Shopify Abandoned Checkout Deprecation: What It Means & How to Solve It

Shopify has recently announced a significant change in how ecommerce businesses handle abandoned checkouts. With the deprecation of abandoned checkout data access, Shopify businesses relying on built-in abandoned cart recovery and third-party apps will face disruptions. If you’ve been using this data for remarketing, automation, or analytics, it’s important to understand what’s changing and how to adapt.

In this guide, we’ll break down Shopify’s abandoned checkout deprecation, its impact on your ecommerce operations and some solutions to continue recovering abandoned carts.

What Is Shopify’s Abandoned Checkout Deprecation?

Shopify is gradually limiting direct access to abandoned checkout data via API. This means that businesses and Shopify apps for SMS, WhatsApp, email, etc will no longer be able to retrieve detailed abandoned checkout information as they did before.

But if you're using Shopflo, there's no need to worry. Shopflo’s checkout solutions seamlessly pass the data back to Shopify, ensuring your automated checkout flows stay intact. This helps Shopflo integrated marketing apps like Convertway to remain unaffected without impacting conversions.

Why Is Shopify Making This Change?

Shopify’s decision to restrict access to abandoned checkout data is driven by:

• Protecting Privacy – Shopify has to follow strict rules about customer data, like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California. By limiting access to checkout data, Shopify helps prevent leaks and makes sure businesses follow these privacy laws.
  
  
• Stronger Security – Some apps might try to misuse customer data for spam or fraud. To stop this, Shopify is limiting access to certain information, keeping customers’ data safe.
  
  
• Making Shopify Faster – Too many data requests can slow things down. By controlling access, Shopify keeps its platform running smoothly, so orders and checkouts happen quickly without delays.

Which Checkout Data Is Being Deprecated?

Shopify is removing access to certain abandoned checkout fields via the Abandoned Checkout REST API. The following fields will no longer be available:

How Does This Impact Shopify Sellers, Marketers, and Developers?

For Shopify Sellers & Store Owners

• Less Data for Cart Recovery: Even though, Shopify’s built-in abandoned cart recovery emails will still function, merchants relying on third-party Shopify apps for advanced tracking will have fewer data points to personalize their campaigns.
• No More External Checkout Data Access: If you use a CRM or marketing automation tool that syncs abandoned checkout data, you might notice some missing customer session details.
• Stronger Reliance on Shopify’s Native Features: Merchants may need to shift to Shopify’s own recovery tools or first-party data collection.

For Marketers & Ecommerce Growth Teams

• Less Control Over Retargeting Campaigns: Without referring site or cart token data, marketers will have less visibility into traffic sources.
• Reduced Personalization for Recovery Messaging: Currency-based messaging and gateway-based follow-ups may be affected. Marketers must rely on first-party customer data instead.
• Adaptation Required for Abandoned Cart Workflows: If you use Ads or email marketing tools to retarget abandoned cart users, you may need new tracking methods to replace lost API data.

For Shopify Apps & Developers

• API Updates Needed: Apps that rely on abandoned checkout data must adjust their functionality or migrate to Shopify’s alternative data sources.
• Customer Session Tracking Limitations: Apps that analyze customer behavior during checkout will need workarounds to maintain performance.
• Reliance on Webhooks & Alternative APIs: Developers may need to switch to event-driven models like order webhooks or use Shopify’s alternative APIs for cart recovery solutions.

How to Solve the Shopify Abandoned Checkout Deprecation Issue?

Shopify’s recent changes to abandoned checkout API access present a challenge for merchants, marketers, and developers who rely on this data for cart recovery. However, there are still several powerful strategies to continue recovering lost carts, improving conversions, and optimizing the checkout experience.

1. Migrate to Other Shopify Solutions 

Shopify is tightening API access but actively encouraging sellers to transition to its Checkout Sheet Kit and Storefront Cart API for enhanced cart tracking and management.

The Storefront Cart API enables merchants to create and retrieve carts, update line items and customer details, and generate checkout URLs seamlessly. 

