Summer Editions Special!

Inside: 3 most underrated features

July 31, 2023

Good morning! As summer heats up, so does Shopify with their Summer Editions. Let’s dive into a pool of 100+ updates in our Summer Editions special!

  • 3 underrated features

  • 3 best features for brands

3 underrated features

Features such as Sidekick & Magic, along with app launches like Shopify Subscriptions & Bundles, took center stage in the Editions.

Several underrated features didn't get the spotlight they deserved, but we're here to change that. Here are 3 features that are been criminally underrated:

Cart transform (Plus exclusive)

The cart transform API is now in full release. It allows developers to expand or merge line items in a cart to create a better checkout experience.

While this won’t be useful for every brand, for those with more complex product offerings (parent/child products, bundles, etc), there are several use cases:

  • Display multiple line items as a single bundle

  • Display BOGO (Buy One Get One) lines as a single line

  • Expand a bundle line into its components for easy pick and pack.

  • Add a free gift to a product.

Address validation (Plus exclusive)

In an important update to the checkout APIs, apps now have a way to suggest and/or correct a shipping address directly on checkout.

Brands, especially those with high order volumes, are plagued with customer service requests for an address change because an incorrect address was entered on checkout.

Not only will this API help reduce the customer support overhead on a minor issue, but it will also potentially reduce refund or replacement requests due to non-delivery of the order.

Filter by metafields

Imagine a large home furnishing, bedding, or electronics store where it’s very common to have tens of thousands of SKUs. Earlier you had to manually keep searching for the product after you filtered by its name. Might as well go back to the Stone Age.

But now you can filter and save these filtered views based on metafields. This is a godsend for brands with a large catalog of products.

Keep in mind you would need to activate the metafield to be used as an admin filter, and for now, you can only set 50 metafields to be used as filters.

3 best features for brands

Everyone’s getting on the AI hype train, and rightfully so. A lot has been said about the AI features already so instead we’ll look at 3 features that have the most potential to unlock additional revenue and make life a lot easier for brands.

Tailor your store

If you are selling in more than one market or the B2B feature on Shopify, you can tailor your online store for distinct customer groups by modifying sections and blocks for a particular context (a specific market or B2B).

You can do a lot more with a single store, like:

  • Insert a section (announcement bar, exclusive deals, etc) exclusive to a specific market or B2B

  • Alter the menu options for different contexts

  • Replace headlines in the image banner

  • Add quick order lists and volume pricing for B2B

Making edits and iterations to your product pages will get significantly simpler and easier!

Upsell subscriptions and pre-orders (Plus exclusive)

Until now, upsells have been limited to one time product / bundle add-ons. But now, brands can upsell subscriptions and pre-order products directly in checkout.

Subscriptions are a massive boost to the bottom line of any store. Even if a small fraction of customers accept the subscription upsell, it can have a significant impact on LTV.

Of course, Shopify’s own Subscription app would be a great pairing with this new feature. You’ll need to register for early access if you want to get your hands on it though.

Pre-ordering for out-of-stock products is another great advantage of the upsell improvements. Especially with BFCM coming up soon, brands can take advantage of selling pre-orders for the products they run out of and then fulfill them at a later date.

One of the easiest revenue wins is converting people who are already on your site instead of turning them away with an out-of-stock error.

Marketplace connect

Marketplace Connect allows you to easily connect your Shopify catalog to sell on top marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.

In fact, even if brands don’t have a big e-commerce presence on their own website but primarily sell on marketplaces, they can use Shopify for inventory and order management - making this their single source of truth.

The app allows you to easily manage listings, orders, and inventory across various platforms. You can create marketplace-specific content and set pricing overrides.

That's a wrap for this week! Join us over on Twitter to chat about all things e-commerce. It's like attending the coolest virtual shopping party – no long lines, pushy salespeople, or shopping cart collisions in sight (@theshoppulse)