It’s that time again! Welcome back to the StoreLab Newsletter, our first release for 2026 👋

We hope your year is off to a great start. A new year brings new improvements, and we’re excited to share the latest features and upgrades in our mobile app builder.

This month, we’re rolling out Shop Page Collection Card Customization, giving you more control over how your collections are displayed. We’re also sharing two key app optimizations  designed to make the experience faster and smoother for both you and your customers.

Let’s jump right in!

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Shop Page Collection Card Customization

What is this feature/release? 

We’ve rolled out a complete overhaul of the Shop Page - the dedicated tab where you can showcase your collections for customers to browse. 

Previously, merchants could organize collections and create nested groups, but had limited control over how collection cards appeared. With this update, the Shop Page now supports the same collection card customization options available on Homepage Blocks.

In addition, a new universal styling panel allows you to design all collection cards in one place, ensuring a consistent, fully branded browsing experience from the homepage through the entire catalogue.

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Why have we introduced this feature?

Merchants told us they wanted stronger visual consistency across their apps. While Homepage Blocks offered flexible design controls, the Shop Page remained fixed, which could break the flow of the customer journey.

Because the Shop Page is a core destination for browsing and searching collections, it was important to offer the same level of creative control available elsewhere in the app.

The universal styling panel was introduced to make styling fast, effortless, and flexible, allowing you to deliver a cohesive, fully branded experience across your app without extra manual work.

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What are the benefits of this feature? 

The Shop Page update makes it easier than ever to showcase your collections with style and consistency.

With the universal styling panel, all collection cards can be styled from one central place, eliminating the need to edit cards individually and making setup quicker than ever.

This ensures a smooth brand experience across both the Homepage and Shop Tabs, so your app looks unified and professional throughout. 

Improved layout and presentation give store owners much stronger merchandising capabilities, helping collections stand out and making it easier for customers to browse and discover products.

Overall, the update creates a seamless, more omnichannel browsing journey for your customers, reinforcing your brand at every step.

How does it work?

The Shop Page now brings the same collection card customization controls found in Homepage Collection Blocks: 

Universal styling panel: Define how all collection cards should look from one central place, so you don't need to style each card individually.

Card design options: Configure card size, spacing, content layout, title visibility, imagery, and container styling - all applied uniformly for a polished look.

Instant preview: See changes straight away, and have them reflected across iOS, Android, and web.

What’s also great is that if you’ve already styled collection cards elsewhere in your app, the experience will feel familiar.

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Where can I find this feature?

Web App Builder Design Tab → Shop Page

All merchants editing their Shop Page will see the new styling options by default.

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“This has been such a rewarding release for our team to ship. The Shop page is heavily used across the platform, and we’re excited to see how merchants take advantage of the new experience.” - Hamza, Product Manager 

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Mobile App Image Optimization

What did we change & what’s the value? 

We’ve optimized image loading across all StoreLab mobile apps, making images load up to twice as fast. This results in a noticeably snappier and more responsive shopping experience from the moment customers open your app.

For customers, browsing feels smoother and more immediate, helping them move effortlessly between products and collections. For merchants, faster visual loading helps keep shoppers engaged, reduces drop-off during discovery, and supports stronger conversion rates. 

These improvements are felt throughout the entire app, wherever images are used to showcase products, highlight promotions, or drive customer interest.

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What problem did this solve? 

Just like mobile websites, mobile apps can feel sluggish when images take too long to load. During the shopping experience, even brief delays can disrupt browsing, reduce exploration, and ultimately impact conversions.

Areas that are quite image or visual heavy - like homepages, collection pages, and product listings - are especially sensitive to this, which is why this upgrade is so important. 

Mobile app image optimization helps keep customers engaged, encourages them to spend longer on your store, and supports stronger Shopify revenue growth, ensuring your app feels enjoyable every step of the way.

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Analytics Dashboard Speed Upgrade

What did we change & what’s the value? 

We’ve delivered a major speed improvement to the Analytics Dashboard, which now loads around four times faster, with key metrics appearing within two to three seconds.

This means merchants can access essential data metrics such as conversion rate, average order value (AOV), and retention rate, without delays.

Faster loading makes it easier to monitor performance regularly, respond quickly to trends, and spend more time acting on insights rather than having to wait for data to appear. 

These improvements will help you, as a Shopify store owner, to stay agile and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

What problem did this solve? 

The Analytics Dashboard was previously slow to load, making it frustrating for merchants to access key performance metrics. This created unnecessary friction on a page that’s frequently used to monitor and drive app performance, as well as track and measure sales.

Through the Analytics Dashboard Speed Upgrade, you can now get the insights needed quickly, without interrupting your workflow or delaying important decisions.

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Before 👇

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After ✅

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What’s next?

We’re continuously developing and improving new, exciting features to provide the best experience for you and your customers, facilitating faster and more efficient Shopify growth.

1 - Featured Collection Enhancement: An exciting update to our Featured Collection block, enabling merchants to have far greater customization options for this highly popular homepage block.

2 - Analytics: Building on the latest performance updates to the analytics page, we’re unlocking new ways to showcase your app’s success - and surface deeper insights into customer behavior. You’ll be able to highlight what matters most by uncovering what drives efficient growth.

3 - Product Detail Page (PDP) Enhancements: Now that we’ve rolled out updates across most of our homepage blocks, our focus will shift to the PDP next. This upcoming series of releases will give you, as a store owner, much greater control over one of the most crucial pages in the app-commerce journey.

So keep an eye out for our next newsletter and future announcements!

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Before you go 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your Account Manager, who can go into more detail or will connect you with the right team member.

Or if you’ve landed here looking for ways to grow your Shopify store, book a call with one of our friendly experts at StoreLab