Exciting Updates for Shopify Partners

Exciting Updates for Shopify Partners

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Shopify Partner Town Hall
3. Updates for Shopify Partners 3.1. Shopify Marketplace Kit 3.2. Shopify Audiences 3.3. Lead Tracking Tools 3.4. Flexible Payment and Fulfillment Options 3.5. Analytics with GraphQL Admin API 3.6. Theme Development with Meta Fields and Prettier Plugin 3.7. Liquid References Redesign 3.8. App Development with Secure Data Access 3.9. B2B Functionality 3.10. Hydrogen and Oxygen for Headless Storefronts
4. Conclusion
5. FAQ

Introduction

Welcome to Shopify Partner Town Hall! In this edition, we will be discussing the latest updates and additions to Shopify that will benefit our partners. We are committed to making commerce better for everyone, and our partners play a crucial role in helping us achieve this mission. Your creativity and innovation have helped countless brands start, grow, and scale their businesses.

In this article, we will dive into the details of the updates that have been made to Shopify, including new tools, APIs, and features that will enhance the flexibility and functionality of the platform. Whether you are a developer or a non-developer partner, there are exciting updates that will make working with us more enjoyable and fruitful.

So, let's explore the top updates for Shopify partners and how they can benefit your business.

Shopify Partner Town Hall

Shopify Partner Town Hall is a platform where we engage with our partners and provide them with the latest updates and announcements. It is an opportunity for partners to join in the conversation and share their feedback and ideas. This edition of Town Hall focuses on the updates that make Shopify more flexible and fun to work with.

During and after Town Hall, we encourage you to connect with us on our developer Discord community if you are a developer or on our partners' Slack if you are a non-developer partner. We value your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

Updates for Shopify Partners

In this section, we will discuss the top updates for Shopify partners and how they can benefit your business.

3.1. Shopify Marketplace Kit

As new online platforms gain popularity, new opportunities arise for merchants to connect with buyers. With Shopify Marketplace Kit, you have access to the tools and resources required to seamlessly add commerce features to any existing platform or create an entirely new marketplace community.

3.2. Shopify Audiences

Finding high-intent buyers is crucial for increasing conversions. Shopify Audiences helps you identify and target these buyers, increasing the likelihood of conversions. Agency partners can now use Shopify Audiences to help plus merchants find new customers, addressing one of their biggest pain points.

Pros: Better targeting of high-intent buyers, increased conversion rates.

Con: Requires additional investment in audience research and targeting.

3.3. Lead Tracking Tools

Tracking leads is essential for improving sales cycles and transparency. With new lead tracking tools, you can easily view, sort, and track Shopify Plus and Pro leads in real-time through your partner dashboard. You also receive email notifications for updates to your leads and can connect with the assigned Shopify sales representative effortlessly.

3.4. Flexible Payment and Fulfillment Options

Offering flexible payment and fulfillment options is crucial for businesses. Shopify has enhanced its selling plans to allow for deferred payment collection and deposits, providing businesses with more flexibility. Supporting selling plans like preorders and try before you buy enables you to deliver more robust app offerings to the businesses you work with.

Pros: Increased flexibility for businesses, improved customer experience.

3.5. Analytics with GraphQL Admin API

Generating business insights is essential for your clients. With the GraphQL Admin API, you can directly query Shopify's analytical data, allowing you to generate valuable insights without the need for complex data transformation. This feature enables you to deliver analytical experiences for your clients with minimal effort.

Pros: Access to valuable data, simplified analytics, improved decision-making.

3.6. Theme Development with Meta Fields and Prettier Plugin

Shopify has introduced several new features to make theme development better. The inclusion of meta fields read and write access restricted to your application allows for conditional logic design for different plan levels quickly. Additionally, the prettier plugin helps format your code, and redesigned liquid references provide a smoother start for theme development.

Pros: Simplified theme development, improved code formatting, customized conditional logic.

Con: Requires a learning curve for using new features.

3.7. App Development with Secure Data Access

Ensuring secure access to customer data is crucial for app development. Shopify's changes enable your app to support businesses' path towards compliance with privacy and data protection rules. The 2022.10 release will redact customer personal data by default and allow you to apply for necessary access to customer personal data throughout the life of your app.

Pros: Improved data security, compliance with privacy regulations.

3.8. B2B Functionality

Expanding into the B2B market is a valuable opportunity for merchants. Shopify's expanded B2B functionality, built directly into the core of Shopify, provides better ways to connect with wholesale customers. New primitives like business customers, price lists, and assigned payment terms enable customized native Shopify features to meet unique business needs.

Pros: Increased market reach, new revenue streams.

Con: Additional investment in B2B marketing and sales strategies.

3.9. Hydrogen and Oxygen for Headless Storefronts

Headless storefronts offer unparalleled flexibility and customization options for businesses. With Hydrogen and Oxygen, Shopify provides a robust framework for building fast and scalable headless storefronts. Hydrogen allows you to accelerate development and deploy your site directly to the edge with Oxygen, Shopify's global hosting solution.

Pros: Enhanced storefront customization, improved performance, global hosting.

Con: Requires advanced web development skills.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored the exciting updates and additions announced for Shopify partners. These updates offer a range of new features, tools, and APIs that improve the flexibility and performance of the Shopify platform. Whether you are a developer or a non-developer partner, there are plenty of opportunities to enhance your clients' businesses and provide unique solutions.

We encourage you to dive deeper into these updates, explore their benefits, and consider how they can elevate your offering as a Shopify partner. As Shopify continues to evolve, we remain committed to supporting our partners in their journey to make commerce better for everyone.

FAQ

Q: Can I use the new checkout customization for my startup business?

A: Yes, the new checkout customization features can be beneficial for all types of businesses, including startups. While it may seem overwhelming at first, these updates provide flexibility and customization options that can enhance the selling process and improve the overall customer experience.

Q: Will Shopify expand its CMS capabilities for more flexible data structuring?

A: Shopify is continually looking to improve its CMS capabilities. While there are plans to expand functionality and flexibility in terms of data structuring, specific timelines and features are yet to be announced. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting development.

Q: Are the new checkout updates available to all Shopify merchants or only Shopify Plus merchants?

A: The new checkout updates, including the checkout UI extensions, can be used by all Shopify merchants. However, the checkout UI extensions are currently exclusive to Shopify Plus merchants. Shopify is continuously working on making the availability of features clearer for each merchant plan.

Q: Can I edit meta fields in bulk? Are there plans to support bulk editing functionality?

A: Shopify is actively working on adding bulk editing functionality for meta fields. The ability to edit meta fields in bulk with definitions is already supported for product and variant meta fields. The feature is currently in the development phase, and a timeline for its release will be announced soon.

Q: Where can I suggest new features or provide feedback to Shopify?

A: Shopify welcomes feedback and suggestions from partners. While there isn't a specific suggestion box at the moment, you can share your ideas and suggestions in the Shopify community forums, where they can be reviewed and discussed by the community and the Shopify team.

Q: When will Shopify functions be rolled out to all Shopify stores?

A: Shopify functions are currently in the developer preview stage. The timeline for the rollout to all Shopify stores has not been announced yet. However, developers can start building discount apps using the Shopify checkout extensibility developer preview and stay tuned for further announcements regarding the public release.

Please note that the answers provided here are based on the information available at the time of writing and are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to the official Shopify documentation and announcements.