Shopify custom checkout fields: can you add custom fields to Shopify custom checkout?

The short answer? Yes. There are two requirements: be on a Shopify Plus plan and have the UpsellPlus app installed. Read on to learn more.

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Is your Shopify checkout page lacking some important elements for your business? 

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Checkout fields collect personal information and important details about orders that your team needs access to. If your customer doesn’t feel like you’re collecting all the essential information required for their purchase, they might think twice about trusting your store.

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If you find that you’re having a hard time collecting the information that you need to provide the best customer experience possible, you may need to add custom fields to your Shopify custom checkout.

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Looking to level up your custom checkouts? Get started with UpsellPlus with a 7 day free trial.

Benefits of adding fields to Shopify custom checkout

Part of a successful checkout process is ensuring that you collect all the information necessary to complete the order without added customer intervention. Your business may have unique requirements that are essential to your products and services. Things like customizations, engravings, image uploads, delivery options, and time-sensitive scheduling are not included by default in Shopify’s default checkout process - and without them, it may not be possible to provide the same level of service to customers. 

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Alternatively, you may even need to remove certain fields that add unnecessary length to the checkout process so that you can improve conversion rates. For example, a digital goods store doesn’t require shipping information, so your page can be shortened by omitting it.

With a Shopify custom checkout, you can customize the elements of your checkout page - including adding, removing, or editing the fields and other data-gathering elements - through a variety of different methods to help ensure your checkout process is as seamless as possible. Your custom checkout can also add other important elements like an upsell at checkout on Shopify, shipping information, social proof, and any other important information that helps improve your checkout conversions.

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How to add custom fields to Shopify custom checkout

If you’re looking to add, remove, or change the fields in your checkout process, here’s how.

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Checkout.liquid

Checkout.liquid is the framework that has been used for Shopify checkout pages for years. It houses the code and styling that makes up the checkout page - as provided by Shopify and your theme - which can be customized by Shopify Plus users. Once you unlock this code through Shopify, you’re able to edit it to make the additions or changes to the checkout fields manually - as long as you know how to code.

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However, using this method not only required you to write code, but also made it very easy for things to go wrong. Unlocking checkout.liquid exposes your checkout page to potentially catastrophic errors that can be expensive and time-consuming to fix. Editing the checkout.liquid theme file also makes testing essential and is likely to require the help of an expert to avoid problems from arising, extending production windows and increasing development costs.

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Checkout Extensibility

Checkout Extensibility is the newest checkout system that Shopify created to help address the shortcomings of checkout.liquid. One of these shortfalls is the barrier of entry for customization to the checkout page through the older system, which required coding knowledge to safely implement.

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Checkout Extensibility is app-based, which allows it to integrate with a variety of extensions that extend functionality on your site. In addition to having more native control from the framework itself, Checkout Extensibility makes it simple to customize the elements of your checkout without coding experience. Each app has an interface that minimizes the chances of making a major mistake and can help guide you through the process yourself. Using UpsellPlus you can add additional custom fields to your checkout.

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One extension that you can use to add, remove, or edit your Shopify checkout extensions is Shopify Functions. This allows you to add custom logic and functionality to the elements of your checkout page without needing to write the code. You could create rules for enabling free shipping, set specific checkout fields to show for a certain product type, add another field to the checkout process so you can collect essential information, and more to ensure you’re creating the most effective checkout possible.

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Apps

If you don’t have Checkout Extensibility or just want to be able to manage checkout yourself without coding experience, you can turn to apps. Apps, like extensions, will work with the main checkout framework - checkout.liquid or Checkout Extensibility - to add additional functions, customization, and field-editing capabilities that give you more control over your checkout.

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These apps will operate similarly to editing your code, but allow you to use the app’s interface to make changes through pre-defined capabilities that make it hard to break things entirely. Each app will have its own tools, interface, and effectiveness for your specific needs, so be sure to look for one that you can work with without sacrificing on the user experience.

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Other changes to make to your Shopify custom checkout

In addition to adding, removing, or changing the fields at your Shopify custom checkout, you may also want to consider some other changes that can help your business thrive.

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Branding is an important element of your store’s design, including the checkout page. Effective branding throughout all the stages of the sales process is a great way to demonstrate trustworthiness and address customers’ safety concerns while making you look professional. Color changes, adding logos, matching fonts, and changing the checkout fields for your checkout page can help to improve the experience as a whole.

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Upsells and cross-sells are another crucial element that should be included in every Shopify custom checkout page. These are offers that you make to customers to try to encourage them to spend more at your store for increased revenue and average order values. With the right Shopify upsell app, you can easily add upsells and cross-sells to your checkout flow and checkout pages to help grow your business.

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6 ways to use Shopify custom checkout fields

There are a ton of reasons you would want to edit the checkout fields in your Shopify store. Here are six ways to take advantage of the ability to add, remove, and edit checkout fields with Checkout Extensions Plus.

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Delivery instructions

Are you running a local business that handles delivery? Navigating through neighborhoods, finding the right apartment number, and getting through security gates are all ways that delivery gets complicated when you don’t have the right information.

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You can create a custom field in Shopify’s checkout that lets customers enter specific instructions for their delivery. Directions, no-knock requests, preferred delivery dates, and timeframes for delivery are just a few bits of information that can be included at checkout to simplify the end of the sales process.

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Personalization details

If you’re selling gifts or handmade items, offering personalization can be a great way to increase your average order value. If your products don’t have a customization or personalization option, you can add the field to the checkout page so that they can enter the relevant information to make sure the product they get is perfect.

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Collecting authorization or signing agreements

If you collect information that you want to use for marketing or other purposes, you have to ask permission. Additionally, if you want to enforce terms and conditions like a no refund policy, you might want to have an area at checkout where customers can check a box or enter their name to acknowledge their compliance.

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You can use Checkout Extensions Plus to add an, embed the agreement, and require that the checkbox or text field is completed before you allow checkout, ensuring you’re protected.

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Gifting options

Customers sometimes order items online and send them directly to their friends or family as gifts, so they can’t wrap them or add a card for the occasion. If that’s something you offer, adding a gifting option at checkout as an upsell can help increase revenue. Simply make a text box where they can enter the specifics and a checkbox to confirm the gift upsell.

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Remove unnecessary fields

Speed is a crucial element of your checkout’s performance. Customers don’t want to spend more time than they have to when buying products online. Because the longest part of checkout is entering information, removing unnecessary checkout fields can help speed things up and improve conversion rates.

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Digital purchases that don’t require a shipping address are one case where removing fields can be helpful. Alternatively, you could remove the need for a name and instead ask for an email address for the order instead.

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Collecting relevant customer data for marketing use

Informed marketing is the most effective way of communicating with your customers, so creating text boxes that let customers give you some information about them can help improve your relationships with them. Birthdays, preferred products, and how they heard about you are all pieces of information you can use.

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Complete your Shopify custom checkout experience with UpsellPlus and Checkout Extensions Plus

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Once you’ve made the required changes to your checkout fields with UpsellPlus make the most out of your improvements by securing more money per order with an upsell at checkout in Shopify.

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UpsellPlus contains all the tools you need to build cross-sells and upsells into your checkout flow. ShopBrain, UpsellPlus’s algorithm, makes recommendations for products to include in offers based on past results so that you can put yourself in the best position to succeed. You’ll also be able to add conditions to offers so that you’re always showing the most relevant offers - just like using Shopify Functions to add logic to your checkout fields.

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Get started with a free trial today.

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