accountcraft Install free
All articles

AccountCraft Journal

Improve Shopify Account UX: A Step-by-Step Guide

Improve your Shopify account UX with New Customer Accounts: fix navigation, mobile layout, self-service and consent, then measure results. Practical steps.

12 min read

To improve Shopify account UX, switch to New Customer Accounts, put the tasks customers return for (orders, tracking, returns, profile data) within one tap, and add only the extra blocks that help those tasks. Then measure what customers actually use. You can do all of this from the Shopify admin, and you don’t need to edit your theme.

This guide walks through the order we would follow for a store: audit, structure, mobile, self-service, data and consent, then measurement. Where a step involves AccountCraft, we say so plainly. The rest applies to any store on New Customer Accounts.

AccountCraft
Make Shopify Accounts More Useful
AccountCraft lets you customize New Customer Accounts with blocks, personalized data fields, and built-in consent management, without coding or theme changes.
Install AccountCraft

TL;DR

  • Customer-account UI extensions work only on New Customer Accounts, so legacy customer accounts are the first thing to migrate away from.
  • Put order history, tracking and reorder actions first. Baymard’s research names order tracking as the top self-service feature.
  • Design for mobile first: single column, visible navigation, touch-friendly targets, and a test on real phones.
  • Let customers edit their own data through fields bound to customer metafields, and record consent through Shopify’s privacy APIs.
  • Track repeat purchase rate and module-level clicks so you know which changes helped.

Table of Contents

What “account UX” covers on Shopify

Account UX is everything a customer sees after logging in: the order list, order status, profile, addresses, and whatever extra pages or blocks you add. Shopify describes customer accounts as a post-purchase surface where customers manage their information and orders, and says merchants can extend them with offers, wishlists, product offers and loyalty programs.

The native areas are the order index, order status and profile pages. Apps can add full pages for wishlists, subscriptions, rewards and offers. That gives you three levels of control:

  1. Native pages, which Shopify maintains.
  2. Blocks placed on those pages at locations you choose.
  3. Full pages that appear in the account navigation.

Shopify’s documentation lists these as merchant-defined block locations, static targets and full-page extensions. Most UX gains come from deciding what goes on which level, not from adding more of everything.

Step 1: Confirm you are on New Customer Accounts

Customer-account UI extensions are supported only on New Customer Accounts. Legacy customer accounts don’t support them, and merchants are moving off them, so this check comes first.

In your Shopify admin:

  1. Go to Settings > Customer accounts.
  2. Check which account type is selected.
  3. If you are still on legacy customer accounts, choose New Customer Accounts and review the preview before you publish.
  4. Log in as a test customer afterward and click through orders, profile and addresses.

If you want a fuller walkthrough of the migration and what changes, read our guide on how to customize Shopify accounts with New Customer Accounts.

Step 2: Audit the account like a returning customer

Before you change anything, spend 15 minutes using the account the way a customer would. Use a real order in a test account and try these tasks:

  • Find the last order and see where it is.
  • Start a return, or find out how to.
  • Change a shipping address.
  • Update a phone number or a preference.
  • Reorder something.

Write down every spot where you hesitated or had to leave the account to find help. Baymard’s usability research gives a sense of how common such problems are: it reports more than 1,400 usability issues observed as participants updated account information, tracked packages, returned items or cancelled orders, across 25 rounds of testing. Your store won’t have all of them, but the task list above is where they cluster.

Step 3: Put the most-used tasks first

Baymard’s quantitative study identifies order tracking as the most important self-service feature. It also recommends direct account-menu paths to the dashboard, orders, payment, loyalty, wishlist, addresses and passwords. The takeaway: organize around tasks, not around what is easy to build.

A practical hierarchy for most stores:

Priority What to show Why it comes there
1 Order status and tracking The most common reason to log in
2 Reorder and order history Shortest path to a repeat purchase
3 Returns and exchanges Reduces support tickets
4 Profile and addresses Frequent but quick tasks
5 Wishlist, loyalty, offers Engagement, after the basics work

The Ecom Design Pro team makes the same point for repeat purchases: reorder buttons and order history belong above less-used tools. We would add one caution of our own: every block you add pushes something else down. Add a block only if you can say which customer task it serves.

