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Case study · Retail & eCommerce

A checkout that answers the questions people actually have

Customers buying a washing machine want to know when it arrives, who installs it, and what it costs per month. An electronics retailer's checkout answered none of those, so we rebuilt it with Shopify checkout extensions.

Engagement · Build & rollout

Checkout work done with extensions rather than by replacing checkout.

Industry
Electronics & appliances
Solution
Custom checkout experience
Platform
Shopify Plus
Engagement model
Dedicated product team
Scope
Checkout extensions, finance, delivery, installation
Order value
High-consideration purchases
Constraint
PCI scope must not expand
Target
Conversion on considered purchases

Outcomes

What answering the questions was worth

On a high-value appliance, the unanswered question is the whole abandonment.

  • +19% Checkout conversion

    Finance options, a specific delivery slot and installation booking all appear inside checkout, so the customer does not leave to find out and fail to come back.

    Measured across checkout sessions for 90 days before and after

  • +34% Average order value

    Installation, extended warranty and accessories are offered at the point where the customer has already decided, presented as choices rather than as interruptions.

    Measured across completed orders after launch

  • −44% Post-purchase delivery enquiries

    Customers choose a specific delivery slot at checkout rather than receiving an estimate, which removes most of the "when is it coming" contact volume.

    Measured across support contacts per order after launch

Context

A checkout designed for a t-shirt, selling a fridge

Standard checkout is excellent for standard products. Appliances are not standard products.

The business

An electronics and appliance retailer selling high-consideration products online and through a small number of showrooms.

The starting point

A standard checkout with a delivery estimate and no finance, installation or slot selection.

The trigger

Abandonment at checkout was concentrated on high-value appliances, and support was fielding constant questions that checkout should have answered.

What they wanted

Finance options, real delivery slots and installation booking presented inside checkout, without taking checkout off Shopify.

Constraints

PCI scope must not expand — checkout stays Shopify's · delivery slots depend on carrier and installer capacity · finance eligibility is a third-party decision · the checkout must stay fast despite doing more.

System

What it runs at today

Checkout as it runs today.

  • +19% Conversion

    On checkout sessions

  • +34% Order value

    Installation and warranty attached

  • Slots Delivery

    Chosen, not estimated

  • 0 Added PCI scope

    Checkout stays Shopify's

The engineering problem

Four questions checkout was not answering

Each one sent the customer somewhere else, and most did not come back.

  1. "Can I pay for this monthly?"

    On a high-value appliance, finance availability decides the purchase. Discovering it after checkout, or not at all, loses the sale.

    What we did

    Finance options presented in checkout with a live eligibility decision, so the customer sees a real monthly figure rather than an advert.

  2. "When will it actually arrive?"

    A delivery estimate on a purchase that requires someone at home is not good enough, and produces both abandonment and support volume.

    What we did

    Real delivery slots drawn from carrier and installer capacity, selected and reserved at checkout.

  3. "Who installs it and takes the old one?"

    Appliance customers need installation and disposal, and if checkout cannot arrange it they go to a retailer who can.

    What we did

    Installation and removal booked as part of the order, with the slot reflecting installer availability rather than a generic promise.

  4. Upsells that interrupt rather than help

    Post-purchase upsell pages and modal interruptions damage conversion more than they add to basket.

    What we did

    Warranty and accessories offered inline at the decision point, as part of the same choice, not as an obstacle after it.

Architecture

How it fits together

Simplified — the shape of the system rather than every service in it.

  1. Checkout extensions

    • UI extensions
    • Validation
    • Delivery customisation

    Shopify checkout extended rather than replaced, so PCI scope is unchanged.

  2. Finance

    • Eligibility
    • Live decision
    • Monthly figures

    A real decision inside checkout, not a marketing message.

  3. Fulfilment capacity

    • Carrier slots
    • Installer capacity
    • Reservation

    Slots that exist, reserved when chosen.

  4. Attach

    • Installation
    • Warranty
    • Accessories

    Offered inline at the point of decision.

Everything here is built with checkout extensions. Replacing Shopify checkout would have expanded PCI scope and lost every conversion optimisation Shopify has already made.

Solutions

What we built

A considered-purchase checkout inside a standard one.

  • Checkout extensions

    Shopify Plus checkout UI extensions.

  • Finance options

    Live eligibility and monthly figures.

  • Delivery slots

    Real capacity, reserved on selection.

  • Installation booking

    Installer scheduling and appliance removal.

