What is Shopify Checkout Extensibility?
Shopify Checkout Extensibility is a modern, more efficient alternative to the outdated checkout.liquid for customizing your checkout process. Announced in February 2023, Shopify has deprecated checkout.liquid in favor of Checkout Extensibility, which offers enhanced security, performance, and ease of updates through app-based customizations. Sticking with the old checkout.liquid code past the set deadlines poses significant risks to your business.
By upgrading to Checkout Extensibility, you can leverage several new features:
-Checkout Customizations: Customize your checkout, thank you, and order status pages with apps. After installing an app in your Shopify admin, you can add it to your pages using the checkout and accounts editor.
- Checkout and Accounts Editor: A tool to customize and edit the functionality and appearance of your checkout and customer accounts pages, separate from your theme editor.
- Shopify Pixels: Manage your tracking pixels with the Shopify pixels manager, which centralizes your scripts and runs them in a sandbox environment for better quality control.
- Branding API: Updates the checkout branding settings for a checkout profile.
Checkout Extensibility allows you to create customizations built into apps that are easy to install and safe to upgrade. This framework is continuously evolving, adding new features and apps to meet your needs.
Who Can Upgrade to Shopify Checkout Extensibility?
Stores on the Shopify Plus plan can use Checkout Extensibility to add apps and advanced branding customizations that are upgrade-safe and compatible with Shop Pay.
Timeline to Upgrade to Shopify Checkout Extensibility
- August 13, 2024: Deadline to upgrade your Information, Shipping, and Payment pages.
- August 28, 2025: Deadline to upgrade your Thank you and Order status pages, including updating apps using script tags and additional scripts.
Impact of Missing the August 13, 2024, Deadline
Starting August 14, 2024, shops that haven't upgraded will face several issues:
- Customizations in checkout.liquid will be locked and uneditable.
- Adding, editing, or removing payment providers will be disabled.
- Accurate fraud risk indicators for orders will be disabled.
- Shopify Payments payouts may be delayed by up to 5 days due to higher risk assessments.
How to Upgrade to Shopify Checkout Extensibility:
Upgrading to Shopify's Checkout Extensibility framework allows for highly customized and powerful checkout experiences. Here's how to upgrade:
- Understand the Framework: Familiarize yourself with Checkout UI Extensions, Checkout Scripts, APIs and Webhooks, and Shopify Functions.
- Review Current Customizations: List all current customizations, scripts, and third-party integrations to identify what needs to be recreated or enhanced.
- Access Developer Documentation: Use the [Shopify Developer Documentation](https://shopify.dev/docs/checkout) for comprehensive guides, API references, and best practices.
- Set Up Development Environment: Install Shopify CLI, create a development store, and obtain API credentials.
- Plan Your Migration: Identify dependencies, create a timeline, and inform stakeholders.
- Develop Custom UI Extensions: Use Shopify CLI to generate and deploy custom UI elements.
- Implement Checkout Scripts: Write and test scripts for pricing adjustments, discounts, and shipping rules.
- Integrate APIs and Webhooks: Set up and test integrations with third-party services.
- Test Extensively: Perform functional, performance, and cross-device testing.
- Plan Your Rollout: Schedule downtime, back up the current setup, and communicate with customers.
- Deploy to Live Store: Monitor performance and be ready to revert if necessary.
- Ongoing Support: Continuously monitor and optimize the checkout experience, keeping up with Shopify updates.
Conclusion
Upgrading to Shopify's Checkout Extensibility involves careful planning, development, and testing to ensure a smooth transition. Leveraging Shopify’s powerful tools and APIs, you can create a customized checkout experience that enhances customer satisfaction and meets your business needs.
If you need assistance with your upgrade, our team of Shopify experts is here to help. Reach out to us today to get started.
