Shopify Announces Major Upgrades for Small Business Users

Shopify has unveiled the latest developments in its ecommerce platform to help businesses and entrepreneurs in three key areas. The announcement was made at Unite, the annual conference bringing together the international developer community for the Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) ecosystem.

The company says it wants to empower its users by helping them sell more, work more efficiently and make the most of the Shopify partner community. During the Unite conference, partners and developers will learn and share ways to make these three areas a reality.

For many of the small businesses using Shopify for their ecommerce platform, the conference is an opportunity to learn how to use the application more effectively. In a release, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, said he wants to empower entrepreneurs around the world, and according to him, this means, “Making it easier for them to run a business and become successful. Unite is when we show the world our progress on this journey, and invite our developer and partner community to join us.”

Shopify Unite 2018 Announcements

This year there were many announcements at the Unite conference. Here is a short synopsis of each new development.

POS Upgrade

If you have a retail store, Shopify is upgrading its POS system with multi-channel returns and exchanges, in-store pickup, tipping options, a companion app for a customer-facing checkout experience, and a developer SDK.

A new Tap & Chip Reader will accept all major contactless payments, including Apple Pay and Google Pay for in-store customers and features specifically designed for retail will be bundled with the standard Shopify Plan at no cost.

New Marketing Section in Shopfy Dashboard

Merchants can now create, run, and measure all marketing campaigns using their favorite Shopify apps inside the dashboard in a new Marketing section. The feature comes with personalized, detailed and actionable marketing recommendations for their products and store.

Buy One Get One (BOGO) & Quantity discounts have also been added to the promotional tools on Shopify along with Dynamic Checkout, which brings up the consumer’s preferred payment method directly on the product page.

Simplification of Back-Office Workflows

New development will automate and simplify back-office workflows with “Locations” to manage inventory across multiple locations. And when it comes to security, Fraud Protect for Shopify Payments will let you fulfill more orders with opt-in protection for orders processed via Shopify Payments against fraudulent chargebacks.

Additional news includes teaching merchants via Kit Skills; Shopify Ping to streamline conversations; beta program for native languages (German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian); and locally relevant payment methods for paying with country-specific cashless payments systems.

New One-Stop-Shop for Expertise and Advice

Shopify Services Marketplace will provide expertise in website design, marketing, photography and more to empower partners and merchants in a one-stop-shop.

The Shopify App Store has also been improved by prioritizing the discovery of the product you need and generating personalized recommendations.

You can take a look at all of the new developments from the Unite conference in great detail here.

Image: Shopify

This article, "Shopify Announces Major Upgrades for Small Business Users" was first published on Small Business Trends