Average cart abandonment across e-commerce sits around 70%. Not all of that is recoverable - some visitors were never going to buy. But a significant share abandon because of friction in the checkout itself: unexpected costs, forced registration, missing payment methods, or a process that simply takes too long.
This is why checkout optimisation carries more leverage per change than almost any other conversion work. The visitor arriving at checkout is worth far more than the average visitor, because they have signalled clear purchase intent. Reducing friction here converts buyers you have already earned.
This article covers how Shopify's checkout works, where friction hides, and what you can and cannot change - depending on your plan.
Why Shopify checkout is different from the rest of your store
Shopify's checkout is one of the platform's genuine strengths. It is highly optimised out of the box, tested across millions of transactions, and continuously improved by Shopify. For most merchants, the default checkout converts better than a custom-built one would.
There is an important constraint: on standard Shopify plans, the checkout is largely locked. You cannot freely edit its code the way you can with the rest of your theme. This is deliberate - it protects checkout performance and security, and it prevents merchants from introducing conversion-killing friction.
On Shopify Plus, the checkout becomes customisable through checkout extensibility and Shopify Functions - allowing controlled additions like trust content, custom fields, and upsells without breaking the streamlined flow. This distinction matters for what optimisation is available to you.
The paradox of Shopify checkout: the less you are able to change it, the better it usually performs. Most checkout conversion problems come not from the checkout itself but from how the store feeds into it - shipping configuration, cost presentation, and payment method setup.
The biggest checkout conversion killers - and how to fix them
1. Unexpected costs revealed at the final step
The single largest driver of cart abandonment is cost surprise. A customer builds a cart expecting to pay the product price, then discovers shipping, taxes, or fees at the final step. The gap between expected and actual total is where they leave.
The fix: surface all costs as early as possible. Show shipping costs on the product page or cart, not just at checkout. Consider free shipping thresholds communicated prominently. If you charge for shipping, make it visible before the customer invests time in the checkout flow.
2. Forced account creation
Requiring customers to create an account before they can purchase is one of the most well-documented conversion killers in e-commerce. Customers who want to buy now do not want to complete a registration form first.
The fix: enable guest checkout. Shopify supports this natively. Offer account creation after the purchase is complete, when the friction cost is zero and the customer has already converted.
3. Missing or wrong payment methods
Customers expect the payment methods they use every day. For Dutch customers, iDEAL is essential. For Belgian customers, Bancontact. Missing the payment method a customer prefers can lose the sale at the final moment, even when everything else is right.
The fix: enable the payment methods your specific customer base expects. For NL and BE stores, iDEAL and Bancontact are not optional. Shopify Payments and third-party gateways both support these - confirm they are enabled and displayed clearly.
4. Too many steps and too much loading
Every additional step and every second of loading between the buy decision and the completed purchase is an opportunity to abandon. A checkout that feels long or slow loses buyers who would have completed a faster one.
The fix: use Shopify's one-page checkout where available, minimise required fields, and ensure the checkout loads fast. Checkout speed is a performance issue as much as a UX one - a slow-loading payment step loses conversions the same way a slow product page does.
5. No trust reassurance at the payment step
The moment a customer enters card details is the moment of peak anxiety. A checkout that offers no reassurance at this point - no security indication, no guarantee, no clear return policy - leaves that anxiety unaddressed.
The fix: on Plus, use checkout extensibility to add trust content at the payment step. On standard plans, ensure trust signals are strong in the cart and throughout the store so the customer arrives at checkout already reassured.
What you can change by plan
| Capability | Standard Shopify | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Guest checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Payment method config | Yes | Yes |
| Shipping / cost display | Yes | Yes |
| Checkout branding | Limited | Full |
| Custom fields at checkout | No | Yes |
| Trust content at payment step | No | Yes |
| Checkout upsells | App-limited | Native + Functions |
| Custom checkout logic | No | Shopify Functions |
The takeaway: on standard Shopify, most checkout optimisation happens upstream - in how you configure shipping, present costs, and enable payments. On Plus, you gain direct control over the checkout experience itself, including the ability to add conversion-supporting content exactly where anxiety peaks.
The upstream checkout: optimising what feeds into it
Because the checkout itself is constrained, much of checkout optimisation is really about the cart and the path to checkout.
- The cart page: show all costs, offer clear shipping information, and make the path to checkout obvious and single-click
- Shipping configuration: simple, predictable shipping rules reduce surprise; free shipping thresholds should be visible and motivating
- The add-to-cart to checkout flow: minimise steps between adding a product and reaching payment
- Mobile: the entire checkout path must be fast and frictionless on mobile, where most abandonment happens
A well-optimised upstream flow means the customer arrives at Shopify's already-strong checkout with no surprises left to encounter. That combination - clean upstream, strong native checkout - is what produces high checkout conversion.
The Store Audit examines your full checkout path - cart, shipping configuration, payment methods, and checkout experience - to identify exactly where buyers with intent are leaking out.