11+ Shopify New Features to Checkout This Year

Running an online store can be overwhelming.

Keeping up with the latest eCommerce trends, managing inventory, and providing a seamless customer experience – it's a lot to handle. But what if we tell you that there are solutions to these? Yes, we are talking about Shopify new features.

If you are a Shopify merchant, you know that the platform never disappoints. Shopify continuously rolls out new features, tools, and upgrades for their merchants and developers.

Many Shopify new features have come out, but we are here to talk about the 15 new updates designed to solve common merchant headaches.

From simplifying checkout to boosting your marketing efforts, these tools are actual game-changers for online retailers. So, let’s start exploring them.

Shopify New Features: What Do They Include?

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify updates 2024 brings over 150+ powerful upgrades to the table. These new features span various aspects of your general store capabilities, including streamlined checkout processes, advanced marketing capabilities, and improved store management.

Some of the new features of Shopify include:

• Enhanced checkout options with split shipping and extended customization
• Improved analytics with an upgraded dashboard and ShopifyQL
• New marketing tools like Shop Campaigns and Shopify Audiences
• Expanded selling channels, including YouTube Shopping and improved POS systems
• Updated features to sell in markets, wholesale, offline, and globally

There are many more, but we will be discussing some of the most interesting and important ones in this article.

For merchants, these features unfold a whole new world of possibilities with benefits such as:

• Increased sales through optimized checkout and marketing
• Better decision-making with more detailed analytics
• Expanded reach to new markets and customer segments
• Improved efficiency in store management and order fulfillment

15 Shopify Updates 2024 You Should Know Of

Here are the top 15 Shopify new features and updates you need to know of in 2024:

#1. Business Expansion with Markets

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's new Markets feature is about to make growing your business a whole lot easier. Here's what you need to know:

• Markets is a one-stop shop for expanding your business, whether you're going international, selling B2B, or opening retail stores.
• It brings all your expansion efforts into one place in your Shopify admin. No more jumping between different sections!

Shopify Markets let you customize your store for different buyer groups. You can:

• Adjust product catalogs and prices
• Tweak your store's theme
• Change currencies and languages
• Set up different domains

The best part? You can do all this from a single Shopify store. No need to manage multiple stores for different markets.

While Markets isn't fully available yet, it's coming soon. When it arrives, you'll be able to see all your markets in one dashboard, making it easier to compare performance and spot new opportunities for growth.

Keep an eye out for the release. You can get notified of its release by signing up for an update or notification on Shopify website.

#2. Split Shipping at Checkout

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's new Split Shipping at Checkout feature helps merchants with complex shipping needs. Here's what it does:

• Automatically divides orders into multiple shipments when needed (for preorders, items from different locations, etc.)
• Shows customers how their order will be shipped and lets them choose shipping options for each part

Benefits

• Makes shipping clearer for customers
• Allows customers to get some items faster if needed
• Can help reduce overall shipping costs

How to use it:

• Currently available to some merchants (early access)
• When released, you can turn it on in your Shopify admin settings
• Works automatically based on your inventory and shipping rules

#3. Checkout Extensions

Source: Shopify App Store - Shopify Blocks

Shopify updates on checkout extensibility also bring many new checkout extensions for your store's checkout process. This includes:

• Checkout Blocks: Now free for Plus merchants. Checkout Blocks allows easy customization without coding and is available in the Shopify App Store.
• Extended customization: All plans can now use apps to add features to thank you and order status pages
• More address options:

• Additional fields for region-specific details
• Pickup point integration (Plus only)
• Custom address autocomplete
• Prefilled and one-time-use addresses

• Improved compliance: Prepares you for PCI DSS v4 standards (deadline: April 2025, Source: Shopify)
• Tax ID capture: Optional fields to improve regional shipping

Benefits

• Simplify checkout customization
• Enhance the customer experience
• Improve address accuracy
• Boost security and compliance

Some features are available now, while others are coming soon. Check your Shopify admin or watch for notifications to access these new capabilities as they roll out.

#4. Shopify Sidekick

Source: Shopify

Shopify Sidekick is a new AI assistant (powered by Shopify Magic) designed to help merchants run their businesses more efficiently.

Here's what you need to know:

• It's an always-available AI advisor for your Shopify store
• Provides instant support and step-by-step guidance for various tasks, including writing emails, editing store content, creating customer segments, etc.
• Offers tailored advice based on your store to strengthen your business

Key features:

• Quick problem-solving for common Shopify tasks
• Generates instant reports for informed decision-making
• Assists with content creation that fits your brand

Benefits

• Accomplish more in less time
• Make better business decisions
• Boost your store's creativity and appeal

Currently, Sidekick is not widely available. You can sign up for early access consideration on Shopify's website.

