Shopify have recently launched a host of changes in their latest Shopify Editions. Given our job is to build better things to make your DTC business thrive through unique digital experiences, we’ve rounded up what these changes mean to our clients and how they can strengthen your business.

1. Shopify functions – What are they and their use cases?

Shopify Functions allows you to extend native Shopify features with WASM modules. It is deployed to Shopify’s infrastructure so it can run at the same scale as Shopify does. With Shopify Functions, there is increased flexibility to extend or replace native Shopify server-side business logic to meet the unique business needs of our merchants. But flexibility is just part of the story, Functions were purpose-built to be scalable and fast. Built on Shopify infrastructure, Functions can scale up for major sales events and still execute in less than 5ms.

Shopify functions will start with the following additional functionality:

• Discounts
• Shipping
• Payment methods

Upcoming features currently on the roadmap include:

• Shipping rates
• Checkout & cart validations
• Return validations
• Programmable order routing
  

One use case is more sophisticated tiered discounts. For example, spend £100 get £20 off, or 10% off with two products, 20% with 4, and 30% with 6.

Functions are available to all Shopify merchants, deployed with an app, and configured directly in the admin, so merchants never have to touch a line of code.

 

2. New Checkout Extensions

Custom applications have been on the rise due to the complex and unique experiences demanded by DTC propositions, so powerful customisations that work with Shop Pay are an exciting expansion on the functionality of the checkout.

This new wave of features mean we can leverage Checkout UI extensions and Shopify Functions to surface new functionality, Checkout Branding API to customise styling, and Pixels to track events. This release also includes a react component library so we can make sure components look like they truly belong in the checkout and there are multiple locations you can add the extensions in the checkout.

Currently, these updates are exclusively for Plus merchants by custom app or through the Shopify App Store.

 

3.Pre-orders 

We have been asked MANY times about how we can easily set up pre-orders. Businesses often need flexible payment and fulfilment options. Fortunately, the selling plan APIs have now been updated so you can add ‘Deferred purchase options’ selling plans, extending beyond the typical subscription selling model. This means that a customer can place an order for a product or product patents that haven’t been released yet. 

There is also a new ‘try before you buy’ plan where you can try products before completing payment, and send back the products that you don’t want.

Both of these selling plan types can take deposits, storing payment information so the merchants can collect the remaining balance amount without having to contact the customer.

 

 

B2B

Shopify hasn’t specified exactly what this will be yet but the announcement says the new APIs will provide better ways to connect to wholesale customers with new primitives like Business Customers, Price Lists, and Assigned Payment Terms.

While a little light on specifics, strides towards a smoother B2B offering would be a fantastic addition to the Shopify ecosystem. 

ShopifyQL

ShopifyQL is a new query language that Shopify has introduced so you can have more direct access to shopify analytics data so you can generate business insides without having to deal with data transformation. 

In theory, there should be no more mismatching between your reports and Shopify data.

Return APIs

Shopify is building a highly anticipated returns API so that we can have greater visibility into critical returns data across platforms and manage orders more efficiently.The ability to track and report on returns will be a major step forward for many merchants who have been relying on manual processes and workarounds.

As always, if you need help with anything Shopify related, our team at Tribe is here to help. We are a leading Shopify development agency and we have helped lots of businesses grow their online presence. Contact us today to see how we can help you!