The 10 Most Useful Shopify Online Store 2.0 Features – Webinopoly ””

Let’s Discuss Your Project

Tell us a bit more about what you are working on, and let’s connect.

By entering your number, you agree to receive mobile messages at the phone number provided.* We do NOT sell or share your personal information.

Request a Quote
 

The 10 Most Useful Shopify Online Store 2.0 Features

Driven by the beautiful, completely re-imagined storefront, this is a great time to upgrade to Shopify 2.0. The goal of bringing Shopify 2.0 online was to enrich the online shop experience with the introduction of a whole new set of development tools. As a result, developers may design a more diverse range of Shopify apps and themes for merchants.

Shopify 2.0 should be accessible to everyone by now so store owners can now take advantage of the new Shopify Online Store 2.0, which provides a comprehensive and robust eCommerce platform to end-users. 

Although some businesses might not yet have upgraded their themes, a number of people have already joined in. So what are the benefits so far?

What is Shopify Online Store 2.0, and how does it work?

Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce systems in the world, with over 1.7 million online businesses.

The launch of Online Store 2.0 includes a full overhaul of the online store experience, as well as the introduction of a slew of new tools to assist developers in creating incredible experiences for merchants and customers. The new version focuses on giving developers more control while also making it easier for merchants to maintain and add content to their storefronts.

Here's a quick recap of some of the most significant new features and improvements in the launch, as well as what they mean for your Shopify business.

  1. Sections everywhere provide more flexibility

Sections are page elements that are modular and adaptable, allowing merchants to be more creative when creating their online store. In the previous version, Shopify's "sections" could only be found on a store's homepage.

Most developers will agree that we all wanted the ability to create and use global sections across all templates so with the new update, we can’t help but be amazed since this will be quite beneficial.

With the 2.0 update, you can now add sections to each new page. This means you may now build your storefront with little to no restrictions since the update lets you rearrange content on any page of your store to maximize the effectiveness of your layout. You can easily do this in Shopify 2.0, thanks to the theme editor's increased speed and customizability.

If before you needed an app, a custom page builder, or a developer to add a banner or a new design element to your page, product, or blog post, now you won’t really need to. Shopify 2.0 lets you use sections you’ve developed on any page on your site.

  1. A faster, improved checkout experience

Photo created by yanalya - www.freepik.com

Checking out will be significantly faster on Online Shop 2.0. Stores will now be able to perform thousands of transactions per minute which is great news for big stores out there.

The new updates on the checkout app extensions should allow developers to extend their app code into checkout, and customize many aspects of the checkout experience. These app extensions make customizations easy to distribute, fast for merchants to install, and upgrade-safe, enabling merchants to continue getting platform benefits as Shopify releases new features. 

You’ll be able to personalize content such as messages and interactive offers on the post-purchase page, as well as the set of checkout options (such as shipping and payment methods).

New updates should also include the ability to add new UI to checkouts such as more custom content, messages, interactive elements, and custom discounts. This allows for a more personalized shopping experience and increased conversion rates.

  1. Purchase now, pay later option

The purchase now, pay later option is provided to improve the purchasing experience of your online business. It allows customers to pay less money upfront while increasing merchant conversions and average order values.

Customers will be able to pay in full right now or in four interest-free installments afterward.

This function allows customers to purchase higher-ticket items and check out with greater cart sizes. It also integrates well with Shop Pay, making checking out a breeze. All of this adds up to a fully integrated checkout solution that does not require any redirects or overselling.

  1. Customizable 404 Pages

When a customer clicks on a broken link on your website, they are routed to this page. Usually, it's some text that says, "Oh, we couldn't locate anything," followed by a button to continue browsing.

Photo from IdentixWeb

Now to make it a shoppable page, you must edit the code in your theme to include products or categories. Then, just like anywhere else in Online Store 2.0, you may add sections to that page. You might want to include a section that highlights your best-selling products, as well as links to your most popular collections.

  1. Metafields updates allow you to provide more product information to attract customers

Photo from Sunbowl

Merchants can now use the new theme editor to add metadata and attributes to their Shopify stores, eliminating the need for APIs or code meaning developers may now change product pages without relying on APIs or hardcoding meta fields. 

Thanks to the upgrade, you may now add any material to the product page, including additional information that may be beneficial to potential buyers. Meta fields can also be used to alter data that is unlikely to appear in the store editor.

Here are the many ways they changed meta fields:

  • Flexibility: Metafields are now more flexible, helping you safely import commerce data.
  • Standard meta fields: Standard meta fields make it simpler for custom themes to start working out of the box on stores across market verticals.
  • Presentation hints: You can add presentation hints to meta fields for rendering store data

Metafields also now allows for the storing of media assets such as images and PDF files. Additionally, the product page upload and media selection processes have been simplified.

