Shopify had a turbulent year. Consumers rushed to the brick-and-mortar stores after the restrictions were lifted globally. Slow revenue growth led to the layoff of 10 percent of its global workforce. While the e-commerce giant was still recovering from the aftermath of pandemic-induced lockdown restrictions, the global economic slowdown added to the woes. However, despite obstacles, the e-commerce giant continued catering to its ever-growing merchant base.
In 2022, Shopify launched several products to help the merchants on its platform grow their business. From announcing its partnership with YouTube to rolling out Shopify Collabs and Shopify POS, this year saw some big launches. In this article, we have covered six major launches by the company in 2022.
1. Linkpop For Creators And Merchants
Linkpop is a link in bio tool launched by Shopify in March. With the help of Linkpop, creators and merchants can make their links in bio shoppable. They can add important brand-building links on the Linkpop page and launch social storefronts to sell directly on the platforms where they are engaging with audiences. This will allow consumers to directly browse curated product lists and make purchases without leaving the app they are using.
Linkpop also has built-in analytics tools that help merchants understand consumer engagement in a better way. A mobile-friendly option is also available with a starter plan of $5. Links can be shared on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify and other platforms.
“Merchants and creators today are using multiple channels to engage with customers, and that number of touchpoints will only continue to grow. With Linkpop, we’ve created a surface that unifies all links merchants post across social channels. What’s even better, we’ve made it a shoppable destination so it’s easy to purchase products directly on Linkpop, which is a win-win for merchants and buyers alike,” said Amir Kabbara, Director of Product at Shopify.
This is an important step by Shopify to address the needs of the flourishing creator economy, estimated to include over 50 million creators globally and its consumers. In 2021 itself, the industry saw an investment of over $1.3 billion. By providing access to its top-class commerce technology and by developing tools to merge community, commerce and creativity, Shopify is supporting creators in the best way possible. Linkpop is available free of cost across the globe in English. Irrespective of whether you are a Shopify merchant or not, you can use the tool.
2. Official Launch of Shopify Audiences
Shopify Audiences officially launched in May this year, helps merchants find potential customers who have high intent to buy their products. Shopify Plus merchants can sync Shopify Audiences with the advertising networks of their choice. Initially Facebook and Instagram and later TikTok, Snap, Pinterest and Microsoft Advertising among others. This offering by Shopify aims to eliminate the complexities involved in finding new customers. Since late 2021, Shopify Audiences has been made available to Shopify Plus merchants in early access.
The merchant simply needs to choose the product they want to sell more and the machine creates high-intent customers tailored according to the needs of the merchant. The audience is then safely exported to the chosen ad network. Through audience-level measurement, Shopify Audiences provides merchants with a different and granular look at results.
“We know that independent merchants may have to pay twice as much to find a new customer as they did a year ago. In fact, one merchant told us their customer acquisition cost climbed 80% over the last year. We’ve also seen merchants’ return on ad spend drop, reflecting the growing difficulty of using digital marketing to find new buyers. That’s why we’re launching Shopify Audiences to fix it—without compromising privacy standards,” said Kaz Nejatian, VP of Product and COO at Shopify.
3. YouTube Partnership
Shopify announced a partnership with YouTube in July. The collaboration will provide merchants and creators with a powerful way to connect to their audience and build their businesses. YouTube Shopping on Shopify will allow its merchants to easily integrate their online store with the video platform, thus, reaching over 2 billion monthly logged-in users. The move aims to shore up sales from creators launching their own brands.
Through YouTube Shopping, Shopify merchants can sell their products in three ways- live streams, videos, and store tabs. YouTubers can tag and pin products while live streaming, add a store tab beneath their channel to feature their complete list of products and show a curated list in a product shelf below on-demand videos.
For example, while watching a YouTube video, you can possibly see a list of items on the page that the content creator thinks you might be interested in. For example, an audience of a YouTube channel on tech can see a list of gadgets that can be directly purchased from the page with the help of Shopify. The entire transaction will occur while the video is being played. This will help YouTube retain the viewership, which otherwise would have gone to some other site. YouTube plans to expand the features to its Shorts, Live and long videos as well.
“For years, creators have built businesses around their YouTube content, often extending their entrepreneurship into building their own brands, but it hasn’t been as seamless to reach their audience with these products directly on YouTube. We’re excited to partner with Shopify to help creators easily bring their stores front and center for their communities on YouTube, who are increasingly turning to them to shop,” said David Katz, VP of Shopping Product at YouTube.
