ShopOps weekly

Hello there,

Shopify published some genuinely useful data this week on how AI search and organic search behave differently. It changes what you should be doing on your product pages.

• The AI search data – what converts, what doesn't, and which categories benefit most

• Managed Markets is ending DDU support – action needed if you ship internationally

• Receipts got a visual editor – and custom Liquid templates have a 2027 deadline

• Tip of the week – how to make your product pages work for AI-referred buyers

• A way to earn from your Shopify network without doing anything yourself

- Jon

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Shopify Updates You Can't Miss

1. Managed Markets is ending Delivered Duty Unpaid support

Shopify Managed Markets will stop supporting DDU in all countries and regions where it supports DDP. Affected markets switch to duties collected at checkout.

Why it matters: If you've been shipping DDU, your customers have been paying duties on delivery – often as a surprise, often as a refused parcel. Collecting at checkout removes that, but it also changes your displayed prices and can affect conversion if you don't account for it.

What to do: Check which of your markets are affected in Settings → Markets. Review how the added duty affects your landed price in each region before the switch happens, and decide whether to absorb it, adjust pricing, or make it visible at checkout.

2. Printed receipts now have a visual editor – no Liquid required

Every printed receipt type (sale, return, exchange, gift, gift card) can now be edited in one visual editor with real-time preview. Logos, VAT/GST/ABN numbers, address and phone per location, return policy text, and signature lines all configure without code. Tax numbers and location details pull automatically from your existing settings.

Returns and exchanges are now one section with one total instead of two, and gift receipts hide prices with multiple printable at once.

Why it matters: If you run POS and never touched Liquid, receipt customization was effectively out of reach. Now a store manager can do it in ten minutes.

What to do – and this one has a deadline: If you have a custom Liquid receipt template, the migration deadline is January 1, 2027. Both editors run in parallel until then and your existing template keeps printing. Some customizations migrate automatically, some don't. The system flags what needs attention – go check it now rather than discovering in December that fields are missing from your receipts.

3. Shop Campaigns data is now available via API

Shop Campaigns performance data can now flow into your analytics and reporting apps, so campaign metrics sit alongside your other marketing channels instead of in a separate dashboard.

What to do: If you run Shop Campaigns and use a reporting tool, check whether it's picked up the new data source. Comparing pay-per-conversion performance directly against your Meta and Google numbers is the point here.

Know other Shopify store owners? There's money in that

Quick explainer, because a lot of people haven't come across this.

App store research connects Shopify brand operators with the founders building new commerce tools. Short paid video calls – usually 30 to 60 minutes. You talk about how your store actually works. They pay you. You get early access to tools before they launch. Over $1 million has been paid out to merchants so far.

Here's the part worth knowing even if you never take a call yourself: you can earn by referring other Shopify people.

If you know a handful of store owners, operators, or agency folks, you sign up, share your referral link, and earn when they register:
→ $100 for each Shopify brand you introduce
→ $50 for anyone else

And this month, there's more on top of that. The August Referral Contest is running now: $1,000, $500, and $300 prizes on top of your usual referral earnings. The more people you refer, the higher your chances.

If you've got 3–10 contacts running Shopify stores, this is genuinely passive – you're sitting on the connections already. See the contest rules and guidelines.

👉 Signup and start referring

 Or browse the open projects if you'd rather take a call yourself

Tip of the Week: What AI-Referred Shoppers Need From Your Product Page

Shopify published Q2 data this week comparing AI search and organic search.

The headline numbers:

The pattern: people use AI when they need to reason through a decision against specific criteria – compatibility, specs, use case, tradeoffs. They arrive having done the research, landing straight on your PDP, ready to buy. Organic still drives more traffic overall and remains where browsing and taste-led discovery happens.

Here's what to do about it:

1. Write for how people describe needs, not how you classify SKUs. AI queries are longer and more conversational than search queries. Your product content should include the language shoppers actually use: audience, use case, compatibility, fit, materials, and "best for" scenarios.

2. Find out what that language is. Go to the Agentic section of your admin (admin.shopify.com/agentic). It shows the top AI search queries in your category and how your products rank against them. Cross-reference with Google Search Console questions and your own on-site search data.

3. Turn that language into structured data, not just copy. This is the part most stores skip. Shopify's product taxonomy and metafields let you record details as discrete machine-readable fields – which powers storefront filtering, organic search, and how AI systems interpret your products from one source. Shopify's data shows AI sessions drawing on structured Catalog data converted 2x better than those relying on scraped or third-party feeds.

4. Audit your PDPs for someone arriving deep in the funnel. Half of AI-referred visitors land there first with no homepage, no collection page, no brand introduction. The page needs to confirm the research they already did: clear specs, compatibility details, use cases, reviews, delivery and return info, FAQs, and comparison-friendly details.

5. Collect and mark up reviews. Real people describing what they bought gives AI systems reason to see a product as relevant and worth recommending. Mark them up with review structured data so ratings are eligible for Google review snippets too.

The useful part: none of this is separate work. The same catalog enrichment that makes products legible to AI is what helps them rank in organic search. Google has confirmed its AI experiences run on the same core ranking systems as Search.

If your product data is thin and you're not sure where to start, this is exactly the kind of work worth handing to someone who does it daily.

👉 Find an AI search optimization expert on shopexperts

Top Listings

This week we're highlighting two agencies for brands ready to bring in serious help.

❋ Dzenana Delibasic – Front-End Developer · ⭐ 5.0

→ Custom theme architecture and full-stack Shopify development, 10 years in
→ React, Vue, and Next.js for fast, app-like storefronts
→ CRM, fulfillment, and custom API integrations via Liquid and Shopify APIs
→ SEO, site speed, and UX work focused on actual sales impact

A strong fit if your store looks fine on the surface but has problems underneath – and you want someone who can work across the full stack rather than patching symptoms.

❋ InsCoder Limited – Shopify Agency · ⭐ 4.8

→ Shopify Platinum Partner with AI-powered store development
→ Custom development, store setup, and ongoing technical support
→ Klaviyo, Yotpo, and Zipify integrations
→ Serving brands across North America, Europe, and Asia

A strong fit if you want a partner with serious technical depth who can handle both the build and the ongoing operation – particularly for stores with complex integration requirements.

Know an agency that belongs in the directory? Send them our way.

❤️ Quick Pulse Check

This week's question: Can you tell how much revenue comes from AI channels?

A) Yes – I track it separately
B) Roughly – I've seen the number but don't watch it
C) No – it's mixed in with everything else

Reply with A, B, or C. (We read every response)

Last week we asked:
"When did you last review the apps you're paying for?"

Roughly two thirds haven't looked in over six months – and a third can't remember at all. App subscriptions are the quietest recurring cost most stores carry, because nothing prompts you to review them. They just renew. Given last week's data showing 27% of operators are running software they've quietly given up on, an hour with your app list is probably the highest hourly rate you'll earn this month.