AI helps Shopify founders reach first sale faster

Shopify profiled founders who credit its AI helpers with accelerating the path from launch to first revenue. The company says new merchants typically reach a first sale within 35 days of signup, with many later expanding their catalogs by about 50% in year one. The piece spotlights Sidekick—an AI assistant built into Shopify—for tasks like diagnosing checkout issues (e.g., test mode left on), prioritizing outreach to top customers, and guiding restock decisions from store data. Shopify Magic supports bulk copywriting in a chosen brand tone, easing the workload for teams building large SKU catalogs. Founder stories include Soft Life Sleepwear, which resolved a launch-day checkout problem in minutes and sold out in the first week; Clubhouse Skin, which used Sidekick to retain its most valuable customers during a supplier hiccup; and Darla’s Downtown, which leveraged Magic to produce hundreds of on-brand product descriptions and began shipping orders nationwide soon after opening. Sidekick now works across 20 admin languages and adds basic image generation to help non-designers create visuals.