Squarespace 7.0 vs 7.1: What’s Different for eCommerce

Unless you’re deep in the web design industry trenches, you may not have realized that Squarespace released a new version of their platform in early 2020. It was a major change that could easily have been missed if you already had a Squarespace website built at that time. (If that’s you and you want to see which version you’re on, here's how to check.)

In this guide, I’ll provide a quick comparison of the two platforms: Squarespace 7.0 and Squarespace 7.1. This will be helpful if you already have a 7.0 site and are thinking about upgrading. (Hint: it’s worth it!) If you’re completely new to Squarespace you may still find reviewing this list helpful for a couple of reasons. First, because it shows that Squarespace is truly committed to making strong progress for eCommerce customers. And second, so you can get a feel for some of the features and capabilities available to you. 

What’s The Same

Before we jump into all the ways that Squarespace 7.0 and 7.1 are different, it’s important to note that they are in a lot of ways very much the same. Here’s what has not changed: 

• Analytics & SEO

• What you can sell, with some special notes about subscription products (included below)

• Payment options

• Shipping options

• Customer notifications & emails

• How you manage & fulfill orders

What’s Different

The major difference between the two platforms (aside from the Commerce options which we’ll get to in a second) is how you add content and style your site.

In brief, on Squarespace 7.0 there were lots of different template options but they did not all have the same features or functionality. This meant there could sometimes be pressure to choose the “right” one from the start or risk being locked into something that didn’t work. On 7.1, all templates have the same features and functionality. The templates just show different ways you can style or layout pages depending on your needs and design preferences. They’re all just a jumping-off point. Each page is infinitely customizable and easy to style which is just one of the reasons why I love Squarespace.

Okay! Jumping into those differences for eCommerce which is the whole reason why we’re here!

	Squarespace 7.0	Squarespace 7.1
Number of products	Up to 200 products per Store Page	Up to 10,000 products per Store Page
Number of product variations	Up to 100 variants (classic editor)	Up to 250 variants (new editor)
Ability to mport product tags & categories	Not possible	Yes, including sub-categories
Categories	How categories are displayed depends on template, with some limited ability to show/hide categories	Drag-and-drop organization Each category has a filtered category page that can be enabled or disabled
Subcategories	Not Available	Yes, up to three levels
Shop Category Navigation	How categories are displayed by template with some having more options than others Categories can only be displayed alphabetically	Categories & nested subcategories are displayed on the shop page automatically, either at the top or as a sidebar Optional: hide categories using the Filter Visibility toggle Categories can be arranged in any order you choose
Etsy Product Import Limits	200	300
Shopping Cart Icon	Display depends on template; some show by default, some are hidden Some templates allow you to hide the icon but people will not be able to access their cart unless you have Express Checkout turned on	Displays in header by default even if the cart is empty If you decide to hide it, a cart icon will appear at the bottom of the page when someone adds a product to their cart
Customer Account Login Link	Display depends on template; if your template is not one of them an account login link will need to manually be added to the navigation	Displays automatically if accounts are enabled
Product Waitlists	Only available on sites with Advanced store pages	Available on all plans
Store Pages	No other content can be added	Ability to add content sections & blocks above or below store content
Subscription Products	Work best on a limited set of templates that include a sign in link automatically	No limitations
Product Images	How images display depends on your template’s store page type	All display options are universally available
Product Thumbnails	Shown on Advanced store pages	Shown on all shop pages
Image Hover Effects	Depends on template, not universally available	When more than one image is added, the second image is shown upon hover automatically
Sold Out Labels	Only available on sites with templates that have Advanced store pages, may be hidden	Always shown

In general, I think you can see that one of the biggest advantages to 7.1 over 7.0 is that you don’t need to worry about what template you choose as that no longer limits your ability to customize and set up your eCommerce store as you’d like. The only time limitations come into play is when choosing a Squarespace plan but I’ve got you covered on how to find the right plan for you in this post. 

What to do if you’re on 7.0 and want to upgrade?

So excited! You’re gonna love it! The only caveat is that it’s not currently possible to do a direct upgrade from one platform to the other. What this means is that when you’re ready to make the switch, you’ll need to redesign your site on 7.1. You’ll still be able to use your same Squarespace account login and moving over your domains and any other subscriptions to the new site is super easy. The important thing to remember is that this is a whole new platform and a whole new website. 

How to time your upgrade perfectly

A practical tip I have is to take a look at when your current website subscription is set to renew. (Not sure when that is? Here’s how to find out.) Strategically, making the leap to 7.1 a month or two before that would make a seamless transition. (If you really just can’t wait to upgrade, you can always change your billing cycle to monthly as a workaround 😉) Chances are if you’ve had your site long enough that it’s still on 7.0 it’s time for an update!