For menu structure, quick links and where extensions appear, see our guide to Shopify account navigation.

Step 4: Make the account work on a phone

Most customers check an order from their phone, often on the way somewhere. Shopify’s account UX guidance asks you to use familiar patterns, design responsively for mobile, tablet and desktop, and test across screen sizes.

Shopify’s own account improvements show the direction: a simplified single-column layout, visible navigation on desktop and mobile, more inline order actions, and order summaries that stay expanded on mobile. Build your additions to match.

A mobile checklist for the blocks you add:

  • One column. Don’t place two cards side by side with text that must wrap.
  • Short labels. “Shipping address” beats “Manage your delivery preferences and saved locations.”
  • Big touch targets. Buttons should be easy to hit with a thumb, with spacing between them.
  • No walls of text. Move long explanations to a help page and link to it.
  • Real-device test. Open the account on an iPhone and an Android phone, on cellular, not just in a resized desktop window.

Responsive layout principles carry over from storefront design, and these conversion-focused web design practices are a good companion for checking spacing, clarity and calls to action. For a Shopify-specific walkthrough, see our mobile-friendly Shopify account pages guide.

Step 5: Add self-service that fits your catalog

Shopify lists account-extension uses that include order tracking and actions, product suggestions, reviews, surveys, loyalty information, profile extensions, wishlists, subscriptions, rewards and offers. Not all of them suit every store. A short way to choose:

  • Stores with repeat buyers (consumables, apparel basics): reorder, wishlist.
  • Stores with fit or compatibility questions: saved sizes, vehicles, or devices.
  • Stores with pets, kids or collections: a repeatable list of items the customer owns.
  • B2B and wholesale: content that appears only for company accounts.

This is where a visual builder helps. AccountCraft gives you a Block Builder for New Customer Accounts, built on official Shopify Customer Account UI Extensions, so there are no theme changes and no code. The 14 block types are text, banner, button, card, update form, single field, record list, SMS consent, privacy consent, wishlist, image, video, spacer and divider.

Some examples of how those combine:

  • A wishlist block so customers can save products from inside their account.
  • A record list for repeatable entries, such as pets or vehicles, with each entry saved as customer data.
  • A banner and button pair that points returning customers to a collection.
  • Conditional visibility, so a block appears based on customer tag, metafield, market, B2B status or account age.

That last point matters for UX because it keeps the account short. A first-time buyer doesn’t need a loyalty banner meant for customers with a year of history. Showing each group only what applies is one of the simplest ways to cut clutter. Our post on Shopify account widgets covers how to add, test and measure blocks, and the 14 blocks overview shows what each one does.

Set up conditional visibility without guessing

Conditions depend on data you already have, so prepare it in the admin first:

  1. Tags: open Customers, select a customer and add a tag such as vip or wholesale. You can also tag in bulk from the customer list.
  2. Metafields: go to Settings > Custom data > Customers and define the fields you want customers to see or edit.
  3. Markets: check your setup under Settings > Markets if you want content to differ by region.
  4. Account age: nothing to configure, since the rule works from when the account was created.

Then, in AccountCraft, add the block and choose the visibility rule. Keep your first version small: three or four blocks, each with one job.

Step 6: Let customers manage their own data

Customers can already manage names and addresses on the Profile page, and B2B profiles also carry company information. Extra fields are where stores usually want more: delivery notes, preferred size, birthday, a pet’s name.

The Customer Account API lets a buyer read and update their own account data, including profile information, orders and addresses. It authenticates the buyer instead of letting an app act broadly on the merchant’s behalf. That design is why self-service in New Customer Accounts is a sound base for data you collect.

With AccountCraft, customer fields are bound to customer metafields, so what a customer types in an update form or single field is saved in Shopify. Customer data stays in Shopify, and there is no separate customer database to maintain. That means your flows, segments and exports keep working from the same place. The detailed options are in our guide to Shopify account custom fields.

A good field passes three tests:

  • You will use the answer (for segmentation, support, or fulfillment).
  • The customer can see why you ask.
  • The customer can change it later without writing to you.

