Shopify is one of the most powerful online shopping platforms out there. Part of what makes it so great is the company’s commitment to providing a better service, year after year. This year’s big winter update, nicknamed The Boring Edition, however, is far from boring. It’s packed with over 150 new features and updates to help make it easier to sell online, grow an audience, and build a loyal following.
What’s included in the package? Let’s get into the broad strokes:
Top New Features in The Boring Edition
There are over 150+ new updates, and most of them are simple improvements to existing tools. That doesn’t mean those improvements aren’t worth shouting about from the rooftops, however – when things work well, everything falls into place.
For example, the update promises to improve:
- Checkout speed
- Checkout customization
- Checkout extensions
- Workflows
- Support
- Simplicity
In short, The Boring Edition is all about making everything work like butter. This means you can do more, with less fuss, faster.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t exciting updates to sink your teeth into, just that they’re mostly focussed on improving existing features and offering new ways to set up and customize your shop with less hassle.
- Improved Customer Accounts
Ever wish you could easily manage a subscription service within Shopify? Start up a robust loyalty program? Thanks to the customizable menus and improved features, it’s easier than ever.
- Have Your Own Sidekick
Sidekick is Shopify’s powerful AI-powered assistant. It’s there to help you improve your productivity, ask questions and get answers, and help you better manage your store. It’s currently available in English only.
- Customize with Checkout Blocks
Customizing the checkout and post-checkout experience is easier than ever, with simple customization features that make it a breeze to adapt the checkout experience to suit your brand.
- Improve Your Workflow
Set up automated workflows to speed up and improve exchanges, returns, marketing campaigns, and even segment triggers.
- Improved Analytics
Analytics has been unified to give you faster, more intuitive insights than before. You can also investigate product bundles with new reporting features to understand how you can improve your selling capabilities.
How to Make the Most Out of These New Updates
A tool is only ever as good as the one who wields it. This means that to get the most out of the Boring Edition’s range of new offerings, you need to know what you’re doing, how to optimize it, and how to work them into your overall Shopify store strategy.
You don’t, however, have to do all of this alone. Finding a partner that specializes in Shopify SEO services will give you access to SEO experts, designers, and developers alike to make sure that you add those new features properly.
Ready to Get Started?
It’s also reasonable to assume you won’t need all of those new features. That’s why the first step before you start adding anything is to go through the full list and understand what each option offers.
Some features are a given, like the ability to unify customer accounts to offer seamless order and return management.
Others are up to you. You might already have a third-party solution for shipping and fulfillment that works for you, for example.
It’s also important to keep track of what’s available in your region. Some options, like centralized finances, are only available to US-based Shopify account holders.
Once you know the ins and outs of what’s available to you, it’s time to dive in and start setting up those new features or learning the ins and outs of those updates. The Boring Edition is certainly not boring, and the changes offer some big possibilities for all types of businesses around the world.