New Shopify Features to Use Today for Your Small Business
I pare down the 100 Shopify features announced in July to the seven most useful ones for a small business or product maker available now.
Every Summer, Shopify announces new features, and as a Shopify Partner I ensure I stay up to date on its ecosystem. There is a lot to wade through, so I pared down the 100 announced features to the seven most useful ones for a small business or product maker available now - some features they announced are not available until later this year (flexible website layout sections, Shopify Subscriptions app for free, Sidekick AI assistant).
Keep in mind, if you look at Shopify’s post about features, they mix in Shopify Plus only features. I cover features for all merchants on the Shopify Plans and below.
In terms of implementing these, I only included ones in the post with a lower learning curve which you may be able to DIY. Should you need help, you can always sign up for a free 20-Minute Coffee Break with me, or schedule a longer consulting appointment.
Caveat: a few of the features may have been in beta, so it is also possible you are already familiar with them. Shopify just packaged them together after enough user testing to feel more confident about announcing their release.
Okay, here we go!
1) Shopify Collective
A game changer for small product companies to partner up on Shopify!
Work with complementary companies to expand your collective customer base and reach. Sell products from other suppliers in your store while they fulfill it.
You activate products of your choosing on Shopify Collective, reach out to potential partners to let them know, then allow their customers to buy your products from their stores. You could also sell products made by other companies. You tell the seller the margin you accept, they sell it to the customer, and you fulfill it. Shopify pays each of you according to the margin agreement.
Want to have other companies sell your products? Look here: https://www.shopify.com/collective/supplier
Want to carry products from other companies? Look here: https://www.shopify.com/collective/retailer
2) Shopify Magic
This will make your life more productive by generating text.
Like most software platforms these days, Shopify has integrated AI into various places, including email and website content available now, and getting stuff done (with Sidekick - available soon). Launched a few months ago, you should see Magic (text) in the Product Description Field (only in Products, not Collections), online store text fields, blogs, and Shopify Email in your store admin.
To generate text, click on the purple stars in the top left of your Description field, enter the keywords, select the Tone of Voice, then click “Generate Text”. After this is done, make sure to edit the text into your brand voice - AI-generated text is far from perfect.
Additionally, you can use Magic to “improve your writing”. Highlight the text you wish to update, then choose a prompt from the dialogue box.
3) Combine discounts
Discount stacking for nearly everything. Yay, it’s here!
You can combine the following classes of discounts:
Product discounts with order discounts
Order discounts with free shipping discounts
Product discounts with free shipping discounts
Product discounts with other product discounts
Order discounts with other order discounts
4) Native Bundles App by Shopify
A free way to combine products into buying suggestions and keep an accurate inventory.
Shopify finally released its version of a bundles app. Nearly native to the platform (because Shopify developed it), you still have to add the app via the Shopify app store. But, it is free.
Using a bundle app is a great way to combine products into multi-packs while maintaining your individual inventories of each item in the bundle. For the customer, they purchase one single product composed of those items. This is a fantastic way to make gift bundles with the holidays approaching. While there are other more advanced bundle apps, this is a basic/free starting point that allows you to make Fixed and Multi-Pack bundles. You are still limited to 100 variations, but that is feasible to nearly everyone and usually comes into play with products where customers can choose the varied options they want to combine in the bundle like Color, Size, Fabric, etc.
5) Shopify Marketplace Connect
Sell “everywhere” (e-Bay, Etsy, Amazon, Google, etc) from one place.
While not entirely new, the app is now owned by Shopify and enables sellers to “Connect your Shopify product catalog to the world’s top marketplaces.” You still have to maintain your profiles and listings, but this tool can make your inventory life more seamless, and help you pick up more customers and sales.
6) Built for Shopify Badge
Ensures that you install quality apps.
This is a new app level that highlights products that meet more stringent Shopify development standards. Note that while you cannot search for only apps with this badge, when you search by app categories, it shows up in the thumbnail listings.
Read more about what it takes for a developer to qualify for the badge
7) Filter by Metafield in Admin
Super helpful to allow more flexible and broader filtering for those who use metafields.
If your store already uses metafields, you can now use that as filtering criteria for the Admin. Also, they can be used for automated collections, and web pages. Metafields are very flexible bits of information that can be used internally and externally. Read more about this change, and if you want to leverage metafields more deeply, reach out to me, and I will show you around.
8) Tons of stuff under the hood that will allow developers to make better apps and improve the checkout experience. So, you should see some additional improvements over the coming months.
Bonus
Here are a few bonus features I would recommend hiring a Shopify Partner (like me!) to help with should you wish to take advantage of them:
1) More advanced storefront filtering through the Shopify Search & Discovery app that allows you to group and rename filters, among other features.
2) Create templates using metaobjects. Metawhat? Exactly. In short, this allows you to create reusable content templates for your site. Great if you have, for example, a gallery of product ingredient suppliers you want to highlight on product pages.
For the full list of new features, go to Shopify Editions Summer 2023.
