"i only speak liquid" #30: Hidden Shopify Updates

Hey all 👋!

Welcome to “i_only_speak_liquid" by Storetasker, where active Shopify developers like me (Robert) share the learnings we face daily.

PS: I've been focusing my efforts on building my Shopify app called Orbe. Our mission is to make selling globally easier on Shopify Markets. I have also been a developer on Storetasker. Apply here if you want to join Storetasker's gated network of vetted Shopify developers.

What I’ve been thinking about:

Last week was nothing short of a rollercoaster for the entire Shopify ecosystem. If, for some odd reason, you missed out on the action, Shopify rolled out its most recent product updates. There's a multitude of new features waiting to be explored at Shopify Editions Summer 23.

In this week's issue, I'm focusing on some overlooked yet potent releases. They might not create much buzz, but they're cool improvements for making developers’ lives easier.

The first one that caught my eye is the new filtering capabilities within the Shopify Search & Discovery app. It now allows you to group filter values under a single name. This elegantly solves a longstanding issue for merchants with specific colour variations for each item, such as Light Blue or Navy. Customers browsing a collection page and opting for a "Blue" filter will see both colour variants.

Before this update, the workaround involved creating a variant metafield to instruct Shopify's filter how it should group colours. In fact, I made a video a while back explaining how to achieve this.

Thankfully, you can now group colours effortlessly through the Search & Discovery app:

In our last issue, we explored development improvements for B2B stores, more specifically, crafting product forms that allow B2B customers to add multiple variants simultaneously.

Shopify announced that developers can create templates exclusively for B2B customers within the Theme Editor. This means you can create a product form section that merchants can exclusively add to their B2B user templates (remember that this feature is only available to Shopify Plus merchants).

Furthermore, you can utilize liquid objects like quantity_rule to enhance frontend behaviour based on merchant settings in their Shopify B2B experience:

It's truly heartening to see the platform evolving, making it increasingly straightforward to design and develop responsive and efficient storefronts on Shopify.

3 links you can’t miss:

• Flex Sections: Although it's not officially released yet, Shopify is gearing up to enable Flexbox section development. This update promises a far more customizable experience for merchants within the Theme Editor. From what I've seen, it looks spectacular!

• New Shopify Metaobjects Pages: Dive into this insightful video to understand the novel approach of building pages. It offers a wealth of ideas that you could potentially implement for your clients.

• Extension-Only Apps: As the name suggests, extension-only apps are custom apps devoid of embedded app pages; they're composed entirely of extensions. This offers a more streamlined way of developing custom apps for clients, as extension-only apps can be hosted directly on Shopify and don’t require dashboards.

One app I like:

ShopQuiz by RevenueHunt

ShopQuiz is my go-to app when merchants express their interest in creating quizzes to guide their customers. It's been embraced by some of the best Shopify stores I've come across, and it's easy to see why. The user interface is intuitive and easy to understand, making the setup process a breeze.

You can create super advanced quizzes that will recommend the best product choice for customers and seamlessly send captured leads to your mailing list or CRM. This gives you the power to leverage customer data and create higher ROI marketing campaigns.

Speaking of setup, the support team at RevenueHunt truly goes above and beyond. They're always ready to assist in tailoring the app to meet your client's specific needs. Their friendliness and willingness to help make the whole process smoother and more efficient.

One learning as a freelancer:

I've had numerous instances where merchants hired developers to find the optimal solution to a problem. Surprisingly, many times the solution lay not in developing a frontend feature or implementing an existing one but in integrating with a third-party solution on the App Store or that integrates as an app on Shopify.

In these scenarios, what's happening is that the merchants are hiring you not just for your technical expertise but for your consulting prowess. While business consultancy is quite common, the value brought by a developer in technology consulting is often overlooked. As tech consultants, we offer a unique combination of technical know-how and a deep understanding of the Shopify platform and its ecosystem.

So, how do we appropriately value this kind of consultancy work? The key lies in the communication and structuring of the project. It's crucial to explain to the merchant upfront that the project will begin with a technology consultancy phase, priced accordingly. In this phase, you will do research, engage in discussions with different solution providers, and delve deeply into the scope of the problem the merchant is trying to solve. However, it's important to clarify that this phase does not guarantee the implementation of a solution or a 100% resolution of the problem in the way they initially thought.

Following the consultancy phase, once a solution is identified, a separate project task can be set up to implement or develop the final solution. This approach helps you allocate your time and resources better and allows your clients to understand the value you provide as a technology consultant in addition to your role as a developer.

Being a freelancer is not just about developing code. It's about adding value through your expertise, and that's something we should always remember to put forward.

I hope you enjoy this issue. Reply to this email and let me know your thoughts :)

Speak in 2 weeks,

Roberto Aresena