Shopify dropped details on more than 100 new product releases Thursday.
The second release of Shopify Editions features upgrades to the Shop app and checkout. The Winter ‘23 Edition also aims to build deeper supply chain and fulfillment integrations, underscoring that Shopify wants to do more to help merchants not only sell products, but also deliver them.
“We need to be the fastest moving commerce company in the world because our merchants depend on Shopify’s innovation for their own longevity," said Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, in a statement. "So with this Edition, we moved quickly to offer tools that help merchants access the promise of mobile commerce, meet customer expectations for seamless checkout and fast delivery, and convert better—it’s the best version of Shopify yet, and will shape the future of entrepreneurship.”
Here’s a look at key updates:
Shop app
Shopify launched the Shop app in 2020 to provide checkout and order tracking for merchants. With the latest upgrades, the company is signaling it wants to continue to evolve the app into a more complete mobile commerce experience that is not only for checkout and post-purchase, but also discovery and browsing.
The latest offerings include:
The Shop Mini software development kit, which is designed for developers to extend the functionality of a web-based Shopify store to the Shop app.
Shop Store customizations are designed to allow merchants to create a larger owned brand presence on the app. This includes the ability to customize product collections, best sellers, reviews and branding.
Shop Cash campaigns provide Shopify Plus merchants with a way to target shoppers who use the Shop Cash rewards program with special offers. “Merchants only pay when a customer is acquired, and the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) never goes above their predetermined parameters,” Shopify writes.
Sign in with Shop: Consumes will get access to biometric passkeys, the ability to follow a merchant on Shop. Meanwhile, merchants will be able to access lead capture tools such as automatically signing in high-value shoppers and offering a personalized experience.
Checkout
One-page checkout will become the default for Shopify’s checkout experience. Shopify said this is optimized based on learnings from Shop Pay. It builds on a checkout experience that frequently wins plaudits.
Checkout extensions introduced in the first Shopify Editions are already being improved. Shopify is providing a Checkout Editor to make it easier to add functionality to checkout with a drag-and-drop experience. It is also adding dev tooling, including the ability to build bespoke checkout apps.
Shop Promise
Shop Promise. (Courtesy photo)
As Shopify rolls out upgrades to the Shopify Fulfillment Network following the May 2022 acquisition of Deliverr, it is also introducing Shop Promise. It’s a badge that appears at checkout to guarantee two-day delivery. Now, the badge is automatically enabled for merchants that use the fulfillment network.
Shopify also introduced a new Flexport app for ocean freight booking and tracking, and a new integration with Loop Returns that allows merchants to offer instant exchanges and credits. Shopify said it also now has unified its existing fulfillment network with Deliverr to allow for data-driven inventory distribution that positions inventory close to demand.
There's lots more to discover in the release. A number of the features detailed in the Shopify Editions update were previously rolled out by the company. Take a look at past coverage:
- POS Go: Shopify updates its point-of-sale hardware for in-person retail to provide mobility for associates and deeper connection between ecommerce and brick-and-mortar.
- Shopify Markets Pro, which is designed for cross-border selling.
- Shopify Collabs, which connects brands and creators in a marketplace-like experience.
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SVB was a major lender to startups, as it catered to early-stage companies with financial products tailored to the capital needs of fast-moving and flexible young companies, and the investment firms that backed them. While startups remain a small segment of the economy as a whole, the closure of a bank that was synonymous with tech both in stature and balance sheet left an entire sector reeling.
While deposits up to $250,000 are insured by the banking regulatory arm FDIC, the move to put the bank in receivership meant accounts were inaccessible to many businesses that were already operating lean as they sought to prove out new business models. Those with more than a quarter-million dollars in the bank were left with serious doubts about whether they would see their money.
While the collapse left many fretting over the weekend about being able to make payroll and cover expenses, there were signs of a rescue in sight on Sunday. Regulators announced that all depositors would be able to access funds on Monday, March 13.
The marketplace Etsy was among the ecommerce companies affected, as funds it had at the bank to pay sellers appeared to be inaccessible over the weekend.
“We recently experienced a delay in issuing payments to some sellers related to the unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank,” the marketplace wrote. “Our teams have been working around the clock to implement a solution, and we expect to pay sellers via our other payment partners within the next several business days.”
Following the FDIC’s announcement on March 12, Etsy said it expected to begin issuing payments on Monday.
Shopify, which provides software used by emerging brands to run ecommerce stores, was also among the companies with funds in Silicon Valley Bank. The company posted an FAQ through its Shopify Capital service, which provides financial products for brands that helps provide access to working capital.
"If you have an SVB account on file for Shopify Payments, then your payouts have been temporarily paused," the FAQ stated at one point.
Shopify Capital in the U.S. was also "impacted" by the collapse, the FAQ stated. This meant offers through the program were temporary on hold.
On Twitter, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said Saturday that the collapse had a “very minor impact for us.”
“We use SVB as one of ~12 or so banks spread over mostly Canada and US. Canada has stricter banking risk regulations,” Lutke wrote. “A small portion of our US operational fund flows is tied up in SVB but we are working around it and it should be business as usual.”
After seeing the bank where its funds were held shut down, one retailer turned to the tried and true tactic of issuing a promo code to generate fast sales. On Friday, the family experience retailer Camp advertised 40% off for customers who used the code “BANKRUN.”
“Unfortunately, we had most of our company’s cash assets at a bank which just collapsed,” cofounder Ben Kaufman wrote in an email to customers.
The popup ad that greeted visitors to Camp's site on Friday captured the mood of the moment:
(Screenshot via Camp)
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