One-Page Checkouts: Definition, Benefits & Optimizations

Removing friction points with one-page checkout boosts conversion rates and creates stronger user experiences.

When online shoppers decide to buy something, they want to complete the purchase as quickly as possible. While buyers understand they need to provide businesses with essential info that ensures they receive a product, they don’t want to be bogged down by excessively long checkout pages.

In response, a growing number of brands are transitioning to one-page checkouts, which streamlines the checkout experience and optimizes it for speed and conversion. 

Recently, we rolled out the new one-page checkout to our Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus merchants on September 25, 2023. Our one-page checkout is already helping merchants such as Stella Eats and Hemlock & Oak enhance their customers' shopping experience and boost their sales.

To help you unlock the potential of a one-page checkout, here’s everything you need to know about implementing one for your business. 

What is a one-page checkout? 

A one-page checkout is an ecommerce checkout process that condenses all of the elements of a standard checkout process onto a single page, including shopping cart contents, payment details, shipping and billing address, and shipping options. 

With a single-page checkout, the user can input all relevant information, review their order, and complete their purchase on a single interface, eliminating the need for multiple page loads and reducing the time and effort required to make a purchase.

Shopify Checkout is now one page. We’ve evolved the current three-page version to a much more streamlined checkout process that’s optimized for speed and conversion, providing buyers with the best shopping experience on the internet.

One-page checkout features

Simplicity and speed are the defining features of one-page checkout. By centralizing every critical aspect of the transaction process onto a single page, shoppers can input their data, review order details, and complete transactions without navigating to different pages. A one-page checkout: 

• Displays product selections, pricing, and shipping options: Buyers can review their purchase—including product details—total cost, shipping timeframes, delivery fees, and company policies, all in one place. 
• Presents all required checkout fields: All the necessary customer data—including contact information, shipping address, shipping method, and payment details—are requested at once.
• Is fully customizable and designed to be extensible:Our one-page checkout is built on Checkout Extensibility and gives businesses a unique level of flexibility. It seamlessly integrates with your existing extensibility apps and is upgrade safe. Shopify Plus users can easily preview and switch between the three-page and one-page checkout layout within the editor. 

One-page checkout example

Our one-page checkout also integrates seamlessly with Shop Pay, allowing customers to quickly and securely complete their purchases with saved payment information. 

Shop Pay is the most-used wallet on the Shopify platform in the United States as a share of Shopify's online GMV. It beats the next closest wallet, PayPal, by nearly 5% and an even wider gap to Apple Pay and Google Pay. Shop App users also have a 9% higher repurchase rate. 

Benefits of a one-page checkout process

Customers want a fast and easy checkout flow. Ecommerce stores want to boost conversions and make it easier for customers to buy their products. One-page checkouts offer a win-win for both parties. 

For customers

One-page checkout takes a lot of the headache out of the buyer journey for customers. By reducing the number of checkout steps and clicks required from the customer, one-page checkouts streamline the entire checkout process. This also eliminates wait times between page loads and confusion about where to go next. 

Overall, one-page checkouts offer an improved user experience and higher customer satisfaction, and they remove friction from the buyer’s journey. Combined with an accelerated checkout option like Shop Pay, which converts as much as 50% better than typical or guest checkout, you can earn more sales for your brand. Shop Pay users are 77% more likely to make an additional purchase with Shop Pay on any Shopify store after making a purchase.

For businesses 

One-page checkouts, such as Shopify Checkout, are designed to drive higher conversions and reduce friction between the buyer and business. Not only does a one-page checkout expedite the buying process, but it also empowers businesses to deliver a best-in-class experience that delights customers and motivates them to come back.

For US-based brands, nearly a quarter of all orders are processed with Shop Pay. In the quarter that ended on March 31, 2023, Shop Pay orders had a 15% higher average order value than orders processed with another checkout method. Shop Pay users use a mobile device more than 70% of the time when making an online purchase.

Retailers also get increased flexibility to tailor the visual aspects of a one-page checkout to align with their brands. You can add custom fonts, favicons, and colors, while also extending capabilities such as delivery date pickers or customized shipping options through third-party applications.

Learn the imperative elements of a top-performing checkout based on insights from Shopify—the world’s #1 converting checkout platform.

