June 26, 2018
Shopify Announcements - Benefits for Australian Merchants (Unite 2018)
In this article
A lot has been said about the ruinous state of retail in Australia.The biggest take away I had from attending the Shopify Unite conference was that while traditional retail struggles, the numbers show that online retail is on a strong growth trajectory and offers many opportunities for those willing to invest in digital.This was our first time at the very polished Shopify Unite Conference in Toronto, Canada. We did a commendable job of representing Lamb Agency - though I may be slightly bias. I would hope most attendees at the event would have seen me proudly shuffling around the conference floor with a life-sized lamb statue in hand. With difficulty, I made sure that every activity we participated in for the entire three-day event was accompanied by our loveable lamb.This even went to the length of taking our lamb on a conference sanctioned 5km run, brutal!The 2018 Unite conference came with a range of great product updates that deal with overcoming some limitations that have affected our clients in the past, along with improving Shopify as a facilitator of international commerce. We've spent some time reviewing all the announcements and have extracted those that we saw as most relevant to the Australian merchant. - Multi-currency payments
- Multiple inventory locations
- New promotion structures (BOGO & volume discount)
- Localised payment methods
Download article summary - 527kb (PDF)
Shopify: The Australian context
Australia has one of the highest adoption rates of the Shopify platform, punching well above its weight. In our experience, a large majority of our clients are using the platform to its full potential by cultivating international markets. So, there are a number of interesting updates for those merchants, as well as those seeking incremental improvements in their e-commerce solution.New Shopify announcements
A range of interesting product features was presented at Unite 2018 from technical, hardware and transactions. The most interesting additions for Australian merchants related to:- Multi-currency payments
- Multiple inventory locations
- New promotion structures (buy one get one free, volume discount)
- Localised payment methods
Multiple inventory locations
- The ability of the website to show stock based on a store location.
- Simplified implementation of 'click and collect'
Multi-currency payments

- Reduced friction when purchasing internationally
- Reduction in reporting inconsistencies due to currency conversion.
New promotion structures (Buy one get one free, volume discount)
- Buy X, get a second product or collection for free, or % discount: Buy 1 shoe, get socks 50% off
- Specify single or multiple products or collections for X and Y: Buy any product, get 50% off shirts and pants
- Customise details down to the product variant: Buy 1 medium red sweatshirt, get 1 t-shirt free
- Offer a % discount based on quantity or cart value: Buy 2 or more socks, get 20% off
- Offer $ discounts based on quantity or cart value: Spend $100 or more, get $25 off
- Offer free shipping based on quantity or cart value: Free shipping when you buy 3 or more products
- Reduced reliance on 3rd party plugins
- Native support
- Improved purchasing incentives to increase average order value
Localised payment methods
Most retailers we work within Australia are oriented towards credit payments for online transactions. But did you know that in Germany, credit cards make up just 22% of online transactions? Around the world, different countries have different payment method biases. Previously those payment systems have been out of reach.Shopify is focusing its attention on extending the most popular payments methods to all Shopify Payments customers.Benefits- More inclusive payment methods for international customers.
- Automatically select the best payment method based on a customer's location
- Increase international conversion rates
Bottom line
These changes will make a big difference to international commerce for Australian merchants. We also believe that multiple location inventory is a game changer for larger retail brands online.Download article summary - 527kb (PDF)Want to know more? If you would like to talk to us about how these and other changes(fraud protection, seamless multi-channel retail, POS hardware!) apply to you, get in touch on [email protected] or check us out at http://www.lamb.com.au
About Lamb Agency
Lamb Agency is a Shopify expert. As an Australian digital agency based in Brisbane, we specialise in premium solutions for the Shopify Plus platform. We work with brands including Dissh Boutiques, Price Attack, National Storage and many others. We have extensive experience with eCommerce, conversion optimisation, and website design.Let's grow your business together.
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