Essential Checkout app: setup and feature walkthrough

This guide walks through setting up the Essential Checkout app step by step. It covers creating a rule from a template, building conditions, delivery and payment rules, checkout validations, publishing and testing, and the checkout blocks.

What the app does

Delivery rules: hide, rename or reorder the shipping options customers see at checkout.
Payment rules: hide, rename or reorder the payment methods.
Validations: show a message and block checkout (or show a warning) when something isn't right. There are four types: order limit, checkout form, customer and cart content.
Blocks: a free shipping bar at checkout, and a Thank you offer and banner on the Thank you page.

Rules run as Shopify Functions inside Shopify's checkout. They work on Shopify Plus and on other plans. In the US and Canada, only Shopify Plus stores can change credit card payment methods; that's a Shopify rule.

Step 1: Start from the home page

Open Essential Checkout in your Shopify admin. The Getting started guide has two tasks: Create checkout customization and Test and confirm it works. Click Browse templates to begin.

Below the guide, Popular rules shows a few templates you can open straight away. Use Rules in the app menu to see every rule you've created.

Step 2: Pick a template

Click Create rule (or Browse templates). The page What would you like to customize? lists ready-made rules.

Use the tabs All templates, Payments, Delivery and Validation, or describe what you need in the search box.
Examples: Limit order value, Limit order quantity, Cap orders for new customers, Hide delivery by cart value, Hide COD for high-value orders, Reorder delivery options and Reorder payment methods.
Build your own starts a blank rule.

A template opens the rule builder with the conditions and the action already filled in. Adjust them to fit your store.

Step 3: Set the conditions (the "when")

Conditions in the same group are joined with AND (WHEN … all apply).
Click Add group (OR) to add another group. The rule applies when any one group matches.
Click Add condition to add things like cart total, cart quantity, product quantity, product tags, customer tags, country, postal code or market.
The panel on the right sums up the rule in plain language as you edit.

Each rule type only offers the conditions that fit it. For example, customer tags can be used in delivery rules, payment rules and customer validations, but not in order limit, checkout form or cart content validations. The Country condition checks the shipping address. See Building Conditions (the "when") on Essential Checkout.

Step 4: Delivery rules

In a delivery rule, under Customize delivery methods, click Add delivery method and pick the shipping options to change. The list comes from your Shopify shipping settings (Settings → Shipping and delivery).

Change: choose what happens to each option, for example hide or rename it.
Sort: keep Shopify default, or sort the options manually.
If the name at checkout is different from your settings, type part of it in the search box and match it with Contains or Starts with.

Delivery rules can't change shipping prices or add fees. Create the rates you need in Shopify first, then use rules to hide the ones a customer shouldn't see. See Delivery Method Customizations on Essential Checkout.

Step 5: Payment rules

Payment rules work the same way: add the payment methods, then hide, rename or reorder them.

The app can't choose which payment method Shopify selects by default.
Payment rules can't use the delivery method the customer chose as a condition.
In the US and Canada, credit card methods can only be changed on Shopify Plus.

See Payment Method Customization on Essential Checkout.

Step 6: Validations (block or warn)

Validation rules have a Checkout behavior section:

Type: Block checkout (customers can't pay) or Warning message (customers see a message but can still pay).
Show message when: Interacting with the checkout (as customers fill in fields) and/or Completing the checkout (when they try to pay). Warnings only show while customers interact with the checkout, not when they complete it.
Message content: the text customers see.
Position: Top of the checkout page or next to a specific field.
If app fails to load, then: Allow customer to complete checkout or Block customer from completing checkout.

A blocking rule needs at least one condition before you can publish it. See Validate and Block Checkout on Essential Checkout.

Step 7: Publish and test

Give the rule a clear name with Rename at the top.
In the panel on the right, set the status to Active.
Click Save.
Open your store in an incognito window, build a cart that matches the rule and go to checkout to check the result.

To pause a rule, set it to Inactive and save. The Rules page lists all your rules, with filters for active and inactive rules and bulk publish, unpublish and delete. See Managing and Publishing Your Rules on Essential Checkout.

Step 8: Blocks (optional)

Open Blocks in the app menu and click Create block to choose a block type:

Free shipping bar: shows buyers how far they are from free shipping at checkout, and suggests products that close the gap. Checkout blocks are available on Shopify Plus and development stores only.
Thank you offer: offers one more product on the Thank you page, bought in a new checkout at full price or with a discount you set.
Banner: shows a notice on the Thank you page to the orders you choose, such as a holiday closure or a shipping delay.

After you set up a block, add it to your checkout or Thank you page in Shopify's checkout editor. Saving the block in the app doesn't place it on the page by itself.

Known limits

Rules can't change shipping prices or add fees.
The app can't choose the default payment method, and payment rules can't depend on the selected delivery method.
There's no phone number condition and no billing country condition.
Credit card payment methods in the US and Canada can only be changed on Shopify Plus.

For answers to common questions, see the ❔ FAQ section and Troubleshooting & FAQ of the Essential Checkout app. If you'd like a hand with setup, contact our support team.