Shop Pay is Shopify's express checkout wallet. In practical terms: a shopper who has previously ordered from any Shopify store can check out on yours with one click, with their contact details and address pre-filled, and a simple SMS code validation. The result, as measured by Shopify: a conversion rate up to 50% higher than with a guest checkout. And yet, for years, some of our clients asked us to hide it. We'll tell you why, and why that era is over.
Summary
What exactly is Shop Pay?
Shop Pay is a digital wallet developed by Shopify. It stores a buyer's payment, shipping, and billing information once and for all, then automatically retrieves it on all Shopify stores where this button is active. No more forms to fill out, no more cards to pull out: checkout is done in one click and a confirmation code.
In our onboarding meetings, this is a confusion that comes up almost every time: Shop Pay, Shopify Payments, and the Shop app are three different components.
- Shopify Payments: Shopify's native payment processor, which collects credit card payments and levies commissions. It's the foundation, and we detail its fees in our guide on the cost of Shopify Payments.
- Shop Pay: The express wallet that leverages Shopify Payments to speed up checkout for buyers already known to the ecosystem.
- The Shop app: Shopify's consumer mobile app, used by 150 million buyers worldwide, which centralizes order and delivery tracking.
Remember the hierarchy: no Shop Pay without Shopify Payments, and no tracking in the Shop app without an order placed on a Shopify store.
The purple button our clients wanted to remove
Let's talk frankly about this purple button. At Stellar, we have been supporting premium brands since 2018, and for a long time, a request kept coming up in creation or redesign projects: "Can you remove the purple button? It breaks our artistic direction."
Just two or three years ago, some of our premium clients asked us to remove Shop Pay from the checkout: they found the purple button ugly, and their buyers didn't know the option. Today, as Shopify has established itself as one of the largest e-commerce solutions in the global market, we no longer have this request at all. The purple button has become a sign of trust. Volkier Bentinck, co-founder of Stellar Projects
This anecdote tells us something bigger than the design of a button. Three years ago, a French buyer who saw "Shop Pay" at checkout didn't know what it was: an unknown option, therefore a friction point. In 2026, that same buyer has already used Shop Pay on other stores, their profile exists, and the purple button promises to save them two minutes. Familiarity has transformed a friction point into reassurance. This is exactly why we now systematically advise against hiding it, even for brands with the most refined branding: we integrate the button properly into the visual hierarchy of the checkout, we don't remove it.
The benefits of Shop Pay for your store
Our agency's opinion can be summed up in one sentence: Shop Pay is the most cost-effective conversion lever to activate on a Shopify store. Official figures, from a study conducted in April 2023 by a Big Three consulting firm for Shopify, confirm this.
- Up to 50% higher conversion: Compared to a classic guest checkout, Shop Pay converts up to 50% better, and it outperforms other express wallets by at least 10%.
- Measurable reassurance effect: The mere presence of the button increases conversion by about 5%, even for buyers who don't use it. The logo acts as a trust signal.
- Speed: Pre-filled address, card, and preferences, validated by SMS code. Checkout goes from several forms to a single action, on both mobile and desktop. For predominantly mobile traffic, it's the most direct anti-abandonment lever.
- Integrated delivery tracking: Every Shop Pay order is automatically tracked in the Shop app. Shipping notifications, real-time package tracking, order history: your customer keeps your brand in their pocket without you having to develop anything.
- Security: Banking data is encrypted and stored on Shopify's PCI-certified servers, with systematic validation by a one-time code. Neither you nor your teams handle any card data.
- A customer recognized everywhere: A Shop Pay buyer is recognized on millions of Shopify stores. Every new brand that adopts it enriches the ecosystem that benefits your store, a network effect that no custom checkout will ever enjoy.
Conversion obviously doesn't stop at the payment button: we have compiled 25 concrete levers to improve the Shopify conversion rate that place Shop Pay within a complete CRO strategy.
The limitations of Shop Pay
An honest review of Shop Pay must also look at the other side of the coin. None of these limitations overturn our verdict, but knowing them before activating the option will help you avoid unpleasant surprises.
- Shopify Payments is mandatory: If your store processes payments via a third-party payment processor, Shop Pay is simply not available. This is another argument for switching to the native processor, but it is a real dependency.
- The button is not customizable: The purple color is imposed by the Shop brand, it's impossible to adapt it to your branding. As we saw earlier, this is no longer the problem it once was, but the constraint still exists.
- No installment payments in France: Shop Pay Installments remains unavailable for French stores; we will detail the situation shortly.
- Shopify Protect is reserved for the United States: The protection against payment disputes (chargebacks) linked to Shop Pay does not cover French merchants.
- Partially shared customer relationship: The post-purchase experience (tracking, history) lives within the Shop app, an environment that Shopify controls and where your customers may encounter other brands. You gain tracking without developing anything, but you cede a portion of the channel.
