I’ve been looking at my checkout flow and wondering what else I can do to keep visitors from bouncing. We simplified the forms and added guest checkout, but want to know what’s more to do?
Along the lines, is there a way we can set up and run a/b tests to figure out the best mix of checkout layout and payment methods? If so, how do we track the outcomes on the analytics or any reporting options?
Hi, @Cafn8me,
Thanks for posting your question. I work on the Checkout team at Shopify.
You’ve already done two of the most impactful things (simplifying forms and enabling guest checkout), so you’re on the right track. Here’s what I’d focus on next, plus the honest answer on A/B testing.
Quick wins that move the needle
• Enable Shop Pay and wallet payments. This is the single highest-impact change most merchants can make. An independent study by a Big Three consulting firm found that Shop Pay lifts conversions by up to 50% compared to guest checkout, and outperforms other accelerated checkouts by at least 10%. Even when shoppers don’t use it, its presence alone increases lower-funnel conversion by 5%. Enable Apple Pay and Google Pay too for the broadest coverage. Setup guide: Shop Pay
• Try one-page checkout. Shopify lets you switch between one-page and three-page checkout layouts in Settings > Checkout > Customize > Settings. One-page checkout is Shopify’s default for new stores because it tends to convert better by keeping everything on a single screen and reducing drop-off between steps. It also works especially well with express checkout options like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, since customers can see and select those options without navigating through multiple pages. Details: One-page checkout
• Make costs transparent before checkout. The #1 reason shoppers abandon checkout is surprise costs (shipping, taxes, fees). Show estimated shipping on product or cart pages so there are no surprises. If you can offer free shipping above a threshold, that’s a strong conversion driver.
• Brand your checkout. A checkout that looks like a different site from your store erodes trust. Match your logo, colors, and fonts so the experience feels seamless. Guide: Customize checkout style
• Offer multiple payment methods. Credit cards, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal. The more options a customer has, the less likely they are to abandon because their preferred method isn’t available.
On A/B testing
I want to be upfront here: Shopify doesn’t currently offer a built-in A/B testing feature for checkout.
What you can do today:
• Use draft configurations to iterate. You can create multiple draft checkout configurations (up to 20 on most plans, 99 on Plus) to test different branding, layouts, and app setups. Preview them, then publish the one you like. This isn’t a live split test, but it’s a good way to try variations before committing. Guide: Managing live and draft configurations
• Custom experimentation with developer help (Plus). For merchants on Plus with developer resources, it’s possible to build a custom experimentation setup. The pattern is: assign a treatment before checkout (using cart attributes or metafields), have Checkout UI extensions or Shopify Functions read that treatment and adjust the experience, then persist the treatment into order data for measurement. This works, but it requires development effort and careful analytics setup. It’s not plug-and-play.
Tracking outcomes
For measuring the impact of changes you make:
• Shopify Analytics: Go to Analytics > Reports in your admin for conversion rate breakdowns, checkout funnel data, and abandoned checkout reports.
• Abandoned checkouts: Orders > Abandoned checkouts shows where buyers dropped off and lets you send recovery emails.
• Google Analytics 4: If you want deeper funnel analysis (drop-off by step, device, traffic source), connect GA4 to your store and build custom funnel explorations.
Hope that helps! Happy to dig into any of these areas further.