Shopify checkout optimization in 2026: what you can change and what to fix first

What you can change, by plan

Shopify’s checkout isn’t part of your theme. On every plan, the checkout and accounts editor sets its layout, logo, colours and fonts. One-page checkout has been the default since October 2023, and every plan can switch to the three-page layout; Shopify says both collect the same information from customers.

Beyond that, your plan decides. Apps can add content to the Thank you and Order status pages on any plan, but only Plus stores can add apps to the information, shipping and payment steps. Shopify Functions, which change discounts, delivery options, payment methods and checkout validation, work on any plan when they come in an app from the Shopify App Store; a custom app built for one store needs Plus.

The old checkout.liquid file and the additional scripts box no longer run on any checkout page. If your tracking or post-purchase tools depended on them, our guide to Shopify’s 2026–27 deadlines covers the replacements.

Show the full cost before checkout

Baymard Institute puts the average documented cart abandonment rate at 70.22%, from 50 studies. Many of those shoppers were never going to buy: in Baymard’s survey of US online shoppers, 42% had abandoned a cart because they were just browsing. Set those aside, and the most common reason was extra costs such as shipping, tax and fees, cited by 40%, while 12% couldn’t see or calculate the total cost up front.

That makes cost the first thing to fix, and most of the fix happens before checkout. State what shipping costs, or the order value that earns free shipping, on product pages and in the cart, and give an estimate of the total before the shopper types an address. A shopper who first meets the shipping cost at checkout is the one those figures describe.

Canada’s drip pricing rule

Since June 2022, the Competition Act has treated a price as false or misleading when it can’t be paid because of fixed obligatory charges or fees, unless those charges are only amounts imposed under federal or provincial law. A June 2024 amendment narrowed that exception to amounts imposed on the purchaser, such as sales tax. The civil provision is section 74.01(1.1); section 52(1.3) is the criminal one.

For a store, the practical point is that a fixed fee every customer must pay, such as a handling or service fee, belongs in the advertised price rather than appearing at checkout. The Competition Bureau adds that a charge that varies could still raise concerns. Shipping is less settled: the Bureau hasn’t published guidance specific to it, and a consumer page from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada says location-based shipping added at checkout isn’t considered a junk fee. Show shipping clearly and early either way.

This article is general information, not legal advice. If your store adds mandatory fees, ask a lawyer how the rule applies to you.

Offer the fastest ways to pay

Accelerated checkout lets shoppers who already use Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal skip most of the form. In checkout, the buttons sit in an Express Checkout section at the top, ordered to show each shopper their fastest option. Amazon Pay through Shopify Payments requires a business based in the United States, so Canadian stores can’t offer it.

Shopify says Shop Pay gives “as much as 50% better conversion compared to guest checkout”, citing an external study completed with a management consulting firm in April 2023. Treat that as Shopify’s claim rather than a forecast for your store, and judge it by your own orders.

• On product pages, Shopify shows one button chosen for the shopper, and it can buy only a single variant. Shopify notes these buttons may not help unless many of your orders are for one kind of product.
• In the cart, themes can show every accelerated method you’ve turned on, next to the checkout button.
• Shop Pay Installments is available to eligible Canadian stores, meaning a business in Canada with a Shopify Payments account in CAD, on orders from $35 to $30,000 CAD.
• Shopify Payments in Canada accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover online. Interac debit works only in person, through Shopify POS.

Keep the form short

Baymard’s testing suggests a checkout can work with 12 to 14 form elements, or 7 to 8 fields, while the average US checkout it benchmarked shows 23.48 elements. Shopify’s form is already compact, so the gains come from not adding to it. Under Settings > Checkout you can make the company name, the second address line and the shipping phone number required, optional or not included. Shopify notes that anything typed in the company name field can unlock shipping options meant for business addresses, so leave it out if you don’t sell to businesses.

Address autocompletion is on by default and covers Canada, and since March 2026 Shopify has powered Canadian address suggestions and validation itself. Leave it on unless an app replaces it.

Keep guest checkout. In Baymard’s survey, 18% of shoppers who weren’t just browsing had abandoned an order because the site wanted them to create an account. If you require customers to sign in before checkout, Shopify also hides accelerated checkout buttons in the cart.

Make delivery predictable

Slow delivery was the next most common reason in Baymard’s survey, cited by 20%. A delivery date at checkout answers the question before it becomes a reason to leave. Shopify’s automated delivery dates cover the United States and parts of Europe, not Canada, but manual delivery dates work for Canadian locations, using flat rates with a transit time or Shopify Shipping’s calculated rates. Set them under Settings > Shipping and delivery > Estimated delivery dates.

If customers live near a store or warehouse, pickup and local delivery appear as choices at checkout. Local delivery can cover a list of postal codes or a radius of up to 160 km around a verified location.

Measure where shoppers drop out

Shopify’s Conversion rate breakdown report, under Analytics > Reports, follows sessions from the store to a cart addition, to reaching checkout and to a completed checkout. The step from reaching checkout to completing it is the checkout’s own score. Compare it by device and before and after each change, and check your traffic sources before blaming the checkout for a drop.

Shopify changed how it measures sessions between September 21 and 23, 2026. Identified bots are now filtered out by default, and sessions no longer end at midnight UTC. Session counts and conversion rates from before and after that week aren’t directly comparable, so start a new baseline.

To test a change rather than watch it, Shopify’s Rollouts can A/B test a different checkout configuration on the Grow plan or higher.

A checkout review checklist

• Place a test order on a phone as a guest, then again with an accelerated payment method.
• Check that shipping costs and any free-shipping threshold are visible before checkout, and that no fixed fee first appears at payment.
• Turn on the accelerated checkouts you can offer, and see where their buttons appear.
• Remove or make optional any field you don’t use, and leave address autocompletion on.
• Set manual delivery dates for Canadian shipping, and offer pickup or local delivery where it fits.
• Read the Conversion rate breakdown monthly, from a baseline that starts after September 23, 2026.