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.
Project overview
Checkout work done with extensions rather than by replacing checkout.
- Industry
- Electronics & appliances
- Client
- Confidential
- 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
Expected business outcomes
What answering the questions was worth
On a high-value appliance, the unanswered question is the whole abandonment.
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+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
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+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
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−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
Business challenges
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.
Proposed solution
What we built
A considered-purchase checkout inside a standard one.
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Checkout extensions
Shopify Plus checkout UI extensions.
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Finance options
Live eligibility and monthly figures.
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Delivery slots
Real capacity, reserved on selection.
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Installation booking
Installer scheduling and appliance removal.
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Warranty attach
Extended cover offered inline.
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Address validation
Access constraints checked before commitment.
Architecture
How it fits together
Simplified — the shape of the system rather than every service in it.
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Checkout extensions
- UI extensions
- Validation
- Delivery customisation
Shopify checkout extended rather than replaced, so PCI scope is unchanged.
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Finance
- Eligibility
- Live decision
- Monthly figures
A real decision inside checkout, not a marketing message.
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Fulfilment capacity
- Carrier slots
- Installer capacity
- Reservation
Slots that exist, reserved when chosen.
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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.
Key capabilities
What it does day to day
Six capabilities inside checkout.
| Capability | Runs | Refresh | What 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.
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PCI scope unchanged
Payment stays entirely inside Shopify checkout — we never see card data.
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Finance handled by the provider
Eligibility and agreement remain with the finance provider; we pass the customer, not their data, into our systems.
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Capacity integrity
Slots are reserved on selection, so two customers cannot be sold the same installer slot.
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Order completeness
Delivery, installation and finance state recorded on the order, so fulfilment sees the whole picture.
Project requirements
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
Key challenges & considerations
Four questions checkout was not answering
Each one sent the customer somewhere else, and most did not come back.
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"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.
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"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.
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"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.
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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.
What we hold to on checkout work
- Extend checkout; replacing it costs more than it returns
- A slot picker without real capacity is worse than an estimate
- Offer attach at the decision, not after it
- Segment abandonment by product before designing anything
Development process
We found where abandonment concentrated
Checkout abandonment averages hide which products are actually failing.
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Abandonment analysis
Checkout abandonment segmented by product category and value, which showed the loss was almost entirely on appliances.
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Capacity integration
Carrier and installer capacity integrated first, because a slot picker without real capacity is worse than an estimate.
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Finance integration
Live eligibility built and tested against real decision volumes before exposure in checkout.
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Extension build
Checkout UI extensions built and performance-tested so the added functionality did not slow checkout.
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Phased exposure
Rolled out by product category, measuring conversion against the unchanged categories as a control.
Technology stack
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
Quality assurance & deployment
Every way an order can go wrong, tested first
A defect in a store costs money directly. Payments, stock, promotions and tax were tested deliberately, including the failure paths, before the store took its first real order.
- A payment test matrix: success, decline, timeout, duplicate and refund
- Stock, pricing and promotion rules tested under concurrent use
- Speed measured on real phones over mobile connections
- Cross-browser and device checks on the full checkout
- Redirects and search rankings checked before and after launch
Deployment
- 01Extension buildCheckout UI extensions built and performance-tested so the added functionality did not slow checkout.
- 02Phased exposureRolled out by product category, measuring conversion against the unchanged categories as a control.
- 03Launch outside trading peaksThe switch was made at a quiet time, with a rollback ready and orders watched live.
- 04Monitoring and warrantyConversion, errors and speed monitored from launch, and six months of free bug fixing.
Business impact
What changed for the retailer
Three outcomes within a quarter.
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Conversion up 19%
Concentrated on exactly the high-value products that were abandoning.
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Order value up 34%
Installation and warranty attached at the decision point.
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Support volume down 44%
Because checkout now answers the delivery question.
Final deliverables
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
Handed over to the client
- 01Live storefrontTheme, apps and integrations configured
- 02Source codeTheme and custom code in the client's repository
- 03Integration documentationWhat connects to what, and how
- 04Admin trainingFor the team that runs the store
- 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery
Success metrics
What it runs at today
Checkout as it runs today.
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+19%
Conversion
On checkout sessions
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+34%
Order value
Installation and warranty attached
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Slots
Delivery
Chosen, not estimated
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0
Added PCI scope
Checkout stays Shopify's
How success is measured
How success is measured
| Measure | Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout conversion | +19% | Measured across checkout sessions for 90 days before and after |
| Average order value | +34% | Measured across completed orders after launch |
| Post-purchase delivery enquiries | −44% | Measured across support contacts per order after launch |
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