Tag: shopify strategy

In our previous article, we delved into the world of Shopify Functions, exploring how they work, speed advantages, and key differences from Shopify Scripts. This time, we’ll shift our focus to the practical applications of Shopify Functions and how they can revolutionize your eCommerce experience. 

How We Use Functions

Shopify Functions unlock a new level of customization and automation for your online store. With Functions, you can create dynamic discounts, shipping rates, payment options, and more, all without the need for coding. This powerful tool empowers you to tailor your store’s features to your specific business needs and customer preferences, resulting in an enhanced shopping experience and increased sales.

Common Types of Shopify Functions

• Discount Functions: Create dynamic discount rules that can be applied to orders based on specific conditions like customer tags, order value, or product collections.
• Shipping Functions: Customize shipping options and rates depending on the delivery location, shipping method, or cart contents.
• Payment Functions: Modify the payment methods available to customers based on certain conditions, such as location, cart value, or customer history.
• Checkout Validation Functions: Add custom validation logic to the checkout process, such as restricting specific products from being purchased together or enforcing minimum order values.

Uses of Shopify Functions

1. Custom Shipping Logic: Implement custom shipping rules based on various conditions such as order weight, destination, or product types.
2. Dynamic Discounts and Promotions: Create personalized discount codes or promotions based on specific criteria like customer segments, order value thresholds, or product combinations.
3. Conditional Product Pricing: Set up dynamic pricing rules that adjust product prices based on factors like quantity purchased, customer tags, or seasonal promotions.
4. Inventory Management: Implement custom inventory management logic such as controlling stock levels, handling backorders, or managing product availability based on supplier data.
5. Payment Gateway Customization: Integrate with custom payment gateways or extend existing ones to support unique payment processing needs or regional requirements.
6. Order Processing Automation: Automate order processing workflows, including order splitting, fulfillment prioritization, or custom notifications based on specific order attributes.
7. Personalized Customer Experiences: Implement personalized customer experiences by displaying customized content, recommendations, or offers based on customer behavior, purchase history, or demographics.  
8. Advanced Product Bundling: Create custom product bundles or kits with dynamic pricing based on bundled items, quantities, or customer preferences.
9. Customized Checkout Flows: Implement custom checkout workflows, including additional steps, fields, or validations tailored to specific product types, customer segments, or regulatory requirements.

Non- Plus accounts: Shopify Apps with Functions API

Some Shopify Functions capabilities are available only to stores on a Shopify Plus plan. Stores on any plan can use public apps that are distributed through the Shopify App Store and contain functions. Only stores on a Shopify Plus plan can use custom apps that contain Shopify Function APIs.

Apps Containing Functions

• Functions Discounts
• Delivery Customizations Functions
• Payment Customizations Functions
• Functions Bundles

Shopify Functions offer a powerful tool to enhance your online store’s customization and automation capabilities. With Functions, you can create dynamic discounts, shipping rates, payment options, and more, all without the need for coding. This flexibility enables you to tailor your store’s features to your specific business needs and customer preferences, resulting in an improved shopping experience and increased sales. Whether you’re looking to create personalized discounts, customize shipping options, or integrate with custom payment gateways, Shopify Functions provide the tools you need to take your eCommerce store to the next level.

Have any questions or need help thinking through a challenge or opportunity?

Speak to one of our Shopify professionals today. We are are here to help… no strings attached.

The SEMA show in Las Vegas never fails to impress with its showcase of innovation, incredible cars, and industry excellence. With the automotive industry steadily shifting towards online sales, brands that prioritize their digital presence have an excellent opportunity to lead. In this post, I’ll share some additional observations about the landscape of SEMA exhibitors as a whole and highlight a standout brand that exemplifies what an effective online shopping experience should look like.

While there are a few brands that have their eCommerce strategies dialed up, the majority that I reviewed were lacking quite a few basics. For example:

• No eCommerce Capability: While most sites let you purchase online, there are still quite a few that don’t have that capability.
• Weak Collection and Product Detail Pages: These are crucial pages, and they were often underwhelming with minimal information or poor layout.
• Product Photography: Product photos were not crisp and lacked the feeling of being professionally done.
• Missing B2B Functionality: B2B sign up forms and functionality were absent on most sites.
• LinkedIn Presence: Quite a few exhibitors haven’t taken the time to create a company LinkedIn, which is particularly low-hanging fruit if you are serious about eCommerce.

The automotive and parts space has a lot of room to grow to improve their eCommerce experience. However, in all fairness, Shopify also needed to level up their game until recently with improved B2B features (more info in the next Shopify Editions set to be released in January of 2025).

Exhibitor Spotlight: CarTech, Inc.

1. Product Photography. Check out the below example; the manuals really stand out and the shading give them a subtle 3D look that pops.

2. Nod to Old School. There is a PDF catalog available for download. Now, that sounds old school (and, it is), but myself and a lot of people prefer to read physical books/print outs as opposed to everything online. Additionally, I love the noise when you turn the page of each catalog – sounds like you are reading a book.
3. Shopify Design. CarTech’s Shopify theme is clean and easy to navigate. You can search by car and trucks and find all the manuals they have to offer.