How does Shop Pay work for the buyer?
The process involves four steps, and its simplicity is precisely what converts.
- First purchase: When paying on a Shopify store, the buyer checks "Save my information with Shop Pay." Their profile (email, phone, address, card) is created.
- Subsequent purchases: On any Shopify store, the purple button appears as early as the cart page. One click, and all fields are already filled in.
- Validation: A six-digit code is sent via SMS. The buyer enters it, and the order is confirmed. This famous code sometimes surprises customers who don't remember creating an account: it's simply Shop Pay authentication, not fraud.
- After purchase: The order appears in the Shop app, with package tracking and automatic notifications until delivery.
How to activate Shop Pay on your store
Good news: activation takes five minutes and costs no more than your usual Shopify Payments fees.
- Activate Shopify Payments as your payment processor (Settings, then Payment methods). This is the essential prerequisite.
- In the Shopify Payments section, simply check Shop Pay. The express button will then appear on your cart page, product pages, and checkout.
- Check the rendering: place a test order and verify the visual hierarchy of the express buttons (Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay) on mobile.
Regarding customization, let's be direct: the purple button cannot be recolored; it's a constraint of the Shop brand. Our agency's recommendation is to stop fighting against it and instead focus on the display order of express payment methods according to your audience. This is typically the kind of trade-off we resolve in our support, based on the proportion of mobile traffic and the buyer profile of each brand.
Shop Pay is included in Shopify Payments at no extra cost: you only pay the Shopify Payments commission on each order, at the same rate as a classic credit card.
Shop Pay and installment payments: what about France?
Direct answer: no, Shop Pay Installments, Shop Pay's native installment payment option, is not available in France. In 2026, it is only offered in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, where it was just launched at the end of 2025 with partner Affirm. However, this is the question that is increasingly coming up in our discussions with French brands.
And the future is getting closer: Affirm and Shopify have announced an expansion into Australia and Western Europe, with no timeline or confirmation for France to date. The initial UK figures are enticing: the Abbott Lyon brand reports an average cart value 20% higher for orders paid via Installments compared to other payment methods.
Should we wait then? No. To offer installment payments on a French store, solutions like Alma or Klarna integrate very well with Shopify and coexist without conflict with Shop Pay: the purple button speeds up cash payments, while the installment module captures larger baskets. To choose the right solution and integrate it properly, consult our dedicated page on implementing installment payments.
Shop Pay vs. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal
These four express buttons do not play exactly the same role, and they are not mutually exclusive: the best strategy almost always involves combining them.
- Shop Pay: The most effective on Shopify stores according to the study cited above (at least 10% higher conversion than other wallets). Works on all devices and browsers, and uniquely offers order tracking in the Shop app.
- Apple Pay: Formidable on iPhone and Safari thanks to Face ID, invisible elsewhere. Essential if your audience is strongly iOS.
- Google Pay: The equivalent for Android and Chrome, with more uneven adoption in France.
- PayPal: The oldest trusted reflex for French buyers, but higher fees and a process that takes you out of your store. Useful for reassurance, rarely the most profitable.
Our agency's position: activate Shop Pay and Apple Pay systematically, add PayPal if your audience is accustomed to it, and measure the actual distribution of payments after 90 days before making a decision.
Shop Pay FAQ
Why am I receiving a Shop Pay code via SMS?
This six-digit code is Shop Pay's authentication: it confirms that it is indeed you who is validating the payment. You receive it because your number is associated with a Shop Pay profile, created during a previous purchase on a Shopify store. If you receive a code without an ongoing purchase, do not share it with anyone.
Is Shop Pay free for merchants?
Yes. Shop Pay is included with Shopify Payments, with no additional fees: you only pay the usual transaction commissions of your Shopify plan.
Can I remove the Shop Pay button from my store?
Technically yes, by unchecking it in the Shopify Payments settings. But we advise against it: its mere presence increases conversion by about 5%, and the request to hide it for aesthetic reasons has disappeared among our clients, as the button has become a sign of trust for buyers.
Is Shop Pay secure?
Yes. Payment data is encrypted and hosted on Shopify's PCI-certified infrastructure, and each transaction is validated by a one-time code sent via SMS. The merchant never has access to card data.
Does Shop Pay work outside of Shopify?
Increasingly, but in stages: Shopify opened Shop Pay to merchants selling via Facebook and Google (2021, USA), then to major non-Shopify retailers via Commerce Components (2023), and since 2026, it has been extending it to agentic commerce, purchases made via ChatGPT and other AI assistants, for US buyers. In practice, in France, you will mainly encounter it on stores powered by Shopify.
Other questions beyond payment? Our 30 expert answers on Shopify cover our clients' most frequent questions.
Are you wondering if your checkout is exploiting Shop Pay's full potential, or how to articulate express payment and installment payment on your store? Let's talk about your project: at Stellar, auditing the payment funnel is one of the first things we look at.
