Shopify Editions talks about Consumer Connections

Most would ask what are these connections, and do they engage better for engagement leading to conversions? There is a lot of data, market research, and analysis when you are starting a business. The digital space is vast, ranging from social media to email marketing, and business owners are challenged in pushing forward with their online business. Connecting the consumer to your brand and your online store takes some strategy. Shopify Editions is the vehicle in which features that support a deeper connection to your audience are announced and given the extra context of why it matters to you, so let's uncover this space.

Summer 2022 Edition

There are 2 announcements a year, this is the Summer edition. There have been 100+ new and updated products that are being pushed forward in Shopify to engage and meet expectations in serving your audience with efficiency and precision. Market shift priorities drive the features as the industry matures for online shoppers which was accelerated by the pandemic. Now Connect to Consumer (C2C) is at the forefront of this next push in eCommerce, an evolution from D2C with the retention, loyalty, and engagement focus.

C2C Journey and key aspects

The rollout of the many features comes with a few that stands out. eCommerce businesses need all the help they can get, and at Shopify, they look to provide the tools that make its business owners have cutting-edge tools to be successful.

1. Finding your audience - Shopify Audiences is a new product that helps you find the next best customer. This has come up given the additional competitive landscape for our business owners, advertising costs rising for the same audience have all led to this innovative feature.

2. Converting visitors - B2B on Shopify is a new expansion of the platform within the Shopify Admin. Shopify point of sale, Shopify Markets, Shopify Checkout, Checkout extensibility, Shop pay enhancements, discount combinations and pre-order, and more are the main features of this extension.

3. Creating your story - How about multiple stories? Hydrogen + Oxygen are the names given to the Shopify headless storefronts with a React-based framework built by Shopify. "Hydrogen" being your storefronts, and "Oxygen" being your back-end. The storefronts map via the Shopify API. You can now deploy storefronts globally and localize them for the local audience.

4. Building relationships - Shopify QL Notebooks, an SQL-like language tool that allows you to query your online store efficiently and get insights from your customers on your site. This is a Shopify Plus exclusive.

5. Managing your business - Shopify Admin enhancements, upload/edit, and deployment tools have been improved, with a bulk editing tool, new Shopify App navigation, and new staff permissions management.

6. Scaling and building further - Built for Shopify, these are the tools provided for merchants to build, manage and deploy as if it was built in Shopify. Shopify functions, data protection, Shopify balance, Shopify Capital, Planet (an App from Shopify)

As you can assess, that is a lot to take in, and a lot to figure out how you can onboard some of these features in your business.

Conclusion

Whether you are starting an online business or you already run a successful online business, these new capabilities are key components for various business models deployed online. Some features get incorporated into the Shopify Admin area, some are Shopify Apps, and lastly, it is a totally new architecture when it comes to Hydrogen + Oxygen. Even social media platforms have increased their marketing costs for advertising, and while you might be starting a blog for your SEO, other areas such as affiliate marketing and Email marketing are getting tapped out. Competition is forcing you to look at other avenues in how to bring your product and services to light, with marketing funnels to help sell your products. If you would like to have a conversation about these new features, feel free to enquire with us at wish@thegenielab.com