What Is Shop Pay & How Can It Bring Your Shop More Sales?

What if there were one thing you could add to your website to gain more sales and — more importantly — build repeat sales? That may sound too good to be true — but it’s not, if you’re using Shopify as your eCommerce platform, that is. Adding Shop Pay (previously known as Shopify Pay) as an option for customers at checkout can increase checkout speed, reduce abandoned carts, increase conversion, and boost repeat sales.

You may be asking how adding one little payment option can do all that. While Shop Pay appears as a simple solution for customers, behind the scenes there’s a lot more to it. Powered by Stripe — the behind-the-scenes processor that supports huge brands like Lyft, Under Armor, and Target — Shop Pay is a secure one-click payment option that stores your customers’ information and makes checkout easy, every time.

In this post, we’ll cover all the ins and out of using Shop Pay, so you can learn more about what it is, how it works, and if it’s an option worth adding to your Shopify store.

What Is Shop Pay?

Shop Pay is an option you can provide your customers at checkout that lets them save their credit card, shipping, and billing information. In other words, Shop Pay is an accelerated checkout flow that rivals other third-party checkout buttons like Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal One Touch.

Once your customer opts to check out through Shop Pay, their payment information is saved for future use at your shop and at any other Shopify store they visit. In the example below, shoppers see the option of paying via Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal.

Screen Capture of Shop Pay Checkout Example

You must enable each of these accelerated checkout options in your payment settings for customers to see them as choices during checkout. Keep reading, and we’ll explore how to get Shop Pay in your checkout flow, as well as more of the nuts and bolts behind what makes this a unique option that you may want to consider.

How Does Shop Pay Work For Shoppers?

Let’s look at how Shop Pay works from the perspective of a shopper.

For your customers, Shop Pay is very straightforward. The first time customers click on the Shop Pay branded button at checkout (see the blue button in the image above), they enter their shipping, billing, and credit card information as usual. The key difference is that your customers have the option to save that information for a speedier checkout the next time they visit.

After entering their mobile number and linking their account this first time, your customers are all set with Shop Pay. That means that the next time they visit your store — or any other Shopify store — using that device, Shop Pay whisks them directly to the order review page, where they click “Authorize Purchase.” It’s important to note here that Shop Pay has some built-in security measures to safeguard your customers’ information, including a Shop Pay code that’s sent directly to the cellphone number the customer registered with their account. From that order review page, shoppers can use Shop Pay to skip entering in all of their information, and they need only enter the unique 6-digit code sent via SMS text message to their phone. After entering those digits on this one form, the order is complete. When they shop again at your store, using the same device, they won’t need a Shop Pay code.

It sounds complicated, but it’s not. If you decide you want to add the Shop Pay button to your checkout, you’ll find that it’s fast, and you don’t need any technical expertise to get it done.

How To Add The Shop Pay Button At Your Checkout

You can enable Shop Pay just like you would any other third-party options like Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and so on. Head back into Settings at your dashboard, then select Payment Providers. Once there, go to the Shopify Payments section and select Manage. 

Next, you’ll select Shop Pay in the Accelerated Checkouts section. Make sure you save your changes, and then you’re all set.

Once you enable this or any other new payment button, your customers will be able to choose whatever payment method they fancy!

How Shopify Payments Is Totally Different Than Shop Pay

It’s important to understand that when we talk about Shopify Payments and Shop Pay, we are talking about two completely different yet interrelated things.

As we’ve explored in the sections above, Shop Pay accelerates future checkouts by allowing customers to save their information, including their billing address and payment details. In contrast, Shopify Payments is a default checkout option that allows you to take payment from your customers. However, if you want to enable Shop Pay, you must apply and be approved to use Shopify Payments in your online store.

Shopify Payments is a payment processor that takes shoppers through the full payment flow with no option to save payment information for future use. Though you, the merchant, make the choice to enable Shopify Payments, the customer won’t ever know they’re using it. In the screen capture below, Shopify Payments appears as the unbranded Checkout option. Shop Pay is the branded button with the shopping bag logo.

Screen Capture of Shop Pay Checkout Example

Note that if your checkout doesn’t require a shipping address, then your customers won’t be asked to opt into Shop Pay. The other thing I want to stress here is that even if you enable Shop Pay, your customers will never be forced into saving their information for an accelerated checkout. They can always opt to go through the full checkout flow and complete the order. Shop Pay is just another option you can give them.

Reasons To Add Shop Pay To Your Checkout Flow

We’ve touched on how using Shop Pay can speed the payment process for customers. But that’s not the only good reason for adding Shop Pay to your Shopify checkout. Here are some more:

• Lower Fees: If you’re already using Shopify Payments to process credit card transactions, you know that doing so lets you avoid Shopify’s transaction fees. In fact, using Shopify Payments as your payment processor is the only way to avoid those added fees. And it’s free to add both Shopify Payments and Shop Pay to your store! So if you haven’t already applied to use Shopify Payments, you definitely should look into it. Unfortunately, not every merchant will be approved to use Shopify Payments. And if you’re not, you won’t be able to use Shop Pay, either.
• Fewer Abandoned Carts: Make it easier for customers to complete their purchases, and more of them will do so. Adding an option that, like Shop Pay, stores their billing and shipping information, is one strategy you can use to help reduce abandoned shopping carts.
• Security: Because Shop Pay utilizes SMS text verification with a mobile number, users get an added security boost. While payment information breaches make the news fairly regularly these days, the added layer of security offered by Shop Pay can benefit the merchant and the shopper both. Shoppers get to bypass entering in all of the standard payment information while creating a more secure transaction. And their information is stored securely on Shopify’s PCI-compliant servers. As a bonus for the merchant, this authentication method can also make it more difficult for shoppers to claim they never ordered your product.
• Ease Of Use: On top of the benefits already listed, there’s this big one: Shop Pay is easy to implement. Yes, it’s easy and safe for customers, and it can be an easy way for you to increase sales. It’s also incredibly easy to implement and use. You don’t need any technical expertise whatsoever, and you don’t have to jump through hoops to get it. It’s easy to enable or disable as you see fit.
• Going Green: Carbon offsets can be a complicated, even confusing topic. What does it even mean? The important thing to know is that consumers increasingly are choosing to buy from merchants who embrace practices seen as “green” or sustainable, and carbon offsets are one of those practices. In recognition of consumer interest in sustainability, Shop Pay announced in the summer of 2020 that 100% of the delivery emissions produced by orders placed via Shop Pay will be automatically offset, at no cost to Shopify customers or merchants. People who use Shopify’s mobile app Shop can even track their individual carbon offset history. That’s a zero-emission, cost-free win-win-win that benefits customers, sellers, and the planet.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Just when you thought paying couldn’t get any easier, enter Affirm, a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) option that gives Shopify merchants another way to increase sales. When you add this BNPL option to a Shopify store that has Shop Pay enabled, your customers can access Shop Pay Installments and split their purchases into four equal payments, with 0% interest, no fees, and no impact on their credit scores. Sellers are still paid upfront for the full purchase price. BNPL options like Affirm are a proven strategy for increasing order size, driving repeat purchases, and reducing cart abandonment.

The bottom line is that if you are considering adding Shop Pay to your existing Shopify storefront, there isn’t really a downside to adding this checkout button. Your customers won’t be forced to use Shop Pay; it will just appear as another convenient payment option for them to choose if they want to.

However, you may just find that your repeat customers visit you a little more frequently because it’s easier to buy, and that definitely makes Shop Pay worth your consideration.

Shop Pay FAQs