Shopify just dropped its Summer ‘22 Edition in late June with more than 100 new updates and features.
This is great news for not only businesses using Shopify, but also consumers who will inevitably be shopping from Shopify stores.
The latest edition, called Connect to Consumer (C2C), focuses on new ways of connecting businesses with consumers through new digital channels including social media, cryptocurrency, and influencer marketing.
So What’s a Shopify Edition?
Shopify is constantly making tweaks and changes to improve its platform, but they also know that Shopify merchants and developers are busy focusing on their business rather than tracking every little move Shopify makes.
So to make it easier for Shopify’s consumers (those same merchants and developers), Shopify releases a new edition twice a year to highlight all of their latest product releases and updates. This way their users can easily see all of the new features available to them at once and get to work implementing things right away.
Breaking Into The B2B Space
The new B2B feature is designed to create a seamless experience for merchants that want to sell to other businesses on the same platform that they’re also selling direct-to-consumer.
The most essential wholesale features are now built directly into the Shopify admin and allow Shopify Plus users to to run their entire business (both wholesale and retail) in one, customized experience.
A few of the most promising features of Shopify’s new B2B functionality are the abilities to:
- Set wholesale pricing and net terms
- Customize with themes and discounts
- Sell from one storefront or use a dedicated store
New Commerce Channels On Shopify
The venture into new channels doesn’t just stop with B2B. This latest edition marks the start of new functionality across several direct-to-consumer channels, making Shopify an even more robust shopping platform than it already was.
Twitter Sales Channel
Twitter Shopping is finally available! Users can highlight and sell products directly on their Twitter profile with this latest edition, meaning merchants can reach more potential customers and present a more uniform social media presence. You can also see our other post on how to gain more engagement and followers for your brand.
Dovetale
Thinking about leveraging affiliate or influencer marketing in your commerce business? This update is for you!
Dovetale makes it easier for merchants to find, connect, and build authentic relationships with creators and influencers to help boost affiliate sales.
Tokengated Commerce
This is a major update for Shopify – the introduction to the NFT market and crypto-based commerce. Customers can connect their crypto wallets to a merchant’s store and enjoy unique experiences (like exclusive merchandise, early access, real-life experiences) that are gated by tokens.
- Tokengate Shopify store or Shop app
- Create tokengated experiences with Web3
- Seamless crypto checkout with Shop Pay
Shopify Markets for International Selling
Reach new international markets through your Shopify admin with the option to customize your storefront for each region to improve the shopping experience for your global customers.
- Collect duties and import taxes at checkout
- Set prices by market region
- Sell in each market’s local currency and language
Pre-Orders, Subscriptions & Try Before Your Buy
Shopify merchants can now offer customers new ways to buy, including pre-orders, subscriptions, and Try Before You Buy options.
- Take deposits for a fraction of the total sale price and charge remaining amount at a later date
- Set up recurring payments for subscriptions-based products
- Collect payment info upfront, but charge 3-7 (or more) days after fulfilling the order
Shopify Fulfillment Network
Similar to Amazon’s FBA, the Shopify Fulfillment Network allows merchants to offer verified 2-day delivery on their products.
This allows merchants to spend more time focusing on growing other areas of their business and keeping costs low, while the SFN takes care of order fulfillment.
- Free storage for 6 months per item
- Simplified returns to maximize inventory
Shopify Point of Sale for In-Person Sales
Merchants can sell in-person at multiple retail locations and accept payments from a phone or any compatible device. Shopify Point of Sale is also available in many different countries.
- Tap to Pay on iPhone (US only)
- Google Local Inventory Sync compatible
Other Top Updates To Look Out For
With over 100 new updates, it’s hard to touch on them all. But even some of the smaller updates released can have a massive impact on Shopify-based businesses.
- Increased fraud protection and installment pay features
- Ability to combine different discounts on a single order
- Customizable search, filtering, and product recommendations for customer designed to increase conversions
- Increased retargeting and customer relationship management on the Shop app
- Shopify is giving millions of dollars in rewards to customers using their most popular checkout method, the Shop app
The bottom line - all of these updates are geared towards one thing - increasing sales. And more sales, mean more money in the pockets of deserving business owners!
You can find all of the new updates at https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2022.
