Shopify Winter 2024 Editions!

New Product Taxonomy

Shopify has improved the way products are created, classified, and organised on Shopify with a new product taxonomy that maps every product category to a rich set of associated product attributes leveraging Metaobject options, improving product discoverability and cross-channel selling (think Google, TikTok feeds etc).

It's a pretty significant update that's going to make managing complex product data much easier. 

AI Creates Shopify Magic

AI is here to transform your Shopify experience, providing you with intuitive and personalised support to simplify the build process. Creative design has become a lot more efficient as a result, with the tech making editing and image development a near-instantaneous process.

Shopify Magic makes it so much easier to generate product descriptions and other site content. This is a great feature for merchants who are strapped for time or not confident in their writing ability. All it takes is a few keywords and the click of a button for you to have a complete About Us page.

Finally, search features are about to become easier for Shopify Plus merchants with the addition of Semantic Search. This AI-powered storefront feature is far more intuitive than a regular search engine as it detects the actual intent behind the customer’s search instead of producing generic search results.

This will mean that customers will be able to search for something like “green apron with white dots” and customers will be able to view products that match that description — even if you’ve not explicitly mentioned in the description. Shopify’s AI will interpret the images and try and provide accurate search responses.

Results are more accurate and relevant because of this, increasing user satisfaction and delivering an overall better customer experience. Shopify Plus merchants can enable this feature via the Shopify Search & Discovery app.

A New Performance Dashboard

One update we’re really excited about is the new web performance dashboard for Liquid storefronts. This tool will allow you to keep a closer eye on interactions and experiences from real users so you can better understand the performance of your website – and optimise it where needed.

Additionally, data is now available for three crucial areas: loading speed, interactivity and visual stability. Knowing how your website performs for users will help you understand any underlying issues that need to be addressed. The result? A great user experience that may lead to better conversions and lower bounce rates.

Enhancing the Checkout Experience

Exciting news for Shopify Plus merchants, as their checkout has undergone some upgrades to optimise customisation capabilities and enhance the user experience.

While previously limited in design options, the checkout page is now stacked with a range of customisation features. Stores have access to advanced colour settings and enhanced header and footer customisations, which means they can create a more appealing experience for customers during that crucial stage of the buying cycle.

Additionally, delivery has become more customisable, with the Local Pickup Generator API allowing your store to provide bespoke solutions for your customers. These features, along with upgrades like map components, Privacy Consent, Checkout/Cart Validation and Thank You page extensions, ensure that you can build your customers the best possible checkout experience.

Increased Variants!

Variants also received a big update in this release, with the variant limit increasing significantly. Shopify’s new GraphQL product APIs can now support 2,000 variants per product, which will be especially useful for merchants with complex catalogues.

Currently in developer preview, you can now test-drive the new APIs on your development store by enabling the Increased Variants preview. With a lot of the existing APIs in the process of being changed or deprecated, we recommend trying out your app and its workflows with the new APIs soon. Doing so will let you know the entire level of your support while also providing you with the chance to offer any feedback before the full release.

Introducing Theme Blocks

This year, Shopify is prioritising customisation for merchants and their developers. Along with the previously mentioned checkout page enhancements, the look and feel of a storefront are also receiving an upgrade with the launch of Theme Blocks.

Still in developer preview, theme blocks provide merchants with more flexibility and a smoother, faster process during the storefront design. It works by letting you define a single block that you can then reuse across the entire design, a big benefit for any merchant interested in increasing their efficiency. Nesting is also now available, with support for up to eight levels deep. This provides optimised control of the overall design and makes editing and reordering layouts a far more straightforward process.

Now Offering Store Credit

Another exciting feature is the introduction of the Store Credit Primitive and API, which is also currently in developer preview. This allows merchants to provide customers with store credit, which they can then use at checkout. Other benefits include the ability to track and query customer store credit through the GraphQL Admin API, which will help merchants optimise their customer service – and lead to an increase in customer satisfaction.

We know a few clients who will be very happy with this update!

Subscriptions Feature

Providing a subscription feature for their products has been a success for many businesses looking to drive recurring revenue. But for those yet to dip their toe into subscriptions, perhaps due the complexity and cost of a third-party, now is a great time to try out Shopify’s new Subscriptions app. There are many awesome benefits, including the integration between the app and the Shopify admin panel. Subscription capabilities are natively displayed, with set-up and management a seamless process.

The flexibility is also a bonus – for you and your customers. The frequency of the subscription and discount types are easily modified, while customers can pause, skip and cancel subscriptions without a fuss through their account portal.

And So Much More...

While we’ve only highlighted a few, Shopify’s Editions introduce a huge range of updates across the board. From Shopify Capital updates and combined listings app to API enhancements, headless B2B storefronts, and so much more, there’s sure to be something that appeals to everyone.

For more details about the 100+ new updates, check out Shopify's Winter 2024 Edition at Explore Shopify Editions Winter 2024.

If you have questions or would like to discuss any of these updates, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].