Shopify streamed first Town Hall event
Shopify decided to launch interactive online events to support trust and predictability during these hard times. Town Hall is a corporate routine they have had for about 15 years, which they decided to unveil to the merchants&developers level.
I’ve been there, and here are some important notes that I’ve found.
Sections everywhere
Sections everywhere are available for 3 new types of pages, in addition to PDP page.
Finally they got some improvements. But this feature is still available in developer preview and can be used with a compatible theme. I suggest that you should try it on your dev store.
i18n have been improved.
Shopify can provide a system of 133 currencies support, multi-language store and geolocation app. That will be announced soon.
Frameless UI app kit
This kit should provide much richer experience in the admin and storefront areas. Be ready to expect iframe free routine.
In addition to this, Shopify created a tutorial to migrate your self-built Shopify apps to support SameSite cookie attribute: https://shopify.dev/tutorials/migrate-your-app-to-support-samesite-cookies. Check and update your apps for the support of this Chrome browser cookie change, otherwise your merchants will not be able to use your app.
Shopify Emails should be definitely something. It’s been announced, but not launched to try it yet. You can find them soon in your store admin panel in the Marketing section:
There will be some ready-made templates, you will be able to send campaigns from your domain, and we will have the analytics stuff. Shopify emails will be free until October 2020.
Gift Cards are available for all 3 plans. They announced it as a support bonus for merchants during the quarantine, with no end date set. Nothing fancy, but appreciated. https://www.shopify.com/blog/gift-cards-all-plans
New themes for groceries and restaurants are on the way as well as new Retail POS. It looks that Shopify found a new niche to develop.
Multi store admin for Shopify Plus plan. They’ve launched a beta of this feature, and after a couple of months it will be available for every Plus merchant.
Shopify Compass
This is interesting. It is an educational platform, which is pushing merchants to boost their businesses. It starts from the very beginning of business planning to the final launching of your online business. And it tracks your progress, which is cool.
Topics covered there:
- Business (3 courses)
- Marketing and sales (6 courses)
- Store design (2 courses)
- Products (2 courses)
Also you can check there a list of live webinars to participate, or watch already recorded ones.
The final progress depends on successful passed areas of: Business Planning, Brand, Products, Online Store, Marketing, Settings, Launch. You will watch instructional videos, read related articles and even install apps that are required to be a part of you E-commerce flow.
I suggest that you should send this platform to your merchants, so that they will be able to greater extend their businesses.
