Is it possible to create a custom checkout page like Zalora on Shopify?

Technical Q&A
1

Hi everyone,

I’m building a custom e-commerce website using Shopify (custom theme + cart drawer), and I’d like to ask about checkout customization.

My question is:

Is it possible to create a fully custom checkout experience like Zalora on Shopify?

What I mean by “like Zalora”:

  • Multi-step checkout (shipping → payment → review)

  • Custom UI/UX outside Shopify’s default checkout

  • Full control over layout, styling, and flow

  • Checkout feels like a custom web app, not the default Shopify checkout

Currently:

  • I’m using Shopify with a custom cart drawer

  • I can control cart UI with CSS & JS

  • But I understand Shopify has limitations around checkout customization

So I’d like to understand:

  1. Is this possible on Shopify Basic / Advanced?

  2. Is Shopify Plus required to achieve this?

  3. Are there any supported approaches (Checkout Extensibility, apps, headless, etc.)?

  4. What are the recommended best practices if we want a Zalora-like checkout UX while still using Shopify?

Any clarification, experience, or official recommendation would be really helpful.

3

Hi @galang,

I’m Simon, a Product Manager on the Checkout team.

Replacing Shopify’s checkout page entirely isn’t possible on any Shopify plan. All purchases must complete on Shopify Checkout.

What you can do if you want to match a specific Checkout design:

  • Multi-step checkout: 1-page checkout is recommended but you can pick the 3-page layout (information → shipping → payment) in the Checkout & Accounts editor. Docs.

  • Pre-checkout UX: This can be customized in your online store theme by redirecting buyers to additional pages before checkout.

  • Customize checkout itself via Checkout Extensibility:

4

This is something that will require Shopify headless or moving away from the Shopify native checkout for you to be able to create a Zalora-style custom checkout.

Points to note:

  1. Zalora style custom checkout (fully customizable)

Cannot be done on Shopify Basic/Advanced/even Shopify Plus the way you want.
Shopify needs all transactions to go through the Shopify secure checkout.

  1. Customizations possible (Shopify Plus only)

Checkout UI Extensions (add additional fields, banners, business logic)
Branding API (fonts, color, layout tweaks)
Shopify Functions (discounts, validation, shipping logic)
However, within the Shopify checkout framework.

  1. Partial workaround (preferred option)

Create a custom cart and pre-checkout experience
Multi-step process (cart → checkout details → confirmation)
With your own custom checkout UI (using theme or app proxy).
Redirect user back to Shopify checkout after pre-checkout experience.

  1. Headless way (full control)

Utilize Shopify Storefront API
Create your own frontend using Next.js or other frameworks
However,
Redirect user to Shopify checkout for completing transaction
Or pay out of band and use Shopify draft orders (more complex).

5

There is a custom solution with Stripe, but it’s a completely custom-coded solution.