Shopify News: These are the Shopify updates in January 2025

At the beginning of the year, Shopify once again presented exciting updates that can increase the efficiency of the shop and make everyday business easier. We have summarised the most important Shopify news in this article, including improvements to the checkout experience and enhanced functions for headless shops.

Shopify Partner: The new partner programme

Shopify has introduced a tiered partner programme that enables agencies, consultants, app developers and other partners to grow with Shopify and bring their solutions to market in a targeted manner. Partners can now choose between two main categories: Service Partner and Technology Partner. Depending on their performance and commitment, partners advance to different levels - Registered, Select, Plus, Premier and Platinum. Each level offers specific benefits, including access to exclusive resources, technical support and partnership funding. The new model is designed not only to make it easier for partners to work with Shopify, but also to help merchants find the best partners.

In addition, partners can further improve their position by acquiring Shopify-certified ‘Verified Skills’ and by integrating high-quality solutions into the Shopify shop. These trainings and qualifications offer partners the opportunity to stand out through the quality of their services and products.

Optimisations in the checkout process

Shopify has significantly improved the checkout process for merchants and customers.

Seamless login in the checkout

Registered customers now benefit from a more seamless shopping experience: they remain logged in from the shopping basket through to payment. This means that they do not have to re-enter their login details, which significantly speeds up the payment process and makes it more convenient overall. Especially in times when user-friendliness has a decisive influence on purchasing decisions, this improvement is an important step.

Shopify offers merchants the opportunity to activate this function in a targeted manner. This is done by integrating the customerAccessToken into the Buyer Identity object of the Storefront API Cart. In addition, the IP address of the buyer should be transmitted for server-side requests to ensure smooth authentication.

Multiple shipping options with delivery times

From now on, merchants have the option to offer multiple shipping options in the checkout, which are displayed together with estimated delivery times. This gives customers the ability to select their preferred shipping method based on speed and cost, resulting in an even more personalised shopping experience. Shipping costs are automatically retrieved from suppliers by default, but retailers can customise these to suit their specific business needs.

In addition, the different shipping methods can be labelled with their own names so that they can be clearly and comprehensibly adapted to the needs of the shop. This flexibility not only ensures greater customer satisfaction, but also creates more transparency throughout the purchasing process.

Checkout Blocks now available under Apps

The Checkout Blocks function has now been significantly simplified and can no longer be found under the sales channels, but has been moved to the ‘Apps’ section. This change provides a clear structure and makes the function easier to use for merchants.

Previously, checkout blocks were listed under all sales channels such as products, collections and discounts, which made it difficult to keep track of and confusing to use.

Customised product allocation for headless shops

Shopify is introducing a new function for headless online shops: From now on, different products and collections can be provided specifically for each headless store. This means that merchants with several headless online shops can define an individual product range for each shop.

In the Shopify admin area, each headless store is now displayed separately as its own sales channel - with its specific name. This also applies to the order overview and other areas. Each headless online shop is therefore treated as a separate channel.

For developers: API calls that previously used the publicationId of the headless sales channel must now use the publicationId of the respective headless store. For example, in the publishablePublish-Mutation, the specific publicationId for the desired headless shop must be specified.

Improved image selection for product variants

Retailers now have the option of accessing all images in their shop directly on the detail page of a product variant in the admin area. This new feature is made possible by the standardised file selection tool, which enables quick and easy management of product images. Previously, it was often difficult to find and assign the right images for different product variants, but with this new tool, this process becomes much more efficient.

The tool displays all available images from the entire shop in an overview so that retailers can easily select the right image for each product variant. Managing images is not only easier, but also more flexible, as the tool enables better organisation of image files while ensuring seamless integration with product editing.

New functions for metaobjects in Flow

Shopify Flow now offers even more options for using metaobjects in workflows. In addition to the ‘Metaobject entry created’ trigger, there are now two new actions:

• Retrieve metaobject entries: Retrieves a list of entries for a metaobject from your shop. The search can be performed by name, modification date or specific values.

• Retrieve metaobject entry: Retrieves an individual entry based on its handle.

These functions make it easier to save data in metaobjects and use them for workflows. For example, a fraud alert list can be managed as a metaobject, queried in Flow and used for actions such as internal email notifications or order cancellations.

Shopify sets new standards in climate protection

Shopify continues to invest in innovative technologies that can actively combat climate change 2024 - the warmest year on record - marked the largest commitment to date:

• $36.3 million flowed into over 23 promising CO₂ removal companies, including Terradot, Alt Carbon and CO280. This brings Shopify's total investment to an impressive USD 83.9 million in 51 projects.

• With the Planet app, merchants have generated 23.6 million carbon-neutral orders, offsetting over 15,000 tonnes of shipping emissions.

• Carbon Commerce, a new Shopify feature, enables climate pioneers to manage and sell carbon offsets directly through Shopify. Users include companies such as Graphyte and Mast Reforestation.

Shopify supports pioneers who are making groundbreaking progress: Vaulted has removed 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ since 2023, Planetary developed the first ocean alkalinity certificates in 2024, and Heirloom secured an impressive USD 150 million in a funding round.

Shopify's goal for 2025 is to support climate projects even more - through more buyers, financiers and government involvement. Commercial support is crucial in order to scale these pioneering technologies globally and ensure sustainable climate protection.

Conclusion

Shopify continues to focus on innovation and sustainability in January 2025 to make everyday business easier for retailers and future-proof their shops. Whether optimised checkout processes, targeted product allocation for headless shops or improved tools for image management and metaobjects - the updates offer practical solutions for greater efficiency and flexibility.

In addition, Shopify's investment in climate protection projects shows that economic success and sustainability can go hand in hand. The combination of technical innovations and a clear focus on global responsibility makes Shopify a strong partner for forward-looking retailers.

It remains exciting to see what innovations the year has in store - but one thing is certain: Shopify is ready to continue improving the industry.

Latori: Your Shopify Premier Partner

As a Shopify partner and the first Shopify Premier agency in Germany, Latori has first-hand knowledge and is always up to date with changes to the store system. We have had the pleasure of helping numerous national and international brands switch to Shopify Plus.