97% of retailers plan to increase AI spending in 2026 (ShipStation, 2026). Both BigCommerce and Shopify are racing to build AI into every corner of their platforms, but their strategies diverge dramatically.
BigCommerce is betting on enterprise API flexibility and a deep Google Cloud partnership through its BigAI suite. Shopify is going all-in on native, free AI tools that work inside the admin from day one. For merchants evaluating these platforms, the difference isn’t just features. It’s philosophy.
This guide compares every AI feature from both platforms side by side, with honest recommendations based on your store size, budget, and technical needs.
The AI Landscape for Ecommerce in 2026
The global AI in ecommerce market hit $9.01 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $17.33 billion by 2028 at a 24.34% CAGR (DemandSage, 2025). 78% of organizations now use AI in at least one business function (McKinsey, 2025).
For ecommerce merchants, AI isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s table stakes for staying competitive.
The practical question is: which platform gives you better AI tools out of the box? The answer depends on what “better” means for your business.
BigCommerce (now operating under the Commerce.com parent brand after rebranding in August 2025) focuses on enterprise flexibility. Its BigAI suite is powered by Google Cloud, and its API-first architecture lets developers build custom AI integrations.
Shopify focuses on accessibility. Its Winter ’26 Edition shipped 150+ product updates, the majority AI-related (Shopify Editions, 2026). Every AI feature is free and built directly into the admin.
Both approaches have merit. Let’s break down the specifics.
BigCommerce AI Features: The BigAI Suite
BigCommerce’s AI strategy is built on a partnership with Google, using Google Vertex AI and Gemini models as the foundation.
BigAI Copywriter (Google Gemini)
BigAI Copywriter generates SEO-optimized product descriptions using Google Gemini 1.5 Pro. You can customize for brand voice, tone, keywords, and length. The tool generates multiple drafts in seconds.
Key detail: BigAI Copywriter is available as an app from the BigCommerce marketplace. It’s not natively built into the admin the way Shopify Magic is. You install it separately.
BigAI Product Recommendations (Google Vertex AI)
Powered by Google Vertex AI, BigAI Product Recommendations delivers real-time personalized product suggestions. Merchants get merchandising controls including product pinning, exclusion rules, and diversity caps that prevent the algorithm from showing too many similar items.
89% of companies report positive ROI from AI ecommerce implementations, with a 9-month average payback period (Envive.ai, 2025). Product recommendations are one of the fastest paths to that return since they directly increase AOV and conversion rates.
BigAI Predictive Analytics
BigAI Predictive Analytics forecasts customer lifetime value using BigCommerce’s native Google BigQuery integration. It analyzes historical purchase data to predict which new shoppers will become high-value customers.
Important caveat: some predictive analytics features are still listed as “coming soon” on BigCommerce’s marketing materials. The full suite isn’t available to all merchants yet.
BigAI Quote Proposal Emails (B2B)
For B2B merchants, BigAI generates custom quote proposal emails using generative AI. This is a niche but valuable feature for wholesale and enterprise sales workflows.
Agentic Commerce: The Perplexity Partnership
In June 2025, BigCommerce’s Feedonomics division partnered with Perplexity to optimize product data for AI search. Feedonomics provides pre-optimized, structured product data so LLMs can understand and surface merchant products accurately.
AI agents and tools are projected to influence up to 19% of global Cyber Five sales, representing roughly $61 billion in spending (Emarketer, 2025). BigCommerce is positioning merchants for this shift through the Feedonomics data pipeline rather than through native admin features.
Commerce.com also unlocked agentic checkout within AI-powered discovery platforms, letting products become discoverable and purchasable during AI conversations. For more context on how agentic commerce works, read our agentic commerce guide.
API-First Architecture for Custom AI
BigCommerce’s biggest AI advantage isn’t any single feature. It’s the architecture. The platform’s API-first, headless design lets developers build custom AI integrations that go far beyond what either platform offers natively.
The Catalyst storefront paired with the Makeswift visual editor gives teams composable commerce options. Native Google BigQuery integration means raw data pipelines for machine learning. Open APIs let you connect any third-party AI tool.
If you have a development team that wants to build custom AI solutions, BigCommerce’s open architecture gives you more flexibility than Shopify’s walled garden.
Shopify AI Features: The RenAIssance Edition
Shopify’s Winter ’26 Edition (internally called “The RenAIssance”) represents the platform’s biggest AI push to date.
