Top 6 Highlights from Shopify Summer Editions | Arctic Leaf

Shopify's Summer Editions 2024 is packed with powerful and exciting new features for business owners, designers, and developers. At Arctic Leaf, we’ve pinpointed the updates that will have the biggest impact for our clients. Here’s our top 6 list of standout features.

1. Markets: A Unified Home for Business Expansion

The release of Markets on Shopify represents a big shift in how businesses expand globally. Markets simplifies the process by offering:

• A unified platform for efficient business expansion across multiple markets.
• Customizable catalogs tailored to regional preferences and market demands.
• Versatile Shopify themes adaptable to local cultural and aesthetic preferences.
• Tools to customize for diverse market segments, improving buyer experiences.
• Centralized view and management of all operational activities, optimizing global operations.

Markets heralds a whole new day for global business expansion with simple customization and centralized management, empowering businesses to excel in diverse markets with ease. Get ready to expand your reach like never before!

2. Split Shipping at Checkout

Shopify’s new Split Shipping at Checkout feature improves the customer experience by allowing orders to be divided and shipped to multiple addresses within a single transaction. This feature is designed to cater to various shipping needs, such as:

• Flexibility: Customers can easily select different shipping addresses for each item in their order.
• Convenience: Ideal for sending gifts or managing orders for multiple locations.
• Operational Efficiency: Simplifies logistics for merchants handling complex shipping requirements.
• User-Friendly Interface: Incorporated into Shopify’s existing checkout process for a smooth and intuitive experience.

This update provides greater control and customization options, improving the overall shopping experience on Shopify. Just please note that your store may not yet have it, as this is a gradual roll-out.

3. Shopify AI Assistant, Sidekick

Shopify is fully on board when it comes to AI. Magic and Sidekick bring advanced AI capabilities tailored for commerce, to upgrade your business’ efficiency and customer engagement across Shopify platforms. Features include:

• AI-Enabled Image Editing: Quickly edit product images by generating or removing backgrounds in a couple clicks.
• Automated Content Generation: Create SEO-friendly product descriptions and email content with AI assistance.
• Personalized Customer Support: Instantly respond to FAQs with AI-suggested answers in Shopify Inbox.
• Optimized Communication: Improve email effectiveness with AI-generated subject lines and content.
• Improved Customer Interactions: Provide personalized responses to customer queries to boost conversions.

The future is here with Shopify Magic and Sidekick!

4. Rebuilt Analytics Tech Stack

You can now gain deeper insights faster with Shopify’s rebuilt analytics tech stack. This revamped platform offers real-time data and intuitive visualizations, so you can make informed decisions swiftly and effectively. Whether you're exploring sales trends, customer behavior, or campaign performance, Shopify’s new analytics tech stack is designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern commerce, with:

• Real-time data updates for timely decision-making
• Customizable reports that allow you to configure metrics and dimensions
• New exploration capabilities to create tailored reports from scratch

This user-friendly interface also includes a personalized dashboard, enabling quick access to essential metrics like sales, orders, and sessions!

5. New Style Settings for Shopify Themes

Shopify has introduced new Style Settings and expanded functionality for Theme Blocks for a better user experience. These updates give Liquid theme developers the power to offer more customization options for storefronts with:

• New Style Settings: Directly correspond to CSS properties, so merchants can adjust layout, size, and spacing across different breakpoints.
• Advanced Theme Blocks: Introduce block targeting and static rendering for precise control over block usage and layout consistency on various devices.

This updated is currently available in developer preview.

6. Visually Build Hydrogen Stores with Utopia

The Shopify Hydrogen Visual Editor powered by Utopia, is the next big thing when it comes to building headless storefronts, allowing teams to manipulate elements in real time—from reordering sections to fine-tuning design details like button styles—integrating smoothly with existing workflows.

Key Features:

• Real-time WYSIWYG Editing: Directly manipulate storefront components visually.
• Integrated GitHub PRs: Maintain code integrity with automatic updates reflected in GitHub pull requests
• Shopify API Integration: Sync edits directly to Shopify APIs and integrate third-party content sources.

These improvements aim to boost productivity and flexibility for developers and merchants, resulting in more dynamic and user-friendly storefront experiences.

"Hydrogen Visual Editor powered by Utopia looks really cool and opens up a whole world of possibilities in headless builds while making it much easier for devs and merchants to work closely with each other." -Alex Shi, Full Stack Developer at Arctic Leaf

Honorable Mentions

Shopify’s Summer Editions 2024 brought a lot of exciting new updates to the table. Alongside our standout highlights, we wanted to mention a few other tools and capabilities that promise to make ecommerce easier and more versatile:

• Store Credit on Shopify: Businesses now have the capability to issue store credit directly within the Shopify admin. Customers can easily view their credit balances, transaction history, and utilize their credits at checkout.
• Product Bundles: Product bundles have now been integrated into draft orders and Shop, offering businesses the ability to create and sell bundled products with ease. This feature is designed to increase average order values by providing customers with curated product combinations.
• Image Filters for Search: The Search & Discovery Shopify app now includes image filters, so customers can refine their product searches based on visual elements such as logos or icons. This feature will create a quicker and more intuitive product discovery process.
• Built for Shopify: Built for Shopify sets quality standards, ensuring apps are user-friendly, safe, and high-performing, helping merchants grow their businesses effectively.

“Built for Shopify is going to be key to app success for developers looking to shine in the app store.” - Brayden Girard, Chief Technology Officer at Arctic Leaf

Conclusion

Shopify's Summer Editions 2024 brought some exciting updates our way! From making global expansion easier with Markets to giving you more flexibility at checkout with Split Shipping, and boosting efficiency with AI-powered Sidekick — there's a lot to love. These tools are here to help your business shine brighter in the online world and at Arctic Leaf we’re looking forward to working with you and seeing what we can accomplish together. 

For more information on Shopify's comprehensive services, or questions about your Shopify store, reach out to us at solutions@arcticleaf.io. 

Arctic Leaf is a digital agency with over 10 years of e-commerce experience serving clients of all industries. Our entire team is Baymard UX certified and our amazing developers can build everything from simple Shopify themes to fully custom headless experiences.