Horizon: Shopify's New Modular Theme System
What it is
Horizon introduces Shopify's latest theme architecture, delivering:
- 10 new conversion-optimized themes built on the Horizon framework
- AI-generated custom themes scaffolded from your brand description
- Theme blocks for modular design and reusable components across pages
- A revamped editor with hover previews, block categorization, and conditional settings
Why it matters
Fashion stores live on visual storytelling, seasonal drops, and curated product presentation. Horizon's modular flexibility lets your agency ship fresh layouts faster—for a new collection, influencer collab, or promotion—without rebuilding from scratch each time. Reusable campaign blocks are a particularly practical win for brands with frequent launches.
- How do we migrate our store to a Horizon-compatible theme without losing our existing customizations?
- Can we set up reusable campaign blocks for our seasonal launches?
- Where can AI accelerate layout creation without compromising our branding standards?
Global Commerce Tools: Simplified Cross-Border Expansion
What it is
Shopify has significantly expanded its global selling infrastructure:
- Shopify Payments now available in 16 new countries
- Multi-currency payouts to reduce foreign exchange fees
- Duties and taxes embedded directly in product pricing at checkout
- DHL Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping labels for smoother international logistics
- Klarna and expanded local payment methods across the EU
- Submarkets within regional markets for granular per-country control
Why it matters
Cross-border success requires genuinely localized experiences—not just currency conversion. With submarkets, you can configure distinct pricing, branding, and payment experiences for different countries within the same region, all from a single admin. This is particularly relevant for brands selling B2B to European boutiques or opening new fulfillment in additional markets.
- Can we configure submarkets (e.g., UK vs. France) for our catalog with different pricing and content?
- How do we implement DDP shipping and embed duties in product prices?
- Can our payout configuration reduce foreign exchange losses on international revenue?
Checkout Improvements: Faster, Smarter, Compliant
What it is
A significant package of checkout enhancements shipped in this edition:
- Discount code entry directly in cart—no third-party apps required
- Unified ship-and-carryout checkout for omnichannel fulfillment
- Flat-rate shipping for multi-location orders
- Apple Pay support in additional checkout contexts
- Checkout load time improvements (nearly 2 seconds faster)
- PCI DSS V4 compliance for all checkout features
Why it matters
Every second of checkout load time and every friction point in the purchase flow has a measurable impact on conversion rate. Native discount code entry in cart is particularly significant—previously this required third-party apps that added complexity and potential breakage. These updates let your team improve conversion and ensure compliance without custom workarounds.
- Can we redesign our cart to include native discount input and custom upsell blocks?
- What checkout UX changes would most improve our conversion rate given our current abandonment data?
- Are our existing checkout customizations PCI DSS V4 compliant?
Developer Tools: More Power, Less Complexity
What it is
Shopify has overhauled the developer platform with improvements that directly affect how fast your agency can ship:
- Next-gen local development without tunnels—faster iteration cycles
- Developer stores available on every Shopify plan (not just Plus)
- Polaris web component library updates for consistent admin and storefront UX
- Declarative metafield definitions to reduce configuration overhead
- Improved Shopify Flow with better logs, sample data, and HTTP request support
Why it matters
Better dev tooling means your agency ships features faster and with fewer bugs. Streamlined testing environments and standardized component libraries reduce rework. From your perspective as an ecommerce manager, this translates to faster turnaround on feature requests and fewer post-launch issues.
- How are you using the new dev tooling to reduce the time-to-ship on our feature requests?
- Can we use Polaris components to create a more consistent experience across admin, checkout, and customer accounts?
- How can we use declarative metafield definitions to reduce ongoing maintenance overhead?
Operational Tools: More Control, Better Data
What it is
A set of operational improvements that affect day-to-day store management:
- Refunds issued as store credit from any payment method
- Enhanced Shopify Flow with better logs, sample data, and nested logic
- Pre-fulfillment editing for subscriptions and pre-orders
- Page-level web performance reporting (Core Web Vitals per page)
- Tap to Pay and a streamlined mobile admin experience
Why it matters
Returns, loyalty mechanics, and automation are core to high-volume fashion operations. Store credit refunds support retention by keeping revenue in your ecosystem rather than reversing to payment methods. Page-level performance reporting is particularly valuable—you can now identify which specific PDPs or collection pages are underperforming on Core Web Vitals without needing separate tooling.
- Can we set up a store credit refund workflow to support our loyalty and returns strategy?
- What Shopify Flow automations would have the most impact on our current operational overhead?
- Which of our product pages have Core Web Vitals issues, and what's the remediation plan?
Mapping Summer '25 to Your Roadmap
The Summer '25 release positions Shopify as a genuinely mature platform for brands with complex requirements—B2B, international, and high-volume fashion operations included. The features above aren't just incremental improvements; several of them (Horizon, native cart discounts, submarkets) fundamentally change what's possible without custom development.
The right next step is to map these capabilities against your current roadmap and identify where a native Shopify feature can now replace a custom solution or third-party app. That's typically where you'll find the fastest wins with the least technical overhead.