The ecommerce industry was said to be accelerated by five years as a result of Covid-19 with the rapid scramble to bring retail online in a more efficient and effective way, despite huge challenges and limitations, causing businesses and third party solutions alike to dig deep and up their game.
We could never have predicted these changes at the start of 2019, but it’s still important to look ahead and hyposize about what the future might hold for the Shopify tech space in the year to come. What will merchants be looking for? What’s going to matter most as we roll into 2022 – and whatever it holds?
1. Get hot on privacy
Privacy is a hot topic, with many changes, regulations and restrictions coming into play for the ecommerce industry and beyond. These changes are fuelled by public demand and a changing sentiment towards the way our private data is handled and used – and as a result, we can expect these changes to be lasting.
Make sure your Shopify app store listing reflects the care and attention you pay to compliance when it comes to privacy. Increasingly, merchants are expecting this burden of responsibility to fall on the software providers - the need to meet regulatory expectations is well established, so as technology products, there’s no excuse to be lagging behind here.
Step up, make sure you’re offering the right protection (and that you’re making it easy for merchants to pass this protection on to customers.) Then shout about it – your listing should reassure those reading it that your app is a safe, well-prepared and fully-compliant option – making it an easy choice.
2. Showcase integrations
Shopify is known as a platform that supports merchants at all stages of their business growth - from the smallest side hustle to the biggest names in retail rocking Plus. However, even the start ups are getting savvy with their use of third party tech, and its reasonable to expect that the majority of stores (certainly stores who are serious about their success with Shopify) are leveraging one or more apps to enhance their online presence and functionality.
As use of multiple apps increases, and merchants at all stages of their journeys get wise to the value of the data their stores generate, we can expect interest in the way that apps integrate to increase. Merchants will be actively looking for apps that “team up and win” - connecting to improve functionality and decrease the risk of data silos.
Make sure your app store listing showcases the way that your app plays nicely with others. And if your integrations are a little thin on the ground, now’s a great time to be thinking about ways you might be able to add to your offering by incorporating ways to link to some of the more popular solutions within the ecosystem.
3. Keep it green
Conscious consumerism is on the rise. Shopify merchants are looking for ways to make their operations greener. This applies to more sustainable products, shipping - and yes, even the tech that they leverage. Working with a more environmentally friendly tech stack adds another feather to their cap when it comes to communicating eco credentials to customers.
Will interest in carbon offsetting and tree planting apps accelerate in 2022? We’d put money on it. But you don’t have to run an overtly “green” app to enhance your Shopify App Store listing here...
Yes, you can highlight the ways in which you can help a merchant run a more efficient operation (as this is almost always beneficial to the planet) But it will also pay dividends to simply showcase the way that you try to run a more sustainable operation as a standalone business.
Do you run on green servers? Is your business carbon neutral? Do you subsidise greener commuting methods for your team? Is a percentage of your turnover donated to a charity close to your hearts?
There are many ways you can bring sustainability into your Shopify App Store listing - so take a good look at your business and ask yourself what more you could be doing for the planet. (Need tips? Our friends at MindfulCommerce can help!)
4. Data matters
Privacy is important – but data still matters. Of course, you’re keeping things legal, compliant and ethical – but as we see the sun setting on third party cookies, iOS 15 changing the way that permissions are granted and many more adjustments to the way that data is handled, stored and utilized, zero and first party data is about to get especially important. Merchants are wise to this fact.
Use your listing to highlight the way in which your app can be used to collect either first or zero party data. Merchants will certainly already know the value of this, so you don’t need to go into great detail regarding the benefits – they’ll understand and appreciate the opportunity being presented, so be sure to include a nod to data in your listing.
5. Move it forward
Ecommerce moves fast. Make sure your app store listing shows that you do too. Of course, you want to spend those limited characters carefully, but there’s nothing wrong with including a nod to your future road map as an app.
Listing a few features that are coming soon or in development shows merchants that you’re actively invested in the continuous improvement of your offering.
We hope 2022 is a stellar year for your Shopify app
Ecommerce doesn’t stand still – it's one of the reasons we love working in this space! It’s exhilarating and constantly challenging – and we always need to be looking ahead to try to predict the future trends that will help give us the smallest competitive edge.
We hope this list has given you a few ideas of the way you might see your app represent in the year ahead – if you have any predictions of your own that you think we’ve missed, we’d love to hear them!
👉🏼WANT TO DRIVE HIGH QUALITY TRAFFIC TO YOUR APP STORE LISTING?