Shopify Magic (Free on All Plans)
Shopify Magic is a suite of free AI tools integrated across the entire platform. Unlike BigAI, these aren’t marketplace apps. They’re built into the admin.
Text generation handles product descriptions, email subject lines, and blog posts with brand voice customization and multiple tone options. Image generation and editing includes AI background removal, AI background generation from text prompts, and scene generation for product photography. All free, all plans.
Shopify Inbox AI suggests customer chat replies, automates FAQ responses, and shows cart visibility during conversations. It suggests replies for human review rather than resolving issues autonomously, which is the right approach for most stores. Our guide on human-in-the-loop AI explains why this matters.
Sidekick: From Assistant to Proactive Co-pilot
Sidekick evolved from a reactive assistant to a proactive business collaborator in Winter ’26. For a detailed breakdown of everything Sidekick can do, see our full Shopify Sidekick guide.
Sidekick Pulse proactively researches your store data and surfaces actionable business advice. It predicts merchant needs and delivers personalized, high-impact recommendations without you asking.
Workflow automation through Sidekick and Flow integration lets you describe automations in plain English: “Tag customers as VIP when they place an order over $200.” Sidekick builds the trigger, conditions, and actions automatically.
Theme customization via natural language means you can say “make this button rounded” and Sidekick edits your theme code. No developer required.
Custom app building through Sidekick lets you create bespoke admin apps by describing what you need in conversation. Sidekick Skills let you save, reuse, and share your best prompts with your team.
Over 1 million Shopify merchants worldwide now have access to Sidekick (Shopify, 2026).
Shopify Flow + AI Automation
Shopify Flow is a visual automation builder with 100+ templates for common workflows: abandoned cart recovery, inventory alerts, customer tagging, order routing. It’s free on all plans (previously enterprise-only).
Combined with Sidekick’s natural language creation, Flow gives non-technical merchants powerful automation capabilities without writing code or hiring developers.
Agentic Storefronts
Shopify’s agentic storefront approach is broader than BigCommerce’s. Products become discoverable and purchasable through ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity with a single admin toggle per platform.
The MCP-based Catalog API and Checkout Kit (supporting web, iOS, Android, and React Native) give AI platforms everything they need to surface and sell your products. Attribution data flows back into Shopify admin so you can track AI-driven sales.
This matters because the data AI agents need to sell your products must be structured, accurate, and accessible. Shopify’s approach makes this a one-click setup rather than a multi-tool pipeline.
Store Testing with AI Simulation
A unique Shopify feature: AI agents simulate shopping behavior using billions of purchase data points through the Rollouts A/B testing framework. This lets you test changes before going live with real customers, reducing risk on every store update.
BigCommerce vs Shopify AI: Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Here’s the comparison that matters most. Every major AI category, side by side:
| Feature | BigCommerce (BigAI) | Shopify (Magic + Sidekick) |
|---|---|---|
| Product Descriptions | BigAI Copywriter (Gemini 1.5 Pro), app-based | Shopify Magic, native in admin |
| Product Recommendations | BigAI Recs (Vertex AI), merchandising controls | Shopify Search & Discovery, free app |
| Image Generation | No native feature | AI backgrounds, removal, scene generation |
| Image Editing | No native feature | Background removal, background swap |
| Workflow Automation | Limited native, API-dependent | Shopify Flow + Sidekick (natural language) |
| Customer Service AI | No native feature | Shopify Inbox AI (suggested replies) |
| Agentic Commerce | Feedonomics/Perplexity partnership | Agentic Storefronts (ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity) |
| Analytics AI | BigAI Predictive (BigQuery) | Sidekick Pulse (proactive insights) |
| Theme Customization | No AI theme editing | Natural language theme editing |
| Store Testing | No AI testing | AI shopper simulation (Rollouts) |
| Custom App Building | API-first (developer required) | Sidekick app builder (natural language) |
| B2B AI Features | Quote proposal emails | Limited B2B-specific AI |
| AI Partner | Google Cloud (Vertex AI, Gemini, BigQuery) | Shopify proprietary + multiple partners |
| Pricing | Varies by feature/app | Free on all plans |
| App Ecosystem | 1,200+ apps | 13,000+ apps |
Where BigCommerce Wins on AI
BigCommerce has genuine advantages for specific merchant profiles:
Enterprise API flexibility. If you have developers who want to build custom AI solutions, BigCommerce’s open, API-first architecture provides more freedom than Shopify’s more controlled ecosystem. You can connect any ML model, any data pipeline, any third-party AI service.
