The problem
Every new product needs a description, and it is the job that gets pushed to Sunday night. If an online shop adds 12 new products a month and each description takes 25 minutes to write, that's 300 minutes, 5 hours a month.
What the AI does
Sidekick is the AI assistant built into the Shopify admin. Shopify's help pages say you can chat with it from any admin page, that it can create content such as product descriptions, and that it presents changes for your review before applying them. You give it the facts you have checked (materials, size, what's in the box, care instructions from your supplier sheet), ask for a draft in your shop's tone, then correct and approve. Shopify's pricing page lists Sidekick on every plan. Shopify says features and usage limits vary by plan, so check what your own admin offers.
A worked example
A home-fragrance shop in Leeds with two staff sells on Shopify Basic and adds about 12 new products a month. The owner keeps a supplier fact sheet per product and pastes the checked facts into Sidekick.
Before
About 25 minutes a description: 12 x 25 = 300 minutes, 5 hours a month
After
About 10 minutes to give Sidekick the facts, read the draft and fix it: 12 x 10 = 120 minutes, 2 hours a month
What it's worth
About 3 hours a month saved (180 minutes), worth around £75 if your time is worth £25 an hour. Shopify Basic is £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly, and Sidekick is listed on every plan, so the cost is the plan itself. If you already pay for Shopify the extra cost is nil. Check at checkout whether VAT is added.
How to set it up
- Gather the facts for each product first: materials, size, weight, what's included, care and any safety wording from the supplier.
- Open Sidekick in your Shopify admin and ask for a description using only those facts, in the tone you want.
- Read the draft against your fact sheet and delete or correct anything you can't prove.
- Approve the change only when you're happy; Sidekick shows changes for your review first.
- Keep your supplier fact sheet with the product record so the next person can check the same claims.
What goes wrong
- Sidekick can add claims you never gave it, such as 'hypoallergenic', 'eco-friendly', 'handmade in the UK' or 'long-lasting'. Under consumer protection law you must be able to back up every claim, so remove anything you can't evidence.
- Check sizes, quantities and materials word by word; a wrong measurement causes returns and complaints.
- Shopify's help page says features and usage limits vary by plan; test Sidekick on your own plan before planning a big catalogue update.
- Descriptions that read alike across a catalogue help neither shoppers nor search; add a real detail to each product.