Yesterday Shopify released its final round of updates this year – over 150 – under the name The Boring Edition.
Why boring? Because, according to Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, “There aren’t any big, new, shiny products. No headline chasers.”
“Everything is about small, but significant platform improvements. Things that optimise the platform, improve performance and make everything we already have the best it can be.”
In this article, we break down the most boring, therefore exciting, updates for retailers and examine how they might be useful for your business.
Since 2022 Shopify has been releasing updates under the name Shopify Editions.
The first Shopify Edition coined Connect to Consumer, focused on expanding the consumer base, converting customers, building stronger relationships, and scaling businesses.
The second, released in winter 2023 was called Built to Last and steered towards brand growth and reaching more customers.
The next was named Imagine My Business, which featured over 100 new product updates and put a lens on the future of commerce and its ever-changing landscape.
Shopify’s winter ’24 Edition called Foundations, also boasted over 100 updates and focused on the building blocks that make a business, like data models, business logic, APIs and high-performance infrastructure.
Unified, the summer edition, was all about “creating the most unified Shopify yet.” It focused on unifying key workflows and infrastructure, all across Shopify, to make it faster, more resilient, and more tightly integrated than ever before.
Shopify’s Winter Editon ‘25, “is all about improving the features you already depend on, every day,” says Shopify. “Smoothing rough edges, improving performance and making sure that everything works well together.”
Other highlights:
Choose if parent or child products should appear in search and product recommendations with Shopify Search and Discovery.
Create smart collections based on product attributes in Shopify's product taxonomy, such as material and colour.
Assign your own metafields to only apply to specific product categories to extend the standard attributes in Shopify's taxonomy to better fit your store.
Choose the exact order your category filter values appear in using Shopify Search and Discovery.
Now you can filter by category metafields using Shopify Search and Discovery, enabling more relevant filters on your storefront.
Easily access metaobjects, like featured reviews and brand ambassadors, across your entire theme using the dynamic source picker in the theme editor.
Edit, remove, or add subscriptions directly from the product details page in the admin, not just the Shopify Subscriptions app.
Shopify Subscriptions now respects your inventory settings when renewing subscriptions, restricting new orders if products are out of stock.
You can now offer Buy X Get Y discounts for subscriptions, such as offering customers a free gift when they subscribe.
Offer more app-based automatic discounts, with the limit increased from five to 25.
Markets will be available to all merchants over the coming months, enabling custom buyer experiences for retail, B2B, and international.
Get more insight into how your product bundles are performing with metrics in the new analytics.
Product bundles and their components are now represented more consistently across emails, the order details page, and more.
Show customers if a product bundle is out of stock before checkout when using Managed Markets or fulfillable inventory.
The theme editor features a more compact settings sidebar so you can easily find what you're looking for.
Search and collection filters that you set up in your online store now are available on Shop improving how customers browse in the app.
Customers can now initiate returns and exchanges directly from the order management page in the Shop app.
Enable your retail staff to process returns without a receipt or order number and refund to a gift card.
The Shopify POS home screen now displays the cart alongside search results and lets you easily add searched items with just a tap.
Shopify POS now supports Shopify Bundles. Set bundles up in the app and publish to POS via the product details page.
Retail customers will now see product thumbnails, more prominent buttons, and the option to select more than one type of receipt in the POS Terminal.
The app layout for Shopify POS is now more compact and includes modal views, helping staff get to the most relevant info faster.
Accept in-person card payments even if your network is down. Payment information is saved and processed when your POS is back online.
Accept contactless payments on your phone with Tap to Pay available in even more countries on iPhone and now on Android.
Use new location-based filters in customer segments to create personalised marketing campaigns that reach nearby customers.
View and edit customer metafields on Shopify POS, improving the in-store customer experience while collecting customer info.
Merchants in France can now accept in-person payments, streamline operations, and unify offline and online sales with Shopify POS.
All plans can now make simple customisations on the thank you and order status pages with the free Checkout Blocks app, no coding required.
Add a helpful chat app to the thank you page using checkout extensions, or if you're on Plus, to any checkout page.
Customers can start interacting with the checkout page more than one second sooner with new animations and asynchronous loading of customisations.
Cart loading speeds have increased by up to 50 per cent, for a faster cart and checkout experience for your customers.
Accelerated checkout buttons now load up to 58.8 per cent faster on the product details page, and support functions and bundles.
See an exact preview of all accelerated checkout buttons like Shop Pay, PayPal, Apple Pay, and more in the checkout and accounts editor.
Now any checkout customisations that were built with UI extensions will also load in your draft order checkouts. Exclusive to Plus.
Checkout customisations that were made using Shopify Functions now also apply to draft orders, ensuring a more consistent experience.
Guarantee prices quoted in draft orders by locking the price until the order is complete, even when prices change in your catalogue.