  • Warranty attach

    Extended cover offered inline.

  • Address validation

    Access constraints checked before commitment.

Key capabilities

What it does day to day

Six capabilities inside checkout.

CapabilityRunsRefreshWhat it does
Finance options Customer At checkout Live eligibility and real monthly figures
Delivery slots Customer At checkout Real slots from carrier and installer capacity
Installation booking Customer At checkout Installation and old appliance removal scheduled
Warranty attach Customer At checkout Extended cover offered inline at the decision point
Address validation Automatic At checkout Access and delivery constraints checked before commitment
Capacity reservation Automatic On selection The chosen slot is held, not merely requested

Integrations

How the moving parts plug in

The questions get answered before the customer leaves to ask them.

Cart to checkout

  • High-value itemDetected
  • Finance eligibilityOffered
  • Installation optionsShown

Inside checkout

  • Slot selectionReal capacity
  • Installer booking
  • Warranty & accessoriesInline

Order placed

  • Slot heldCarrier and installer
  • Finance agreedLive decision
  • No follow-up neededNothing to arrange after

Reserving the slot at selection rather than confirming it afterwards is what removed the support volume — the customer is told the answer rather than promised one.

Security & data

What the build deliberately did not touch

The most important decision in a checkout project is usually what to leave alone.

  • PCI scope unchanged

    Payment stays entirely inside Shopify checkout — we never see card data.

  • Finance handled by the provider

    Eligibility and agreement remain with the finance provider; we pass the customer, not their data, into our systems.

  • Capacity integrity

    Slots are reserved on selection, so two customers cannot be sold the same installer slot.

  • Order completeness

    Delivery, installation and finance state recorded on the order, so fulfilment sees the whole picture.

The brief

Extend the checkout, do not replace it

The retailer had been quoted for a fully custom checkout. That would have expanded PCI scope, thrown away Shopify's accumulated conversion work, and taken three times as long.

Everything they actually needed — finance, slots, installation, attach — is achievable with checkout extensions, inside the checkout that already converts well.

  • Built entirely with Shopify checkout extensions
  • Live finance eligibility inside checkout
  • Real delivery and installation slots, reserved on selection
  • Attach offered inline rather than after purchase

What the build had to respect

  • 01PCI scope that must not expand
  • 02Carrier and installer capacity as the real constraint
  • 03Finance eligibility owned by a third party
  • 04A checkout that must stay fast while doing more

Process

We found where abandonment concentrated

Checkout abandonment averages hide which products are actually failing.

  1. Stage 1

    Abandonment analysis

    Checkout abandonment segmented by product category and value, which showed the loss was almost entirely on appliances.

  2. Stage 2

    Capacity integration

    Carrier and installer capacity integrated first, because a slot picker without real capacity is worse than an estimate.

  3. Stage 3

    Finance integration

    Live eligibility built and tested against real decision volumes before exposure in checkout.

  4. Stage 4

    Extension build

    Checkout UI extensions built and performance-tested so the added functionality did not slow checkout.

  5. Stage 5

    Phased exposure

    Rolled out by product category, measuring conversion against the unchanged categories as a control.

Technology

Shopify Plus checkout extensibility

Extensions and functions, rather than a replacement checkout.

Commerce

  • Shopify Plus
  • Checkout extensions
  • Shopify Functions

Finance

  • Provider integration
  • Live eligibility
  • Agreement hand-off

Fulfilment

  • Carrier capacity
  • Installer scheduling
  • Slot reservation

Quality

  • Checkout performance testing
  • Category-level A/B
  • Order completeness checks

Business impact

What changed for the retailer

Three outcomes within a quarter.

  • Conversion up 19%

    Concentrated on exactly the high-value products that were abandoning.

  • Order value up 34%

    Installation and warranty attached at the decision point.

  • Support volume down 44%

    Because checkout now answers the delivery question.

The result

The considered purchase got a considered checkout

Checkout conversion is up 19% and average order value up 34%, concentrated on exactly the high-value appliance purchases that had been abandoning.

Post-purchase delivery enquiries fell 44%, because the customer chose a real slot instead of receiving an estimate.

  • Checkout conversion up 19%
  • Average order value up 34%
  • Delivery enquiries down 44%
  • No expansion of PCI scope

What we hold to on checkout work

  • 01Extend checkout; replacing it costs more than it returns
  • 02A slot picker without real capacity is worse than an estimate
  • 03Offer attach at the decision, not after it
  • 04Segment abandonment by product before designing anything

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