From Click to Checkout — 10 Shopify Updates You Should Be Using Right Now
Shopify continues to roll out powerful updates aimed at improving conversion, reducing friction, and giving DTC brands more native capabilities than ever before. Whether you're a scaling brand or a lean team doing it all, these 10 updates can have a measurable impact on performance. At Campfire Commerce, we’ve implemented these for clients across outdoor, gear, and lifestyle industries—and the results speak for themselves.
This guide goes beyond the headlines to show how and why these updates matter—plus how to put them to work immediately.
1. One-Page Checkout: A Faster Path to Purchase
What’s changed:
Shopify condensed its previously multi-step checkout into a single, streamlined page—reducing clicks and boosting conversions.
Why it matters:
Shopify's own case study shows reduced abandonment and improved mobile UX. We’ve seen up to a 9% lift in mobile conversions after migrating clients to the one-page experience.
Implementation Tip:
If you're using Shopify Plus, ensure checkout branding and custom fields are still functioning correctly post-switch. Add Shopify Scripts if you need advanced discounts or shipping logic.
2. Native Shopify Bundles App
What it does:
Shopify’s free Bundles app allows you to offer multipacks or curated bundles with real-time inventory syncing—no third-party app needed.
Best Use Cases:
2-packs and 4-packs for consumables or accessories
“Build your own kit” offers for camping gear, skincare, or supplements
Seasonal gift sets that ship in one package
What we do differently:
We customize bundle PDPs and Klaviyo flows to highlight savings, scarcity, and gifting triggers. Learn more in our Email & SMS Services.
3. Shopify Subscriptions (Now Native!)
Shopify’s new native subscriptions tool eliminates the need for tools like Recharge for basic recurring orders.
What it enables:
Sell auto-renewing products (coffee, supplements, grooming items)
Manage subscriptions directly in Shopify admin
Allow customer self-management with no extra login
Limitations to consider:
Fewer customization options compared to Recharge or Skio
Not yet available on all checkout extensibility setups
Our take:
Use Shopify’s native option for simple, single-SKU subscriptions. For more complex needs, pair Skio with Shopify Plus for headless flexibility and churn reduction features.
4. Enhanced Metafields and Filters
Metafields used to be technical and limited. Now, you can easily add size, material, specs, or application tags to products—then expose those as filters on collection pages via Shopify’s Search & Discovery app.
Impact for DTC:
Clear filtering improves UX, SEO, and conversion—especially if you have more than 20 SKUs.
5. Section Rendering API = Blazing Fast Sites
Shopify rolled out a new Section Rendering API that dramatically improves speed by reloading only parts of the page, not the whole thing.
Why you should care:
Faster load = higher conversion
More seamless filtering, variant switching, and cart updates
Developer Tip:
Work with a Shopify developer to enable this in your theme's cart and product interactions. We’ve seen 15–25% faster interaction time on brands after implementation.
6. Improved B2B Functionality on Shopify Plus
What’s new:
Shopify’s B2B on Plus experience lets you create customer-specific catalogs, pricing, payment terms, and tax exemptions—all without apps.
Best For:
Brands expanding into wholesale
Dealers and distributors with different pricing needs
Retailers needing net payment terms (Net30, etc.)
7. Translate & Adapt App for Global Brands
Going global? Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app allows you to:
Auto-translate your content into multiple languages
Adjust product descriptions and messaging by market
Support right-to-left languages
SEO Bonus:
Localized content = more organic visibility in non-English markets. Combine with hreflang setup for maximum impact.
8. Built-In Semantic Search
Why it matters:
Shopify now supports semantic search via the Search & Discovery app—meaning it understands customer intent, not just literal keywords.
Example:
A customer types “portable camp chair” and your bestsellers show—even if they don’t have that exact phrase in the title.
Power Move:
Use tools like Boost AI Search & Filter to layer in AI + merchandising rules for ultimate control.
9. Combined Listings (Shopify Editions Winter 2024)
Shopify’s Combined Listings allow you to merge multiple variants or product types into a single parent product with sublistings—ideal for:
Apparel with separate PDPs per color
Products with different accessories
Gear kits with optional add-ons
Why this rules:
Cleaner navigation, fewer duplicated PDPs, and better SEO cannibalization control.
10. Checkout Extensibility + App Blocks
You can now customize checkout (even on mobile) with Checkout UI extensions—from upsells to custom fields, without compromising security or breaking the checkout.
Use this for:
One-click add-ons
Custom donation or carbon offset fields
Gift note entry, warranty add-ons
Top App to Integrate:
Checkout Promotions by SellUp — for native, in-checkout upsells that convert.
Conclusion:
Shopify isn’t standing still—and if your DTC brand is, you’re falling behind. These updates represent not just enhancements, but also opportunities to dramatically improve your customer experience, average order value (AOV), retention, and margin.
At Campfire Commerce, we help DTC brands implement these innovations with speed and strategy. From metafield mapping to checkout upsells and native bundles, we build stores that scale smarter.
Want to see which updates could move the needle for your brand? Book a free 20-minute Shopify audit.