  1. Liquid Input Setting

Thanks to the liquid input setting in the 2.0 upgrade, users may now add liquid code straight to pages from Shopify's editor.

The HTML and Liquid configurations are fairly similar except that liquid variables are now available. Merchants can make use of both global Liquid objects and template-specific Liquid objects.

When adding code for apps that utilize the liquid, this functionality will reduce the need for merchants to manually modify any theme's code. For developers, this frees your time to focus on creative integrations and solutions while still allowing you to make store decisions.

  1. New Developer Tools

Developers can now create apps and themes for Shopify merchants in a brand new way with Online Store 2.0. It introduces a collection of new developer tools that work in harmony with Shopify to make building, testing, and deploying themes easier.

Developers can anticipate more advanced theme development with version control with the addition of the Shopify GitHub link, an enhanced Shopify CLI tool, and Theme Check.

  1. Personalized App Recommendations

Though not too big of an update, the Shopify App Store will now provide personalized app recommendations for similar businesses. This one will surely save merchants time since it quickly identifies the best apps for your store. 

  1. Shopify Github Integration

Most developers would agree that the addition of a new GitHub integration is a game-changer. When preparing for launches, the theme will not need to be replicated. We'll also be able to include our clients' live settings into our repositories, saving time and improving the efficiency of our development process.

The new GitHub interface greatly simplifies the monitoring and management of new theme production and maintenance.

Furthermore, the Shopify GitHub connection connects Git branches and shop themes, as well as your user account and the Shopify admin. The native version control allows you to develop, track, and manage theme code changes.

Because of the GitHub connection with themes, developers may collaborate safely on themes using native version control. Because it supports version control, the link enables developers to edit themes. Developers can, for example, implement procedures that require theme updates to be examined and merged on GitHub before being applied to a live theme when constructing a merchant shop.

  1. Shopify CLI

The Shopify CLI tool has also been improved. Shopify's CLI has traditionally been used to build Node.js and Ruby on Rails apps and extensions, but it can now be used to develop themes.

You’ll be able to safely develop, preview, evaluate and test modifications inside development themes. You can utilize development themes to test your Shopify store. You may also create a new theme project, push and publish themes, perform theme checks, and use the theme to populate test data for items, customers, and draft orders.

Because the development themes aren't displayed in the admin section, you don't have to worry about shop visitors viewing your site.

Additionally, you can track a theme's progress in real-time, interact with it, and modify it using the theme editor with development themes. As a result, the new CLI tool allows you a great deal of control over the theme's final design.

How do the new Shopify Online Store 2.0 capabilities and features help merchants?

  • The new features and capabilities in Online Store 2.0 help merchants like you create stronger brand stories and customer experiences.
  • Merchants may make their stores more content-rich and interactive by leveraging dynamic resource capabilities.
  • The new development tools help speed up customizations and simplify store management.

How do you make the switch to Shopify 2.0?

There are two major approaches to upgrade to Shopify 2.0:

  • If you wish to keep using your current theme, the theme developer must produce a version compatible with 2.0 by the end of the year. Any customizations made to the original theme must be transferred to the upgraded version. You might want to get in touch with the developer or check your supplier if they’ll be making changes.
  • If you're ready to upgrade to a new theme, you can try out the new Shopify 2.0 themes or get in touch with your developer to make you a Shopify 2.0 compatible custom theme.

Reach out to us if you require either of these improvements, and our team will be happy to assist you in migrating your site to Shopify 2.0.

CONCLUSION

Shopify 2.0’s main benefits are flexibility, scalability, and performance for both developers and merchants. Although there are currently some bugs with certain integrations, our team is excited to test and work with all of the new features and opportunities that Shopify's Online Store 2.0 has to offer.

However, we must point out that the new editor can certainly replace a number of Shopify apps. Thanks to Shopify's built-in page sections and blocks, small and medium-sized businesses can easily create new page templates and input the data within them without writing a single line of code.

Please contact us if you'd like to learn more about Shopify 2.0 and how it may help your Shopify store. Our team will be happy to offer their thoughts and suggestions on how Shopify 2.0 could fit into your future goals.

Webinopoly is a multi-award-winning digital agency specializing in design, setup, development, and marketing. Our services include everything from creating your Shopify store to theme customization, website development, Shopify migration, SEO, and marketing.

Connect with us

If you need a Shopify website built, a Shopify app developed, or any eCommerce solutions developed, please contact us at 713-805-5888, email us at [email protected], or leave us a message here.

Learn more about Webinopoly

If you’d like to learn more about what we can do or view our portfolio, please click on the links below:

Share  

Let’s Discuss Your Project

Guides