Download the whitepaper

4 ways to optimize a one-page checkout

While one-page checkouts offer many advantages without much tinkering, the true extent of their potential comes from tailored optimizations targeted to your customer segment. Here are four ways to optimize one-page checkout to maximize your results:

1. Customize the experience 

Shopify Checkout allows you to create custom checkout experiences through no-code and custom-code applications. This means that crucial elements of your checkout can be tailored to your desired customer experience without affecting the process’s core functionality. 

For example, you can customize the checkout page design with colors, fonts, logos, and favicons that align with your main website’s brand experience, fostering consistency in the user's journey. Or, add one-click checkout functionality like Shop Pay or PayPal, so customers can speed through checkout.

Learn more about building apps with checkout UI extensions today.

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2. Add new functionality through apps

Use checkout apps and application programming interfaces (APIs) to tailor your one-page checkouts to your needs. This lets you provide specific checkout functionality relevant to your customers, products, and shipping requirements. 

For example, you can use apps to collect additional customer information at checkout to suggest upsells or subscriptions, add loyalty program options, provide pickup options, and offer fields for gift messages.

Extension apps (third-party solutions that add extra capabilities to the checkout) also allow you to add functionality like customized discounts, discount combinations, custom payment methods, and shipping rules—for example, populating shipping rates based on customer location. This can be accomplished by replacing or extending key parts of the checkout’s back-end logic with custom code.

3. Reduce and simplify form fills 

The “simpler is better” rules that apply to multipage checkouts also apply to one-page experiences—only ask for the information necessary to complete the transaction and ship the product. 

That means limiting the number of checkout form fills and making lower-priority information optional (if you include it). This ensures that the one-page checkout times remain fast and the buyers don’t experience useless friction. 

4. Update order summary and pricing during checkout 

Hidden costs are the leading cause of cart page abandonment. To avoid sticker shock at the point of purchase, ensure that pricing is updated dynamically as users input information like promo codes, coupons, shipping addresses, and shipping methods.

One-page checkout for B2B businesses

One-page checkout is particularly important for B2B businesses and buyers because ease of ordering and efficiency are critical to the sales process. Buyers are typically repeat buyers, and relationships with B2B vendors can last for decades. 

In many cases, buyers order the same items each time with occasional (but slight) modifications as needed. Because of this purchasing consistency, B2B buyers will switch suppliers if brands don't make it hassle-free for them to place an order—and the checkout experience is a critical component. 

These are just a couple reasons why Shopify introduced easy reordering and quick order lists. We’ve also rolled out vaulted credit cards and payment terms for B2B buyers, which allows them to complete their purchase without entering payment info at checkout each time. 

While vaulted credit cards only work for businesses on Shopify Payments, they are available for one-page checkouts. Businesses can still showcase essential wholesale information buyers need to have access to while giving their customers a faster way to complete their purchases. 

Learn the imperative elements of a top-performing checkout based on insights from Shopify—the world’s #1 converting checkout platform.

Download the report

One-page checkout FAQ

Is one-page checkout better on Shopify?

One-page checkout on Shopify is better because it speeds up the purchasing process for customers. Our streamlined checkout solution offers a mobile-optimized experience, various payment gateways, and accelerated checkout options like Shop Pay, PayPal, and Amazon Pay.

What is one-page vs multipage checkout?

With a one-page checkout, all checkout fields and steps are consolidated into one single page, speeding up the process. A multistep checkout divides the process into multiple pages, which can help you collect more detailed information but may increase the time it takes to complete a purchase.

How to get the new Shopify one-page checkout?

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Checkout.
2. In the Configurations section, select Customize next to the checkout configuration that you want to customize.
3. In the checkout and accounts editor, click the gear icon to access the Settings sidebar.
4. In the Checkout layout section, click the current layout to open the checkout layout options.
5. Select One-page checkout or Three-page checkout to set the checkout layout.
6. Select Save.

Can I customize the fields on my one-page checkout?

Yes, you can customize the form fields shown in one-page checkouts, tag fields as optional or required, and specify formats.

Are there any drawbacks to using a one-page checkout?

Some potential drawbacks of using a one-page checkout solution include a change of experience for your customers and unintended impacts on your current conversion rate and checkout metrics.

How can I measure the effectiveness of my one-page checkout?

You can measure the effectiveness of your one-page checkout by installing tracking pixels to monitor key performance indicators, such as conversion rate and cart abandonment rate, over time.