4. Shopify Collabs
Shopify Collabs, a medium to connect Shopify merchants and content creators were launched in August of this year. The offering aims to help creators discover brands without any hassle and at the same time, allow merchants to reach new consumers. It facilitates the creators’ path to entrepreneurship. Shopify Collabs allows creators to establish partnerships with merchants and build curated shops and share products. They do need to go through the cumbersome process of hunting brands for collaborations. This allows them to focus more on their content.
Creators can apply for Shopify Collabs account and then they can browse for merchants whose products align with their audience’s interests. After finding the best, a list of products can be curated which creators can share on their social media accounts via Shopify’s link in bio tool, Linkpop. The creator will receive payment whenever a product is purchased using the shared link.
Shopify Collabs will help independent businesses with a new channel for sales and marketing. Merchants can go for the Collabs offering and make their store and products discoverable to the creators. As Collabs is built on Shopify, the process is centrally managed- customer info, order and inventory are updated regularly, giving a real-time view of the entire multichannel sales of the merchant.
“With Shopify Collabs, we’re making it simple for creators to discover and partner with these brands so they can make more money and reach economic independence. In the future, Collabs will be fully integrated with Shopify, giving creators access to more parts of our platform and accelerating their journey as entrepreneurs. For Shopify merchants, Collabs is a new way to find potential customers at a time when it’s never been more difficult or expensive,” said Amir Kabbara, Shopify’s director of Product.
5. Shopify Markets Pro & Translate & Adapt
In September, Shopify rolled out Shopify Markets Pro and Shopify Translate & Adapt. These two products which aim to capture the international selling market, are based on Shopify Markets, which allows merchants to sell their products online across the globe.
Shopify Markets Pro aims to democratize small business owners’ access to international commerce. Covering over 150 countries, it will help them expand their business globally. Shopify Markets Pro will manage tax and duty compliance in different countries on the behalf of the store owner. It also offers affordable express shipping with DHL as we all know that international selling comes with expensive delivery options. By providing options like local currency, local payment methods and no hidden fees on delivery, it aims to offer a seamless consumer experience.
Shopify Translate & Adapt, on the other hand, localizes the customer journey to boost selling global selling chances for merchants. This localisation tool is compatible with Shopify Markets and was launched along with Shopify Markets Pro. The new tool translates the information available on an online store into different languages. Both auto-translate and manual editing options are available. Merchants can create different shipping terms or different markets. Product descriptions can also be changed to portray a country’s preferences in a better way. Translating content increases gross merchandise value from local buyers by 13 percent, says Shopify.
“Expanding to new markets without a localized consumer experience means you’re leaving untapped potential on the table. Shopify Translate & Adapt overhauls how Shopify merchants can build high-touch storefronts for each market, all from a single store and platform, and we think it’ll be a game changer for increasing consumer empathy and conversion,” said Rohit Mishra, Director of Product at Shopify.
6. Shopify POS Go
In late September, Shopify launched an updated version of its point-of-sale (POS) system. Shopify POS Go is a handheld tool resembling a smartphone. It can be called the most important product announcement by Shopify after the layoff in July this year. With the launch of this product, Shopify plans to establish a foothold in the hardware market. POS Go allows retailers to offer wireless checkout anywhere in the store. There’s no need to connect it to a computer or mobile phone.
Shopify POS Go app is customisable. The device comes with a card reader, inventory tracker and a built-in barcode scanner. It is ready to be used right out of the box. Switch on the device and connect it to all resources, tools, and support needed for business.
“Retail is evolving quickly and merchants need flexible solutions to help them succeed. More than ever, brick-and-mortar retailers need technology that keeps them nimble. With POS Go, we’re empowering our merchants to deliver world-class, differentiated in-store experiences. Offline retail is all the way back, and we’re investing heavily in hardware that’s fit for the fastest-growing, most innovative retailers in the world,” said Arpan Podduturi, VP of Product at Shopify.
POS Go can benefit merchants in three ways — offering them checkouts anywhere in the store, confidential payments and a unified view of the business. All that merchants need to do is to pay a one-time fee of $399. For the unversed, Shopify launched its first POS system in 2013.
