Shopify checkout optimization: what moves the number
Most checkout gains on Shopify come from removing effort and surprises, not from redesigning the page. The biggest single lever is usually payment: Shopify says Shop Pay can lift conversion by up to 50% compared with guest checkout. After that, the wins come from showing the full cost early and asking for less.
Checkout is where intent is highest and patience is lowest, so small frictions cost more here than anywhere else on the site.
Why is checkout where so much is lost?
Because it's the point where shoppers find out what they're really paying and how much work it takes. Baymard Institute puts average cart abandonment at 70.22% across fifty studies, and it's worse on mobile, at 80.02% compared with 66.41% on desktop.
The top reason people give is extra costs being too high, at 48%. Forced account creation comes next at 26%, then a checkout that's too long or complicated at 22%. We cover the full list in our guide to running a CRO audit. The pattern is that most abandonment comes from things you control.
How much does Shop Pay matter?
More than most other checkout changes. Shopify says Shop Pay can lift conversion by up to 50% over guest checkout, and that simply showing Shop Pay lifted lower-funnel conversion by 5% in its own analysis. Returning Shop Pay users skip typing their address and card, which matters most on a phone.
Treat "up to 50%" as a ceiling, not a forecast. The lift you'll see depends on how many of your shoppers already have Shop Pay accounts. But turning it on costs nothing, and the same goes for Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal if your customers use them.
Check where the express buttons appear. If they only show up once someone reaches checkout, you're missing the shoppers who would have tapped one straight from the product page or cart.
What should shoppers see before checkout?
The total. Since surprise costs are the biggest reason people leave, the fix is to show shipping costs, any free shipping threshold and a delivery estimate before checkout starts. The product page and cart are the right places for it.
If you sell internationally, show duties and taxes up front too. A customer who finds a customs charge at the last step is far more likely to leave than one who saw it on the product page.
Should I make customers create an account?
No. Forced account creation is the second most common reason for abandonment in Baymard's data. Guest checkout should be the default, with the option to save details afterward.
Shopify's newer customer accounts help here because they're passwordless. Customers sign in with a one-time code sent to their email, so there's no password to create at checkout. If your account area uses metafields, check that it still shows everything after this year's customer account changes.
What can I change inside Shopify checkout now?
Checkout customization now runs through checkout extensibility. Checkout UI extensions add content like trust messages, delivery notes or loyalty details. Shopify Functions handle logic such as discounts, payment method rules and delivery options. On Shopify Plus, UI extensions can also appear on the information, shipping and payment steps.
If your old checkout logic lived in Shopify Scripts, it stopped running on June 30, 2026. Our post on rebuilding Scripts as Functions covers how to work out what they did.
Does trust still matter at checkout?
Yes. In Baymard's data, 18% of people abandoned because they didn't trust the site with their card details. Keep checkout visually consistent with the rest of your store, show payment methods people recognize, and don't add pop-ups or distractions once someone has started paying.
What should I change first?
In this order, because each one is cheaper and more certain than the next:
- Turn on accelerated checkouts and make sure the buttons appear on mobile product pages and in the cart.
- Show shipping costs and delivery estimates before checkout.
- Remove anything that forces account creation.
- Cut optional fields, like company name or a second address line, down to what you need.
- Then test bigger changes. Shopify Rollouts can test checkout configurations on Grow plans and above. Our post on Rollouts versus CRO apps explains how.
Checkout fixes like these are a regular part of our Shopify development and CRO work. If you'd like someone to walk through your checkout with you, it's part of our free CRO audit.