by Tom Shackleton
Shopify Unite is always one of the most exciting times of year to be a Shopify Partner or merchant, and amongst a wealth of new platform features, countless events and even a visit from the Canadian Prime Minister, this year was no different.
Taking over Toronto for a week of new product announcements, partner meetups and networking events, this year the Statement team headed across to Canada to digest just what the biggest news from Unite means for eCommerce Managers and store owners across the Shopify platform.
Here’s our roundup of everything that happened at Shopify Unite 2018!
The Statement Team in Toronto
This year, to get the best possible insight for clients the Statement team headed across the Atlantic for Unite.
We spent the week talking to partners, app developers, store owners and the Shopify team themselves, getting first hand insight into the latest Shopify and Shopify Plus features.
Multi-Currency for Shopify Payments
One of the biggest announcements from the Unite keynote was the unveiling of multi-currency for Shopify payments users on Shopify Plus.
A potential game changer for international stores, users of Shopify’s payment system can now show prices, check out and take payments in their customers’ native currency.
Shopify automatically converts prices to each currency you enable, and rounds them to clear prices. All of this means adding multi-currency to your Shopify Plus store is as simple as the click of a button.
Locations
Multi-location inventory has been a strongly requested feature for years, and at Unite 2018, it finally arrived for Shopify Plus stores.
Shopify store owners can now segment their inventory by location, whether that’s a warehouse, or multiple retail stores.
Connectors for Shopify Flow
For Shopify Plus stores, connectors for flow are potentially transformative.
Shopify’s automation tool was announced at last year’s Unite, and connectors now mean automations can start and end with 3rd party tools like email marketing services and loyalty schemes.
“From a marketing perspective, the ability to easily integrate with tools such as LoyaltyLion, Klaviyo, Dotmailer etc. with Shopify Flow is another game changer for improving efficiency for merchants and allowing them to spend less time on setting up external workflows, integrations and connections, and empowering them to focus their time and energy on growing their business.”
Joshua Hobson, Digital Marketing Manager
Local Payment Methods for Shopify Payments
The most popular payment methods differ across the world, so offering up trusted payment methods in each territory is vital for international merchants.
The announcement of local payment methods for Shopify Payments allows Shopify store owners to do just that. Stores can automatically show the most common payment methods to each visitor.
“Payments and payment providers can be a huge barrier to conversion for international visitors. We’ve seen from our own experiences just how significant this can be, and not being able to provide trusted local payment options can really hamper the international expansion of your store, damaging conversion rate. Local payment methods for Shopify Payments could change this.”
Tom Shackleton, Digital Marketing Assistant
Dynamic Checkout
With the additions of Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shopify Pay over the past few years, Shopify continues to push forward in removing checkout barriers.
This year, the announcement of Dynamic Checkout means you can add Apple Pay check out buttons straight to product pages, enabling something similar to Amazon’s one-click order button.
For stores that can take advantage, dynamic checkout enables customers to skip the standard checkout process altogether.
6 New Languages for the Shopify Dashboard
As your store expands, you might seriously consider opening offices overseas. If so, you’ll be pleased to hear that Shopify will now start rolling out its merchant dashboard in six new languages.
Soon, your international teams will be able to manage operations in their native language, making operating international teams simpler.
What’s Next for Your Shopify Store?
As these updates roll out to Shopify and Shopify Plus stores over the coming months, there are huge opportunities to grow, expand and explore new markets for your eCommerce store.
Want to find out how Statement can help your Shopify or Shopify Plus store take advantage of new features like multi-currency and Flow connectors? Just get in touch, and a member of our team would be happy to help.
