global / Markets
- Shopify Payments in 16 new countries including Mexico, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, Latvia, Hungary, Estonia, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Slovenia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Gibraltar.
- Submarkets — add languages and currencies to a region within an existing market.
- Multi-currency payouts — up to 8 currencies, reducing foreign exchange fees.
- Duties embedded in product prices (DDP) — no surprise costs at checkout for international buyers.
Winter '26 RenAIssance
Winter 2026 Edition: RenAIssance
Released December 10, 2025. Shopify's largest shift in years. AI moves from assistant to agent. Products are now discoverable inside ChatGPT and Copilot. 150+ updates.
150+ updates · Shopify's biggest shift in yearsThis Edition changes the architecture
Agentic Storefronts means customers can discover and buy your products inside AI chat with zero redirect to your store. This is not a feature — it is a new sales channel that requires clean product data to function. Merchants with poor metadata are invisible to AI agents.
Sidekick: from assistant to co-worker
- Sidekick Pulse — proactively delivers recommendations using market trends and your store data. No prompting needed.Where: Admin → Sidekick (appears automatically)
- Custom App Generation — describe what you want, Sidekick builds a working admin app. Examples: reorder tracker, return checker, task manager.Where: Admin → Sidekick → "Build me an app..."
- Workflow Automation via chat — describe a Flow workflow in plain language, Sidekick builds it.Where: Admin → Sidekick → "Create a workflow..."
- ShopifyQL analytics from chat — ask a data question, Sidekick generates the query and chart.Where: Admin → Sidekick or Analytics
- Theme editing via chat — type an instruction, Sidekick modifies the theme instantly.Where: Admin → Sidekick → "Change the hero button to..."
- Studio-quality image editing — change backgrounds, add/remove elements, expand canvas.Where: Admin → Sidekick → image tools / mobile app
- Sidekick Skills — save prompts as reusable shortcuts, share with community.Where: Admin → Sidekick → Skills
- App discovery from chat — find and install apps without leaving Sidekick.Where: Admin → Sidekick → "Find an app that..."
Agentic Storefronts
- Products discoverable in ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity — customers browse and buy inside AI chat.Where: Online Store → Agentic Commerce (May 2026: dedicated admin section)
- One setup → syndicated everywhere — toggle which AI platforms show your products.
- AI channel attribution — revenue from AI chats tracked separately in Shopify Analytics.
- Knowledge Base — control your brand story and what AI agents say about your store.
- Customisable /llms.txt and /agents.md — control exactly what AI crawlers see, from theme settings.Where: Online Store → Themes → theme settings (May 28, 2026)
Online Store
- Rollouts: native A/B testing — schedule, test, and ship theme changes in admin. No Optimizely needed.Where: Online Store → Themes → Rollouts
- SimGym — AI shoppers simulate real buyer behaviour before launch. App Store preview.Where: App Store → SimGym
- 2048 product variants — up from 100. Critical for fashion, B2B, configurable products.Where: Products → Edit product → Variants
- Product Network — show complementary products from other Shopify merchants. Zero inventory.Where: Online Store → Themes → Product Network section
- WordPress plugin — add Shopify cart and checkout to any WordPress site.
- Mobile theme generation — generate and publish a theme from the Shopify mobile app.
Marketing
- SMS marketing in Shopify Messaging — create, schedule, and track SMS campaigns natively. Fully shipped May 19, 2026.Where: Apps → Shopify Messaging
- Flow Mail — shipping confirmations, tracking, invoices automated via Flow.Where: Apps → Shopify Flow → Flow Mail
- Marketing Automations reorganised (March 2026) — Messaging automations → Shopify Messaging. Others → Shopify Flow. Navigation has changed.Old path no longer valid: Marketing → Automations → now split
- Discounts by market and channel (May 7, 2026) — scope discount codes to country, B2B vs retail, online vs POS.Where: Admin → Discounts → Eligibility
- Shopify Flow + ShopifyQL (May 9, 2026) — Flow automations can now query analytics data and react to real sales figures.Where: Apps → Flow → Conditions → Get analytics data
- One discount code, multiple savings — WELCOME10 can apply % off and free shipping together.
POS
- POS Hub hardware — wired local server, keeps terminals in sync even when Wi-Fi drops.Where: Hardware → POS Hub
- POS v11.5 (May 2026) — handle returns and exchanges directly in cart, custom line-item discounts per unit, scannable discount codes, product search suggestions, mid-session cash counts, keyboard shortcuts.
