What’s New at Shopify: February 22, 2019

The February edition of What’s New at Shopify is here. Read on to find out how you can benefit from going global, why our new Pitching Shopify POS course will help you grow, and the recent merchant improvements that will help keep your clients happy.

Welcome to the first edition of What’s New at Shopify in 2019.

From international incentives to a new POS course in Shopify Partner Academy, we’re rounding up all the major releases and improvements since the holidays.

Read on to find out how you can benefit from going global, what opportunities lay ahead with Pitching Shopify POS, and the newest merchant improvements that will help keep your clients happy.

Major releases and announcements

Keep up-to-date with our major releases and recent announcements to find new opportunities and grow your expertise as a Shopify Partner. Below are the most recent releases you should be aware of.

Pitching Shopify POS course

Whether you already work with brick and mortar retailers or are keen to help your digital-native clients sell in person, this course is for you.

The growing set of features in Shopify POS bring selling online and in-person together for your clients in one back-of-office. Shopify POS can help your clients reach the next level of their growth by offering features to create a better retail experience. And knowing which Shopify POS features and pricing plans best align with your prospective client’s business can make the difference between gaining or losing new business.

With this in mind, Shopify Partner Academy has put together their newest course, Pitching Shopify POS. Have you had questions about the hardware? Not sure how to sell it to your clients? This course will walk you through the fundamentals of everything you need to know.

Access Pitching Shopify POS course.

Translated Partner Dashboard

The Shopify Partner Dashboard is now fully available in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. By providing a translated and localized Partner Dashboard, partners (and in turn, merchants) that are not fluent in English can begin to build their businesses on Shopify.

You can change the language of your Partner Dashboard by clicking on Settings, then Edit profile. For users in a country where a new language is supported, you will also see a banner informing you on how to change your language.

Learn more in the Shopify Help Docs. 

Partners Go Global launch

In mid-January, we launched our Go Global campaign for partners. With over 70 percent of ecommerce transactions occurring outside of North America, we identified a massive opportunity to help scale your business internationally. Now more than ever, you have the ability to grow your clientele across borders.

As a Shopify Partner, we’re offering incentives for referrals made in our P1 markets: France, Germany, Japan, and Singapore.

Below are two special offers for partners that will run until November 19, 2019.

1. Affiliate link referrals: 300 percent commission bounty over 3 months (100 percent each month) for affiliates who refer new Shopify merchants in France, Germany, Japan, or Singapore. Limit of 100 referrals that are eligible for the increased commission.

1. Development store referrals: 30 percent revenue share of a merchant’s monthly subscription fee for any development store referrals of merchants located in France, Germany, Japan, or Singapore. You’ll receive 20 percent revenue share for the merchant's first month’s subscription fee, and 30 percent revenue share for all subsequent months (even after the promotion period ends), as long as the merchant remains a paying Shopify customer, and you remain an active partner.

To help you get started on this exciting opportunity, we’re providing resources, tools, tips, and tricks to help you reach an international audience. Check out our latest webinar on going global and learn why the future of commerce is global, what Shopify is doing to grow internationally, and how to begin referring merchants across borders.

Visit our Go Global page for additional resources.

You might also like: The Future of Commerce is Global: Why and How to Take Your Business International with Shopify.

Shopify Community

Last month we released Shopify Community, an enhanced forums experience, with the intention of mitigating common forum frustrations and better connecting our partner community. With features such as accepted solutions, stronger search capabilities, and direct messaging, you can find the information you need, faster.

This is your opportunity to connect with store owners and find out what services they need. Ask questions, gather feedback, and work together to create solutions. Can you help them address their unique needs? Have you already built an app to address their issue? Feel free to reach out directly.

The more insightful information you provide, the more you can establish yourself as a trusted source within Shopify Community. Earn badges for your profile with your willingness to help and ability to provide solutions.

In addition, you can now easily lean into groups with like-minded entrepreneurs and begin to build the network needed for success.

Join Shopify Community.

You might also like: Introducing Shopify Community—An Enhanced Forums Experience.

Merchant improvements

Understanding improvements to the merchant experience will help unlock your full partner potential. Take a look at our new updates for merchants this month.

An easier way to switch between stores

If your clients are Shopify Plus merchants, they now have access to a dropdown allowing them to switch between stores with ease. With this feature, your clients can enjoy a seamless experience between all storefronts associated with their contract and email address. This means that with a click of a button, staff members can switch to a different store without managing multiple logins.

Learn more in the Shopify Help Docs.

Shopify Plus checkout upgrade

Shopify Plus merchants with a customized checkout have started upgrading to the latest version of checkout this month. This upgrade contains a number of visual and functional improvements that will affect the look and feel of your client’s checkout.

Merchants have until March 4, 2019, to make any changes required to their checkout.liquid file and preview the changes against the new Shopify checkout. If they haven't upgraded their checkout by March 4, 2019, their store will be upgraded automatically.

Learn more about assisting your clients with checkout upgrades.

You might also like: 5 Ways to Stay Informed as a Shopify App Developer.

New permissions

New permissions for app and channel access were created so your Shopify Plus clients can feel confident that they’re giving the right app and channel permissions to the right staff members. With this change, your clients can feel more in control of who is accessing what on their store.

Account owners can go to the account page for individual staff, and select specific apps or channels for them to use. Only the selected apps will be available for those staff to use, any remaining apps will be hidden.

To set up App and Channel Access for your clients, go to Settings, then Account, and click on your staff member’s name. From there, select the Limited apps permission to see the app selector.

Learn more about setting staff permissions in the Shopify Help Centre.

More opportunities to stay connected

Whether you’re learning how to pitch Shopify POS or joining Shopify Community, there are more ways than ever to stay connected with the information that matters most. We hope that Shopify Community serves as your new home base with fellow partners, while new courses on Shopify Partner Academy bring a deeper understanding to the partner program. By staying up-to-date, you’ll be able to explain to your clients with confidence the benefits of using Shopify, what updates to anticipate, and ultimately, how to grow a better business.

Until next time. 👋

What announcements are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments below!