When Shopify 2023 Winter Editions announced continued improvements in the Shop App, I remember thinking to myself, why is no one talking about this? In my recap of the 100+ product updates, I wrote:
"More Shop app customization (branding, shop experiences, etc): I don't hear many people talking about the Shop app; however, I think it can be a powerful tool for customers and merchants alike. It's interesting to see Shopify investing in new features. It makes me wonder if an Amazon-like experience is a long-term vision. I'll be eager to see if this drives adoption."
Nearly a year has passed and my perspective remains largely the same. The main difference now is Shopify has, in many ways, doubled down on the Shop app. Not to mention, the brand campaigns Shopify hypes often drive customers to the Shop app. Mr. Beast? Shop app.
The Shop app began as a way for customers to track orders from Shopify stores in one place. But since launching, the Shop app has quietly grown into a marketplace of sorts, uniting Shopify brands into one convenient spot. Let's go a bit deeper.
How It Works: Brands can set up a custom storefront by enabling it through Shopify, personalize it with brand assets, and sell directly through the app with easy one-tap checkouts and payment installation options for customers.
Shop app still consolidates your orders and tracks them all in one place. This feature helps brands increase transparency with real-time shipment tracking through a live-view map.
You can even connect your email to the app, and it will track purchases—even the ones made elsewhere—in one place. See below for how my app looked around around the holidays, with purchases from three non-Shopify brands.
Shop app offers a personalized shopping experience. Shop will consider the brands you have already shopped with and recommend other products and related brands you might love.
In early December, Tolstoy and Shopify announced a collaboration to enhance the Shop app's Discover feed, featuring a personalized stream of products presented via Tolstoy's shoppable videos. Brands already using Tolstoy were featured here immediately. For newcomers, Tolstoy is offering this functionality at no cost. Just sign up and you’re good to go.
Shop app also has an AI shopping assistant to help guide your shopping and discover new brands and products.
Shop app offers app-specific rewards. Every time you make a purchase, you earn 1% Shop Cash that you can use on future purchases from the app, and sometimes they have multiplier promotions that earn you even more.
During Black Friday/Cyber Monday, I was surprised by all of the multiplier promotions. Some brands were offering 20x my Shop Cash credit to shop with them. You can see an offer for me below that's 14x my $2.05 balance.
Shop app has built-in monitoring and management for brands. It allows you to collect customer feedback, respond to reviews, and view analytics to leverage insights.
Here's why I'm excited:
- Shop app still seems somewhat under the radar as a brand discovery and shopping tool; yet, there are 100m+ engaged shoppers on the app, according to Shopify. From my experience, due to the original intent, people aren't going there for discovery. They get notified about a package update, check in, and end up sticking around and discovering brands.
- With seamless integration to Shopify, it's a no-brainer for Shopify brands for exposure to customers who are likely to be interested in their products.
- Shop app continues offering more and more customization to allow for a fully branded shopping experience that you rarely find in other similar channels.
What's fascinating to me is there are over 2 million active sellers on Amazon but over 4 million e-commerce stores built by Shopify. I'm not suggesting the Shop app will become the new Amazon, but the possibilities of scale are pretty incredible.
Learn more about Shop app for brands here.
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This post originally appeared in #62 of The E-Commerce Corner. Subscribe here.
Friday, January 12, 2024
