8 Shopify Development Trends to Watch in 2024

Shopify development trends, just like ecommerce trends, are constantly evolving. As consumers continue to embrace the online shopping landscape, platform vendors like Shopify consistently introduce new tools and features designed to enhance their digital experiences.

In the last couple of years alone, we’ve seen the rise of everything from more streamlined checkout experiences, mobile optimized websites, and even extended reality-powered product pages.

Based on our knowledge of Shopify’s most recent feature updates, and our interactions with a community of leading Shopify developers and business owners, we’ve created this list of the top Shopify development trends to watch in 2024.

1. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has emerged as a major component of many ecommerce strategies in the last couple of years. AI tools are helping companies to conduct research into their competitors, deliver streamlined 24/7 service through chatbots, and even create compelling content for websites. 

Right now, on the Shopify app marketplace, there are more than 1,000 apps you can access to add AI functionality to your store, from AI image generation tools to intelligent SEO optimization apps. 

However, before you go all-in on artificial intelligence, it’s important to have the right strategy. For instance, creating all of your content with AI is rarely a good idea, particularly if you want the best chances of ranking on the search engines. We recommend using AI for things like:

• Multilingual selling: Use AI apps to rapidly translate the content on your store into different languages for customers around the world. 
• Part of your customer service strategy: Adding an AI-powered bot to your store can help you answer questions that drive customers to make a purchase.
• Increasing sales: Using AI to deliver dynamic offers to customers, personalized product suggestions, or even upsell and cross-sell offers can boost your revenue.

2. Augmented and Virtual Reality

While there are plenty of great ways to create amazing product pages for your Shopify store, one excellent option is to give your customers the opportunity to view your product from a range of different angles. Shopify now supports 3D renders on store pages, so you can create highly immersive pages that give your customers a unique shopping experience. 

Just look at this excellent example from the Pzaz website:

https://resources.storetasker.com/shopify-examples/pzaz-hero

While we’re yet to see many examples of virtual reality on Shopify stores, there’s always the option to link your site to a virtual reality app or metaverse experience. Some studies show that AR and VR experiences can drive 200% more engagement in the ecommerce world. 

Experimenting with extended reality experiences can be an excellent way to differentiate your store from the competition, and deliver a more unique shopping experience to customers. Even a simple strategy, like adding a 3D or 360-degree video to your store, could boost your sales.

Just make sure you’re working with an expert who has the right experience in creating 3D models, so they look as realistic as possible. 

3. Greater Focus on Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization isn’t exactly the newest of the Shopify development trends mentioned here, but it’s still an important thing to consider. As of 2024, there are now more than 187 million active mobile shoppers in the US alone. 

The good news is that most Shopify themes are already designed to be mobile responsive, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble creating an excellent experience for your mobile users. However, it can help to work with a developer to create a more convenient and streamlined site.

For instance, a developer can help you to create an immersive parallax scrolling experience that’s perfectly suited for mobile browsing. 

https://resources.storetasker.com/shopify-examples/popsmith-parallax 

They can also work with you to tackle some of the issues that mobile shoppers might face on your store, such as long page loading times, or integrating mobile wallet payment options. 

You could even consider working with a developer to build a mobile app for your company, integrated with your Shopify store. On average, mobile apps have a 157% higher conversion rate than mobile websites. Just make sure if you choose to create an app, you focus on the development of progressive web apps, for faster, more streamlined performance. 

4. Headless Commerce Experiences

Demand for headless commerce has been growing for a few years now. However, we think this is going to be one of the major Shopify development trends to watch in the next few years, particularly as Shopify continues to build on its headless solutions. 

Headless commerce separates Shopify’s ecommerce backend from the frontend display of your store. This means you can offer an unmatched personalized experience to all of your shoppers. With headless commerce, you can turn any screen into a digital storefront, design your own mobile app, and even embrace the art of omnichannel selling. 

While Shopify does have a fully built Hydrogen demo store you can experiment with, we recommend making sure you work with a developer with pre-existing headless commerce experience. Headless experiences require a lot of technical expertise to get right. 

5. Increased Security and Privacy 

The unfortunate truth is that today’s digital world is dominated by cyber threats. Fortunately, Shopify’s ecommerce platform does work hard to ensure your company and your customers are protected. We’ve already seen the company introduce “collaborator accounts” as a way of allowing companies to work with freelancers and developers without giving them endless access to their store. 

However, it will still be up to you to ensure you’re implementing the right security measures when developing your website. Implementing security apps from the Shopify app store, such as tools that can help you scan for spam and fake accounts could be a good first step. 

We also recommend choosing secure payment processors for your transactions, and implementing account protections for customers on your store. If you do have multiple employees working on your site at any given time, take advantage of secure access controls, and implement two-factor authentication. 

6. Better Checkout Experiences

Shopify has always had one of the best checkout solutions in our opinion, but it’s becoming even more advanced in 2024. Already, the ecommerce platform has introduced it’s one-click checkout option as the standard solution for companies, to streamline the purchasing process. 

Plus, the introduction of new Shopify Functions means that developers will have more freedom to customize the checkout experience, with unique routing logic for orders, customizable fields, and even advanced “thank you” pages for customers. 

Since the checkout is one of the most important parts of your store, we definitely recommend working with a developer to ensure the experience is as intuitive as possible for your customers. The better the checkout experience is, the more likely your customer is to complete their purchase.

7. New Selling Options with Apps and Integrations

Shopify often stands out in the ecommerce landscape with it’s approach to flexible selling. You can already sell both products and services with the right apps, and even give customers multiple ways to make a payment, including offering buy-now-pay-later options.

In 2024, companies have even more opportunities to boost their revenue. There’s the new native Shopify Subscriptions app, which simplifies the process of adding recurring payment options to your store, without the need for a third-party tool.

Plus, there will be more integration options in the future that allow companies to sell their products through online marketplaces, social media channels, and even in-person. Even if you don’t want to use Shopify POS for your in-person transactions, you can integrate the platform with a wide selection of other point of sale solutions.

This omnichannel approach will be crucial in 2024, as companies look for more diverse shopping experiences that span across various channels.

8. Increasing Demand for Shopify Experts

Finally, we believe that the demand for Shopify experts will be one of the biggest Shopify Development Trends in the coming years. As the ecommerce landscape grows more competitive, and Shopify introduces new and innovative tools for developers to use, the need for expertise will grow. 

We’ve already seen a significant increase in the number of requests we get here at Storetasker for help with things like app development, theme development, and store optimization.

The right specialist will help you take advantage of all the latest Shopify trends, so you can improve your chances of higher conversion rates and stronger connections with customers. 

They’ll help you optimize the UI/UX of your store design, leverage the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, and even incorporate immersive storytelling features into your store.

The right development partner will be the key to gaining a competitive edge in 2024. 

Make the Most of Today’s Shopify Development Trends

As Shopify continues to advance as one of the world’s leading ecommerce platform, and the online sales landscape evolves, it’s crucial to keep track of the latest trends. Implementing the right trends into your store experience can significantly improve your chances of outperforming the competition, and unlocking endless sales in the ecommerce world. 

Make sure you’re ready to implement the most exciting new features into your Shopify store, by contacting the Storetasker team today. 

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