If you’re happy with the look and features of your existing Shopify theme but still haven’t yet made the leap to Online Store 2.0, you’re really missing out on critical capabilities that can help you sell more and get more done.
With 2.0, Shopify has rebuilt the store experience from the ground up and released a powerful suite of tools for merchants and developers to upgrade their shopping experiences.
Why go 2.0
More user-friendly theme editor
With an updated UI and enhanced admin tools, your new theme editor makes it much faster to manage your site data and user experience. Shopify worked to consolidate features and functionalities within the editor, along with new capabilities like “sections everywhere,” app blocks and metafields.
Dynamic sections everywhere
“Sections everywhere” gives you incredible control over your shop experience from home page to cart with drag-and-drop blocks available right within your theme editor.
This allows you to evolve your collections and product pages, and create new landing pages and shopping experiences that are mobile responsive without a developer. (Your own developers or Shopify partner can also build custom sections into your 2.0 theme to suit your needs).
App blocks
Shopify’s updated app extension framework enables app developers to break down features into individual UI components (app blocks) that you can plug into your storefront in a modular way through the theme editor.
This makes it much easier for you to bring an app’s UI components anywhere into your theme without code, and removes the need to switch admin tabs, giving you a more streamlined (and efficient) workflow.
And if you’ve felt the pain of lingering old code after removing apps, rest assured. You can now trial and remove apps without worry that rogue code will slow down or break your site (provided the app is built with the new app extension framework).
Metafields and metaobjects
Now you can work with metafields directly in your theme editor to take advantage of all their superpowers without APIs or code. Metafields let you add rich attributes to collections, customers, products and variants that help enhance shopping experience. Metaobjects let you create components containing multiple metafields.
For example, with metafields you can annotate the specific features of a product’s flavor, materials or certifications in the Buy Box or as you hover over variant chips, push these as “badges” to display in search and collection results, and display them as collection filters.
Faster performance
Shopify has made speed a priority and optimized 2.0 with improved code caching and asset optimization, as well as enabling more functionality to be built inside your theme without third party scripts.
Faster performance translates to better user experiences, higher conversion rates and improved SEO.
Enhanced security
Upgrading to 2.0 patches security vulnerabilities that may exist in your existing theme. Falling out-of-date with these fixes leaves both your shop’s and customer data at risk to malware, phishing and hacker attempts.
What to know about 2.0 migration
You need a 2.0 theme!
To go 2.0 requires you to use a 2.0 compatible theme. If you’re on a vintage theme, you must upgrade to take advantage of these important new features.
Everything available in the Shopify Theme Store today is 2.0-friendly, but it’s important to choose a theme that fits the needs of your store – the products you sell, your catalog size, and the features you want.
It’s not just about look-and-feel. The best investment you can make in a new theme is choosing one that’s designed with speed, customer experience and extensibility in mind.
Clean Canvas have invested thousands of people-hours into designing and maintaining Premium Shopify themes built on technical best practices that make the most of Shopify’s latest and greatest platform capabilities, including a wealth of pre-made Sections and style options to easily customize your store.
Backup your store data
In any migration, it’s critical to cover your assets in case anything goes awry. Backup your products, customers, orders and other critical data with Shopify’s built-in export feature. And make note of any apps, customizations and settings that are important for your new experience.
Replicate your customizations with Sections
You can always kick the tires on your new Premium theme before committing to purchase. Make sure to replicate your customizations and settings in the new admin, and verify your third party apps are working with your new theme before pushing live.
You may have custom code built into your legacy theme that needs to be recreated using Sections. The good news is with this new underlying theme structure, your Sections can port over much easier should you switch out your theme in the future (keeping you “on the upgrade path”).
Test and QA your new theme
Make sure to check your site across different browsers and devices using Chrome’s Developer Tools or the cross-browser simulator of your choice.
Reach out for help
Should you run into any hiccups in the process, it helps to have responsive support on-hand. Choosing a Premium theme from a trusted provider ensures you won’t be left hanging if you encounter issues before or after migration.