One-Step Checkout and Checkout Extensibility on Shopify

Recorded in Polish and published on October 31, 2023; below is an edited English translation. Shopify features, plans and deadlines reflect that time; where something has changed, we add a dated update as of November 2026.

Why checkout is the essence of e-commerce

Tomek: Hi! Welcome to another episode of the Flying with Shopify series. Today we're back with one-step checkout and the checkout extensibility that comes with it: the new features and solutions Shopify has served up. Once again our guest is Kamil Patyk, CTO of the wecanfly agency. Enjoy. Hi, guys.

Maciek: Hi, Tomek. Hi, Kamil.

Tomek: Today we're touching on a topic that, from the point of view of running a store, I think is hugely important. I'd even say it's the essence of e-commerce, because it's the moment when our potential customer, the shopper in our store, already has our products in the cart and moves on to paying for the order. We have them at the last step of the purchase, at the point where they've made up their mind. Really, all we have to do is not get in their way and not make it harder to buy: choosing the address the parcel should go to, the shipping method, meaning how the product should reach them, and paying. It seems we're just one step from success, but it turns out it's not that simple, and even at this stage we don't always manage to convert the customer. So I think today we're touching the very core of e-commerce.

Personally, I think this is a big revolution for Shopify: the solution they've now taken to their customers, one-step checkout. In my view they resisted it for quite a long time, arguing that the classic three-step checkout performs better and gets better results. And you, Maciek, often stress, both in our conversations and in the articles you write, that the classic checkout has a lot of advantages. It doesn't distract the user with too much information. That's why I find today's conversation so interesting: even though the reports and analyses Shopify itself ran this year, in 2023, showed that its checkout converts best among the competition, they decided to go a step further. I believe the decision was driven mainly by analysis, but it also fits what Shopify identifies with every day: striving for perfection, for even better solutions. Maciek, since you've strongly promoted the classic checkout so far, I'd like to ask how you see this new solution from Shopify.

One-step checkout: how did Shopify approach it?

Maciek: Sure. The multi-step checkout has always struck me as a solution that reduces the friction a user has to overcome to finish checkout. If all the information is split into small, modular steps, the cognitive load is much lower, and it's easier to get through a step than to find your way around a screen. That's how one-step checkouts usually looked: a screen cluttered with three or four columns and all the information shown at once. In my view, when the information is served to the customer in portions, it works much better.

What Shopify has now done with its checkout feels to me like a compromise between a classic one-page checkout and a multi-step one. Everything happens on one page, but the information is still shown in a linear way, step by step. The user doesn't see everything at once; the checkout guides them through the steps, and it's very intuitive. Most importantly, if you compare the time it takes to get through the multi-step checkout with the new one, the new one wins: we can do it a few seconds faster. So I think it's a step in the right direction. As you said, it was surely measured and tested, and the results are better.

The comparative study you mentioned looked at other platforms. I believe they compared themselves with Magento, that is Adobe Commerce, with SAP and with Salesforce. The study also included the one-click checkout, Shop Pay. There are of course other similar ones: Apple's, Google's or PayPal. Shop Pay also got much better results than the checkout alone, so you can see that the time it takes to complete the process is critical, and I think that's the reason for the decision. Among others.

2026 update (as of November 2026): one-page checkout is the default layout, and you can switch to three pages in the checkout and accounts editor settings (Settings > Checkout) (Shopify Help Center). Shop Pay is an accelerated checkout that is part of Shopify Payments, and its transactions are charged at Shopify Payments rates (Shopify Help Center). In Poland, Shop Pay is available with Shopify Payments alongside Apple Pay, Google Pay and BLIK. The accelerated Shop Pay checkout uses the one-page layout (shopify.dev).

Tomek: Sure. It sounds like Shopify is following the trends again, but at the same time it's setting them a bit, because, as you said, this compromise is its own take on something other platforms already do.

Maciek: Absolutely. One day they announce they have the best checkout in the world, and the next day they change it. So I think they're pioneers here.

What does the new checkout give customers and merchants?

Tomek: Sure. If we were to describe it briefly, what do you think are the benefits of one-step checkout for customers and for merchants?

Maciek: For customers it's fairly obvious: a faster trip through the store, more convenient shopping and more trust in the brand. For merchants it's above all more flexibility. We'll be able to do more with this checkout than before, but I think Kamil will tell us more about that.

