Shopify Checkout Customization: What's Actually Worth Doing

2025 Update: The Technical Landscape Changed

Important: Shopify deprecated the REST Checkout API in October 2024. By April 2025, all new checkout apps must use GraphQL. This affects how customizations are built — but not which customizations are worth doing.

The modern approach uses:

• Checkout UI Extensions — Add custom UI to checkout (points display, gift messages)
• Shopify Functions — Customize logic server-side (payment rules, delivery options)
• Checkout Branding API — Style checkout without custom code

What Worked

Loyalty Points Display

The problem: Customers with loyalty points didn't know about them until after purchase. They'd pay full price, then discover they could have used points.

What we did: Added a checkout display showing how many points the customer has and what they're worth in dollars.

The result: 10-15% increase in points usage.

Free Shipping Progress Bar

The problem: Customers abandoned when they saw shipping costs, not knowing they were close to the free shipping threshold.

What we did: A bar showing how much more they need for free shipping. "Add $17 more for FREE shipping!"

The result: 5-10% decrease in checkout abandonment when customers were near the threshold.

Gift Message Field

The problem: Many purchases are gifts. Customers wanted to include a personal message but had to email separately.

What we did: "This is a gift" checkbox with a field for a personal message.

The result: 15-25% of orders include a gift message. Those orders have 10-20% higher value — gift buyers spend more.

What Didn't Work

"How did you hear about us?" Survey

The idea was to ask customers at checkout how they found us. Sounds logical, right?

What happened: Checkout abandonment went up a few percentage points. Customers found the question annoying mid-payment.

The lesson: We moved the survey to post-purchase. There it doesn't cost you sales.

Aggressive Upsells

The idea was to offer additional products at multiple checkout stages.

What happened: Customers felt pressured. It hurt trust.

The lesson: One offer, at the right moment, works much better than constantly pushing.

The Simple Rule

Customizations that help customers complete their purchase or feel good about it — worth it.

Customizations that add steps or feel pushy — not worth it.

Do You Need Shopify Plus?

Most real checkout customizations require Shopify Plus. Without Plus you can change colors and logo, but can't add real features.

If you have a store with good traffic and checkout customization could improve conversions — worth checking if Plus pays off.

Want to See What's Possible with Your Checkout?

We'd love to look at your store and tell you what could move your numbers — and what's not worth the investment.