5 months ago there were the last 100 updates from Shopify. Since 26/07/23, 5pm German time new Shopify Edition Summer `23 are armed. In the live walkthrough with Glen Coates, VP Product at Shopify some of the most exciting updates were presented. Among the 100+ updates announced, there are some new features and announcements that made our jaws drop. In this post, we give an overview of the most exciting updates - from our point of view.
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What are Shopify Editions?
Shopify Editions is a format published directly by Shopify that reports on new updates, features and previews for the Shopify and Shopify Plus platform twice a year - in winter and summer. In addition to videos and help centre articles, there is a landing page that goes live on the pre-announced date and shows all the updates bundled together.
The last Shopify Editions Winter `23 were released in February 2023. The current version of Shopify Editions for summer went live on 26 July 2023 and can be viewed on the Shopify Editions landing page.
What's new?
Of course, we can't highlight all 100 updates in one blog post, so we'll limit ourselves here to the innovations that will be most exciting for our resellers. Our CEO and CTO Jan Laußmann also gives his expert opinion on the updates listed. Let's go!
Overview:
→ Shopify Admin has received a new design.
→ Shopify Magic is live for Shopify merchants and as an AI suite, it's a chatbot, texter, help center and manager all in one.
→ Shopify Bundles Apps and Subscriptions Apps are here!
→ Shopify increases the number of possible product variants to 250!
→ Shopify Marketplace Connect lets merchants connect the Shopify store to Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart.
→ With Shopify B2B, you can now easily split and customize the frontend of B2B and D2C stores - without programming!
→ The Online Store Editor brings new exciting effects. And there's an exciting sneak peek for the coming weeks and months with Flex Sections.
→ There are insights on Sidekick - the AI tool is not only a chatbot, but also manages the implementation of tasks like store redesigns.
Here's what our expert Jan Laußmann has to say:
"My absolute highlight feature of Shopify Editions 2023 is not one single feature, but an idea, a vision of what will be possible in the future with the combination of 2 features."
Are you curious about which features Jan is referring to? Then continue reading the next paragraphs.
Shopify B2B
There are exciting updates for B2B merchants this time as well. From now on, volume discounts and price reductions are easily possible. Payment with Paypal is also feasible. Also, and perhaps even more exciting, from now on specific versions of the store can be created, so B2B customers will see a different, customized storefront than D2C customers. This way, B2B and D2C customers can buy from the same store, but see content perfectly tailored to them - without any programming effort.
"The first feature or the first building block are contextual storefronts. This means that you can now play out your own storefronts for B2B, but also for other markets or languages, which are not only translated, but are completely individual. Own sections and different contents are now possible here. In a further thought, this is also the basis for A/B tests, in which there is one context group A and another context group B and I, as a merchant, can test which frontend converts better. But this goes even further to personalization. Each buyer group could be its own context and everyone gets their own frontend, individually optimized for them."
Reading tip: Shopify B2B: How to implement B2B commerce with Shopify.
Shopify Magic
Shopify Magic, a suite of AI-enabled features, is available for all plans and countries starting 23/7/26. The integration spans multiple Shopify products and workflows and can find the right answers to your questions from the Help Center, answer your customers' questions as a chatbot, write appropriate sales copy in the Shopify Editor after entering a prompt, write FAQs for you, create blogposts, or optimize your email subject lines, among other things. Sounds strong already, we're excited to test it out!
Here's what our Expert says:
"The second feature or building block is the Shopify AI. In the Shopify Editions presentation, it was shown how Shopify Magic - as the feature is called - can not only generate content, but just like that, on a prompt, transformed the entire storefront to a Summer feel. The combination of these two features will lead to something that sounded like total science fiction the day before yesterday: A store system that optimizes itself, independently generates different variants of the storefront, tests them and then saves the best variants, similar to a genetic algorithm. Depending on the visitor, the best storefront is then played out individually and personalized, the storefront that leads to the highest conversion and the highest average order value. This is an absolute killer feature that no other store system even comes close to offering, but Shopify laid the groundwork for it on Wednesday and I'm just super flashed on what the future will bring"
Shopify Bundle Apps
The new, free Shopify Bundles App allows all merchants to offer fixed bundles and multipacks from now on. Easy to create from the Shopify admin and synced in real time. Those who want to offer mix-and-match bundles or have more advanced requirements in general can find more updated bundle apps in the App Store. Shopify Plus merchants can offer custom bundle deals via the Bundles API.
By the way: Shopify increases the number of possible product variants to 250! An often requested and long awaited update, which will be optimized even more in the future.
Also, thanks to the Shopify Subscriptions app, you can now easily offer subscriptions for your products!
Reading tip: You can read more about Shopify Bundles in this blog.
Shopify Marketplace Connect
The Shopify-Marketplace Connect app allows merchants to increase their reach by effortlessly connecting their Shopify product catalog with leading marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay or Etsy. All data is synced directly between marketplace and store, orders are imported, and you can sell on marketplaces easier than ever.
Online Store Editor
The Online Store Editor got some exciting new effects and animations, e.g. a 3D shimmer effect for product images or paralax effects that lock background images. Everything is live now, check it out!
Sneak Peek - what's coming?
Sidekick
The commerce assistant was announced by Tobi Lütke a few weeks ago and is part of Shopify Magic. It is available in early access and will be coming for all merchants in the next few months. With advanced AI technology and Shopify's data, it offers personalized support for a variety of tasks - in a live walk-through, Glen used it to redesign a store. Our mouths were open at this point, at the latest.
Sidekick will help merchants with marketing, back-office management and store set-up, for example. Let's see when Sidekick can be used.
Flex Sections
With the upcoming Flex Sections, new blocks can soon be inserted, moved, edited and resized in the Online Store Editor using drag and drop. This will make designing the online store easier than ever before.
As an experienced Shopify agency we're happy to help you implement the new features in your store! Contact us.
Frequently asked question about Shopify Editions
What are Shopify Editions?
Shopify Editions is a format from Shopify that covers Shopify updates and new features twice a year with landing pages, videos, and articles.
How often are Shopify Editions published?
Shopify Editions are usually published in winter and summer.