How did checkout customization work before Checkout Extensibility?

Kamil: That's right. Let's start with how it looked for merchants until now. For all merchants on plans below Plus, checkout customization was very limited. It came down to changing the color and the logo, its position and size. Merchants on the Plus plan had much more room to maneuver. The first option was the so-called checkout.liquid, which, once activated, let you change how the checkout looked and add features such as extra fields or upsells. Merchants on Shopify Plus used it very often.

The second very important feature that extended checkout for Plus customers was the Shopify Scripts app. It let you change, for example, how payment options or delivery methods were presented, depending on which products were in the cart. It also let you create extra promotion mechanics. All of that goes away with checkout extensibility, but not without a replacement. What replaces it is, when you look closer, definitely better and gives more options. And this is where we should present the three or four solutions that make up checkout extensibility.

Why did Shopify replace checkout.liquid and Shopify Scripts?

Maciek: Kamil, before we get there, I'd like us to think about why this was replaced with checkout extensibility. What's behind that name we'll cover in a moment. Could you answer that first question?

Kamil: I think the main factor in Shopify's decision was how those changes affected the whole buying process. By editing checkout.liquid or adding new scripts in Script Editor, it was very easy to break the buying process to the point where purchases weren't possible at all. This change is certainly meant to make checkout changes much safer and more controlled. And along the way Shopify got rid of a kind of technical debt, because developing the new solution on checkout extensibility would have meant also maintaining the old checkout so it stayed secure and kept doing everything it did until now.

What makes up Checkout Extensibility? The branding API

Tomek: OK, so let's move on to what makes up checkout extensibility.

Kamil: Shopify gives developers several tools that make it easier to edit the checkout. The first one is the branding API. It's a tool for changing and adapting the look of the checkout so it matches our brand and its colors match our storefront. Shopify provides documentation that shows clearly which elements we can change and what we can influence. Very importantly, those changes then affect how we deliver the next elements that edit the checkout. What does that mean? New extensions we add to the checkout stay consistent with what we set in the customized template.

Maciek: So it's about visual consistency for all the new things or sections we install. The branding API affects how the checkout looks, but also the whole customer account, meaning what the user sees after logging in to the store. Those are the areas this tool controls.

Kamil: Exactly. As developers we can of course see it as some options being locked and editing being less free. But if we look wider, consistency is a very important factor here, and I think it was very important in making this decision.

2026 update (as of November 2026): the Checkout Branding API is available only on Shopify Plus. Merchants on all plans from Basic can change basic branding (logo, colors, font, background) themselves in the checkout and accounts editor (Shopify Help Center). The editor also covers customer account pages: Order status, Orders, Profile and Sign-in (Shopify Help Center).

Checkout extensions and extra fields

Maciek: OK, so we have the branding API. That's the first thing. What's the second?

Kamil: The second thing is extensions. These are so-called widgets that Shopify lets us create and then place in defined spots in the checkout. We build them from components Shopify provides: from basic ones like headings, paragraphs or buttons, through elements assembled from individual components, to interactive ones like a map or products we can then use for cross-selling in checkout.

Maciek: OK. Tell me, Kamil, what about forms, which until now could only be edited in the store settings? Has anything changed there?

Kamil: Yes. The mechanism for setting up the individual fields we require at checkout stays the same. But merchants who used checkout.liquid could add extra fields with JavaScript, for example for VAT invoice details, a Polish tax ID (NIP) or gift wrapping. With checkout extensions you can add such forms and extra fields of various kinds: text fields, number fields or select fields. These fields give us the same information, but in a better way, because checkout extensions have access to various resources through the API, so we can save the information to metafields, for example. What's more, extensions render after the page has loaded. Going back to the topic of our previous episode: moving to checkout extensions has a very significant impact on performance. We've seen improvements of even several seconds at our clients.

2026 update (as of November 2026): checkout UI extensions on the Information, Shipping and Payment steps, including custom fields such as a tax ID, are still available only on Shopify Plus. Extensions on the Thank you and Order status pages work on all plans except Shopify Starter (shopify.dev). An example from our projects: for Eveline Cosmetics we built custom gift-with-purchase logic based on three cart value thresholds, plus dedicated upsell modules, directly into checkout (Eveline Cosmetics case study).

