The State of Shopify Extensions in 2024
Shopify's Extensions were first announced in June 2022 with the goal of a full rollout by 2024. Shopify has designed these features to enhance Shopify Checkout's speed, security, and customizability. Dates have been set to fully deprecate checkout.liquid (13th Aug 2024) and Shopify Scripts (28th Aug 2025).
For developers like Fairing, the update revitalizes the checkout experience. It introduces a developer preview for UI extensions on the order status page, along with four new APIs. These APIs include: Discount Code and Gift Card API, Session Token API, Querying the Storefront API, and Editor Preview API.
The real question is, how does the checkout extension impact Shopify merchants? Checkout Extensibility is crucial for merchants, especially those with a Shopify Plus subscription. It enables access to no-code customizations and Shopify's collection of components and APIs for bespoke checkout experiences.
Why did Shopify introduce these features?
In today's digital age, securing customer data has never been more important. The Checkout UI Extensions create a closed-system approach. This serves to enhance the security and control of customer data. This new system gives Shopify control over the flow of data and provides customers with a uniform experience.
Another benefit is the reduction of issues caused by third-party scripts loaded through checkout.liquid, which is how scripts still are loaded today. Extensions remove glitches that affect completion rates and slow down page load times.
How Fairing Fits Into This Puzzle
Fairing is excited about these extensions—we’ve worked extensively (pun intended) with the Checkout Extensions product team at Shopify. As a result, we’ve launched Day 1 support for OSP extensions together with Shopify.
Shopify has outlined a roadmap for potential touch points and UI extensions. These include: Checkout, Post-purchase, Thank You & Order Status Page, Point of Sale (POS), Customer Accounts, Administrative, and Shop App.
At Fairing, we plan to integrate beyond our current touch points already available. We aim to provide valuable data and feedback at every checkout journey touch point.
With these updates, Fairing remains the only post-purchase survey and checkout application available as an extension on Shopify. We’re supporting our Shopify Plus merchants in their efforts to migrate to extensions ahead of the full deprecation schedule of third-party scripts. This ensures a seamless deployment and configuration experience for Fairing’s post-purchase survey tool.
Here’s a bit more information about Fairing and Shopify Checkout Extensibility.
Available Shopify UI Extensions
These are the touch points enabled today by Shopify’s UI extensions:
Checkout
Image: Shopify
Shopify allows you to add new functionality to your checkout page. This is done by installing applications and configuring them in the checkout editor. You will be able to personalize and optimize your checkout to meet your needs with applications powered by checkout UI extensions.
The use case here will be to include features like sell-ups, custom banners, loyalty programs, and more in your checkout.
Post-purchase
Image: Shopify
This is the surface that comes right after your customer checks out, but before the ‘Thank You’ page. At this point, your order status and other details are rendering and hence this surface serves to fill in the render time.
Shopify listed this as another touch point customizable by extensions that you can use if it suits your business needs.
Thank You & Order Status Page
Image: Shopify
Upon rendering, this is the next touch point in your customer’s buying journey. This touch point has always been customizable with applications in the past. Services like post-purchase surveys or referrals have long been utilized to customize this touch point.
With Shopify’s changes, you can now add custom content such as survey requests and download links using an extension.
Fairing is available as a Thank You and Order Status Page extension today.
Point Of Sale (POS)
POS UI Extensions enable app developers to extend the capabilities of the Shopify POS app. You can use extensions that feel native to Shopify POS. That will allow for faster performance or customizability. Examples include applying discounts to products in the cart, or your brand’s loyalty program’s points to the cart.
This is another surface that is Fairing-compatible today.
Customer Accounts
Image: Shopify
The update also covers your customer’s accounts as another layer of customization. Here, you will be able to add components such as Cards, Customer Account Actions, Image Groups, and so on. They function in various ways such as asking for reviews, informing about rewards, and learning preferences.
You can use these features as a call-to-action or to spread a message. It allows you to engage with your customer outside of their checkout journey. Fairing CEO Matt Bahr wrote about customer accounts and predicted their importance back in 2020.
Administrative
Image: Shopify
Shopify’s administrative interface allows you to perform app actions such as applying a discount code, as well as display data here.
Shop App
Within the Shop App itself, Shopify users are able to add extensions as another means of engaging with customers. Here, extensions will enable you to add features such as in-app videos, quizzes, AR, drops, and much more.
This provides you with added functionality and easier communication with your customers.
Stay tuned for more updates on Checkout Extensions—Fairing is committed to navigating this major change with our customers.