Meanwhile, the Checkout Sheet Kit helps sellers build a customizable, easy-to-maintain checkout experience. It also helps recover lost sales by analyzing customer interactions and checkout progress, offering valuable insights to optimize conversions.

2. Use Customer Event Data & Custom Triggers

Instead of solely depending on checkout abandonment data, merchants can shift to behavioral tracking and event-based automation. Businesses can try these techniques to capture the lost data:

• Exit-intent popups – Display targeted messages offering discounts or reminders when users attempt to leave checkout.
• Browse abandonment emails and SMS – Retarget users who viewed products but didn’t add them to their cart, rather than relying solely on checkout data.
• Shopify Webhooks – Create custom triggers to detect when users reach different checkout stages, such as adding a shipping address or selecting a payment method.

3. Strengthen SMS & WhatsApp Remarketing

As Shopify restricts abandoned checkout data, businesses should prioritize first-party data collection and real-time messaging via SMS and WhatsApp. Some strategies that can help are:

• Capture phone numbers early in the buying journey, such as at product pages or add-to-cart steps, to enable direct communication.
• Use WhatsApp automation to send cart recovery reminders with personalized messages and direct checkout links, ensuring a seamless shopping experience.
• Segment audiences based on engagement levels, such as distinguishing between past buyers and new visitors, to send relevant and effective messages.

4. Optimize Your Checkout Experience to Reduce Abandonment

A proactive approach to reducing cart abandonment is to optimize the checkout process, ensuring a seamless experience for customers:

• Enable guest checkout – Reduce friction by allowing customers to purchase without creating an account.
• Offer multiple payment options – Include digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay), Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, and UPI payments for flexibility.
• Use trust signals – Display security badges, customer reviews, and money-back guarantees to reassure buyers and build trust. Shopflo also allows brands to nudge their customers with relevant messages. This ensures your checkout is complete, helps upsell products and increases the AOV or cart value.
• Optimize mobile checkout – Ensure your checkout process is mobile-friendly with quick load times, autofill options, and an intuitive interface.
• Gamify with discounts - Checkout solutions like Shopflo allow gamification and discount engines that help with strategies like tier discounting so that you can push your shoppers to buy more to unlock amazing discounts. 
• Better Retargeting - Shopify-based Checkout apps like Shopflo apps also allow you to retarget your customers better via SMS, WhatsApp, Email and push notifications.

5. Explore Third-Party Checkout & CRM Integrations

Since Shopify is restricting abandoned checkout data, merchants should explore external checkout solutions and CRM integrations that provide enhanced analytics and recovery features:

• Shopflo and similar Shopify checkout tools can offer better tracking and abandoned cart recovery by passing the data back to Shopify.
• Use third-party analytics tools to gain deeper insights into checkout behavior and optimize checkout funnels accordingly.

6. Capture First-Party Data Before Checkout Abandonment

With abandoned checkout tracking becoming more limited, Shopify merchants should prioritize first-party data collection strategies by:

• Encouraging account creation before checkout by offering benefits like order tracking, loyalty rewards, or exclusive discounts.
• Implementing email and SMS opt-ins early in the customer journey, such as during product discovery or cart addition.
• Using exit-intent popups to capture customer details before they leave the site, offering incentives like limited-time discounts.

7. Retargeting & Remarketing

With reduced access to abandoned checkout data, Shopify sellers should focus on post-checkout engagement and alternative retargeting strategies like:

• Post-purchase retargeting campaigns – Engage recent buyers with upsell opportunities, personalized recommendations, and loyalty program incentives.
• Email & SMS marketing campaigns – Nurture potential buyers before they abandon their carts with special offers, reminders, and product education.
• Lookalike audience targeting – Use previous customer data to create similar audience segments for paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram, and Google.

Final Thoughts

The deprecation of Shopify’s abandoned checkout data may seem like a challenge, but ecommerce businesses can still maintain, if not improve their abandoned cart recovery rates. With Shopflo’s Checkout solutions for Shopify, integrated with marketing tools like Convertway, you can easily convert lost sales by focusing on real-time tracking, proactive customer engagement, and checkout optimization. 

So, get started with Shopflo and optimize your checkout conversions today!