I ruthlessly unsubscribe from almost all newsletters. Eric’s one of a select few that I look actually forward to opening because it has proven itself consistently valuable for Shopify merchants.
— Kurt Elster, Ecommerce Strategist, founder of Ethercycle, and a top Shopify Plus Expert.
Past issues
Shopify Dispatch Issue #337 - Retail store performance, Add products faster
How to Track Store Performance: A Retailer's Guide Ana Cvetkovic writes about how to track and measure your retail store's performance. Some metrics can be applied to online-only stores too. A new, faster way to create and sell products Shopify's released an update to their mobile app that will make...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #336 - Ecommerce growth trend, Returns management
Product Preference Kevin Hillstrom writes about how ecommerce growth has reverted back to the long-term trend and some of the ongoing problems with paid customer acquisition. Reverse Logistics: How to Process Returns Quickly, Easily, and Efficiently Elise Dopson has created a guide for handling returns using well-thought out processes. Though...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #335 - Shopify's 2021 year-end, New theme quiz
2021 Was Shopify's Biggest Year Ever. 2022: Let's Go! Shopify's written up their highlights of 2021. Lots of typical PR-spin but the final section about 2022 is useful to give you ideas of where they are devoting their upcoming efforts (e.g. sales channels, global selling, fulfillment network). How Do You...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #334 - Inventory features, Shopify Markets, Automatic theme updates
Optimize your inventory management with these new features Shopify has released a bunch of inventory management features recently and Jay Gittens has written up a summary. The standard product types and product analytics bars are the most interesting to me, but the inventory controls and committed quantities can help you...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #333 - Marketing measurements, Shopify SEO ranking
How to Measure Your Store's Marketing Results (Hands-on Tips) Marijana Kay writes about measuring your store's marketing to make sure it was successful and to improve next campaign. Why your Shopify product won't rank in Google (and what to do about it) Kai Davis (no relation) explains how focusing on...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #332 - New themes, Dawn 3.0
3 new free themes: Sense, Craft, and Crave Shopify has released three new free themes that support Online Store 2.0 as well as a new version of Dawn. Now would be a good time to start evaluating what's needed to upgrade to Online Store 2.0. It's been released for some...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #331 - Brand building, Inventory Turnover Ratio
Brand Building Best Practices: Statistics, Trends & Strategy One strategy to build organic traffic is with brand building. Elise Dopson goes through the best practices and examples of how companies are doing it without advertising. It will take effort and time like any other organic channel so it's best to...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #330 - Shopify's Future of Commerce, Email marketing best practices
Shopify Future of Commerce report Shopify's released their Future of Commerce report along with some articles that highlight trends for small businesses, retail, and retail (again). Given the amount of articles on this topic, I'd expect to see a lot of content from Shopify coming out from this report over...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #329 - Choosing Shopify theme, Safety stock to prevent stockouts
Choosing the Shopify theme that's right for my store When it's time to replace your Shopify theme with a new one, Ilana Davis gives you questions you should ask about the new theme before buying. Buying a theme means you're partnering with the theme developer so it's not a decision...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #328 - Shopify theme updates, Creating email newsletters
Trade-offs of custom development vs updating Shopify themes With the holiday season over and Shopify's new Online Store 2.0 out, lots of merchants are planning theme updates. Ilana Davis breaks down the choices you have when it's time to update your Shopify theme or get a new one developed. 10...