Release Notes June 2025
The NextChapter eCommerce platform is constantly being improved and innovated. In the June 2025 Release Notes, we have again listed a number of important improvements & optimizations for you.
We are also continuously working on product development. Keep an eye on our blog, LinkedIn page and newsletter so that you don't miss any of our new developments. Want to know more about the release notes or their implementation in your webshop(s) and channels? Feel free to contact us.
We have done a lot of innovations in the past few months in various areas, such as:
1. European Accessibility Act (EAA)
2. PIM, OMS, CMS
3. Marketing features
4. Frontend Features
5. Integrations
6. multiˣ connector
European Accessibility Act
On June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into effect. This legislation requires new digital services — including webshops — to be accessible to people with disabilities, such as auditory, visual, or motor impairments. More information about the Accessibility Act and what it means for your webshop can be found here.
The first major updates to the multiˣ suite have already been implemented. In the coming months, the roadmap will focus further on improving accessibility. Accessibility is now a fixed component in every sprint, with continuous updates rolled out to enhance the user experience for all visitors.
OMS
1. PostNL Combined Shipping & Return Labels
Use the shipping label as a return label as well
Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important topic globally. In addition, returns — and return labels in particular — represent a significant cost for many businesses.
Now, you can address both issues by using PostNL’s “Forward & Return” labels.
If you ship packages via PostNL and use the NextChapter OMS for fulfillment, you can now allow customers to reuse the original shipping label as a return label.
This means you no longer need to include a return label in every parcel by default, which saves costs and paper, while offering added convenience for the customer.
2. Manual Order Enhancements in the OMS
(Manually creating orders for a customer)
It has long been possible to manually create an order for a customer — for example, when customer service receives a phone call and wants to quickly assist the customer and secure the conversion.
It is now also possible to apply discounts within this module, for instance, when a personalized deal is made over the phone.
In addition to home delivery, you can now also offer in-store pickup as a delivery option for the customer.
3. Expanded Transactional API
The NextChapter API layer was already extensive and continues to be refined in detail, such as by adding additional data to existing endpoints.
Furthermore, there is increasing use of the webhook principle for orders, allowing external systems — such as ERPs, logistics partners, or BI tools — to easily retrieve order data upon receiving a webhook signal (i.e., a notification that a new order has been placed or an existing order has changed).
Webhooks are highly efficient because only relevant data is fetched when needed, resulting in lower system load and improved performance.
Marketing Features
ChannelEngine: Your Gateway to Marketplaces
The NextChapter integration with ChannelEngine, for selling on marketplaces — continues to expand. In recent months, numerous new marketplaces across various European countries have been added, including Home24, Rakuten, Kaufland, Voelkner, ManoMano, Shop Apotheke, Fruugo, and many more.
Frontend Features
1. Conversion Machine: Searchandising
In collaboration with our partner Segmentify, NextChapter offers the Conversion Machine — a powerful customer engagement layer on top of your e-commerce platform, enabling even more personalized and relevant customer experiences.
Product personalization and automated, personalized email marketing have been available for some time. Now, we’re adding Searchandising: personalized search results based on user behavior. This means the results shown after a search are always more relevant to the individual visitor.
In addition to personalized results, a key advantage of searchandising is that it allows you to control the search results through business rules. For example, you can manage which filters are displayed with flexibility, and even pin products to specific positions. Consider a new product that matches the search query and is always shown in the first position.
2. Removal of Instant Search
Search is one of the most critical components of a webshop, helping users quickly find the right product and improving conversion.
Previously, NextChapter’s search functionality included Instant Search, where results appeared in real-time while typing. While powerful, we’ve found in practice that this can lead to mismatches — for example, if someone types slowly and the results update too quickly, causing confusion.
It’s more efficient to wait until the full term has been entered and the user hits “enter” or clicks the search icon — a standard search behavior on many webshops today.
This change improves user experience and has a positive impact on page speed.
3. “Recently Viewed” Product Rails
The familiar “Recently Viewed Products” feature is a well-known conversion booster often seen on product detail pages. It is now also available on other parts of the webshop, such as category pages and the homepage.
4. Location IQ as Alternative to Google Maps
Many webshops display a map to show store locations or pickup points. This is typically done using Google Maps, which works well up to a certain number of users — but becomes expensive at higher volumes.
That’s why we’ve introduced Location IQ as an alternative. Both Google Maps and Location IQ can now be used interchangeably depending on your needs and scale.
5. JavaScript API
We’re excited to introduce our new public JavaScript API, allowing third-party developers to integrate cart functionality directly into your webshop.
This is especially useful for custom modules like a product configurator built by an external partner.
CMS
1. Brands in Product Collections
Product Collections are a powerful way to quickly and dynamically group products — for use in promotions, categories, and more.
Previously, Product Collections could already be created based on product attributes. Now, this has been expanded with Brands as a filter option.
You can now group products based on attributes and/or brands. Because Product Collections are dynamic, any new products that match the selected attributes or brand will automatically be added. This allows you to fully automate product groups, which can then be used in size charts, categories, and promotion modules.
