Why “Unboxing Editions” you ask? Editions is Shopify’s new format to explore the products and services you need to grow your business. Shopify Editions will be published twice a year, culminating in six months of product innovation at Shopify. That means there are 6 months of hundreds of incredible new features, tools, updates, products and more to unbox.

Given Shopify is a major global platform, many of the updates are focused on international markets, are not available in Asia, or will roll out here in the future.

So, we put together this Shopify Meetup for merchants to know which features they can use right away to grow their business, and how to use them (and why you should!).

A big thank you to Shopify for their amazing support:

Stan, Partner Enablement Manager, Shopify. Stan is the main product lead for Shopify in the region, overseeing the new feature rollouts here so it was fantastic to hear his insights directly, translating Editions into tips for Hong Kong merchants.

Leo, Enterprise Sales Executive, Shopify. Leo is a regular face at our Meetups, helping to answer any burning questions merchants have about Shopify Plus during breakout sessions.

Liwen, Senior Solutions Engineer, Shopify, and Yan, Solutions Engineer, Shopify, who both answered live-fire questions about the new Shopify features throughout the event and hosted breakout discussions.

Watch our recap of the Meetup here:

*Some of the client uses cases we shared during the Meetup couldn’t be posted online afterward so those scenes are not in the highlight video. Visit our future Meetups and events to see our client use case demos!

*If you want to find a certain session from the Meetup, click through to watch it on YouTube and we added chapters in the video description for you to automatically jump to the session you want.

An educational, action-packed Meetup

The virtual Shopify Meetup started with guests networking in the conference hall and browsing information, case studies, videos, resources, and more from the sponsors (Wave Commerce, OMNI - Shopify's only truly omnichannel loyalty solution, Shopify Plus, and Shopify POS.

Our host for the afternoon was Peter, from Wave Commerce, who opened the Meetup with an energizing video about Shopify Editions and some of the new features that were launched. He then presented the agenda and key updates that would be covered.

Leo, Liwen, and Yan came on stage to meet everyone, they introduced themselves and talked about the breakout sessions that they were hosting after the 3 main sessions.

Editions Overview, by Stan from Shopify

Stan introduced in his own words why Editions is so important for Shopify Merchants to follow. He then walked through the new UI elements of the features, how to access them, and shared what merchants can use them for. He introduced 4 of the new features from Editions that are most interesting for Hong Kong merchants which they can use today!

• B2B on Shopify
• Shopify Functions
• Hydrogen and Oxygen (Headless Commerce)
• Checkout Extensibility

Key takeaways:

Shopify is constantly innovating and launching new solutions and features that merchants can use right away to stay ahead of the competition and trends. Editions will be the main communication strategy for merchants to explore and learn what those innovations are.

Discount Combinations and Scripts, by Stuart from Wave Commerce

After Rolland gave a quick insight into the Editions roadmap of the most exciting features for Hong Kong, Stuart came on stage and gave a great deep dive into Discount Combinations. Discount Combinations was voted by the meetup attendees as the feature they were most excited for - which is no surprise given Hong Kong consumers’ undying love for special (and complicated) promotions!

Key Takeaways:

Get creative with your discounts! Shopify has made it easier than ever to create and bundle different LOCALIZED discount options. With recession fears and lower consumer spending recently, discounted shipping and creative discount combinations are great ways to boost spending on your store without lowering your brand.

Shopify Flow, by Stuart from Wave Commerce

While Shopify Flow has been around for a while, it is no longer just a Shopify Plus feature - but is available under the normal Shopify plan as well as the Shopify Advanced plan. Stuart took guests through how to create and design optimal workflows with specific triggers around inventory, customer tags, and more.

Key Takeaways:

Shopify Flow is a great way to improve your processes and create more tailored customer experiences - while freeing up more time for you.

New Shopify Themes and Features, by Cadence from Wave Commerce

Cadence has spent the last few weeks intently experiencing, testing, and sampling all the 18 new Shopify Themes on the 2.0 Theme Editor! Thanks to Cadence’s effort, she gave us some really insightful thoughts on who should consider these themes - and what they can offer. Some of the new themes even natively provide experiences and features that used to have to be custom-built by developers.

Themes can now also be edited on the mobile app!

Key Takeaways:

Shopify is making Themes even easier to optimize, customize, and develop - even while you’re on the go! New Themes on the 2.0 Editor offer some amazing high-value customer experiences and functions.

Hydrogen and Oxygen, by Rolland from Wave Commerce

Hydrogen and Oxygen is Shopify’s Headless Commerce framework. It enables merchants to develop and launch very high-performing sites much more quickly.

Key Takeaways:

Hydrogen and Oxygen give you full control over the site structure/directory, much more control over storefront experiences, and faster development of highly optimized stores (such as site speed).

Shopify Markets and Marketplace Kit, by Rolland from Wave Commerce

Rolland then walked us through Shopify Markets. Shopify Markets is a feature for Shopify Plus merchants to easily localize a single Shopify store in different markets. With Shopify Markets, you can localize URLs, pricing, product inventory etc from a single store to different markets.

We introduced Shopify markets in a longer deep dive session during our last Shopify Meetup in June, if you want to know more, check out the article.

A lot of our clients at Wave Commerce have been asking us about Shopify Marketplace Kit. It's a great tool for merchants looking to tap into Shopify’s ecosystem of sellers via the Shopify Sales Channel.

B2B on Shopify, by Rolland from Wave Commerce

B2B on Shopify is a big deal for brands and wholesalers who want to run their B2B business on Shopify, given how powerful and easy the consumer experience is on Shopify.

However, previously on Shopify, it was difficult to set different pricelists and models for wholesale goods etc, compared to what is on offer for consumers. With B2B on Shopify, merchants can create a different checkout experience for B2B buyers.

Shopify POS and Omnichannel, by Jessica from Wave Commerce

For the final session of the day, Jessica introduced how to use Shopify POS in Hong Kong, and create modern omnichannel experiences with a single customer loyalty profile across all offline, online, and third-party points of sales.

Jessica did several demos during the session, highlighting some advanced tips and tricks to make the most of Shopify POS. Definitely check out the highlight video to see more.

Wave Commerce’s new solution, OMNI, became very popular after the presentation by showcasing how merchants in Hong Kong can offer more advanced and modern omnichannel customer experiences, with offline staff sales attribution for online purchases, and local language loyalty programs with a single customer identity online and offline. To learn more about OMNI, visit here.

Key Takeaways:

Connect 2 Consumer means a strong omnichannel loyalty program is key. Shopify POS, and a solution like OMNI, are essential to achieving this and exceeding high customer expectations on CX.

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for reading this far and please watch the video recap for all the insights and details.

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