CarTech is a good example of how to create an effective eCommerce experience. It also helps that they have powerful product photos and used white space on the site to make certain elements take focus. This is a great model for many SEMA brands looking to stand out!

–Chad Fisher, Founder & CEO @ Ambaum

Have any questions or need help thinking through a challenge or opportunity?

Speak to one of our Shopify professionals today. We are are here to help… no strings attached.

Last week Ambaum was able to attend our 2nd Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) conference and had a great time! The conference is a monster, but navigating through the booths this year was much easier than last year when I had to backtrack through all the different massive halls.

Walking through the event, AI started to show up in a few booths. I stopped by the MOTORMIA booth and enjoyed learning about their AI powered modding platform.

It stood out to me that, more so than last year, there were a lot of wrapped Cyber Trucks at the show. The EV section of the show was also bigger this year than last year and Legacy EV had an impressive footprint for their booth.

Ambaum hosted their first happy hour at SEMA and in addition to our clients showing up, we had some new friends we met at the show!

There were a ton of refurbished old cars, I put a picture of one of my faves here in this post that we saw at the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center booth.

Some of my favorite vehicle pics:

• DeLorean
• Monster Chopper Build (looks like a Mad Max bike)
• VW Bug
• Unknown silver car with amazing wheels
• Monster Truck

Later this week I’m going to review some of the exhibitors and their sites that stood out to me as a continuation of my SEMA recap. Stay tuned!

–Chad Fisher, Founder & CEO @ Ambaum

Have any questions or need help thinking through a challenge or opportunity?

Speak to one of our Shopify professionals today. We are are here to help… no strings attached.

This article explores Shopify Functions, their mechanics, speed advantages, and differences from Shopify Scripts. The next article will focus on practical aspects, use cases and tips for incorporating Shopify Functions into your store.

What Are Functions

Shopify Functions are server-side customizations that enhance store functionality without compromising speed or security introduced in Winter 2023. In general, a Shopify App that utilizes the Shopify Functions API has the potential to be faster in certain scenarios compared to an app that does not leverage the Functions API.
Here are some factors that contribute to this potential speed advantage:

1. Server-Side Execution: Shopify Functions allow developers to write custom business logic that executes directly within Shopify’s infrastructure. This server-side execution can reduce latency because the code runs closer to Shopify’s data centers, minimizing the time required for data transfer and processing compared to external API calls.
2. Real-Time Calculations: Apps using the Functions API can perform real-time calculations and logic without relying on external services or APIs, which can lead to faster response times for dynamic pricing, shipping calculations, inventory management, and other operations.
3. Reduced Network Latency: By executing logic within Shopify’s environment, Functions API calls may benefit from reduced network latency compared to external API calls that involve data transfer over the internet.
4. Optimized Performance: Shopify Functions are designed to support scalable and efficient execution of custom code, potentially leading to optimized performance compared to apps that rely solely on Shopify’s existing APIs for customization.

However, the actual speed improvement depends on various factors such as the complexity of the logic, the efficiency of the app’s implementation, and how effectively the Functions API is utilized. While Shopify Functions API can offer performance advantages, developers should carefully design and optimize their apps to maximize these benefits.

Why Are Shopify Functions Better Than the Discontinued Shopify Scripts?

While Shopify Functions and Shopify Scripts offer ways to customize your store, they serve different purposes and are implemented differently.

1. Scope and Flexibility:
   • Shopify Scripts were limited to Shopify Plus users and are written in Ruby. They primarily focus on customizing discounts, shipping rates, and payment gateways. However, Scripts were only applicable in the online store’s checkout and cart.
   • Shopify Functions, on the other hand, are available to a broader range of Shopify users (not just Plus) and offer a wider scope for customization beyond discounts and payments. 
2. Performance and Security:
   • Scripts were run on the client side, which would slow down the checkout experience if not optimized properly.
   • Functions run on Shopify’s backend servers, providing a faster, more secure, and reliable experience for the end user.
3. Development and Maintenance:
   • Scripts required Ruby knowledge, whereas Functions can be written in more widely known languages like JavaScript.
   • Functions are also easier to maintain and debug, as they are part of Shopify’s newer and more robust architecture.
4. Use Cases:
   • Scripts were best for straightforward customizations and are confined to Shopify Plus.
   • Functions offer more extensive customization options and can be used for more complex logic and scenarios, including but not limited to the checkout process.

Shopify Functions represent a significant advancement over Shopify Scripts, offering enhanced flexibility, performance, security, and developer experience. As Shopify continues to evolve and innovate, Functions will likely play an increasingly important role in enabling developers to customize and extend the functionality of online stores. By leveraging Shopify Functions, developers can create apps that are faster, more efficient, and more scalable than ever before.

Have any questions or need help thinking through a challenge or opportunity?

Speak to one of our Shopify professionals today. We are are here to help… no strings attached.