Key dates for moving to the new checkout

Tomek: Right. Kamil, you said the key phrase: "moving to the new checkout". It's worth stressing how big this change is on Shopify's side. Maybe not for the first time, but rarely does Shopify attach specific dates to an upgrade by which merchants have to make the move. First: August 2023, a deadline that's already behind us. Shopify stopped supporting and developing checkout.liquid. A year later, in August 2024, checkout.liquid will be switched off completely. That's important information for merchants: this is the right moment to move to the new solution as soon as possible.

Maciek: Let's add that this requirement applies only to Shopify Plus merchants who made any changes in checkout.liquid or used Shopify Scripts.

2026 update (as of November 2026): all of these deadlines have passed. checkout.liquid on the Information, Shipping and Payment steps stopped working on August 13, 2024, and stores that hadn't upgraded were moved to the standard checkout automatically (shopify.dev). On the Thank you and Order status pages, checkout.liquid, additional scripts and script tags were sunset for Plus stores on August 28, 2025, and the deadline for all other plans passed on August 26, 2026. The Additional scripts field is view-only (Shopify Help Center). So in the end the change reached stores below Plus as well.

Tomek: Exactly. So if we could now…

Pixels in checkout

Maciek: I'd like to go back to checkout extensions, because I think we skipped two quite important points. The first is pixels. Pixels are snippets of code injected into the page to collect data about users. Most often it's data collected for marketing or analytics, and there are many apps for Shopify stores that will embed these pixels properly.

Kamil: Exactly. Let's add that before, we could add these pixels, which collected all kinds of behavioral data, through checkout.liquid. Since checkout.liquid is going away, the solution you mention, Maciek, appeared. Its biggest advantage is that pixels can be injected by third-party apps. For example, adding tracking for a specific marketing campaign doesn't mean the merchant has to add the code by hand. It's enough to install an app that does it for them, so the whole process is easier and faster.

2026 update (as of November 2026): you add and manage pixels in the Customer events section of the Shopify admin. There are two kinds: app pixels, installed by marketing and data apps, and custom pixels, added by a developer. They load automatically on the storefront, in checkout and on the Thank you and Order status pages (Shopify Help Center).

Shopify Functions instead of Shopify Scripts

Maciek: OK, so we have pixels. From what I see on our developers' Slack channel, when it comes to extensions, Shopify Functions, which replace Shopify Scripts, generate the most excitement. Can you tell us what this tool will be used for?

Kamil: Yes. I think you mentioned our Slack channel for a reason, because Functions generate the most excitement there, but sometimes also frustration. Shopify Functions are the answer to Scripts. I think pressure from the developer community on Shopify played a big part in making Functions at least close to, or in some respects even better than, the previous solution. Right now it's already a very good solution, and it lets you change the whole checkout logic.

Let's go through a few examples of what we can use Functions for. First of all, all kinds of discounts on products in the cart, in the order. We can change delivery methods, their names and order. The same goes for payment methods. We can also create product bundles. That's an interesting feature that came with Checkout Extensibility and that couldn't be done this way with Scripts before. In the end it's a big plus, and from a development point of view it gives much more room to maneuver.

Another important one is post-purchase extensions, which are in beta. These are extensions that appear after the order has been placed. They let you, for example, collect feedback after the order or even offer an upsell: a product the customer can still buy and pay for after placing the order, which increases conversion.

Maciek: And that page is added between the order summary and the final thank-you page.

Kamil: Exactly. It's a bridge between those two stages.

2026 update (as of November 2026): Shopify Scripts stopped running on June 30, 2026, and since April 15, 2026 they could no longer be edited or published (shopify.dev). Functions now cover discounts, hiding and changing payment and delivery options, checkout validation, bundles and pickup points, among others. Public Shopify App Store apps with Functions work on any plan, while custom apps with Functions are Shopify Plus only (shopify.dev). Post-purchase extensions are still in beta: they work without restrictions on a development store, and a live store has to request access from Shopify (shopify.dev).

Which extensions are on which plans, and is the move automatic?

Tomek: OK, great. That sounds really encouraging. Listen, since we're talking about the move, a kind of migration, what would we advise our merchants? How should they go about it? Some stores have surely been moved to one-step checkout automatically and can use some of the extensions. Let's also say: are all these extensions available on all plans?

Kamil: No. For now we're talking about the Plus plan, although there's information that public apps you can install in your store will also be able to add such extensions to checkout. Customers on the Plus plan have the advantage that they can create custom solutions, custom functions or extensions directly for their store.