Conditionally disable gift cards in checkout using apps, with updates to the Payment Customisation Function API.
The cart's lifetime has been increased to boost customer conversion.
All merchants can offer split shipping in checkout, which is now compatible with third-party fulfillment apps like ShipStation, ShipBob, and more.
US-based enterprise businesses using Shop Pay Component can now offer customers the option to pay over time with Shop Pay Installments.
Personalise customer accounts without code using apps, like you do in checkout. Add powerful functionality like order management, returns, subscriptions, and more.
Tailor the customer accounts header menu by adding or removing pages, directing customers exactly where they need to go.
Make your login page pop by incorporating your store’s checkout and customer accounts branding, including everything from typography to brand colours.
You can now set custom UTM parameters for Shopify Email campaigns that will apply to all links in an email and work with third-party reporting tools.
See how your Shopify Email campaigns are performing with spend and ROI metrics now built into your marketing analytics dashboard.
Edit your email images using the same editing tools available elsewhere in the admin, like crop and resize, without leaving Shopify Email.
Send holiday emails with new templates in Shopify Email, and add urgency with a countdown timer section for sales and shipping windows.
Quickly send out Shopify Email campaigns featuring specific products right from the product details page or product index.
Shopify has improved the experience for customers signing in to your online store with Shop boosting the sign in conversion rate by more than 16 per cent.
You can now trigger automations when customers join or leave a segment with Shopify Flow.
All marketing automation templates are now powered by Shopify Flow and are available in the template library.
You can now quickly answer customer questions with AI-generated suggested replies in Shopify Inbox. English only.
Turn your TV ads into shoppable experiences with Actions Ads on Roku, with no additional fees or minimums, and analyse your ROI within Shopify.
Add a profile photo for more personal chats with customers, and more easily manage your spam, with Shopify Inbox.
Select which fields in Shopify Forms map to customer metafields, providing more control over what information is added to customer profiles.
Shopify Audiences lets you exclude 40 per cent more existing customers from your ads on average with the new Existing Customers Plus audience. Exclusive to Plus.
Acquire new customers and scale paid advertising efforts on Google, Meta, and more with low-lift, risk-free Shop Campaigns available on all plans in the US and Canada.
Target and convert lapsed customers based on their last transaction date with Shop Campaigns. Available in the US and Canada.
Expand the reach of your Shop Campaigns to Google Shopping with one click. Available in the US and Canada.
Run campaigns on Google Ads that use your Shopify customer segments to more easily reach the right audience.
Shop now showcases your brand colors, videos, and images in the feed, and features personalized recommendations to engage app customers.
Shopify has upgraded draft orders so you can lock product prices and offer bundles. If you’re on Plus you can also collect deposits and view and charge vaulted cards.
Customise draft order checkouts with checkout UI extensions. For example, add a shipping message just for B2B customers. Exclusive to Plus.
Checkout customisations you make with Shopify Functions now also apply to drafts, for a more consistent experience for sales staff.
Customer account extensions are now available. Use apps to add features for B2B customers like quoting workflows, downloadable PDF invoices, and more.
Allow B2B customers to initiate returns directly through their customer account, just like DTC. Exclusive to Plus.
Let new customers place orders ASAP by automating the assignment of catalogs, permissions, and sales staff to company locations with Shopify Flow. Exclusive to Plus.
Offer B2B customers a consistent login experience across all your current platforms by enabling your existing identity provider. Exclusive to Plus.
Your store’s checkout and accounts branding now also applies to your login page.
Apply a general tax exemption to all or specific company locations, ensuring no tax is collected for B2B orders. Exclusive to Plus.
Tailor your reports to focus entirely on B2B orders and customers, and exclude DTC, for more effective performance tracking. Exclusive to Plus.
Enhance your store with line sheets, CSV order uploads, preorders, B2B-specific analytics, and more with 18 more apps now compatible with B2B.
Save time managing your Shopify Collective listings with rules to automatically import, update, and delete products.
Automate Shopify Collective returns, with or without 3P apps, for a more efficient and scalable way to return orders to suppliers.
Create and customise product automations and returns policies for groups of suppliers in Shopify Collective.
Automated flows now flag high-risk Shopify Collective orders, allowing you to cancel them before they ship.
Customers around the globe can now search using everyday language with Semantic Search.
Shopify now offers merchants in Europe and Japan better translations in the admin and a more regional experience.
Easily generate, store, and display VAT invoices for both B2B and DTC customers in the EU and UK with Shopify Tax.
Managed Markets shipping labels cover against loss, damage, or theft for up to $200, with the option to purchase up to $5K, for the Shopify plan and above.
All Managed Markets merchants can now reduce surprises at checkout by including international duties and taxes as part of the product price.
Buy and print Managed Markets shipping labels from Shipbob.
Managed Markets now lets you easily update existing orders to better support international customers.