- POS v11.6 (May 11, 2026) — print packing slips for inventory transfers, inventory adjustment with "Set to" or "Adjust by" from admin.
- Inventory adjustment audit trail — full history of who changed what, when, and why. Automatic.Where: Admin → Inventory → Adjustment history
Chapter 03
Live Changelog Updates
Updates that landed between or after the formal Editions. Real changes in the admin that don't make the headline announcements.
Analytics
- Benchmark comparisons removed (May 19, 2026) — the peer comparison reference point has been removed from Analytics. Export your own baselines now.Action: Admin → Analytics → export current period before the data ages
- Cumulative metrics view added (May 20, 2026) — replaces some context lost from benchmark removal.
- Sidekick ShopifyQL queries — ask Sidekick a data question, get a chart. Available in Analytics and Segmentation.Where: Admin → Sidekick or Admin → Analytics
Customer Accounts
- Customer account sign-in page redesign (May 20, 2026) — single-column layout, themeable, consistent desktop and mobile.Where: Settings → Customer accounts → Customise sign-in page
- Marketing consent on account component — a non-popup way to collect email and SMS opt-ins from the customer account page.
Payments and Finance
- Multiple legal entities per country — Shopify Payments can now be linked to different legal entities in the same country.
- Clearer payout and reserve information — Shopify Payments dashboard shows reserves more transparently.
- Capital Flex (US) — revolving working capital. Borrow, repay, and the limit replenishes.Where: Admin → Finances → Capital
- Same-Day ACH for Shopify Balance (US).
- Mobile check deposit into Shopify Balance.
Inventory and Shipping
- Inventory transfers faster — simplified flow for moving stock between locations.
- POS packing slips for transfers (v11.6, May 11, 2026) — print a manifest for outbound transfers.Where: POS app → Transfers → Print packing slip
- Inventory adjustment audit trail — all changes logged automatically with source, destination, user, and timestamp.Where: Admin → Inventory → Adjustment history (May 7, 2026)
- Ship + pickup in one order (feature preview) — customer ships some items and picks up others in the same order.
- Gift cards in local currencies — multi-market merchants can now issue and redeem gift cards per market currency.
Admin and Operations
- Shopify admin 12.5% faster across the board.
- Smart collections: new exclusion condition — "Tag is not equal to" now available.
- Shop app pages indexed by search engines by default.
- Product variant publishing by channel (May 7, 2026) — hide individual variants per sales channel without splitting the SKU.Where: Products → Variants → Sales channel availability
- CI/CD app deployment generally available — app automation tokens for GitHub Actions pipelines (developer note).
Chapter 04
Critical Deadlines & Deprecations
Changes where you must act, or your store breaks. Carried forward every issue until passed.
| Deadline | What and what to do | Affects |
|---|---|---|
| June 30 2026 | Shopify Scripts stop executing entirely. All existing Scripts go dark on this date. Migrate to Shopify Functions now. Go to Admin → Apps → Scripts Customizations Report to see what needs migration. | sme-1 · All stores using custom discounts / shipping logic |
| May 2026 | Shopify CLI --force flag removed. Update CI/CD scripts to use --allow-updates instead of --force for app extension deployments. | Developer / agency |
| April 15 2026 | Scripts: could no longer be edited or published after this date. Existing Scripts continued to run until June 30. | PASSED |
| April 1 2026 | New public apps must use expiring offline access tokens. Developer note only. | PASSED |
| Jan 1 2026 | Custom apps can no longer be created in Shopify admin. Use the Dev Dashboard at partners.shopify.com. | PASSED |
| Aug 26 2025 | Meta marketplace facilitator status ended. Merchants now handle tax filing on Facebook/Instagram orders independently. | PASSED |
Scripts migration: three steps
Step 1: Admin → Apps and sales channels → View Scripts Customisations Report.
Step 2: The report shows which Scripts can migrate to Functions vs. which need a compatible app.
Step 3: Functions migration guide at shopify.dev/functions. Start with your highest-traffic customisations first and test in a dev store.
Step 2: The report shows which Scripts can migrate to Functions vs. which need a compatible app.
Step 3: Functions migration guide at shopify.dev/functions. Start with your highest-traffic customisations first and test in a dev store.
