Changelog

We ship something new to Staaf almost every week. Here is everything that has changed.

Online store

Sunrise, a new theme for every new store

New stores now start on Sunrise, a clean and minimal theme with a slide-out cart and a colour scheme for every section.

Sunrise is the theme every new Staaf store now starts with. It keeps the focus on your products, loads quickly on mobile data and looks good with no setup at all.

What's new

  • A cart that slides out. Buyers add to cart without leaving the page, change quantities in the drawer and go straight to checkout. Prefer a full cart page? Switch it in theme settings.
  • Colour schemes per section. Pick from five schemes, or make your own, and give each section of your homepage its own look.
  • Quick add from collections. Products with a single option can go into the cart straight from the product grid.
  • Customer accounts built in. Log in, sign up, password reset and order history all match the rest of your store.

Other updates

  • Password page. Keep your store behind a password while you set it up, and share the password with the people you want to preview it.
  • A cleaner checkout. Checkout fields now have floating labels, and the country picker can be searched.

Already on another theme? Open Online store, pick Sunrise from the theme list and customise it before you publish.

Payments

M-Pesa payments straight to your paybill or till

Connect your own M-Pesa paybill or till and buyers get an M-Pesa prompt on their phone at checkout. The money lands in your account, not ours.

Buyers in Kenya can now pay with an M-Pesa prompt on their phone, and the money goes straight to your own paybill or till number.

What's new

  • M-Pesa Express at checkout. Buyers enter their phone number, approve the prompt and are done. No paybill numbers to copy.
  • Receipts on the order. Every M-Pesa receipt number is saved on its order, so reconciling with your statement takes minutes.
  • Your account, your money. Payments are made through your own Safaricom Daraja app. Staaf never holds your money and never takes a cut.

Other updates

  • WhatsApp in the inbox. Connect WhatsApp through your own Meta app and answer WhatsApp customers next to Instagram and Messenger.

To set it up, go to Settings → Payments, choose M-Pesa and follow the steps.

Online store

A theme catalog and domains you can buy in the dashboard

Choose your store's theme from a catalog of Staaf themes, and search for and buy your own domain without leaving the dashboard.

Choose a theme

Online store now lists every Staaf theme. Preview one with your own products, customise it as a draft and publish it when you're ready. Your current theme keeps running until you do.

Buy a domain

Search for a domain from Settings → Domains and buy it in a few clicks, without going to a separate registrar.

Other updates

  • Pages with templates. Every page you add can use its own template and keeps its own text when you change themes.
  • Payment methods, simplified. Payment settings now list the methods you've connected, with the Pesapal, Paystack and M-Pesa logos, and add new ones in a few guided steps.
Inbox

Messenger joins the inbox

Connect your Facebook Page and answer Messenger conversations in the same inbox as Instagram.

Customers who message your Facebook Page now show up in your Staaf inbox, next to your Instagram DMs. Reply from one place, and see their orders while you chat.

What's new

  • Messenger conversations. Connect a Facebook Page from Inbox → Add channel and its conversations appear straight away.
  • Profile pictures. Instagram contacts now show their profile pictures in the conversation list.
  • A photo viewer. Open photos customers send you in a full-screen viewer with zoom, swipe and arrow keys.
  • Sending status. A spinner shows while a reply or attachment is on its way.
Online store

Customise your store with sections and AI

A new theme editor with drag-and-drop sections, a live preview, ready-made presets and an AI assistant that edits your store for you.

The new theme editor lets you shape every page of your store without code. Changes are saved as a draft and only go live when you publish.

What's new

  • Sections. Add, reorder and hide sections on any page, then edit their text, images and colours with a live preview beside you.
  • Presets. Start a draft from a ready-made preset and make it yours.
  • Theme settings. Pick colour schemes, fonts and menus once and use them across the whole store.
  • Your own pages. Add pages such as About or Contact from the editor and link them in your menus.
  • An AI assistant. Describe what you want, such as "make the hero darker and add a FAQ", and it makes the change in your draft.

Other updates

  • Store currencies. Sell in USD, EUR or GBP as well as KES, ZAR and GHS. Choose yours in Settings → General.
  • Yearly billing. Pay for Staaf yearly and get two months free, and pay in USD if that suits you better.
  • More owners. Owners can now invite other owners to their store.
  • Verified emails. New accounts confirm their email before setting up a store.
Orders

Couriers and tracking links

Add the couriers you ship with, starting with DHL Express, and tracking links are filled in for you when you fulfil an order.

Add your couriers once in Settings → Shipping and pick one when you fulfil an order. Type the tracking number and Staaf fills in the tracking link, so the shipping email your customer gets takes them straight to their parcel.

DHL Express is ready to go, and you can add any other courier with your own tracking link.

Inbox

Photos, voice notes and files in the inbox

See the photos and voice notes customers send you, send files back, and find anything in your store from one search.

What's new

  • Media in conversations. Photos, voice notes, videos and documents from customers now show inside the conversation, and you can send your own files back.
  • WhatsApp message templates. Create and manage the templates WhatsApp needs to start a conversation from Inbox settings → WhatsApp.
  • Search everything. Search orders, products, customers and pages from the sidebar.
Security

Two-factor authentication

Protect your dashboard with a code from your authenticator app every time you log in.

Turn on two-factor authentication from your profile and you'll be asked for a six-digit code from your authenticator app whenever you log in. Even if someone learns your password, they can't get into your store.

Other updates

  • Recover failed payments. An order whose payment failed can be marked as paid once you've received the money, and it goes back into your normal flow.
  • Business and contact details. General settings are now split into business details, contact details and store defaults.
  • Import products. Bring your catalog in from a CSV file. Rows that need fixing are listed with the column and the problem.
Orders

Orders, from first message to delivery

Create orders from the dashboard, fulfil them with tracking, refund and cancel them, and see every customer conversation on the order.

Orders got their biggest update since launch. Everything you need after a sale now happens in one place.

What's new

  • Create orders. Took an order on the phone or over DM? Create it in the dashboard so it is tracked with the rest.
  • Fulfil with tracking. Mark items as fulfilled, add a tracking number and the customer gets a shipping email.
  • Refunds. Refund a whole order, single items, delivery or any amount. Paystack and Pesapal refunds go back to the buyer automatically.
  • Cancel and restock. Cancelling an order puts its stock back and lets the customer know.
  • An activity timeline. Every payment, email and change is listed on the order, and your team can leave comments there.
  • Customers and conversations. Customers are matched by email or phone, and their inbox conversations show on their profile and on their orders.

Other updates

  • Roles that fit. Only managers can create discounts, delete products or mark orders as paid.
Inbox

One inbox for every customer conversation

Answer Instagram DMs from your Staaf dashboard, right next to your orders and customers.

Most of your sales start with a message. The new inbox brings those messages into Staaf so you can answer them next to your products, orders and customers, instead of switching between phones and apps.

Connect your Instagram account from Inbox and your DMs appear straight away. Your whole team can reply, and every conversation stays with the customer it belongs to.