Shopify Storefront Settings Profiles

Storefront Settings Profiles let merchants prepare different Autocomplete, Product Card, and Layout settings without changing the live Production setup. A profile can be tested on selected theme surfaces, compared with Production, and promoted when it is ready.

Profiles are shared across the Shopify store, including its markets. They are optional: stores can continue editing and using Production without creating a profile.

Production and Named Profiles

Profile	Behavior
Production	Supplies the store's standard settings. It remains directly editable and cannot be renamed or deleted.
Named profile	Starts as a copy of current Production and can then be changed without changing Production.

There is no store-wide active profile. Each supported theme surface either uses Production or selects a named profile in Shopify's Theme Editor. Promoting a profile copies its settings into Production; it does not redirect every theme surface to that profile.

The profile workflow is available on these pages in the Retail Cloud Connect Shopify App:

Autocomplete
Product Card Builder
Layout Settings

Each page shows an Editing Production or Editing profile name pill in the top-right area.

Create and Edit a Profile

Open Autocomplete, Product Card Builder, or Layout Settings.
Open the Editing Production pill and select New profile.
Enter a unique profile name. The new profile copies current Production.
Change settings on the current page.
Use the page-level Save action to save all changes on that page, or use Discard to restore the saved profile.

The pill keeps the selected profile while the merchant moves between the three supported settings pages. If a merchant switches profiles with unsaved changes, the app offers Save and switch, Discard and switch, or Cancel.

The same menu can:

Select Production or another profile
Rename the selected named profile
Permanently delete the selected named profile
Compare a named profile with Production
Retry publishing when Shopify synchronization fails
Promote a named profile to Production

Deleting a profile does not delete Production. The app returns to Production, and theme surfaces that still reference the deleted profile safely use Production instead.

Compare and Promote

Save the current page before comparing or promoting a profile. Compare with Production shows the profile's changes grouped into Autocomplete, Product Card, and Layout settings. Each comparison lists only the specific fields that changed, with their Production and profile values side by side. Unchanged settings are omitted and long values wrap within the comparison.

Promote to Production is available only when the profile is saved and its latest revision has been published to Shopify. The confirmation shows the same before-and-after comparison. Promotion copies the profile settings into Production and keeps the named profile available for later editing or reuse.

If the profile or Production changes after the comparison opens, the app asks the merchant to review a refreshed comparison before promoting.

Publishing and retrying

A profile save can succeed in Retail Cloud Connect even if Shopify publication temporarily fails. The Editing pill identifies the profile as unsynchronized, Retry publishing appears in its menu, and promotion remains unavailable until retry succeeds.

If an older revision of that profile was already published, theme surfaces using it continue to receive the last successfully published revision. They do not automatically switch to Production. To use Production immediately, clear the profile picker on each affected theme surface and save the theme, then retry publishing from the app.

Select a Profile in the Theme Editor

The native Settings profile picker is available on exactly these Retail Cloud Connect theme surfaces:

Search Results
Product Grid
Dynamic Autocomplete
Recommendations AI

To use a profile:

In Shopify, open Online Store > Themes and customize the required theme.
Select the supported App Block or the Dynamic Autocomplete App Embed.
Choose a named value under Settings profile.
Save the theme.

Leave Settings profile blank to use Production. A blank, missing, or deleted selection also uses Production. Profile selection is not available for Keyword Autocomplete, Conversational Search, Document Search, or other App Blocks.

Approve the Shopify Permission Update

Managing named profiles requires Shopify's write_metaobjects permission. This permission lets Retail Cloud Connect create, update, and delete the app-owned records shown in the native Settings profile picker.

Existing installations may need a store owner or authorized staff member to approve the app's updated permissions. Until approval, the profile menu explains that updated permissions are required and named-profile controls remain unavailable. Production settings and existing Production storefront behavior remain usable.

For staff and app access guidance, see Managing Shopify Access.