2. Revamped Size Chart Functionality
Size charts are widely used in industries like fashion, helping customers choose the right size immediately.
This feature has long been available in NextChapter and has now been completely rebuilt from a technical perspective.
Size charts now work fully in combination with Product Collections (see previous point).
Example: A size chart called “Men” is shown for all products in Product Collection X. Collection X is defined by the attribute “gender = male” and “brand = PME Legend.”
The collection is then automatically filled with all current and future PME Legend men’s products.
Because Product Collections can be defined very precisely, they offer strong flexibility for tailoring your size chart logic.
Additionally, toggle switches for staging/live have been added to the size chart interface, allowing you to preview changes in a test environment before going live.
3. Content Editor Now Available for Brand Pages
The upgraded Content Editor is being further rolled out across the NextChapter platform. It was already available for category pages and blog posts, and is now also available for brand pages.
Small iterative improvements are continuously made based on user feedback. Further rollout to other CMS sections will follow.
4. Page Starters in the Content Editor
Some webshops use fixed templates to maintain consistent design and structure across their content.
If you create many similar pages, you can now use page starters — pre-built templates matching your brand style that can be reused with one click across multiple content pages.
5. Filters in CRM
The NextChapter CRM gives you full visibility into your customers and customer groups. You can now filter customers by group name, making it easier to view and manage specific segments.
6. No Limit on CRM Export Reports
Users with the appropriate permissions can now export larger volumes of customer data at once from the CRM — the centralized area for managing all customer information in the platform.
Integrations
Klaviyo
NextChapter has developed a new integration with Customer Data Platform Klaviyo.
MailBlue
NextChapter has developed a new integration with the email marketing and marketing automation platform MailBlu
Security
WAF-security (Web Application Firewall)
When launching a webshop, security is a top priority — especially filtering and blocking unsafe traffic in a timely manner.
This process is always managed within the NextChapter platform for all webshops.
However, we’ve seen that some organizations using the platform apply additional internal privacy and security policies. In such cases, the technical setup of NextChapter and the client must align.
That’s why we’ve added a second option for filtering incoming traffic: the Web Application Firewall (WAF).
This WAF runs in the customer’s own environment and filters traffic before it reaches the webshop. Only verified, safe traffic is passed through to the NextChapter platform.
In other words, the WAF acts as a digital gatekeeper between browsing users and your webshop.
PIM & multiˣ connector
Several updates have been made across the PIM and the multiˣ connector, working together to improve control and visibility.
1. Clearer Attribute Overviews (PIM)
Attributes are a crucial part of effectively using the NextChapter PIM. We've made improvements to how attributes are ordered and displayed across the entire PIM interface, making it more logical and user-friendly.
2. PIM Imports in the multiˣ connector
A successful webshop in the NextChapter multiˣ suite relies on multiple processes that connect various NextChapter modules and external systems. These processes manage data exchange, such as product information — between your ERP system and the PIM.
All PIM import processes are now visible in the NextChapter multiˣ connector.
This gives you full transparency into your import workflows and allows you to manually run them if needed.
This import update is part of a broader goal: to give webshop owners and IT teams full insight and control over operational processes. With the multiˣ connector, you can monitor and trigger workflows made up of multiple jobs — making it a highly valuable tool for IT and e-commerce teams.
3. Preparations for SSO (Single Sign-On)
Single Sign-On allows users to access multiple systems using one set of login credentials.
Within the NextChapter platform, SSO already applies to the OMS, CMS, and CRM. PIM will follow shortly.
Several technical preparations for this have already been completed in this release, laying the groundwork for unified access across the entire multiˣ suite.
Technology
At NextChapter, we are constantly focused on maintaining and improving the underlying technology of our platform. You may not always notice it in day-to-day use, but the result is a fast, secure, and reliable platform.
1. Migration to New Cloud Hosting Environment
The entire NextChapter platform has been migrated to a new cloud hosting environment. This upgrade ensures all applications now run on top-tier hardware, leading to noticeably faster apps and processes.
2. Migration to New Cloud DNS Environment
This migration has significantly reduced latency for DNS resolving.
When you open a website, such as www.nextchapter-ecommerce.com, your browser first looks up the corresponding IP address. That lookup takes time (latency), and this has now been drastically improved.
In addition to faster performance, the DNS infrastructure is now more stable, scalable, and secure.
Platform Maintenance & Health
NextChapter continuously focuses on platform maintenance in the broadest sense with every release. This ensures technical stability and quality, with outdated components being updated or removed, existing code improved, underlying technologies upgraded to the latest versions, and the highest standards for security and privacy upheld with great care. All of this is aimed at delivering a reliable, worry-free platform with strong performance and high quality.
In addition, both major and minor updates are rolled out continuously to the multix suite. There are too many details to cover in the release notes. Behind the scenes, NextChapter constantly applies small improvements to existing features, interfaces, data flows, processes, and more. These incremental updates also contribute to maintaining a well-functioning platform.
Bug-Free Platform
Bugs and platform issues are resolved immediately. That’s why the NextChapter platform remains entirely bug-free.
Need Help?
If you have any questions about these Release Notes or their implementation in your webshop(s), feel free to reach out.