About 10% of the worldwide eCommerce market uses Shopify & Shopify Plus. This accounts for 4.36 million websites on Shopify. Reason: It’s easy to use, has over 8,000 app integrations, and most importantly–allows you to set up and manage your store without coding.

To get the most out of this exceptional eCommerce platform, you must keep yourself informed about the latest features and updates it releases. Let’s explore some useful Shopify and Shopify Plus updates in 2023.

1. The new suite of B2B APIs

In 2023, Shopify released a set of B2B APIs, allowing developers to create better solutions for B2B merchants.

Company API

The Company API offers a range of B2B primitives like Company, CompanyContacts, and CompanyLocations to enable easier management of multiple locations, contacts, and prenegotiated payment terms. Developers can use metafields to flexibly add and store critical information and implement unique business logic such as order value minimums and maximums.

Catalogs API

Merchants can curate product selections based on geographical location, tailoring the buying experience for each customer.

(Note: Catalogs API is currently available in an unstable version, with plans for full release in the 2023-04 API version.)

PriceLists API

PriceLists can be associated with Catalogs to determine the prices displayed to customers based on their specific B2B company location. Businesses can offer dynamic pricing options by creating applications that showcase different prices to different B2B buyers.

Publications API

This API allows the association of Publication with Catalogs, enabling you to specify which products are displayed to your B2B clients. When a Publication lacks association with a Catalog, it means no products are accessible to the customer.

Order and DraftOrder API

These APIs can now distinguish between DTC and B2B orders using PurchasingEntity, which represents the buyer.

Payment Terms API

You can set the payment terms for specific companies using PaymentTerms API. You can enhance the efficiency of payment processing by synchronizing custom B2B payment terms from external systems.

2. Enhanced Google Analytics attribution for full-funnel insights

In a recent update, Shopify has integrated a new feature to enhance its existing integration with Google Analytics. This update enables users to gain a comprehensive view of app install events, facilitating seamless and accurate performance comparisons of ads either within the Shopify App Store or those executed outside the Shopify platform.

Additionally, this update brings forth the ability to directly connect app installations to a specific Shop ID. This enhancement provides users with more profound insights into the demographic profile of the merchants adopting their apps. By aligning app installations with Shop IDs, businesses can achieve a more precise understanding of their customer base, allowing them to fine-tune their strategies accordingly.

With this advancement, Shopify’s goal is to furnish users with the essential tools and insights needed to make well-informed choices in their marketing endeavors. Through the provision of comprehensive Google Analytics attribution across the entire customer journey, Shopify empowers businesses to refine their advertising approaches and unlock the full potential of their app within the Shopify ecosystem.

3. Smart order routing for quick product delivery

Smart order routing is available for Shopify Plus users to simplify order fulfillment processes and ensure fast delivery. Available to all merchants with multi-location inventories, this feature automatically prioritizes order fulfillment based on your defined rules. These rules include prioritizing the closest location for shipping, staying within the destination market, utilizing ranked locations, and minimizing split fulfillment. Some of the benefits of smart order routing include:

• Reduced shipping costs and delays
• Accelerated product delivery
• Easily scalable with automated order fulfillment
• Increased customer satisfaction & trust

4. One-page checkout

In the Summer of 2023, Shopify introduced a significant update: the one-page checkout. For Shopify Plus merchants with early access, the transition from the three-page checkout to the one-page format is now an option.

Benefits of one-page checkout for businesses:

• Allows customers to finalize purchases on a single page
• Eliminates the need to navigate through multiple pages
• Simplifies the buying process
• Minimizes cart abandonment
• Boosts conversions

A key feature of this update is the implementation of one-click payments. Customers can swiftly complete their purchases through express payment methods such as Shop Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Amazon Pay. This streamlined process requires a simple login to their existing account, effectively bypassing the traditional checkout steps.

5. Manage product listings using Shopify Marketplace Connect

In its latest update, Shopify introduced Marketplace Connect to streamline the process of Shopify product data entry on major platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. Here’s what you need to know:

Shopify Marketplace Connect App: Seamlessly syncs inventory, orders, descriptions, customer details, and pricing

Single edit mode: Ideal for smaller catalogs, enabling swift individual product additions or changes

Bulk edit mode: Effortlessly manage bulk product listings or entire catalogs on marketplaces

Attribute mapping mode: Tailor product appearance across all listings for a unified brand presence.

6. Shopify Magic: AI-powered product descriptions

Shopify unveils a game-changing tool for merchants: AI-powered product descriptions, driven by Shopify Magic. With this innovative feature, merchants can effortlessly generate, expand, and revise descriptions by simply inputting key product details or relevant keywords directly on the product setup page in their store’s admin panel.

Example response from Shopify Magic

How businesses can benefit from this update

This feature empowers merchants to create high-quality and compelling product descriptions in a matter of seconds. Here’s how the tool can help merchants.

• Sellers can launch products faster with AI-enabled product descriptions.

• Merchants can focus on other aspects of their business, such as marketing, customer service, and inventory management, instead of spending time on writing product descriptions.

• Merchants can use Shopify magic to generate product descriptions in multiple languages such as English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Italian, and German.

Note: Despite multiple benefits of the tool, it operates on generative AI– which can be inaccurate or monotonous at times. This can potentially affect the overall quality of product descriptions when compared to those crafted by professional copywriters.

Final words

Shopify’s 2023 updates represent a significant leap forward in enhancing the eCommerce landscape. These updates are designed to amplify exposure and generate fresh revenue streams for enterprises. By embracing these updates, businesses can thrive in the dynamic digital marketplace and achieve considerable growth.

Author Bio: Jessica Campbell is an eCommerce consultant and content strategist. She has published over 2000 articles & informative write-ups about eCommerce & Amazon marketplace solutions covering Amazon listing optimization, Amazon PPC management services, Amazon SEO & marketing, Amazon store setup, Amazon product description writing and Amazon product data entry. Her well-researched and valuable write-ups have helped thousands of businesses uncover rich insights, strengthen their business processes, and stay afloat amidst the rising competition.