What Are Shopify Metafields? Customize Your Products

Did you know that 46% of US shoppers will not buy a product online if they don’t find detailed product information? If you’re a Shopify store owner looking to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales, then you’ll want to learn about Shopify metafields. In this guide, we’ll discuss what Shopify metafields are and how you can set yours up to optimize your Shopify store.

What is a Shopify Metafield?

A Shopify metafield is a custom data field that provides additional information about a product in your online store beyond the default fields offered by Shopify.

When creating a metafield for a product, you need to fill in the following essential details:

1. Namespace: This groups metafields together to avoid conflicts.
2. Key: The name assigned to the metafield.
3. Value: The specific value assigned to the product, which will be displayed on the frontend of your store.
4. Description (optional): An additional field to help others understand the purpose or meaning of the metafield.

How to Use Shopify Metafields

Unlock the potential of Shopify metafields to elevate your store’s customization and provide valuable information to your customers.

In this section, we will explore the step-by-step process of using Shopify metafields to enhance product details, streamline management, and deliver a personalized shopping experience.

Step 1: Create the Metafield Definition

To get started, begin by creating a metafield definition. Think of it as a blueprint for the custom data you want to add to your products. Here’s how to get started:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
2. Navigate to “Settings” and then click on “Metafields.”
3. Under the “Metafields” section, select “Products” as the type of metafield you want to create.
4. Click on the “Add definition” button to start creating your custom metafield definition.
5. Provide a name for your metafield definition. You will see suggestions for standard metafield definitions. You can choose from the suggestions or create a custom one based on your needs.
6. Leave the Namespace and Key fields as they are since the system will use them to identify your metafield definition.
7. Optionally, add a description for your metafield definition to help you remember its purpose or use.
8. Select the appropriate content type from the list. The content type determines the type of value your metafield will store. For example, you can choose text, image, date, URL, etc.
9. Depending on the content type you select, you may have additional validation options. Set validation rules to ensure the correct data format and values are entered for your metafield.
10. Click the “Save” button to create your metafield definition.

Step 2: Add Value to the Metafield

Once you have created the metafield definition, the next step is to add values to your Shopify metafields. There are two ways to do this:

Add Metafields One by One

Here’s how to add values individually to each product’s metafield:

1. Go to your Shopify admin and select “Products.”
2. Click on the specific product to which you want to add the metafield value.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the product page to find the metafields section.
4. Enter the value for the metafield by clicking on the corresponding field (e.g., text box, date selector, etc.).
5. Save the changes to add the value to the metafield of that particular product.
6. Repeat these steps for each product you want to update.

Add Metafields in Bulk

If you have numerous products with multiple metafields to update, using the bulk editor can save you significant time:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to “Products.”
2. Check the box next to the products you want to update with metafields.
3. Click on the “Edit products” button that appears at the top.
4. This will take you to the bulk editing page, where you can see a URL with edit options.
5. To add a metafield to the bulk editor, modify the URL by replacing the current edit options with “metafields.namespace.key”.
6. Press “Enter” to reload the page with the added metafield column.
7. Fill in the metafield values for each product directly in the bulk editor.
8. Lastly, click “Save” to apply the changes to all selected products.

Step 3: Display Metafields on your Shopify Store

After adding metafield values to your products, the final step is to display this information on your Shopify store. Follow these steps to showcase your metafields:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to “Online Store” and then click on “Themes.”
2. Choose “Customize” to enter the theme editor.
3. Select the page template where you want to display the metafield values.
4. Add a new block or section to the page where you want the metafield to appear.
5. Click on the “Add block” or “Add section” button.
6. To insert a metafield, click on the icon for dynamic content.
7. Choose the metafield you want to display from the options provided.
8. Add any additional text or description to provide context to the metafield value.
9. Save your changes to make the metafield visible on your online store.

Types of Shopify Metafields

Shopify metafields come in various types. Each caters to specific needs and provides valuable customization options for different aspects of your online store:

Shopify Product Metafields

Shopify product metafields allow you to tailor product details to offer customers more comprehensive information about your products. Remember the same applies for digital products. For instance, you can display additional details such as the release date or catalog number of music records, providing customers with relevant information to make informed purchase decisions.

Product metafields can create a more engaging and informative product page to ultimately enhance the shopping experience.

Shopify Variant Metafields

Variant metafields provide the means to add custom information to product variants. Product variants are different options of the same product, such as various colours, sizes, or materials.

With variant metafields, you can include specific details or attributes for each variant, helping customers to differentiate between the options and select the one that best suits their preferences.

This level of customization allows for a more personalized shopping experience and facilitates a seamless product selection process.

Shopify Collection Metafields

Collection metafields allow you to enrich collection pages with additional details, enhancing the organization and categorization of products within each collection.

By adding custom information to collections, you can create a more structured and curated shopping experience for your customers. For example, in a fashion store, you can use collection metafields to include outfit recommendations or sales items, making it easier for customers to discover related items.

Shopify Customer Metafields

Customer metafields empower you to personalize customer profiles by adding custom information that can be used for targeted marketing and improved customer segmentation.

With this feature, you can create more personalized marketing campaigns and promotions based on specific customer attributes or preferences. For example, you can use customer metafields to segment your customer base into different loyalty tiers or provide tailored recommendations based on past purchase history.

Shopify Order Metafields

Lastly, order metafields allow you to include special notes or details for specific orders. This can be useful for adding internal order-related information that is not visible to customers but helps streamline order processing and fulfillment.

For instance, you can use order metafields to indicate any special shipping instructions provided by the customer during the checkout process.

Metafield Limits

As beneficial as Shopify metafields are, it’s essential to be aware of certain limits to avoid exceeding the platform’s capacity. Each Shopify store has a maximum limit of 3000 metafields.

Additionally, individual products can have up to 250 metafields assigned to them. It’s crucial to manage your metafields efficiently and avoid duplication or overuse to stay within these limits and ensure smooth functioning of your online store.

We implore you to use these features strategically to offer valuable information and personalization for your customers to ultimately drive higher customer satisfaction and increased conversion rates.

Conclusion: Shopify Metafields

In conclusion, leveraging the various types of Shopify metafields and staying within the limits can help you to create a highly customized and customer-centric online shopping experience that sets your store apart from the competition.

Are you eager to explore more ways to enhance your e-commerce success? Check out the rest of our digital marketing blog to learn more about how to optimize your e-commerce business.