Shopify has made its artificial intelligence-powered tools, including the Sidekick assistant and image-generation feature, available to more users as of Monday.
This move aims to enhance the appeal of its e-commerce platform and drive revenue growth.
At its biannual products event, the Canada-based firm announced that customers can now use its editing tool on their smartphones to enhance images for promotional materials, such as emails. Previously, this feature was limited to editing product images online.
Shopify also expanded access to Sidekick, its chatbot that assists merchants with queries, including insights on customer behavior. Sidekick has been in testing since last year with over 2,000 users.
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein stated that the company has released over 150 updates designed to create a more integrated platform, providing merchants with a unified and seamless experience for scaling their businesses.
Last month, Shopify announced plans to invest in marketing following its forecast of the slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years. This announcement led to a significant drop in its stock, reaching a six-month low and wiping off C$25.25 billion in market value in a single day.
During the pandemic, Shopify experienced a surge in growth as stay-at-home orders drove consumers online. However, recent high inflation and uncertain consumer spending have impacted its primary user base of small- and medium-sized businesses.
Shopify’s market capitalization has fallen by more than half from its peak in November 2021, currently standing at C$112.67 billion ($82.22 billion). Despite this, some analysts view the recent weakness as a buying opportunity.
“SHOP’s R&D investment dwarfs peers’, culminating in an unrivaled array of features and capabilities that keep the company on the cutting edge,” analysts at J.P. Morgan said, noting that the company has only penetrated 11% of its total serviceable market worth $60 billion.