#5. Upgraded Analytics Dashboard

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's new upgraded analytics dashboard is meant to give you the insights you need in a more efficient and faster manner.

Here's what you get:

• Rebuilt analytics tech stack for faster, more flexible insights
• Real-time data exploration without constraints
• Customizable pre-built reports with any combination of metrics

Key features:

• Configure reports with multiple metrics (sales, sessions, conversion rates, etc.)
• Save custom reports for future use
• Create explorations from scratch
• Personalized dashboard with drag-and-drop metric cards

Coming soon: ShopifyQL for direct data querying within reports

With this, you get the following benefits:

• Deeper, more flexible data analysis
• Quick access to key performance metrics
• Tailored insights for your specific business questions

Watch out for the full rollout in the coming months.

#6. New Product Taxonomy

The new Shopify product taxonomy comes with more categories to organize and sell products more effectively.

Features include:

• Includes 10,000+ categories and 2,000+ attributes
• AI-powered suggestions for product classification
• Automatically recommends relevant attributes for each category
• Customizable product attributes
• Native support for color swatches (on compatible themes)

Benefits:

• Streamlines product creation and management
• Improves product discoverability in-store and across channels
• Enhances cross-channel selling by aligning with other platforms

This taxonomy aims to standardize product information, making it easier for customers to find what they're looking for and for merchants to manage their inventory across multiple sales channels.

It's now automatically enabled for all new products, with options to update existing listings.

#7. Sign-In with Shop

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's sign-in with shop feature is like giving your customers a VIP pass for a better shopping experience.

Here's what's new:

• Passkey technology: Enables secure, one-click sign-ins anywhere in your store
• Custom avatars: Personalizes the customer experience

Benefits:

• Faster, more secure logins
• Improved customer identification
• Seamless integration with Shop Pay

How it works:

• Automatically activated with new customer accounts and Shop Pay
• Allows customers to use Shop credentials across your store
• Pre-fills shipping and billing information for quicker checkouts

Additional options:

• Add "Sign in with Shop" buttons to any page
• Implement "Follow on Shop" buttons for customer updates
• Use lead capture with Shop for a smoother discount code application

This feature aims to create a more personalized and efficient shopping experience, potentially increasing customer engagement and conversions.

#8. YouTube Shopping

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's YouTube Shopping feature is opening up a new world of social commerce. It’s not been released it. Moreover, this feature is limited to Advanced and Plus merchants. Let's understand more about this Shopify update:

Key features:

• YouTube Shopping affiliates program
• Product syncing with YouTube
• Verified creator network

Benefits:

• Tap into YouTube's massive audience
• Leverage trusted creators for product promotion
• Expand your reach beyond traditional channels

How it works:

• Sync your products with YouTube
• Verified creators can tag your products in their videos
• Currently available in the US

This feature aims to bridge the gap between content and commerce, potentially driving more sales through influencer partnerships and video content.

If you want to learn more, don't forget to check out this video from official Shopify Youtube channel:

#9. Sell in Person with POS

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's Point of Sale (POS) system is getting a major upgrade, making in-store selling smoother than ever.

Here's what's new:

• Email capture with Shop Pay: One-tap digital receipts with auto-suggested emails, making it easy to grow your mailing list
• Unique catalogs per store: Custom pricing and publishing for each retail location, perfect for regional markets
• Buy X Get Y and Stack discounts: More flexible promotional options to boost sales and customer satisfaction
• Draft orders: Create and manage drafts across multiple locations and devices
• Smart grid: Redesigned interface for easier product, order, and customer management
• Enhanced return rules: Streamline in-store returns with clear guidelines for staff and customers

Additional improvements:

• Staff attribution for sales tracking
• Translated product catalogs for international markets
• Improved shipping order management directly in the POS
• Consolidated cash tracking for easier end-of-day reporting
• Hardwired Android POS setup option for increased reliability

Whether you're running a single shop or managing multiple locations, these new POS features are designed to make your life easier and your business more efficient.

Read further: Shopify POS Pricing: Is It Worth The Try?

#10. Shop Campaigns & Shopify Audiences

Source: Shopify

Shopify has updated Shop Campaigns and Shopify Audiences for Plus merchants.

Here's what's new:

• Retargeting boost lists: Custom lists using improved algorithms, aiming to double conversion rates
• More ad platforms: Run campaigns on Meta and Google, paying only for new customer conversions
• Shop Campaigns in Canada: Now available in both US and Canadian markets
• Ad spend analytics: Get detailed insights on your advertising costs
• Marketing segments: Automate emails and actions based on customer groups

Benefits:

• Better use of your ad budget
• Higher conversion rates
• Reach more markets
• Less risk in campaigns
• More targeted marketing

These tools help you find new customers and reconnect with existing ones more effectively. They use Shopify's data to help you create better campaigns across different platforms.

