Shopify have just released their recent round of updates, covering everything from improved Meta ad performance to AI product photography.

But reading all the Shopify updates from the Winter Edition release would probably take you a few days. (Honestly, it’s incredibly long. Check it out for yourself).

Thankfully, we’ve sifted through dirt and shaken out 13 nuggets of gold you need to know for 2024.

Let’s get stuck in.

P.S. If you’re looking for some Shopify trends we think are going to be big this year, check out this article.

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13 Key Shopify Winter Edition Updates

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1. Combined product listings

Exclusive to Shopify Plus, the new Combined Listings app, allows you to showcase products with various colours or styles through a unified parent listing.

Each variation comes with its distinct description, media gallery, and URL, making it much easier to merchandise your products.

Sign up for early access to Shopify Combined Listings

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2. Better customer search experience

Another Shopify Plus exclusive, Semantic Search is a cutting-edge AI-powered search feature that allows customers to use more natural words and phrases to find products within your store.

According to Shopify:

“Semantic Search builds on top of existing keyword-based search by introducing semantics to better understand what a customer is looking for.

The feature uses both text and image data of your products to better understand whether they are relevant to a customer's search term.

For example, if a customer searches for Christmas party shoes, Semantic Search can associate the search term to colours green or red for Christmas, and pumps for party shoes.”

‍Download the Search & Discovery Shopify app.

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3. Shopify subscriptions

The Shopify subscriptions app is now available for all Shopify merchants!

Now you can improve your customer lifetime value and ensure predictable revenue by adding subscriptions to your store.

And your customers can easily modify or skip subscription orders direct from their accounts, making for a better customer experience.

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4. Product bundles

The maximum number of products available in Shopify bundles has been raised from 10 to 30.

Sadly, as Shopify Scripts and the Script Editor app are Plus-exclusives, bundles are only available to Shopify Plus merchants.

Find out more about product bundles.

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5. More discount options

You can now offer free automatic shipping and fixed amounts of Buy X get Y promotions.

Plus, your customers can easily see the amount they’ve saved directly in their cart.

Find out more.

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6. Streamlined checkout

Shopify have improved their one-page checkout experience even further, reducing the average customer completion time by 4 seconds and improving loading speeds by 95%.

Not to mention, over 90 checkout apps have been added to the Shopify app store since their Summer Edition.

Hopefully, that all means less abandoned carts and more completed orders.

Learn more about Shopify checkouts.

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7. New POS terminal

There’s a new POS terminal for offline shopping and brick-and-mortar stores.

• Allow tap, chip, and swipe payments whilst ensuring optimal performance with robust Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, supported by Shopify's 99.9% platform uptime
• Full-featured display that supports custom images or logos
• Provide effortless one-tap digital receipts and easily gather emails and marketing opt-ins with Shop Pay's expansive buyer network

Merchants in the UK and Ireland can now get the all-in-one mobile POS to scan barcodes, accept payments, and manage their store from a singular handheld device.

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8. Better ad retargeting

Shopify have improved their algorithms to optimise performance across leading ad platforms, such as Meta, Google, and TikTok.

With enhanced custom Retargeting Boost lists in V2.2, most merchants are seeing their retargeting audiences double.

And by using Shopify audiences, you can cut your acquisition costs in half. Worth checking out if you plan to spend a lot on ads this year.

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9. Automatic creator commission

You can now streamline payments to creators by handling commissions through Shopify Billing.

Automatic payments ensure reliable monitoring, tracking, and adjustment of commissions earned for refunded orders, saving you valuable time.

Find out more about Shopify payments.

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10. Improved Shop campaigns

Shopify are also expanding their Shop campaigns.

When a customer chooses ‘Shop Pay’ at checkout, they’re rewarded with ‘Shop Cash’, which they can then use on the Shop app. The Shop app is where customers can track existing Shopify orders and discover new products.

With Shop campaigns, you can advertise your store on the Shop app, driving more sales and attracting new customers already shopping on Shopify stores.

According to Shopify, you can now:

‍“Get real-time estimates for new customers, sales, and return on spend, and understand and improve campaigns with expanded analytics.”

Handy.

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11. Better social proof with reviews

You can now sync ratings and reviews in more areas, such as your online store, the Shop app, and Shopify Collective using Yotpo, Loox, Judge.me, Okendo, and Stamped.io - and your replies to those reviews will sync, too.

Any reviews generated by the Shop app will also now come with a ‘Verified by Shop’ badge to prove authenticity, too.

(If you want to find more Shopify apps to boost your sales, check out this article)

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12. AI product photography

Creating high-quality product images is about to become a whole lot easier thanks to Shopify AI.

Quickly generate, match, or remove backgrounds from your existing images with just a few clicks or keywords. No design expertise required.

Expected in early 2024.

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13. AI app store recommendations

And the AI help doesn’t stop there.

Receive personalised AI-driven assistance to the Shopify app store tailored to your unique business needs. Search for topics such as "simplify returns process" or "enable buyer customisation" and Shopify will automatically show you the best apps for your search.

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2024 Shopify Trends

Want to hear more about what’s in store for 2024?

Check out our article on 10 Shopify and Ecommerce Trends to Expect in 2024, including 360 product videos, AI expansion, social media updates, and more.