Shopify Unite 2022

Shopify Unite is the annual conference hosted by Shopify, it brings together the three corners of the globe where the main Shopify bases are located: Melbourne, Toronto and London. We’re so excited about the future of Shopify and eCommerce after listening to some of the world’s most talented developers talk about the updates and developments we can expect to see over the next year! The conference is a great chance to hear about what’s new, and what’s changing from some of the best eCommerce experts in the business, here are the top announcements and how we think they’re going to change Shopify over the next year.

1. Updates to the checkout

The checkout will be more customisable than ever before, meaning the checkout experience can be more tailored to the business’s specific needs. This will ultimately improve the customer experience, leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction. The new checkout extensibility features provide a number of new options to personalise the checkout. Some of the developments that have been created overlap with the way in which the checkout may now be customised using Shopify scripts and checkout.liquid. Currently, there is no need for merchants to make any changes, the old scripts are essentially being replaced by new ones. Checkout.liquid will be replaced by Branding API, Web Pixels, and Checkout UI Extensions, while Shopify Functions are taking the place of Shopify Scripts A personalised/ customised checkout helps to build trust with the brand something this is paramount to customers post-pandemic! Users want to feel good, trust your business and trust your brand. Making the checkout customisable allows business to extend their branding to every aspect of the sale, building that trust and improving the sales journey for your customers.

2. Hydrogen and Headless Commerce

Hydrogen was created to power Headless stores with the aim to support the website in achieving goals of being both dynamic with good performance which had previously been deemed as ‘conflicting’. During the conference, the current developments that have led to hydrogen earning outstanding performance ratings to be discussed. Hydrogen allows developers to customise storefronts and build stores that are quick and dynamic by using the power of streaming, react server components and edge rendering. To coincide with this, the number of linked platforms and apps that are available is also growing and, Shopify admin now provides full access to Oxygen which is the hosting platform for Hydrogen shops. With our headless specialism here at StackUp Digital we’re super excited to see how this pans out.

3. Shopify Functions

Shopify Functions allow retailers to access their own business logic. During the talk, there was an exploration of the motivations for using Shopify Functions and the technology that is used for functions. They also discussed how a business would go about constructing it’s first function. They identified what APIs would be available and what tools are best to get started. Shopify functions initially were used to provide discounting logic, this logic has now been extended to be used within payment methods and shipping. During the talk, it may be noted that Shopify functions can in some ways, take the role of Shopify Scripts at the payment and shipping point. However, it is vital to note that these Shopify Scripts are only available on Shopify Plus where Shopify Functions are available on all tiers. Creating offers such as: gift with purchase, buy one get one, and tier-based discounts are all available in Shopify functions.

4. Shopify Content Management Platform

We were very interested to learn about the newly launched beta version of the Shopify Content Platform and we weren’t the only ones. SEO and content experts as the way in which content is currently managed on Shopify is pretty terrible! However, these updates are not yet published so we do not yet know their impact and how they can be used. We are excited to see how this develops and to learn more about it over the year.

5. 0% revenue share for the first $1M in annual revenue

Great for those who are developing apps! Shopify have announced that there will be a 0% revenue share for the first $1M raised in annual income on apps. A huge difference and change from the previous 20% that was being charged on any annual revenue! A really great incentive to get building new apps for your next store!

That’s it for another year! If you would like to see a full round up of Shopify Unite 2022, you can find all of the details right here.

As Shopify experts, we loved the conference and meeting new people. We are super excited to learn about the future of the platform and look forward to the journey and roadmap ahead.