Shopify Updates Worth Getting Excited About

Throughout 2019 Shopify has been making exciting announcements. Many of 2019’s newly introduced tools will have a material impact on the Shopify merchant experience, and will influence the direction of our work as a Shopify Plus partner. Here are our 2 favourite Shopify updates, and why both merchants and agencies (like Diff!) should be excited about them.

1. Video, 3D and AR support

Video, 3D and AR support is one more example of how Shopify is offering native out-of-the-box support to provide a best-in-class experience to merchants. “When a customer interacts with a 3D model,” Cynthia Savard Saucier, Director of UX at Shopify, told the audience in her keynote at Shopify Unite, “they are more than twice as likely to complete a purchase than when they didn’t.” Here’s a short overview of how video, 3D and AR support will make Shopify better:

• Simple uploading. It’s easier than ever to add content to your site. 
  
• Native platform support. Shopify will support video, 3D, AR, right out of the box. 
• Quick loading. A content delivery network (CDN) will ensure your site loads quickly.
  

Benefits for merchants

Shopify is providing more value for merchants by taking steps to democratize access to technology. The powerful CDN means that sites will load quickly regardless of your customer’s location and visual enhancements. And, as an alternative to explaining the benefits of your products through text, Shopify is providing the tools to allow users to see how that item might look in their home or car, with the help of AR. This is an opportunity for industries, like furniture and luggage for example, to convert and sell more online. 

Benefits for Diff

The ability to upload, access and store video and 3D models in the same place where images are stored will make it simpler for merchants to manage media, and for our developers to display content on the front-end. Shopify is helping customers extract more value from the platform by producing better user experiences for both merchants and developers.

2. Multi-store capabilities for Shopify Plus

Operating multiple online retail stores can add complexity, growth and scale to a brand, but can also become challenging to manage. To address this, Shopify is empowering merchants to manage all their stores from a single interface and create stores with just a few clicks. This will simplify managing your online business, and provide a more powerful reporting across all of commerce properties. Here’s a short overview of how multi-store capabilities will make Shopify Plus better:

• Save time. Clone all store elements at once — products, collections, navigation and links.
  
• Sell in different locations. Copy, link, and sync multiple stores more easily than before.
  
• Keep it simple and consistent. Manage the complexity of all your stores in one place.
• Increase visibility. See how all of your stores are performing at a glance.
  

 Benefits for merchants

Multi-store capabilities will be a huge timesaver. Merchants will be able to clone all elements of their stores easily and efficiently, including products, collections, navigation and links. This feature will benefit Shopify Plus merchants who sell in multiple locations because they’ll be able to clone and link their international stores and more efficiently administer online retail business.

Benefits for Diff

At Diff Agency, we migrate and build websites for enterprise merchants who sell in multiple locations on Shopify Plus. They might have a US and Canada store, or an international and North American store. Whatever the situation, the ability to clone and link these stores enables our developers to maintain development, staging and production environments more easily. We can also provide our retail partners with a native solution, backed by Shopify to address this complex issue. 

Exciting things are in store

These announcements continue to show that Shopify is continuously addressing the challenges large retailers face, and positioning themselves well to take over in the enterprise market. With more merchants joining the Shopify ecosystem, it’s dominating worldwide as a leading ecommerce platform — and it's really exciting to be part of that growth, whether as a merchant, developer, or partner agency. We’re already looking forward to what next year’s Shopify Unite brings.

Stay tuned for more Shopify updates, and if you’d like to chat with us about your ecommerce project, don’t be shy.