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 #391 - Long-term impact of product problems
Issue #391 - March 22nd, 2023 What Harms You Today Harms You Tomorrow Kevin Hillstrom writes about how introducing a set of under-performing products can end up hurting your store for years to come, even if there's no crisis. Learn which products build the best customers Find which products create...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #390 - Google Analytics 4, Custom CSS
Issue #390 - March 15th, 2023 Connect Google Analytics 4 with Shopify Google Analytics 4 has finally come to Shopify and Ilana Davis has written a guide to get Shopify talking to GA4. Easily Extend your Theme with Custom CSS Shopify is adding a way to add custom CSS to...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #389 - Loyalty program costs, Fix broken links
Issue #389 - March 8th, 2023 Loyalty Program Expectations Kevin Hillstrom writes about how they evaluate loyalty programs and why those programs might not be profitable after accounting for program costs. Check broken links without using another Shopify App Ilana Davis shares how she checked and fixed broken links using...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #388 - Buying preferences, Apps losing theme editing
Issue #388 - March 1st, 2023 Online / Store Relationships Kevin Hillstrom writes about how customers have preferences for where they buy from you and how you need to adapt your marketing to account for that. Upcoming changes to Asset API approval scope While full of technical jargon, Shopify has...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #387 - Merchandise solar system, Grow repeat buyers
Issue #387 - February 22nd, 2023 Merchandise/Category Solar System Using the analogy of the solar system, Kevin Hillstrom describes how merchandise categories influence each other. 9 Ways to Grow Repeat Buyers Pamela Hazelton list different ways to grow repeat buyers using a variety of techniques. Track down which customer cohorts...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #386 - Shopify Winter '23 Edition
Issue #386 - February 15th, 2023 Shopify's Winter '23 Edition The big news of the week is Shopify's release of their Winter '23 Edition. It includes many new features and improvements, some already released and some forthcoming. Highlights that caught my eye are the AI-generated product descriptions (still not as...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #385 - Self-service returns, New customer accounts
Issue #385 - February 8th, 2023 How to ace returns management with Shopify Shopify has released a customer self-service returns feature. Though basic for now, this should really help cut the cost of processing returns. Now launched: New customer accounts They've also simplified how customers create new accounts which will...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #384 - Shopify pricing changes, How you sell the product
Changes to Shopify's 2023 Plan Pricing The big news of the week is changes to Shopify's pricing with increases of around 30% to every plan. Kevin, You Don't Get It Kevin Hillstrom compares two different ways to sell a product: create a better product or play games with an average...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #383 - Backup shipping rate, Developing product interest
Improved backup shipping rates to avoid blocked checkouts Shopify can now display backup shipping rates in checkout if your primary shipping app is too slow or offline. This could be a useful option to reduce cart abandonment but you might want to review Shopiy's rates to make sure they're in-line...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #382 - SEO for new products, Commerce trends
Google Messes Up New Items Within A Category Kevin Hillstrom writes about how Google will tend to favor your older products which makes it more difficult for your newer products to get traction. This reminds me of an famous essay about SEO from 2004. It's a long read but it...