AccountCraft Journal
Shopify Account Signups: Keep Guest Checkout, Add No Code Wishlists
Help Shopify merchants earn voluntary account signups: keep guest checkout, enable passwordless sign in, and add wishlists or saved fields without code.
The fastest path to more Shopify account signups is to make accounts optional with guest checkout intact, enable passwordless and social sign-in after upgrading to New Customer Accounts, and give customers a real reason to register, such as a wishlist or saved profile data, then measure the results. Together these three moves reduce friction while giving customers a clear payoff for signing up.
TL;DR:
- Forced registration is linked to roughly 18% of checkout abandonment; compare optional and required settings against conversion and net revenue before settling on a change.
- New Customer Accounts support codes and social login, but not passwords or registration forms before authentication; collect custom fields only after customers sign in.
- A wishlist, saved profile details, order history, or returns can give shoppers a reason to register; launch one feature and measure its use first.
- Because sessions can persist for up to 365 days, allow several weeks before judging returning customer results; monitor signup rates alongside checkout and conversion metrics.
Table of Contents
- Fast changes you can make today to reduce account friction
- Concrete Shopify admin steps: upgrade, sign-in options, and limits
- Make accounts worth creating: features that drive signups
- What to measure, how to test, and the baseline stats to keep in mind
- Author perspective: prioritize account utility over coercion
- Install AccountCraft to add no-code account features that encourage signups
- FAQ
- Sources
Fast changes you can make today to reduce account friction
Before touching your theme or installing anything, a few admin settings can shift signup behavior.
- Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Customer accounts and set account creation to Optional, so guest checkout stays available for first-time buyers.
- Toggle Show sign-in links so the sign-in option is visible instead of buried in account menus.
- Confirm your sender email is verified, since passwordless sign-in depends on one-time codes reaching customers reliably.
- Enable Shop, Google, or Facebook sign-in where it fits your audience, understanding that each adds a dependency on a third-party login system.
- Add a sign-in link in your header or account subdomain so returning customers can find it without searching.
- Add a post-purchase prompt inviting the customer to create an account from an order they already placed.
Pro Tip: Ask customers to create an account right after a successful purchase, when their information is already in the system and the extra step is brief.
Concrete Shopify admin steps: upgrade, sign-in options, and limits
Most of the signup friction on Shopify stores still running legacy customer accounts comes from outdated sign-in flows. Upgrading changes that.
- In Shopify Admin > Settings > Customer accounts, click Upgrade and test the provided account URL before publishing it to customers, as described in Shopify’s customer account management documentation.
- Enable passwordless sign-in, which sends a one-time code instead of requiring a password, and verify your sender email so codes arrive without delay.
- Turn on Show sign-in links and configure social sign-in options such as Google, Facebook, or Shop where they match your customer base, since New Customer Accounts support passwordless and social sign-in.
- Know the session behavior: sign-in sessions can persist for up to 365 days, meaning returning customers often skip sign-in entirely on repeat visits.
- Understand the limits: New Customer Accounts don’t support a registration form before sign-in or traditional passwords, so any custom fields you want need to be collected after sign-in through apps and UI extensions.
Forced account creation is responsible for roughly 18% of checkout abandonment, and switching to optional accounts with guest checkout can recover a meaningful share of those lost sales, in some cases outperforming mandatory creation by 20% to 35% among first-time buyers. That single setting change often matters more than any sign-in option you add later.
Make accounts worth creating: features that drive signups
Removing friction gets a customer to the sign-in screen. Giving them a reason to use it is what gets them to register voluntarily.
- A wishlist lets customers save items across sessions and devices, which is one of the most common reasons shoppers choose to register.
- Saved preferences and profile fields, like sizing or a preferred nickname, make future visits feel less like starting over.
- Order history and self-serve returns reduce support requests while giving customers a reason to check back.
- Store credit and subscription management work well for stores with repeat purchases or recurring orders.