Chapter 05
Veronica's Take
Veronica's Take · Q2 2026
I have been building on Shopify since Yahoo Shops in 2000. I have watched every major shift in this platform and in ecommerce broadly. The Winter 2026 RenAIssance Edition is the first time I have felt that the ground actually moved.
Not because the features are flashy. Because the architecture changed.
Agentic Storefronts means your products can now be discovered and purchased inside a ChatGPT or Copilot conversation. No redirect. No SEO. No ad spend. A customer asks an AI assistant what protein powder to buy and if your data is clean, your product shows up with a buy button. That is a fundamentally different shopping model than anything Shopify has shipped before.
I am skeptical of the vendor statistics on how fast AI commerce will grow. What I can tell you from 24 active client stores is that merchants with clean metafields, structured product descriptions, and accurate categories are already surfacing in AI-generated recommendations. The ones with messy data are invisible. Clean your data now, before your competitors do.
The 2048 variant limit is the most quietly significant change in this Edition. I have watched clients build elaborate workarounds for years. Most of those workarounds can now be removed. If you have a fashion store or a B2B configurable product catalogue, this conversation is worth having.
On Sidekick: the custom app generation is real and it works. I have used it to build reorder trackers, task managers, and a bulk company importer for B2B clients. It is not a replacement for a developer. It is a replacement for the simple internal tools that used to cost $2,000 and two weeks. That shift is meaningful for small stores.
My priority recommendation this quarter: Scripts migration first if you have any. Then clean your product data for Agentic Storefronts. Then update your sme-3 and sme-5 content because those are the books where readers will notice the changes immediately.
Book a strategy call if you want to work through any of this for your specific store.
Veronica Jeans
Shopify Growth Strategist · TGT Founder · Houston, TX · veronicajeans.com
Chapter 06
Book Update Notes by Title
Exactly what changed in each published book. HIGH means the book will mislead a reader if not updated. MED means important new functionality is missing. NEW means a section that doesn't exist yet.
sme-3 · Design and Build: Shopify Store Designer
Most UrgentHIGH
Horizon themes: all screenshots outdated
The Theme Store now centres on Horizon. All theme setup chapters, screenshots, and theme editor instructions need updating.
HIGH
2048 variants (was 100)
Update every reference to the 100-variant limit throughout the book. The new limit is 2048.
HIGH
AI-generated themes
New first step for setting up a store. Add to theme setup chapter before any manual setup instructions.
HIGH
Theme editor UI overhaul
Hover-to-preview, category filters, right-click shortcuts, block copy/paste. All editor instructions need updating.
HIGH
Discount codes in cart — no app needed
When using Horizon + Ajax Cart API, discount codes work natively. Update discounts section.
NEW
Rollouts: native A/B testing
New section. Admin → Online Store → Rollouts. Schedule and test theme changes without external tools.
NEW
SimGym: AI shopper simulation
New section. App Store → SimGym. Validate conversion performance before going live.
NEW
Product variant publishing by channel
Hide individual variants per sales channel without splitting the SKU. Products → Variants.
sme-5 · Shopify Made Easy POS System
UrgentHIGH
POS v10 redesign — all screens changed
Navigation structure has changed entirely. Faster nav, smarter search, adaptable cart. All screenshots throughout the book are outdated.
HIGH
POS v11.5 + v11.6 updates
Returns in cart, per-unit discounts, scannable codes, search suggestions, cash counts, keyboard shortcuts, packing slip printing for transfers.
HIGH
POS Hub hardware
New wired local server. Hardware chapter needs a full POS Hub setup section covering connectivity and sync behaviour when internet drops.
HIGH
Offline payments
Accept card payments when internet is down. Processes automatically when connectivity returns. Add to reliability section.
NEW
Inventory adjustment audit trail
Full history of every inventory change. Who, what, when, why. Automatic — no setup. Admin → Inventory → Adjustment history.
NEW
Customer metafields in POS
Capture birthdays, preferences, loyalty status at point of sale. New section: Admin → Customers → Metafields, then sync to POS.
sme-4 · Growth and Scale: Shopify Growth Accelerator
High PriorityHIGH
Marketing Automations nav changed
Readers following the book cannot find their automations. Messaging automations moved to Shopify Messaging app. Others moved to Shopify Flow. Update all navigation instructions immediately.
