As a tradition, Shopify has released new Editions in which they "flex" about more than 100 updates in the past 6 months. It took us nearly a week to consume the "too much yet too great" information, and finally, as our tradition, we will take on the hard work and summarize the most important things you should know.
Because Shopify Editions target a wide range of audiences from eCommerce merchants to app developers and tech experts, our first summary in the form of some infographics will focus on helpful updates for merchants and non-technical departments like marketing. Without further ado, let's get right into the most anticipated and awaited features with AI powers.
In the last Editions, we got to know Shopify Magic, a generative AI tool that helps merchants create compelling product descriptions. Within several months, Shopify has not only expanded the capabilities of Shopify Magic but also brought us another AI-fueled tool: Sidekick.
Although enthusiasts like us at present can only sign up for early access, the demo of Sidekick made by Tobi Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify, was intriguing. We saw that Sidekick could analyze the online store to explain metrics, predict trends and suggest improvements. Furthermore, it can tackle time-consuming tasks like adding new products, creating new collections, and editing themes.
That's mind-blowing! 🤯 🤯 🤯 🤯
Sidekick is, without a shadow of a doubt, the bell of the "Shopify Editions | Summer '23" ball. Still, the host got a bunch of freshly released apps and functionalities that are of great value to merchants.
Those brand-new apps have a lot to offer for all types of merchants. B2B sellers can check out Shopify Collective to easily curate items from well-known suppliers, while Shopify Marketplace Connect allows you to list your products on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, etc. Shopify app that arouses our interest the most is Shopify Bundles. It promises to boost AOV through discounted bundles with real-time inventory sync.
The night before the latest Editions were published, Shopify made a significant change to the Admin. It has been redesigned with a single-column layout and refreshed visual design, making everything feel more streamlined, focused, and functional. The new design updates include improved fonts, redesigned icons, a new color palette, and higher information density.
In the Admin, you can now filter by Metafields, and the settings system has been improved for a faster and more reliable universal search.
The reports include new benchmark data, allowing you to measure yourself against other businesses by industry, geography, and volume. You can use benchmarks in reports such as online store conversion over time, average order value over time, cohort analysis, and fulfillment, shipping, and delivery times.
You can customize and reorder your analytics overview dashboard to view the metrics most matter to you. The cohort analysis report allows filtering by first-order attributes like sales channel, marketing channel, etc., and includes specific customer criteria like location to get a more granular view.
As usual, Shopify never fails to amaze us with their innovation and speed. What is your favorite update? What do you expect Shopify to release in the subsequent Editions? Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Youtube to discuss more.
From our perspective, this has constantly been pushing us to think faster and do faster. We released our AI-powered tool, Boost AI Search & Discovery, in April and plan to add more in the future to catch up with merchants' needs. Also, let us know what you think about it.