Maciek: OK, but going back to your question, Tomek. If I'm on Plus but I haven't made any changes, haven't asked support to unlock checkout.liquid and we haven't added any Shopify Scripts, will the move to Checkout Extensibility and one-page checkout happen automatically? Do I need to do anything?

Kamil: If checkout.liquid wasn't active, the store automatically uses the new checkout. Merchants on the Plus plan also have an extra option: they can decide whether to stay on the three-step checkout or move to one page. So there's a choice, and the layout you pick doesn't rule out using extensions or functions.

2026 update (as of November 2026): since November 16, 2023, merchants on all plans can choose between the one-page and three-page checkout (Shopify Changelog). Checkout customizations keep working when you switch layouts (Shopify Help Center).

How to migrate off the old checkout

Tomek: OK, and the second scenario: I did make changes in the files we talked about and I have to move. I have until August 2024. How do I go about it?

Kamil: I'd start by analyzing which features in my store were built with Scripts and with checkout.liquid. The knowledge of someone who knows the extensions documentation would play a big role here, most likely a developer. They'll assess which of these features we can already build with extensions and functions, and which we can't.

Until now, the most common situation was that some of our merchants used checkout.liquid to show maps, whether of parcel lockers or of pickup points of other carriers such as DHL. That feature wasn't available in the new checkout built on Extensibility. It only arrived at the end of September, and that was what made many of our merchants decide they could finally move to the new checkout, that it was a good moment. I think there are fewer and fewer missing elements now. There'll be fewer and fewer things you can't do now but could do before.

So the starting point is the analysis: writing down all the features we run and, on the other side, what we can replace them with and whether we can replace them at all. I'd also use what Shopify showed at Summer Editions as a guide. It's a kind of roadmap that shows very clearly in which quarter checkout changes will arrive. If something isn't available yet but will arrive, say, in the fourth quarter of this year, in some cases it's probably worth waiting, because we still have some time to work out a solution that isn't a compromise but a full replacement for what we had before.

2026 update (as of November 2026): there's no waiting anymore, because the old checkout has stopped working and Shopify moved non-migrated stores automatically. Today Kamil's list works as an audit: check whether, after the automatic upgrade, your checkout still does everything it did before (fields, pickup point maps, discounts, tracking). Pickup points can now be added with Functions (shopify.dev). Shopify announces checkout changes in every Editions release, and we cover them on the podcast, for example in Shopify Editions Winter 2026.

Something new and better: several checkouts, the editor and the tax ID field

Tomek: Great. Listen, I think we can sum it up in one short sentence: "something new and better is coming". There's nothing to fear; we should be rubbing our hands, because this new checkout brings a level of customization and flexibility that Shopify lacked a bit until now. At least some customers resented not being able to adapt checkout the way they wanted. Now there's a ready solution for that, and quite honestly I think…

Maciek: That was a very common argument in comparisons, for example with open-source systems, where all the things we're excited about today are possible just like that. Still, I think the way Shopify implements it, and the number of apps and extensions that will follow, will again greatly speed up building an ideal checkout. I don't think we mentioned that Shopify will let you have several checkouts and switch between them, so we can test different solutions and run A/B tests, or simply use one for development and testing and the other for production. That's a very nice bonus too.

Kamil: It's also very important that extensions can include elements we can easily change in the checkout editor. They're no longer elements hard-coded in checkout.liquid; they can be interactive, and merchants will be able to manage them very easily.

Maciek: I remember the countless emails asking us to add a tax ID (NIP) field to checkout. It's trivial, and yet Shopify didn't foresee that Poland, for example, has such requirements.

Tomek: Sure.

Kamil: It brought out everyone's creativity, because all kinds of solutions for adding that NIP field appeared.

Maciek: Exactly. There was a lot of patching and working around, and now most of those problems go away.

2026 update (as of November 2026): in the checkout and accounts editor you can customize both active and draft checkout configurations, and separate configurations for specific markets are available on the Advanced and Plus plans. The Help Center doesn't describe native A/B testing between checkout configurations (Shopify Help Center).

Tomek: Exactly. Guys, thank you very much for today's conversation. Kamil, thanks again for finding the time to join us today. And as always, we invite you to comment and share your opinions on what we talk about in our episodes, and to suggest topics that interest you. See you in the next episode. Thanks a lot.