Our top takeaways from Shopify Summer Editions 2024

In the words of Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, all great software is unified.

We couldn’t agree more. After all, we built Seguno inside Shopify.  

So, Shopify’s biannual product update theme — tighter integration through unifying infrastructure and key workflows — hits home.  

Like its predecessors, this year’s Shopify Summer Edition has tons of improvements, from backend administration to connecting with customers. Many of the 177 updates mentioned in Summer Editions 2024 are in development or are slowly rolling out. Shopify previously announced some features that are now available. 

We scoured the list to find what we perceive as the most worthy of your attention.   

4 Editions features Shopify merchants need to know about

Scrolling Shopify’s Editions page can be overwhelming. So, in making our selections, we looked for things with the most significant potential impact. 

They had to revolve around data. Every one of our favorite features either bolsters Shopify data or leverages it. Working with what the platform already gives you — going to the prime source — is the best path to business success. 

#1 Segment building and marketing automation 

Our first pick is technically two features rolled into one. We’re combining them because they work together to deliver the level of personalization that customers expect and pack extra power into launching promotional campaigns.    

First, Shopify is making it easier to create customer segments. 

AI-based personal assistant Sidekick studies your products, orders and customers. Ask it to sift through your business data, and it will create and populate any segment you dream up, from the simple to the complex. 

Sidekick will be available soon to select merchants through early access. 

Building segments is only fruitful if you take action on them. Send automated, targeted emails once customers enter or leave a segment. The development opens doors to connecting with customers in more meaningful ways. 

This is fantastic news for anyone clamoring for automated customer birthday emails. Use the birthdates you collect and store via a metafield upon signup. Create a “Happy Birthday” message for Shopify Flow to trigger exactly on your customer’s special day.

#2 Rebuilt analytics 

Shopify’s revamped analytics dashboard gives merchants greater business transparency in real-time. 

Shopify bills it as a reimagining that works “smarter, faster, and more intuitively” to reveal performance. In other words, you’ll get more answers crucial to decision-making.  

The new dashboard arrives for everyone over the coming months and includes:

• Pre-built reports addressing the most commonly tracked ecommerce metrics
• Ability to adapt the dashboard to your preferences, whether rearranging blocks or removing, editing, or adding reports 
• Flexibility to build a report from scratch or layer additional metrics on a pre-built one for deeper examination 

Take advantage of the data nested within Shopify. Expose the stories it tells, and actionable insights will emerge.

#3 Admin extensions

Shopify is allowing app developers to use admin action and block extensions more widely. 

What does it mean in non-developer terms? Increased efficiency for you, the Shopify merchant.

App developers have greater leeway in adding contextual information to Shopify Admin. If you choose to configure them, you’ll access richer insights about customers, products, and orders. 

And you won’t just see more data. You can harness the app’s functionality and accomplish tasks without opening it.   

For example, Seguno Product Reviews recently added new blocks for merchants that:

• Gather the details of all reviews (rating, date, status, etc.) and curate them through placements on:  
  • Product details page 
  • Order details page 
  • Customer details page

• Aggregate all reviews for a product and:
  • Summarize review counts and percentages for each (1-5) star review
  • Calculate an overall average product rating

#4 Effortless email capture with Shop Pay  

If you have a retail presence and want to reconcile brick-and-mortar with online operations, this Shopify Editions Summer update is the bridge for you. 

Any merchant that uses Shop Pay at point of sale (POS) can allow customers to opt into email marketing through one-tap digital receipts. 

What’s the benefit? There are two: 

1. You have an easy outlet for building your audience and, with it, permission to reconnect and foster customer retention. 
2. You simplify contact management. Whether acquired online or in person, all subscribers reside in one CRM — Shopify.   

Summer Editions ‘24: honorable mentions 

Our top picks certainly skew toward how we see the Shopify ecosystem and Seguno’s place within it. We’d be remiss to ignore noteworthy announcements that are making a larger splash and a few minor yet empowering updates. 

Markets 

Markets is Shopify’s expansion hub, an evolved version of the platform’s previous cross-border selling solution. 

The interface provides a bird’s-eye view of all your markets (cross-border, B2B, and in-person selling) by housing dashboards in Shopify Admin together.   

Centralizing the data means simpler management, especially for European shops and any merchant selling internationally.  

Split shipping at checkout

Split shipping is a Shopify Summer Editions win for customer choice and clarity. 

When you can’t fulfill an order in a single shipment, customers have more control over shipping options. They can choose their delivery type by price, speed, or custom needs. 

Deserving of a shoutout 

• Store credit debuted as an impending feature in Winter Editions 2024. Issuing, managing and accepting store credit is now in early access.
• Checkout Blocks, the best app for customizing checkout and thank you pages, has been acquired by Shopify and is free for Shopify Plus merchants.  
• Another perk for Shopify merchants shipping internationally: the ability to include duties and taxes in the product price to prevent surprises at checkout.  
  ‍

Unify with Shopify Editions Summer updates

Each of our favorite updates, no matter how small, can positively impact the health of your business. 

So take a serious look at them. And if you have the time and energy to review the Shopify Summer Editions 2024 release for yourself, do it. You might come across relevant developments or a game-changing solution you’ve been waiting for. 

As for Seguno, we’re all in on helping Shopify merchants reach their ambitions. Our eyes are always on Shopify’s moves, and we’re committed to unifying with Shopify so that our marketing solutions are as integrated and seamless as possible.