An account page is a natural place for people to review what they agreed to. AccountCraft includes SMS consent and privacy consent blocks. They help you collect, record and honor customer consent through Shopify’s customer privacy APIs. Compliance remains the merchant’s responsibility, and this article isn’t legal advice, so check your obligations with a qualified adviser for the markets you sell in.

One point from EU regulators is relevant to UX. For a one-time e-commerce sale, the European Data Protection Board says the necessary personal data can be collected without requiring an account, and guest checkout can be offered. Where mandatory accounts aren’t justified, offering account creation or guest checkout is generally the most privacy-protective approach. In practice, that fits a simple design: keep checkout open, and give customers a reason to create an account after the sale, such as tracking, a wishlist or saved details. We cover that approach in keeping guest checkout and adding wishlists.

Step 7: Handle consent in the account

Step 8: Translate what you add

If you sell in more than one language, an English-only block in an otherwise localized account feels broken. AccountCraft supports translations for the content you add, so labels, buttons and field names can match the customer’s language. Review every block in each language you support, because longer words can wrap awkwardly on small screens.

Step 9: Measure what changed

Changing the account without measuring is guesswork. Ecom Design Pro suggests tracking repeat purchase rate, reorder conversion rate, subscription save rates and self-service completion rates, and notes that completed orders alone don’t show where customers drop off. Module-level views and clicks do.

A simple routine:

  1. Record a baseline for repeat purchase rate and support tickets about order status, returns and address changes.
  2. Change one thing at a time: a new block, a reordered section, a shorter label.
  3. Wait for a meaningful number of logins before judging. Account traffic is smaller than storefront traffic.
  4. Keep what moves the numbers, remove what gets no clicks.

The same friction-hunting habit applies across the funnel, and this look at spotting friction in Shopify checkouts shows how one team approaches it for a specific market. For account blocks, our add, test and measure guide covers the process.

Our perspective

We built AccountCraft because the best account pages we saw were tied to custom code, and most merchants can’t maintain that. Shopify’s New Customer Accounts changed the starting point: the platform now supports official extensions, so the account can be designed without touching the theme.

Our view is that account UX should be assembled from small, purposeful blocks. A wishlist for the customer who browses. A record list for the customer with two dogs and a car. A privacy consent block for the customer who wants to review their choices. Each one is visible only to the people it helps, using tags, metafields, markets, B2B status or account age.

We also think the data should stay where it already lives. Fields bound to customer metafields keep everything in Shopify, so there is nothing extra to sync or secure. That is why we use only official Shopify APIs and extensions.

Start small, measure, and add the next block when the last one has earned its place.

Ivan Signorile

Install and try it free

AccountCraft has a free plan, and the paid plans, Pro and Plus, are billed through Shopify. For current pricing, check the Shopify App Store listing. You can see the plans on the AccountCraft site, and the New Customer Accounts overview explains what to expect from the move.

AccountCraft

To begin, install AccountCraft free from the Shopify App Store, then build your first block from the list in Step 5. If you are comparing options first, our roundup of Shopify account apps for New Customer Accounts and the post on no-code account UI extensions lay out the field.

FAQ

Do I need a developer to improve my Shopify account page?

No. On New Customer Accounts you can customize the account with a visual builder such as AccountCraft, which uses official Shopify extensions and requires no code or theme changes. A developer is only needed if you want something outside the available blocks.

Can I customize legacy customer accounts?

Customer-account UI extensions don’t support legacy accounts. Merchants are migrating away from legacy customer accounts, so the practical path is to switch to New Customer Accounts under Settings > Customer accounts and build there.

What should I put on the account page first?

Start with order status, tracking and reorder, since Baymard’s research ranks order tracking highest among self-service features. Then add profile fields, and only after that wishlists, offers or loyalty content.

No app can do that on its own. AccountCraft’s consent blocks help you collect, record and honor customer consent through Shopify’s customer privacy APIs, but compliance stays your responsibility. For legal questions, speak to a qualified adviser.

How do I know whether my changes worked?

Track repeat purchase rate, reorder conversion and support tickets about orders and returns, plus clicks on each block. Change one element at a time so you can tie a result to a cause.

Sources