Checkout upsells on Shopify Plus: what you can change in checkout
On Shopify Plus, apps can add product offers and other content to the information, shipping and payment steps of checkout through checkout UI extensions, placed in the checkout editor. The steps, payment handling and security stay with Shopify.
How checkout extensibility works
Shopify checkout is not customized by editing its code. Apps add checkout UI extensions: components that render at defined points in the checkout, called targets. A store owner places and configures them in the checkout editor, much like sections in the theme editor. Behind the scenes, Shopify Functions change how checkout behaves, for example with custom discounts or rules for payment and delivery options.
Because extensions run inside Shopify’s checkout rather than replacing it, the store keeps receiving Shopify’s own checkout updates.
What Shopify Plus changes
On Shopify Plus, extensions can be added to the information, shipping and payment steps, while the customer is still deciding. On other plans, checkout UI extensions are limited to the thank you and order status pages, after the order is placed. That is why upsell apps that show offers before payment work on Shopify Plus only.
Where an offer can appear
- after the products in the order summary,
- near the discount code field,
- around the delivery options,
- in block positions the store owner chooses in the checkout editor.
The right position depends on the offer. An add-on that goes with the products in the cart belongs next to the order summary; an option tied to delivery, such as gift wrapping, belongs near the delivery step.
What makes a checkout offer work
- It is relevant to what is already in the cart.
- It takes one action to add, without leaving checkout.
- Its price and what it adds are clear before the click.
- It never blocks the path to payment.
- It reads well on a phone.
What stays fixed
The order of the steps, payment processing, the security of card data and the core form fields stay with Shopify. Styling comes from the checkout’s branding settings, such as colors, fonts and corner styles, not from custom CSS. An offer has to work inside those rules, which is also what keeps checkout familiar to customers.
An app or custom extensions
For product offers, an app is usually the quicker route. Checkout Upsell Builder (Plus) by Developpy, our app, adds offers to the Shopify Plus checkout with multiple campaigns, custom triggers, conditional logic, product recommendations and conversion analytics, without custom code. Custom checkout extensions make sense when checkout needs logic specific to the business, such as B2B rules or data from another system.
What this means for your store
If you are on Shopify Plus, the steps before payment are open to offers, as long as they are placed through extensions and work within Shopify’s rules. Start with one relevant offer in one position, measure it, and add custom extensions only where an app cannot express the rule you need.