Google Cloud deep partnership. Direct access to Vertex AI, BigQuery, and Gemini through native integrations. For teams already in the Google Cloud ecosystem, this alignment is valuable.
B2B-specific AI features. BigAI Quote Proposal Emails target B2B workflows that Shopify doesn’t address with AI specifically. Shopify’s B2B GMV grew 96% YoY in fiscal 2025 (Shopify Q4 Earnings, 2025), but its AI tools are mostly B2C-oriented.
No transaction fees. While not an AI feature, BigCommerce charges zero transaction fees on any payment gateway. Shopify charges 0.5-2% unless you use Shopify Payments. For high-volume stores, this savings can fund custom AI development.
Composable architecture. Catalyst + Makeswift give technical teams composable commerce options that can integrate AI at every layer of the stack.
Where Shopify Wins on AI
Shopify’s advantages are broader and more relevant to the majority of merchants:
Native AI in the admin. Every AI feature works without installing apps, configuring APIs, or hiring developers. Open your Shopify admin and the AI tools are there. BigCommerce requires marketplace app installations for most AI features.
Sidekick as a proactive advisor. No BigCommerce equivalent exists. Sidekick Pulse monitors your store data and surfaces insights proactively. This is a meaningful advantage for merchants who don’t have time to dig through analytics.
Free AI on all plans. Shopify Magic and Sidekick cost nothing extra, from the $39 Basic plan through $2,300 Plus. BigCommerce AI features are distributed across paid apps and enterprise tiers.
AI-powered personalization boosts ecommerce conversion rates by up to 23% (Envive.ai, 2026). Shopify makes these tools accessible to every merchant, not just those who can afford custom implementations.
Broader agentic commerce reach. Shopify’s Agentic Storefronts connect to ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity with one toggle. BigCommerce’s agentic approach depends on the Feedonomics/Perplexity pipeline, which is powerful but narrower.
Massive app ecosystem. Shopify has 13,000+ apps compared to BigCommerce’s 1,200+ (Meetanshi, 2026). 87% of Shopify merchants use third-party apps (Shopify, 2025), and many of those apps now include AI features.
AI store testing. The ability to simulate shopping behavior with AI agents before pushing changes live is unique to Shopify. BigCommerce has no equivalent.
Which Platform Should You Choose for AI?
Choose BigCommerce If:
- You’re enterprise or B2B-focused with complex operations that need custom AI integrations
- You have a development team capable of building on open APIs and leveraging Google Cloud services
- You’re already in the Google ecosystem and want native BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Gemini access
- You process high volume and want zero transaction fees to fund custom AI development
- You need composable commerce with AI integrated at every architectural layer
BigCommerce enterprise accounts represent 76% of total ARR ($269.2M), with an average revenue per account of $46,806 (BigCommerce Q3 2025 Earnings, 2025). The platform is built for this segment.
Choose Shopify If:
- You want the most AI features immediately without apps, APIs, or developer time
- You prefer free, native AI that works on every plan
- You need agentic commerce across multiple AI platforms with minimal setup
- Your team prefers natural language over technical configuration
- You want proactive AI insights through Sidekick Pulse without building custom analytics
- You’re a solo operator or small team who needs AI to multiply your capacity
The Honest Take
For most merchants, Shopify’s native AI is more accessible, more comprehensive, and more immediately useful. You get powerful AI tools on day one without spending extra money or hiring developers.
The scale difference tells the story: Shopify reached $378 billion in GMV for fiscal 2025, while BigCommerce processes roughly $34 billion annually (Shopify Earnings / BigCommerce, 2025). That 11:1 GMV gap translates to vastly different R&D investment in AI features.
However, if you’re an enterprise retailer with a development team, specific Google Cloud requirements, or complex B2B workflows, BigCommerce’s open architecture gives you flexibility that Shopify’s more opinionated platform doesn’t.
For a broader look at what AI tools are available on Shopify, including third-party options that extend beyond Shopify Magic, we tested 30+ in our dedicated guide.
AI agents for ecommerce. The merchants who learn to use these tools effectively will have a significant advantage, regardless of which platform they choose.Start by using what’s already available in your admin. If you’re on Shopify, open Sidekick and ask it a question about your store. If you’re on BigCommerce, explore the BigAI apps in the marketplace. The best AI strategy is the one you actually use.
About Akash Radadiya
