Shopify plans 'major update' to app store

A forthcoming release in the Shopify app store will overhaul the marketplace itself.

Shopify is preparing to roll out changes to its app store that are designed to improve discoverability, a top executive shared this week.

The “major update” was previewed Sept. 15 in tweets by Shopify President Harley Finkelstein. Shopfiy’s app store is a marketplace where brands and merchants can access apps for their online stores that were built by both Shopify and third-party developers. It has created a software ecosystem around Shopify’s ecommerce infrastructure, empowering startups and developers that don’t work for Shopify to build new capabilities, and tech businesses of their own.

With the volume of apps on the store growing, Shopify is now making moves to overhaul search and categorization.

“It’s going to be much easier for merchants to find & learn about your apps so you can get more installs & build your biz,” Finkelstein wrote.

The changes include a reorganization of categories within the app store.

“We made things simple & cut down the categories to help merchants discover apps as they browse through categories that are more in line with how they think about commerce problems.”

There will also be a new-look search page.

“We gave the search page a facelift,” Finkelstein wrote. “We’ve updated the search page design to have more of a focus on apps and reduce noise from filters that were rarely used.”

The listing page is in line for an overhaul, as well. This area was the source of an action item in the announcement.

“If you’re a developer, update your app listing,” Finkelstein wrote. “We're redesigning the listing page. The new listing page will make it simpler for merchants to get the key information they need in a format that's best for them.”

Finkelstein didn’t provide a date for the new release, but a public announcement from the company president makes it a fair bet that it is getting ready to ship.

The update comes in the months after the release of Shopify Editions, which detailed more than 100 recent product updates from Shopify. This included a host of new apps built by the company itself to enable functions such as checkout customization, B2B selling, cross-border commerce and sustainability.

This fall, Shopify is hosting a trio of developer-focused events under the umbrella of Shopify Unite. The first was held last week in London. Events in October are planned in Toronto and Melbourne.