Managed Markets offers more local payment methods, including Bancontact, GrabPay, KCP, MobilePay, Przelewy24, Twint, and Vipps.
Customers in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK can buy now and pay later with Klarna on Shopify Payments.
Improve compliance with privacy settings that automatically update when you sell in new markets or make changes to your store.
Your order routing and fulfilment settings are applied across subscriptions, draft order invoices, and imported orders to prevent overselling.
Allow customers to buy items online and have them shipped to their preferred store for pickup by enabling store transfers. Now available on all plans.
Now merchants can enjoy larger discounts on their smaller-sized packages with UPS® Ground and UPS Ground Saver.
See all delivery methods per location in one view, allowing you to easily activate, deactivate, or configure your delivery methods.
Buy labels from shipping carriers in more countries including DHL Paket in Germany and Yodel in the UK.
Customise your columns in the shipping labels page, add fields for order tags and notes, and filter by date to make it easier to purchase labels in bulk.
Save time by filing damaged or missing Shopify Shipping insurance claims directly from the admin.
Refund shipping in one click, get a clear timeline of past refunds, and see accurate post-refund shipping amounts on the order details page.
Custom metafields can now inform order routing rules, offering a more dynamic and scalable way to define where orders are fulfilled from.
A single order can now have multiple holds, offering more clarity into the reasons why it’s on hold and reducing errors in your automation workflows.
You now have more options for how to handle inventory stored at a 3PL- or app-managed location when uninstalling a fulfilment app.
Addresses are now validated across the admin including draft orders, shipping labels, customer profiles, B2B company locations, and more.
Get fast access to your POS location settings using improved filters and search, and easily view or change your default fulfilment location.
Now everyone can group stores into a single organisation to more efficiently manage staff in one place, and consolidate to a single bill.
Assign staff permissions for managing files, allowing specific people to create, delete, edit, or view.
Role-based access controls are now rolling out, so you can easily and securely give staff access by assigning them one or multiple roles.
Your personal AI-powered assistant Sidekick is rolling out in English to merchants around the globe.
The admin is the fastest it’s ever been, with initial page load speeds increased by 25 per cent and page-to-page navigation 12.5 per cent faster.
Get more customised insights using the metrics and dimensions you choose with the new analytics, now rolling out to everyone.
The new analytics lets you query your data directly from a report in real time using ShopifyQL, for more dynamic and customisable reporting.
Understand your customer segments and decide how to best re-engage each of them with the Recency, Frequency, and Monetary report in the new analytics.
All store credit transactions can now be viewed in one report by event type and used to build customer segments for your marketing.
Search is smarter across Shopify, including the Shopify app and the variable picker in Shopify Flow.
Find new themes featured on the Shopify Theme Store home page. Reviews and ratings are also more prominent to make it easier to browse.
Customise the metrics on your Shopify app home screen for more relevant, at-a-glance insights on the go with the new analytics.
Shopify Flow can now automate workflows without custom HTTP calls, with the Send Admin API request supporting nearly all Admin API actions and returns data.
Quickly find Shopify Flow runs right from the admin page you're on – like order and product pages.
Shopify Flow can now trigger workflows, like automating a thank you email after a form submission, on new metaobject entries.
Your workflow runs now provide more information in the Shopify Flow runs list view, so you can more effectively troubleshoot any issues.
Build more reliable workflows with improved visibility of errors when configuring new templates and workflows in Shopify Flow.
Save time by automating returns and exchanges with Shopify Flow now featuring new return triggers, actions, and templates.
Maintain and sync product catalogs and customer data across multiple systems and stores with custom IDs and upsert API support.
Shopify's secure reauthentication flow now supports any type of account and login method from SAML to passkeys for a frictionless experience in the admin.
More easily view and manage all your business's finances from the admin or the Shopify app with a new, comprehensive finance home.
Shopify Balance now gives Plus merchants in the US features like a competitive APY reward, up to $1M transfer limits, and payouts in as soon as one business day.
Batch, combined, and recurring payments are now available. Pay how you want – by credit card, debit card, bank transfer, or Balance. US only.
Shopify Credit now lets you pay statements from your daily sales over 10 months for a fee, or pay in full in the first month for no fees. US only.
Shopify Tax automates the preparation, filing, and remittance of your sales tax returns in the US. Streamline compliance and save time and money.
Shopify Tax is now available in the EU and UK, simplifying VAT compliance with automated calculations, liability tracking, reporting, and VAT invoicing.
Shopify Capital now lets you submit required application documents directly within the admin and accepts more types of files.
To quote Finkelstein, “This isn’t the big shiny Edition. This is The Boring Edition. Literally.”
But importantly, the platform is constantly innovating and improving and these, of course, are just the highlights. To see the full list of Editions product updates from Shopify click here.
As time goes on and we learn more about the updates and how they can benefit your business we will of course update you.
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