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A new way to design your Shopify store with AI
On 1 October, Shopify launched Canvas, a new way to design an online store. Instead of editing one page at a time, you’ll work in a single workspace you can zoom in and out of, like a map of your store. Click anything to change it, or tell Sidekick what you want and watch it happen. It’s the biggest step yet in AI design for your Shopify store, but it comes with strings attached.
Seeing your homepage, collections and product pages side by side makes it much easier to spot the page that’s quietly off-brand. It’s a great way to explore ideas.
Read the Shopify Canvas fine print first
At launch, Canvas doesn’t work with:
- Themes made by other designers and sold in the Theme Store
- Selling into other countries with local currencies and languages
- Translations
- App features you place on your pages, like review stars
There’s also an easy-to-miss catch. Once you edit a theme in Canvas, it stops receiving updates, which are the free fixes and improvements your theme’s maker sends out. From then on, you’re responsible for keeping it running smoothly.
What this means for you: if your store uses apps for reviews, subscriptions or upsells, or sells overseas, stay put for now. If you do jump in, make it a choice, not a surprise.
Two more Shopify changes while you’re under the bonnet
Some old Shopify app code is about to stop working
Since 1 October, apps can’t add new “script tags”, the older way apps load things like tracking and pop-ups onto your store. From 1 March 2027, Shopify stops running the existing ones. That gives you until early 2027, which is plenty of time if you check now and a nasty surprise if you don’t.
What this means for you: ask your developer (or us) to check whether any of your apps still rely on the old method.
Your products are now shared with Meta by default
Meta is the company behind Facebook and Instagram, and Shopify’s new Meta AI channel passes your product details to it. Take a minute to confirm you’re happy with that, and that your titles, descriptions and prices are accurate. If an AI is going to describe your products to strangers, it should at least get them right.
What this means for you: open your Shopify settings, check the channel is set how you want it, and give your product pages a quick once-over.
The common thread
Canvas, script tags and Meta all point the same way: your store does more behind the scenes than it used to, and the apps and settings underneath matter as much as the design on top.
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