Shopify on Thursday introduced a new site-building tool called Canvas that lets sellers chat with an AI to set up a Shopify store. Shopify already offered a fairly capable no-code builder before Canvas, but it required you to edit your chosen theme by rearranging modular sections and blocks. However, more detailed customization requires editing the code or bringing in a developer.
Canvas allows sellers to create a site by simply chatting with Sidekick, Shopify’s AI agent. As the AI makes changes, Canvas displays the results in real-time, allowing sellers to see what their store looks like as a whole or zoom in to focus on specific details.
Note that this is not a static preview, but the actual code behind the rendered store, according to Shopify. This means that merchants can test the full interactivity and animation of their pages and view them as they appear on a variety of screen sizes. Sidekick also takes screenshots of your work, so you can see the same thing sellers see when you update your site.
The launch of Canvas is part of a broader shift toward a future where building websites no longer requires direct coding. It joins a host of other AI-powered site building tools from companies like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Framer, as well as vibecoding platforms like Lovable and Replit.
Sellers can click on individual elements to make changes directly if necessary. But they’ll probably just tell Sidekick in chat what they want to do.
Sidekick itself is not new and is already used for writing code, building apps, customizing themes, and other editing. However, it had not yet been integrated into a complete site building product like Canvas. Canvas allows users to view the entire store at once, zooming and panning while updating the actual files on the site.
To make this work, Shopify has simplified the theme’s architecture to make it easier for Sidekick to understand and modify the structure, logic, and design of your store by giving Sidekick the ability to work directly with your theme’s files.
This product is in its early stages, so there are several areas that need enhancement and improvement. For example, third-party theme support, app blocking and extensions, markets, translations, rollouts, and theme updates are all not included in the initial release. Additionally, Canvas is desktop only. However, the company told TechCrunch that these are things the company plans to support over time. The product is still new.
In the future, Canvas could become even more robust, making it easier for people who don’t have the budget for a developer or designer or the time to learn to code to become online sellers.
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