You can add most of these through app blocks in the checkout and accounts editor, or through full-page customer account UI extensions for features like a dedicated wishlist or loyalty page, each with its own URL in the account navigation. Custom profile data, such as a pet’s name or a vehicle model for repeat-order stores, can be captured in repeatable record lists tied to customer metafields rather than during sign-in itself. Conditional rendering lets you show different features based on customer tag, metafield, market, account age, or B2B status, so a wholesale buyer sees different account content than a first-time retail shopper.
Pro Tip: Launch one feature, like a wishlist, before building five. Measure how many customers use it, then decide what to add next.
What to measure, how to test, and the baseline stats to keep in mind
Changing account settings without measuring the outcome is a guess, not a strategy.
- Track three baseline numbers before making changes: account signups per session, checkout abandonment tied to forced registration, and first-time buyer conversion rate.
- Use Shopify analytics and web pixels to capture checkout and account events, then run a timeboxed test, with accounts set to Optional versus Required for a period that gives you enough data to compare results.
- Watch the abandonment figure specifically. Since forced registration drives roughly 18% of checkout abandonment, a drop in that number after switching to Optional is a sign the change is working.
- Measure signups alongside net revenue, not in isolation. If signups climb but overall conversion falls, revert the change and test a different sign-in option instead.
- Because sign-in sessions can last up to 365 days, give returning-customer metrics several weeks before drawing conclusions, since the lift from persistent sessions shows up gradually.
For broader testing frameworks beyond account signups, general CRO tactics can help you structure the rollout and read results with more confidence.
Author perspective: prioritize account utility over coercion
The common mistake is treating account creation as a conversion goal instead of a byproduct of a good customer experience. Customers who register because a wishlist or saved order history genuinely helps them tend to come back and use the account again. Customers who are forced to register just to check out tend to abandon the cart or create a throwaway account they never open twice.
New Customer Accounts, combined with app blocks, make it realistic to add real account utility without touching your theme, which lowers both the engineering cost and the risk of breaking something during checkout. The sequence that works is simple: make accounts optional, strip out sign-in friction, add one feature customers actually want, then measure before adding another.
— Ivan Signorile
Install AccountCraft to add no-code account features that encourage signups
We built AccountCraft as a block-based builder for New Customer Accounts, so you can add the features that motivate signups without writing code or touching your theme.
Our Block Builder includes 14 block types, covering text, banner, button, card, update form, single field, record list, SMS consent, privacy consent, wishlist, image, video, spacer, and divider, so you can assemble a wishlist page or a custom profile field without code. Every field you create maps to a Shopify customer metafield, and customer data stays inside Shopify rather than moving to a separate database.
- We offer a free plan.
- Paid Pro and Plus plans are billed through Shopify, so check the Shopify App Store listing for current pricing.
- Our consent blocks help you collect and record customer consent through Shopify’s customer privacy APIs, though compliance remains your responsibility as the merchant.
If you are ready to turn your New Customer Accounts into a reason customers sign up instead of a form they avoid, install AccountCraft free from the Shopify App Store and build your first block today.
FAQ
Should I make Shopify accounts optional or required at checkout?
Optional accounts with guest checkout available tend to perform better, since forced registration is linked to roughly 18% of checkout abandonment. Guest checkout can outperform mandatory account creation by 20% to 35% among first-time buyers, making Optional the safer default for most stores.
How do I upgrade from legacy customer accounts to New Customer Accounts?
Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Customer accounts and click Upgrade, then test the provided account URL before making it live, as outlined in Shopify’s upgrade documentation. Review any legacy customizations first, since some may need to be recreated for the new system.
Can I require a registration form before customers sign in?
No, New Customer Accounts don’t support a registration form before sign-in or traditional passwords. Instead, custom fields are collected after sign-in using apps and account UI extensions.
What features actually get customers to create an account?
Wishlists, saved profile fields, order history, and self-serve returns are among the features customers most often cite as reasons to register rather than check out as a guest. Starting with one feature, such as a wishlist built with no-code blocks, lets you measure uptake before adding more.
Does AccountCraft make my store GDPR compliant?
AccountCraft helps you collect, record, and honor customer consent through Shopify’s customer privacy APIs, but no app can make a store fully compliant on its own. Compliance depends on your overall data practices and remains your responsibility as the merchant.