2025 in Review: The Year Shopify Changed the Rules
2025 was a watershed year for Shopify. It was the year the company finally transformed itself from a leading platform for small and medium businesses to a full-fledged enterprise giant, challenging traditional monolithic solutions. Shopify didn’t just improve existing features; it changed architectural rules and set new standards for flexibility, automation, and international expansion.
In this annual review, we will focus on four main areas where Shopify innovations have had the greatest impact on E-commerce in 2025: Evolution of the App Ecosystem (Built for Shopify), Architectural Revolution (Headless and Functions), Scaling B2B Capabilities, and Global Commerce.
B2B Scaling and Global Commerce (Strategic Direction)
Shopify has continued to close the gaps that previously forced large businesses to choose other platforms.
Strengthening Positions in the B2B E-Commerce Sector
2025 brought improvements in B2B sales management:
New B2B Logic: Expanding the capabilities of B2B accounts to support complex user hierarchies and individual payment terms (e.g., credit limits).
Order Automation: Using Shopify Flow and Functions to process bulk orders and requests for quotations (RFQs).
Global Expansion through Shopify Markets
The Shopify Markets tool has been refined, making international trade accessible and simple:
Tax and Duties Automation: Full automation of the calculation and inclusion of customs duties and taxes (DDP model) in the cost, which critically reduces the number of abandoned carts.
Currency and Localization Management: Centralized management of multiple currencies and languages from a single administrative panel.
Launch of Shopify Functions: The End of Shopify Scripts
The introduction of Shopify Functions allowed developers to write complex custom business logic (pricing, discount logic) directly on the backend. This provided the flexibility needed for Shopify Plus and became a critical element complementing the Headless architecture.
Headless as the Standard for Efficiency
During 2025, Headless architecture (using Storefront API with React/Next.js) will become the norm for brands striving to achieve PageSpeed scores of over 90 and perfect UX across all devices, including PWAs.
A New Era of Quality: The Built for Shopify (BFS) Revolution
The most significant change in 2025 was in the quality and trust of the app ecosystem. The Built for Shopify (BFS) program became the main filter, ensuring that only the best solutions were available to merchants.
BFS as a Driver of Growth and Seller Trust
BFS has fundamentally changed the game for developers. Apps that have achieved this status have shown accelerated growth, with an average increase in new installs of 49% in just 14 days. This status is a direct testament to Shopify’s high standards for performance, design, and ease of use.
Priority Visibility and New Discovery Channels
Shopify has turned BFS status into a powerful promotional tool:
Priority in the App Store: BFS app recommendations now dominate the homepage and “Recommended for You” sections in categories, ensuring maximum visibility.
Sidekick Integration: The Sidekick tool now directly recommends BFS apps in the admin panel, using a badge to emphasize quality and increase seller trust.
Exclusive Ad Targeting Based on Plan
The most important benefit for developers: BFS apps have the exclusive ability to target search ads in the App Store to certain shopping plans.
Strategic Focus: This allows developers whose apps are aimed at large businesses (e.g. Shopify Plus) or specialized retail (Shopify Retail) to focus their advertising budget exclusively on the target segment, increasing ROI.
Strengthening Criteria and Annual Quality Reviews
To maintain high standards, new criteria were introduced, effective July 2025:
Mandatory App Bridge Update: Using the latest version of Shopify App Bridge to ensure seamless operation and speed in the admin panel.
Category-Specific Criteria: Expanding requirements to critical categories such as Analytics, Email Marketing, Subscriptions, and Advertising, ensuring deep and correct integration.
Annual Reviews: All BFS applications are now subject to annual reviews, forcing developers to continually invest in quality.
Architectural Revolution: Headless and Functions (Expertise)
Despite the focus on BFS, architectural innovations remain key for the enterprise level.
Key KPIs: What Shopify’s 2025 Revolution Means for Financial Metrics
Investments in quality and flexibility made in 2025 have a direct impact on profitability.
ROI and LTV: The Impact of Quality and Speed
Increased LTV: The growing trust in BFS applications and the increased speed thanks to Headless and Functions have led to an increase in LTV (Life Time Value) and CRR (Customer Retention Rate).
CAC Reduction: The ability to target BFS app ads to specific sales plans has allowed developers to significantly reduce CAC (Cost of Acquisition).
Shopify Affiliate Income Growth
2025 strengthened the partner program, providing partners with new ways to generate revenue, which stimulates the entire ecosystem to create even better solutions.
2025 was the year Shopify successfully completed its transformation, giving large e-commerce businesses the flexibility of a headless architecture and the reliability of an enterprise backend. However, the real revolution came in the app ecosystem with the Built for Shopify program. This not only improved the quality of solutions, but also set a new rule for gaining visibility and success.
To maximize the potential of these changes and ensure measurable growth in 2026, a strategic partnership with the experts at Shopify Plus, who are focused on BFS standards and new architectural capabilities, is absolutely essential.