Most Shopify stores lose a large number of shoppers during checkout. A few changes to the checkout process, payment options and follow-up messages can help bring some of those sales back.
If you’ve read our post on Checkout Extensibility, you’ll know about the technical changes, including the move away from checkout.liquid and the deadlines for Plus and non-Plus stores. These changes affect how your checkout is built. Here, we’re looking at a different question: how many shoppers actually complete their purchase?
By the time someone reaches checkout, they’ve already picked a product and added it to their cart. They’re close to making a purchase. When they leave without paying, you lose a potential sale, along with the money spent getting them to your store.
Why shoppers abandon checkout
Around 70% of online carts are abandoned. Baymard Institute puts the average at 70.22%, based on 50 separate studies.
Some of that is unavoidable. In Baymard’s research, 42% of US shoppers said they abandoned because they were just browsing or not ready to buy. Set those aside, and the remaining reasons are mostly things a store can fix:
- Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees): 40%
- Delivery too slow: 20%
- Didn’t trust the site with card details: 19%
- Forced to create an account: 18%
- Checkout too long or complicated: 17%
- Not enough payment methods: 9%
Most of these issues come down to choices you can make in Shopify, such as shipping costs, the information customers see before checkout, available payment methods and whether they need an account to place an order. Baymard estimates that improving checkout design can increase conversions by 35% for an average large ecommerce site.
Remove friction before and during checkout
The biggest single cause of abandonment is a total that is higher than the shopper expected, so fix pricing surprises first.
Show costs early. Display shipping rates, or at least a free-shipping threshold, on product pages and in the cart. A cart that says “£4.20 away from free delivery” both removes the surprise and lifts order value.
Keep the form short. Baymard’s testing shows an ideal checkout needs only 7 to 8 form fields, yet the average US checkout shows almost 15. In Shopify, go to Settings > Checkout and make company name, address line 2 and phone number optional or hidden unless you genuinely need them. Turn on address autocomplete so shoppers type a few characters instead of a full address.
Use the one-page layout. One-page checkout has been Shopify’s default since October 2023. It keeps contact, delivery and payment on a single screen, with completed sections collapsing as the shopper moves down. If you are still on the three-page layout, test the switch.
Build trust at the point of payment. Nearly one in five shoppers abandon because they don’t trust the site with their card. Add your logo and brand colours to checkout, show a short returns line near the order summary, and make sure contact details are easy to find.
Fix delivery expectations. Show estimated delivery dates, not just method names. “Arrives Thu 12 Nov” converts better than “Standard shipping”.
Offer guest checkout, and make accounts a bonus
Never force shoppers to create an account before they pay. Being asked to register is one of the top five reasons for abandonment in Baymard’s research, cited by 18% of shoppers.
In Shopify, check Settings > Customer accounts and make sure accounts are optional rather than required. Shopify’s newer customer accounts use a one-time code sent by email instead of a password, which removes the “forgotten password” dead end that kills many returning-customer checkouts.
You still want customer data for retention, so ask for it at the right moment:
- After the order, on the thank-you page, invite the shopper to save their details for next time.
- Through the email field at the top of checkout, which captures the address you need for abandonment recovery, even if the order isn’t finished.
- With a clear benefit, such as order tracking, faster reorders or loyalty points, rather than a bare “Create account” button.
Get payment methods right, starting with Shop Pay
Shop Pay. Shop Pay stores a buyer’s address and card across every Shopify store, so recognised shoppers check out in a tap. Shopify says it can raise conversion by up to 50% compared with guest checkout, and that its mere presence lifts lower-funnel conversion by 5%. Treat the headline figure as a best case from Shopify’s own commissioned research; independent tests generally report smaller lifts. Enable it under Settings > Payments if it isn’t already on.
Apple Pay and Google Pay. Mobile shoppers abandon far more often than desktop shoppers, and wallets remove the hardest part of mobile checkout: typing a card number. Turn both on, and check that the express buttons appear at the top of checkout and, ideally, in the cart.
Buy now, pay later. Options such as Shop Pay Installments, Klarna or PayPal Pay Later tend to help most on higher-value orders. Test them on your own price points rather than assuming a lift.
Local methods. If you sell across borders, offer what each market expects: iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, Klarna in the Nordics, UPI and cards in India.
One warning: more buttons are not always better. Too many express options can push the main form below the fold on mobile. Offer the methods your customers actually use.
Win back abandoned checkouts
A shopper who entered an email and left is your warmest lead, and Shopify gives you the tools to follow up without an app.
Turn on the automation. Shopify’s abandoned checkout automation now lives in its marketing automations (Shopify Messaging), not the old notification settings. Open the abandoned checkout template, switch on automatic sending, and choose the delay and audience. By default it only emails customers subscribed to marketing, so check that setting against the consent rules in the markets you sell to.
Send a short sequence, not one email. A practical starting point:
- After about 1 hour: a plain reminder with the product image and a one-click link back to the checkout.
- After about 24 hours: answer the likely objection, such as delivery times, returns or reviews.
- After about 72 hours: a final nudge, with an incentive only if your margins allow it.
Be careful with discounts. Offering a code in the first email teaches regular customers to abandon on purpose. Keep incentives for the last step, or for first-time buyers only.
Measure before and after every change
You can’t improve checkout conversion if you only watch overall conversion rate, so track the checkout funnel on its own.
In Analytics, Shopify’s conversion funnel shows sessions that added to cart, reached checkout and completed an order. The number that matters most here is checkout completion: completed orders divided by checkouts started. Track it weekly, and split it by device, because mobile usually lags desktop by a wide margin.
A few habits make the data trustworthy:
- Change one thing at a time, and note the date, so you can see what moved the number.
- Watch revenue, not just conversion. A free-shipping threshold might lower conversion slightly but raise average order value and profit.
- Test on real devices. Run through your own checkout on a mid-range phone at least once a month; errors often appear only on mobile.
Final thoughts
Moving to Checkout Extensibility takes care of the technical changes, but there’s still work to do to make sure your checkout turns visitors into customers. Small improvements to payment options, delivery information and the overall checkout experience can make a difference to your sales.
If you’re looking to improve your Shopify checkout or need help with your wider store development, get in touch with Shopify experts like us. Our team can help you build a smoother shopping experience and get more from your Shopify store.