The Latest Shopify Update: The Boring Edition

Shopify’s Boring Edition – but is it really?

Shopify’s self-proclaimed ‘boring’ update skips the flashy innovations and instead focuses on providing meaningful improvements for users.

Don’t let the ‘boring’ label fool you. This update could be a game-changer for Shopify merchants. Shopify has taken this update as an opportunity to pause, listen to its users, and refine the features they already know and love. It might not be flashy, but we don’t think it’s boring either. As Shopify puts it, the Winter ’25 update is all about “smoothing rough edges, improving performance, and making sure everything works well together”.

As a Shopify partner, we have our finger on the pulse when it comes to everything Shopify-related. Our team of Shopify experts offer Shopify web design services and Shopify support packages to businesses in a wide range of sectors. 

Shopify’s Winter ’25 Edition is pretty long – there are 150+ updates (nothing new, everything improved)! Needless to say, we won’t bore you with them all (although you can read about them in full in Shopify’s full update should you have the urge to). In this article, we’ll fill you in on the most important updates coming in Shopify’s Winter ‘25 Edition – and we’ll try not to make it too boring!

What are the major updates included in the Shopify Winter 2025 Edition?

Individually, the updates in the Shopify Winter 2025 Edition may not seem that impressive. But when you combine them all, they work together to create a more streamlined, efficient, and robust platform – delivering a smoother experience for both sellers and customers. These updates span many of the platform’s key features and functionalities, including the checkout process, marketing tools, shipping and delivery tools, and customer accounts. 

Let’s take a look at the key updates that are coming soon.

Improvements to the Shopify checkout

Shopify has made several changes to the checkout process to improve functionality and help merchants boost their store’s conversion rates.

• Faster load speeds: Cart and checkout loading speeds have been increased by 50% to help merchants reduce abandoned carts and bounce rates and boost conversion rates.
• Checkout Blocks available to all: Checkout Blocks used to be exclusive to Shopify Plus users but are now available to everyone, enabling merchants to customise thank you and order status pages to boost user experience.
• Integrate chat apps into the checkout: Chat apps can now be embedded within any checkout page for Shopify Plus users or the thank you page for merchants not on Plus, helping customers resolve problems in real time.
• Enhanced draft orders: New updates will allow checkout customisations made using Shopify Functions to be applied to draft orders and lock the price quoted in a draft order until the order is complete.
• Extended cart expiration: Customers will be given more time to complete purchases before the cart expires, helping reduce cart abandonment and improve conversion rates.
• Klarna now available in the UK: UK merchants using Shopify Payments can now offer Klarna as a payment option, providing customers with the option to “buy now, pay later”.

Speak to our team of Shopify web designers for help implementing any of these new checkout features.

Improvements to customer accounts

Shopify has introduced several improvements to customer accounts to make it easier for customers to self-manage their orders, returns, and account settings. These improvements focus on user experience enhancements and helping merchants manage their stores more efficiently.

• New customer account extensions: Merchants can use these app blocks to build personalised customer account pages, collect feedback, and create self-service experiences, helping to reduce the workload for them and their team.
• B2B customer account functionality: Customer accounts are now also available for Shopify B2B customers, enabling merchants to provide the same high-quality, convenient experience to their corporate clients.

Improvements to Shopify POS for in-person selling

It’s not just the online experience that’s getting a makeover; Shopify is also making improvements to its POS system to help merchants enhance the in-person shopping experience too.

• Bundles for Shopify POS: Merchants can recreate the appeal of product bundles for in-store customers, helping to encourage higher order values.
• Metafields for POS: In-store merchants will be able to view and edit metafields on Shopify POS, enabling them to capture customer data in person to help build more personalised marketing communications.

Improvements to Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow is Shopify’s powerful automation tool, designed to help business owners automate repetitive tasks, streamline operations, and increase their overall efficiency. The Shopify Winter 2025 Edition will introduce a couple of important improvements to Shopify Flow.

• New triggers and actions for returns: Merchants can now save time by setting up new return triggers, actions, and templates to automate the returns and exchanges process.
• Marketing templates in the Flow Library: Access pre-built marketing templates to quickly build reliable, automated marketing workflows.

Enhanced marketing tools

Shopify offers merchants a huge selection of built-in marketing tools. The platform’s Winter 2025 update focuses on polishing its existing toolset to make merchants’ marketing campaigns more effective and easier to manage.

• Custom UTM parameters: You can now create and track custom UTM links directly within Shopify Email. This feature will help merchants gain deeper insights into how their campaigns are performing.
• Holiday email templates: A new collection of holiday-themed templates is being added. Featuring built-in countdown timers, these templates can help merchants create a sense of urgency during seasonal promotions. 
• Image editing tools: Merchants will now be able to edit images directly within Shopify Email, helping them to create more professional-looking emails faster.

