Shopify Editions Spring '26: Key Updates for Merchants

Shopify publishes a roundup of news twice a year called Shopify Editions — most recently the Winter '26 edition, named “RenAIssance”, which brought more advanced B2B tools and order approval automation. Spring edition Spring '26 continues this line and goes even further: its central theme is making products discoverable and purchasable through AI agents and assistants.

In this article, I summarize what the Spring '26 Edition actually contains, what also applies to smaller online stores outside of Shopify Plus, and what a Czech or Slovak store can take away from the 150+ updates.

What are Shopify Editions?

Editions are not a single new feature, but a regular package of dozens to hundreds of small and large changes that Shopify releases at once — usually in June and January. For online store owners, this is the fastest way to find out what has actually changed on the platform without having to follow continuous changelogs. Spring '26 is currently a release with a strong focus on making products visible and purchasable even outside the classic online store — directly in AI assistants.

Agentic commerce: the main theme of the release

The core of Spring '26 is infrastructure for agentic commerce — shopping mediated by AI agents. Shopify supports it through Shopify Catalog, the open Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) developed with Google and Agentic Storefronts controls. Available channels are active by default for eligible stores; merchants can keep automatic management or control channel access and direct checkout where supported.

According to numbers released by Shopify, Omnilux's AI channels generated 3.2% of revenue in March 2026, and Cozy Earth saw 20x year-over-year growth in AI channel revenue. According to Shopify, searches through the Shopify Catalog should convert about twice as well as results based on scraped data from the web. The separate guide to agentic commerce and AI shopping agents covers the topic in more detail.

Sidekick now connects more business tools

AI assistant Sidekick in the admin got the biggest upgrade since launch in this release. It now reads data from more than 15 third-party apps — including Klaviyo, Loop, Judge.me, and Smile — so it can be queried about email campaign performance, reviews, or loyalty points without leaving the Shopify admin. Sidekick is also available on Apple Watch and can be controlled by voice.

B2B functionality beyond Shopify Plus

For smaller and medium-sized stores, one of the year's most practical changes is the availability of B2B tools outside the enterprise plan. Shopify announced it on April 2, 2026, before Spring '26. Company profiles, up to three catalogs, quantity rules, stored cards and payment terms are available on Basic, Grow and Advanced as well as Plus. B2B market catalogs on the lower plans require the new Shopify Markets.

This changes the default thinking about when it makes sense to upgrade to Plus — if your B2B needs are covered by these basic tools, you don't need to consider an enterprise plan for them. Plus is still needed for more advanced scenarios: an unlimited number of catalogs, assigning a catalog to a specific company or branch, advances and partial payments. The Shopify Plus, B2B and D2C guide explains those differences in more detail.

Other updates: checkout, payments and marketing

Warning: Shopify Scripts have stopped working

Alongside the Spring release, merchants also had to prepare for an important platform removal. Shopify Scripts were permanently shut down on June 30, 2026. If you used them, the relevant logic in the store simply ceased to apply.

At the same time, scripts typically took care of four areas that are essential for operation:

• Custom discount logic — volume discounts, 1+1 free promotions, combined offers
• Shipping price adjustments based on cart content or customer designation
• Editing items in the cart, such as a gift for shopping
• Price rewrites for B2B and wholesale customers

The main replacement is Shopify Functions. The procedure and plan conditions are discussed in a separate article on transition from Scripts to Functions. If you are not sure what your Scripts have solved, Shopify has prepared a report in the admin with an overview of previously active modifications, including links to the corresponding documentation or apps. This is the most pressing item of the entire release — it's not a new option, but a functionality that is already missing.

What this means for Czech and Slovak stores

Most of the Spring '26 news also concerns smaller domestic stores, not just enterprise brands. Three things to consider:

• B2B without Plus — if you deal with wholesale or business customers on a smaller scale, new tools on standard plans may be enough without the need to switch to an enterprise plan
• Visibility in AI channels — AI assistants still generate a minority of sales, but are growing quickly for some brands; complete, well-structured product data can improve discoverability but does not guarantee placement or ranking
• Most changes do not require development — Sidekick, POS and marketing tools work after activation in admin; tailor-made adjustments only come into play with more advanced settings of AI channels or the connection of specific integrations
• The Scripts check takes precedence over everything else — if the online store used its own discount or shipping logic through Scripts, it does not work from June 30 and needs to be converted to Shopify Functions

Editions are not a list of features to try, but a map of where the platform is going. Not every new product is relevant for every online store right away — it's important to know what exists when it's needed.