Benefits of Shopify's Shop App

In April 2020, Shopify launched Shop, a new ecommerce app that creates a more convenient way for consumers to buy from independent brands. It’s a big leap forward in creating a viable alternative to the dominant Amazon and the big newcomer Walmart+. The new Shop app creates a single touchpoint for every store on the Shopify platform, offering a more cohesive purchasing journey while still allowing brands to own their customer experience and user data.

In case you can’t tell, we’re pretty excited about it. Here’s five reasons why you should be too.

01. It’s a Powerful Tool for Independent Brands

A strong, scalable ecommerce store is the foundation for any DTC brand. In a highly competitive digital landscape, one of the best ways for brands to build loyalty is by owning the customer experience from start to finish. With the addition of Shop, Shopify’s ecosystem of third-party plugins offers a powerful toolkit for brands of all shapes and sizes to create a frictionless direct-to-consumer ecommerce experience.

02. It Introduces Shop Pay

The ability to integrate third-party payments such as PayPal and Apple Pay within Shopify is nothing new, but it lacked the same seamlessness as the Amazon checkout process. The rollout of Shop Pay significantly reduces the number of steps involved in the checkout process, increases conversion rates by as much as 18%, and gives independent web stores the tools they need to compete with the behemoths.

03. It Makes Order Tracking Easy

One of the best benefits for users is that the Shop App offers a single place to track the status of any order made through the Shopify platform, whether it was through the Shop app or not. It’s yet another small detail that creates a unified ecosystem that allows independent brands to match some of big-ecomm’s experience advantages that were previously out of reach.

04. It’s Better for Local Businesses

The Shop App includes a discovery option that uses geolocation to find the webstores of local businesses, a truly fortuitous feature for a post-pandemic economy. As brick-and-mortar stores struggle to adapt to a lack of foot traffic, this Shop addition makes it easier for businesses to give nearby customers the convenience and ease of an online shopping experience, while still supporting their local companies and community.

05. It’s A Level Playing Field

Shopify only makes software—not products. This means that vendors on its platform don’t have to compete with Shopify itself for sales. Third-party giants such as Amazon and Walmart wrote the retailer playbook on launching a plethora of owned “store brand” products that in turn undercut the other sellers on their platform. Instead of competing against its own retailers, Shopify’s ecosystem gives up its home-court-advantage by allowing brands to own their price points and customer data.

Here’s What We Hope to See Next

While we love that Shop allows brands to create custom experiences, its browsing process could still be improved. We hope to see Shopify build on these successes and accelerate widespread adoption by making it easier for users to discover new brands and explore seamlessly across the app.

Conclusion

Even while Amazon continues to dominate the ecommerce landscape, it’s exciting to see Shopify bring innovative ideas and increased competition to the table, creating a powerful tool for consumers and brands to adapt and thrive in the new economy.