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A checkout test lets you experiment with the Shopify checkout experience itself — not just the storefront pages that lead to it. Using Shopify’s checkout extensibility platform, ABConvert can display different content blocks, trust signals, promotional messaging, and form elements to different groups of customers based on their pre-assigned test group. You can also run delivery and payment customisation experiments to rename, hide, or reorder the options shown at checkout.
Checkout tests are available on the Growth plan and above, and require a Shopify Plus subscription to access Shopify checkout extensibility.

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Types of checkout experiment

ABConvert supports three distinct kinds of checkout test:

Checkout UI extension test

Display different visual content blocks inside the checkout — banners, trust badges, promotional copy, image carousels, or custom form fields — based on the visitor’s test group.

Delivery customisation test

Hide, rename, or reorder the shipping options shown at the delivery step of checkout for different test groups.

Payment customisation test

Hide, rename, or reorder the payment methods shown at the payment step of checkout for different test groups.

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How checkout UI assignment works

Checkout extensibility does not have access to browser storage like localStorage. ABConvert bridges the gap by assigning visitors to test groups on the storefront before they reach checkout, then storing that assignment in Shopify cart attributes. When the visitor proceeds to checkout, the ABConvert checkout UI extension reads the cart attributes and renders the correct content for each test group. This means visitors must browse through the storefront before checking out for the assignment to take effect. Visitors who bypass the storefront — for example, by following a direct checkout link — will not be included in the experiment.

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Set up a checkout UI test

1

Open ABConvert and create a new experiment

In your Shopify admin, open the ABConvert app. Navigate to Experiments and click Create experiment, then select Checkout Test.
2

Choose the checkout test type

Select whether you are testing the checkout UI, delivery customisations, or payment customisations. Each type has its own configuration options.
3

Configure test groups

Add at least two test groups. For each group, configure what visitors in that group will see at checkout:For UI extension tests, you can configure per group:
  • Custom banners and promotional messages
  • Trust badges and social proof elements
  • Images, carousels, or media content
  • Additional form fields or inputs
  • Promotional offers or urgency copy
For delivery or payment customisation tests, configure per group which options to hide, which to rename, and in what order to display the remaining options.Set the traffic percentage for each group so the percentages sum to 100.
4

Configure audience targeting (optional)

Restrict the experiment to visitors from specific countries, device types, or visitor types (new vs returning).
5

Preview the checkout experience

Use ABConvert’s preview mode to review how each variation looks in the checkout before going live. Add ?preview=<group_number> to any storefront URL to load the assignment for that group, then proceed through checkout to see the variation.
6

Launch the experiment

Click Start experiment. ABConvert writes the experiment configuration to your store’s metafields and activates the script that assigns visitors on the storefront. The status changes to Active once setup is complete.

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How visitors experience a checkout test

  1. A visitor browses your store. On page load, the ABConvert script evaluates targeting filters and assigns the visitor to a test group, stored in localStorage.
  2. The script updates the visitor’s Shopify cart attributes with their test group assignment (groupInfoCheckoutUITest).
  3. When the visitor proceeds to checkout, Shopify loads the ABConvert checkout UI extension.
  4. The extension reads the test group from cart attributes, fetches the experiment configuration from your store’s metafields, and renders the appropriate UI variation for that group.
  5. The visitor completes checkout. ABConvert records each step of the checkout funnel as a separate event attributed to the visitor’s test group.
Cart attributes are updated automatically whenever a visitor’s cart is modified. If a visitor’s cart is cleared and rebuilt, ABConvert re-applies the test group assignment to the new cart.

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Checkout funnel events

ABConvert tracks each step of the checkout process separately, so you can identify where drop-off occurs for each test group.
EventDescription
Checkout startedCustomer begins checkout
Address info providedCustomer enters their shipping address
Shipping method selectedCustomer selects a delivery option
Payment info providedCustomer enters payment details
Checkout completedOrder is successfully placed
These granular events let you pinpoint which step of checkout is affected by the UI change. For example, a variation might show a higher address completion rate but a similar payment completion rate, indicating the variation improves early-funnel trust but has no effect on final purchase intent.

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Analytics

MetricDescription
Checkout startedNumber of checkout sessions per test group
Step completion ratesPercentage progressing through each checkout step
Overall completion ratePercentage of checkout sessions that placed an order
RevenueTotal revenue from completed orders per test group
Average order valueRevenue divided by completed orders
Checkout tests tend to have a faster data collection rate than storefront tests because only customers who actually check out are counted, and those customers have strong purchase intent. You may reach statistical significance faster than you would with a product page test.

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Delivery and payment customisation tests

Delivery and payment customisation experiments use Shopify Functions to modify what customers see at the relevant checkout steps. You can test whether hiding certain payment methods (for example, removing buy-now-pay-later from a luxury product experiment) changes completion rates, or whether renaming a shipping option from “Standard” to “Tracked Delivery” improves selection rates.
Delivery and payment customisation experiments affect what options are visible at checkout. Always review the configurations for each test group carefully before launching, and test in preview mode to ensure the checkout remains functional for all groups.