Shopify Checkout Optimisation: A Step-by-Step Guide

Shopify's checkout is already one of the highest-converting in ecommerce — but 'good' is not the same as 'optimised'. Research shows that the average checkout completion rate across ecommerce is around 47%. The best-performing Shopify stores achieve 70-80%. Closing that gap is where significant revenue lives.

Understanding Your Checkout Funnel

Before making changes, understand where customers are dropping off. In Shopify Analytics, look at the checkout funnel report: Information → Shipping → Payment → Order Confirmation. The step with the highest drop-off rate is where you should focus first.

Step 1: Express Checkout Options

For returning customers — and anyone using a mobile device — accelerated checkout options eliminate almost all friction. A customer who clicks 'Pay with Shop Pay' completes their purchase in two taps. That is the gold standard to aim for.

• Enable Shop Pay — it is Shopify's own accelerated checkout and has the highest conversion rates
• Enable Apple Pay and Google Pay for mobile and Safari users
• Enable PayPal Express for customers who prefer not to use their card directly
• Place express checkout buttons above the standard form, not at the bottom
• Test your express checkout buttons on real mobile devices monthly

Step 2: Address and Form Optimisation

The information step is where most drop-off occurs. Every additional field you ask for is a reason to abandon. Minimise form friction aggressively.

1. 1Remove the 'Company' field unless you genuinely need it for B2B orders
2. 2Enable address autocomplete — Shopify supports Google Places API in checkout
3. 3Use postcode lookup to auto-fill city and county fields
4. 4Remove 'Address line 2' from above the fold — it can be a collapsible option
5. 5Enable autofill support by using correct autocomplete attributes on all inputs

Step 3: Shipping Step Optimisation

Unexpected shipping costs at this step are the number one cause of checkout abandonment. The solution is radical transparency earlier in the funnel — display shipping costs on product pages and in the cart so there are no surprises at checkout.

Step 4: Shopify Plus Checkout Extensibility

Shopify Plus merchants have access to checkout extensibility — the ability to add custom components to the checkout without editing checkout.liquid directly. This opens up powerful options:

• Custom trust badges and security messaging in the checkout sidebar
• Upsell offers within the checkout (post-purchase upsells via checkout UI extensions)
• Loyalty points balance display for logged-in members
• Custom gift message fields and personalisation options
• Subscription upsell options at the payment step

“Every field you remove from your checkout, every step you eliminate, and every second you shave off the process directly correlates with a higher completion rate. Checkout is not where you want to be creative — it is where you want to be invisible.”