Using these new Shopify features, merchants like you can now reach a wider audience, target your ads more precisely, and get better results for your spending.

#11. Hydrogen Visual Editor

Source: Shopify Hydrogen

One of Shopify's most significant updates this year is the Hydrogen Visual Editor, powered by Utopia.

This new Shopify update revamps the headless store development. Here's what you need to know:

• Visual building for headless stores: Design, merchandise, and build without deep technical knowledge
• Code remains the source of truth: All changes sync to GitHub with small, straightforward diffs
• Team collaboration: Shared view for designers, merchandisers, and developers
• Efficient workflow: Use existing tools like VSCode, GitHub, and CI/CD pipelines
• Easy data integration: Seamlessly incorporate data from metaobjects, Storefront API, or your CMS
• Instant previews: Deploy quickly using Oxygen

This update bridges the gap between technical and non-technical team members, making headless development more accessible. It also combines the flexibility of custom code with the ease of visual editing, offering a unique solution in the e-commerce platform space.

The Hydrogen Visual Editor will soon enter early access, so keep an eye out!

#12. Organization Settings

Source: Shopify

Shopify is streamlining store management with updates to organization settings.

Here's what's new:

• Manage multiple stores under a single organization
• Efficiently handle billing and staff access across stores
• Assign access based on specific roles or multiple roles
• Shopify Plus: Organize and manage users in bulk with groups

Benefits:

• Simplified management for multi-store owners
• More granular control over staff permissions
• Improved efficiency in-store administration

Additionally, Shopify is improving app discovery within the admin:

• Prioritized apps across the admin
• New discovery entry points
• Embedded action cards
• Contextualized guidance

This feature will help you find the right apps when you need them, enhancing your store's functionality more easily.

Note: Some of these features are coming soon. Keep an eye out for notifications to access these new capabilities.

#13. Automation in Shopify Flow

Source: Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow is getting smarter with new automation features:

• Manual reruns: Test and fix errors by rerunning workflows
• Easier metafield access: Use namespace and key for custom data workflows
• Improved troubleshooting: Better search for workflow runs
• Expanded task automation: Use Admin API requests for almost any task

Flow also included three new fulfillment actions:

• Move fulfillment orders between locations
• Mark fulfillment orders as fulfilled
• Trigger workflows when orders are merged

Benefits:

• Reduce manual errors
• Cut operational costs
• Customize workflows based on your unique needs
• Streamline fulfillment processes

With these improvements, Shopify Flow becomes an even more valuable tool for automating your store's operations, saving time and improving efficiency.

Quick red: Shopify Flow: What Is It & How Does It Benefit Shopify Merchants

#14. Ship To & From Store

Source: Shopify Summer Edition 2024

Shopify's new ship-from-store feature enhances flexibility for both merchants and customers. It combines online order with in-store fulfillment. You can:

• Transfer online orders: Customers can pick up orders at their preferred store
• Ship directly from store: Use Shopify POS to fulfill and ship orders from retail locations
• Digital receipts on Shop App: Streamline the receipt process and boost email list sign-ups

Benefits:

• Greater convenience for customers
• Improved inventory management across locations
• Faster order fulfillment
• Easier returns handling

This Shopify update is especially useful for businesses with multiple locations, helping to optimize inventory and improve customer satisfaction.

Note: Shipping from the store requires Shopify POS Pro.

#15. Shopify Account Credits

Source: Canva

Shopify has introduced a new Account Credits feature with a flexible refunding system.

Key features:

• Choose between refunding to the original payment method or issuing Shopify Account Credits
• Generated for any modifications to Shopify invoices
• Post-bill credits applicable to future invoice charges
• Customers can use store credit when logged in through new customer accounts

Benefits:

• More refund options for merchants
• Improved customer retention tools
• Flexibility for marketing campaigns and loyalty programs

Note: Store credit is in early access and turned on by default for all stores.

Shopify Features: Your Toolkit for 2024 Success

As we've explored, Shopify's latest updates bring a wealth of new tools and improvements to enhance your merchant experience. Key highlights include the unified markets, Shopify Magic, retail checkout, and the Hydrogen Visual Editor. These updates aim to simplify store management, boost sales, and provide a better shopping experience for your customers.

We encourage you to explore these new features. Depending on your store's needs, you can consider implementing them in your Shopify store.

Since most of them are invite-based, don't forget to sign up to get a chance to use them.

Remember, Shopify is constantly improving. To stay up-to-date with the latest features and upcoming releases, be sure to check out Shopify's Summer Editions.

This resource provides a comprehensive look at new and forthcoming updates, ensuring you're always ahead of the curve. Good luck!