Improvements to shipping and delivery

The Shopify Winter ‘25 update will introduce several important improvements to the platform’s shipping and delivery tools, helping to simplify logistics for shop owners and provide customers with greater flexibility and convenience.

• Unified fulfilment logic: Consistent fulfilment and delivery settings can now be applied seamlessly across all order source platforms, including third-party platforms like Facebook and Amazon.
• Option to ship to store: Merchants on all plans can now offer customers the option to have their online orders delivered to their preferred store for pick up.
• Address validation: Customer addresses are now validated across all touchpoints to reduce the risk of shipping errors.
• Split shipping: Store owners can now offer customers split shipping at the checkout, allowing them to ship items from the same order to multiple addresses. This feature is also compatible with third-party fulfilment apps like ShipStation and ShipBob.

Enhanced financial tools

The new Shopify Finance tool enables store owners to manage their business finances directly within the Shopify admin panel, helping to streamline financial operations and reduce complexity. The new centralised hub for financial services allows merchants to manage all of their Shopify financial services, like Shopify Tax and Shopify Capital, in one place without navigating away from the Shopify platform or using third-party platforms.

Shopify’s AI assistant rolled out globally

All store owners can now access Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant, regardless of what subscription plan they’re on. Sidekick helps forward-thinking merchants save time by automating certain tasks and providing insights into their store’s performance to aid with important decision-making.

How can these updates help Shopify store owners increase sales and customer engagement?

When managing an eCommerce store, the user experience you offer customers is key to your success. Today’s customers expect shopping experiences that are not only quick and convenient but also fun, engaging, and memorable.

Many of the improvements announced in the Shopify Winter ‘25 update are designed to make it easier for merchants to meet these expectations.

The updates to Shopify POS and marketing tools aim to help merchants deliver more seamless and engaging shopping experiences, both online and offline. While the improvements to Shopify’s checkout and shipping tools make it easier and faster for customers to shop and receive their orders. Features like faster load speeds, extended cart expiration, split shipping, and ship-to-store options all help merchants reduce friction to conversion and offer customers greater flexibility and convenience. Many of the updates also focus on streamlining day-to-day operations by automating tasks and simplifying processes. This helps free up more time for store owners to spend dreaming up new ways to engage their audience, enhance the user experience, and grow their business.

Leveraging the improvements introduced in this update has the potential to help store owners build deeper connections with their customers, improving retention, driving customer loyalty, and boosting conversion rates.

Are there any new analytics or reporting features in the Shopify Winter 2025 Edition?

The Shopify Winter 2025 Edition introduces a selection of powerful new analytics and reporting features designed to help merchants get more customised insights into their store’s performance. By creating reports that are more relevant to their businesses, merchants will be able to make more informed and data-driven business decisions. Here’s what’s new:

• Customisable metrics and dimensions: Customise the metrics on your Shopify app home screen for quick access to the KPIs that are most relevant and important to your business and its goals.
• Pre-built, modifiable reports: Customise Shopify’s pre-built reports to suit your specific needs. Customise the data and dimensions to answer the questions most relevant to your business to receive tailored insights into your business’s performance.
• Reporting for bundles: Get valuable insights into how your product bundles are performing.
• Enhanced email analytics: Shopify email campaign spending and ROI metrics are now built into the marketing analytics dashboard.

With access to more tailored insights into business performance, shop owners can gain a more comprehensive understanding of what’s working and what’s not, helping them to make informed, data-driven decisions that align with their goals.

How should Shopify store owners prepare for the transition to the Winter 2025 Edition?

While the Winter 2025 update doesn’t introduce any big changes, failing to prepare for it could mean missing out on opportunities to improve your store’s performance and customer experience. Taking a proactive approach to understanding the update and what it means for your store will help you get the most value from the new features. 

Start by making a note of which updates are most relevant to your business, prioritising them by those that you expect to have the greatest positive impact. Then, evaluate your current store setup and operations and identify areas that could benefit from the improvements in the update. 

Once the new features are available, you can get to work incorporating them into your store and operations. If you employ staff, you may need to spend some time teaching them how to use the new tools and features effectively. 

If you implement changes that will improve the customer experience, like increased checkout options or new delivery features, don’t forget to announce these changes to your customers on your website, blog, email newsletter, or social media.

Partner with Create8 to implement Shopify’s latest features

Do you want tailored advice on how your business can benefit from Shopify’s latest update?

As a certified Shopify partner, we specialise in Shopify web design and offer Shopify support packages to meet your business needs.

Whether you want to redesign your existing store’s user experience, rebrand your Shopify store, or implement the latest features from the 2025 Winter Edition, we can help you achieve your goals.

Contact us today to learn more about our services or to receive tailored advice and support.