HIGH
Discounts by market and channel
Discount codes can now be scoped by country, B2B vs retail, online vs POS. Update discounts chapter.
HIGH
Flow + ShopifyQL
Flow automations can now query real analytics data and trigger on actual sales numbers. Major upgrade to Flow section.
HIGH
Benchmark comparisons removed from Analytics
If book references comparing against Shopify benchmarks, note this feature has been removed. Direct readers to export their own baselines.
NEW
SMS marketing in Shopify Messaging
Native SMS campaigns — create, schedule, track. No third-party app required. New section: Apps → Shopify Messaging.
NEW
Agentic Storefronts AI channel attribution
Track revenue from ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity in analytics. New section in analytics chapter.
sme-1 · Launch and Thrive: Shopify Foundations
High PriorityHIGH
Checkout Blocks free on all plans
Remove any text stating Checkout Blocks requires Plus. Now available on all plans via the free Checkout Blocks app.
HIGH
Scripts deprecated — June 30, 2026
Add a deprecation notice wherever Scripts are mentioned. Direct readers to Shopify Functions.
HIGH
Customisable /llms.txt
Merchants can now control what AI crawlers see about their store. Essential for Agentic Storefronts. Online Store → Themes → settings.
NEW
Agentic Storefronts
New chapter. Admin → Online Store → Agentic Commerce. Products discoverable and purchasable in AI chat. Requires clean product data.
NEW
Sidekick — full section
Add a dedicated Sidekick chapter. Covers: admin assistant basics, custom app generation, workflow building, analytics, theme editing.
sme-2 · Brand and Build: Shopify Brand Architect
Medium PriorityHIGH
Sidekick image editing
Change backgrounds, remove/add elements, expand canvas. Major addition to brand photography section. Admin → Sidekick → image tools.
NEW
Agentic Storefronts brand controls
Knowledge Base controls brand story in AI chat. /llms.txt controls what agents see. New section on AI brand presence.
NEW
Customer account sign-in redesign
Single-column, themeable, consistent. Update customer accounts branding section. Settings → Customer accounts.
Chapter 07
What's Coming Next Quarter
Confirmed upcoming changes and what Veronica is watching for Q3 2026.
June 30, 2026
Shopify Scripts stop executing
All Scripts go dark on this date. If you haven't migrated to Functions, this is your final warning. See Chapter 4 for migration steps.
Summer 2026 Edition — expected June 2026
Next major Shopify Edition
Shopify releases major Editions every six months. Summer '26 expected mid-June. Based on the RenAIssance foundation, expect: more capable Sidekick, faster POS, tighter inventory, broader Agentic Commerce rollout, and more AI platforms added to Agentic Storefronts.
Rolling out now
Agentic Storefronts expansion
More AI platforms beyond ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity being added. Merchandising controls expanding. Monitor Admin → Online Store → Agentic Commerce for new platforms.
In developer preview
Global Cart via Checkout Kit
Add items to cart across multiple Shopify merchants via a single integration. Currently in developer preview. Will change how multi-merchant storefronts work.
Coming Q3 2026
sme-10 Q3 Issue — with cumulative archive
The next issue will include this issue as a running archive at the back. Starting that issue, every new subscriber gets the full year in one document.
On the Summer '26 Edition
Veronica will be watching two things above everything else: whether Agentic Storefronts gets measurable enough to justify making it the top recommendation for every new merchant, and whether the next POS update addresses the multi-location stock accuracy issues that have come up across several TGT client stores this quarter.
This guide tells you what changed. The members site tells you how.
Step-by-step implementation guides, current screenshots, video walkthroughs, and copy-paste code. $9.99/month.
Shopify Made Easy Series
- sme-1: Launch & Thrive
- sme-2: Brand & Build
- sme-3: Store Designer
- sme-4: Growth & Scale
- sme-5: POS System
- sme-6: Agentic Commerce (coming)
- sme-7: The $9000 Mistake (coming)
- sme-9: The Great Migration (coming)
- sme-10: This book
Work With Veronica
Veronica Jeans is the founder of Topflyte Global Team, a boutique Shopify consultancy established in 2009. 24 active clients across DTC, skincare, food and beverage, and specialty retail.
Expert network engagements:
Tegus · GLG · Guidepoint · AlphaSights
$400–$500/hour
Stay Connected
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