Netalico Team Meetup in Toronto
Every year, we make it a point to gather in person—partly to cowork, partly to catch up, and mostly to enjoy each other's company without a Google Meet square in sight. This year, our Netalico team meetup took us to Toronto just in time for Shopify Editions.
We spent the week bouncing between work sessions and fun outings, mixing strategy chats with baseball stats and UX audits with cocktail menus.
Shopify Editions
We timed our trip to align with Shopify Editions, and it was worth it. The founding year was dedicated solely to developers, but this year they opened up to the full team.
As a Shopify Plus Partner, we’re always keeping an eye on what’s new. This time, the theme was Horizons; what’s new and what’s next. It was energizing to meet other folks in the Shopify partner world and come back with some fresh ideas and features we’re excited to test out.
A few highlights we think you'll like:
Refund to Store Credit Just Got Easier & Smarter
You can now issue refunds as store credit , directly from the Shopify admin, regardless of how the customer originally paid. That means fewer lost sales and a smoother return process for both your team and your customers.
This is s a great tool for increasing retention without adding friction.
AI Is Changing How People Find Products
A brand new feature, Catalog, is a way for your products to show up in AI-powered shopping chats - think chatbots that help customers find what they’re looking for with questions like: “What are good skincare products for dry and dehydrated skin?” -- (personally, we’d point them to our client evanhealy's collection!)
If you’re eligible, your products can show up automatically. No extra setup needed.
Sidekick’s Growing Up (Fast)
Shopify’s built-in AI assistant just leveled up. The new and improved Sidekick can now answer complex questions with real data. Ask “Why did sales dip last month?” and you’ll get a smart breakdown that considers inventory, marketing, seasonality, and more.
Even better? Sidekick now includes AI image generation , so you can create custom visuals, like hero banners or product shots, just by describing what you want. No design tools required.
Theme Editor Just Got a Major Glow Up
The updated theme editor is packed with game changing improvements to help you move faster and stay in the zone. A few of our favorites:
- Copy/paste entire sections
- Custom names for better organization
- Right-click for shortcuts
- Collapsible sections (finally!)
- Smarter predictive search
Everything is live now, no action needed on your end. Just enjoy the smoother workflow.
What Went Down
Coworking IRL: With team members spread across North and South America, these yearly meetups give us valuable time to sit together, plan out projects, and tackle complex challenges side-by-side. There’s something special about grabbing a coffee together (although the team is actually split between coffee & tea lovers) and mapping things out on in-person.
The Speakeasy: One night, we wandered through what looked like a normal storefront...and ended up in one of the best hidden bars we’ve ever been to - Coffee Oysters Champagne. Let’s just say the drinks were strong, and so were the laughs.
Food Tour: We ate our way across the city, literally. From Jamaican meat pies to Nepalese momos, we made the most of Toronto’s food scene. No regrets, except maybe not budgeting an extra hour to nap between snacks.
Blue Jays Game: We capped things off with a Blue Jays game. Hot dogs, stadium lights, and a few spirited debates about baseball rules (we had to explain to our European co-worker what exactly was happening) made for a pretty perfect ending to the trip.
Why We Do These
Sure, the work is important. But so is sitting across from someone you’ve only ever met in Slack, sharing a meal, and swapping stories. These meetups help us build stronger collaboration, better client work, and a more connected team. Already counting down to next year.
