🎉 CX Elevate: Date Time Picker is available now on Shopify app store
Shopify app store
.jpg)
You’ve been there. Staring at a login screen for a store you know you’ve bought from before. You type in your email address. Then comes the moment of truth: the password field.
Was it "Summer2024!" or "summer2024!"? Maybe "Summer_2024"? With a sigh, you click the dreaded "Forgot Password?" link, kicking off a frustrating ritual of checking your email, clicking a reset link, and inventing yet another password you’ll forget in a week. By the time you finally get back into your account, your desire to make a purchase has faded, replaced by a quiet sense of annoyance.
This tiny moment of friction, repeated millions of time a day across the internet, isn't just a minor inconvenience for customers. For e-commerce businesses, it's a multi-billion dollar problem that leads to abandoned carts, frustrated customers, and a massive loss in potential lifetime value.
.jpg)
But what if the password could be eliminated entirely?
Shopify, the platform powering millions of online businesses, has declared a war on this friction. They have been quietly revolutionizing the customer sign in Shopify process, first with passwordless logins and now, with the final piece of the puzzle: social sign-in. This isn't just another feature update; it's a fundamental shift in how your customers interact with your store, making the process faster, more secure, and remarkably seamless.
This guide will take you into this game-changing update. We'll explore the psychology of why passwords fail, tell the story of a business transformed by this feature, and provide a practical guide to implementing it on your own store today.
To understand the significance of this update, we need to look at the journey of the Shopify customer account. For years, Shopify stores operated with "Legacy" accounts—a standard, reliable system that required a customer to create and remember a username and password. It worked, but it was a product of a bygone internet era.
Recognizing the friction this caused, Shopify introduced the "New Customer Accounts." The first iteration of this, as shown in the screenshot of the Takara Japanese Restaurant login page, was a brilliant move towards a passwordless future. Instead of a password, a customer simply enters their email and receives a one-time, six-digit code to log in. This eliminated the "forgot password" problem entirely.
This was a huge leap forward. But Shopify knew they could make the process even more effortless.
Now, they've added the final layer: Social Sign-In. Integrated directly into the New Customer Accounts framework, this feature allows customers to customer sign in Shopify stores with a single, trusted click using their Google account.
Think of the evolution like this:
1. Legacy Accounts: A locked door requiring a specific, easy-to-lose key.
2. Passwordless Accounts: A modern door with a secure keypad code sent to you on demand.
3. Social Sign-In: A futuristic door with biometric recognition. It knows who you are, trusts you, and lets you in instantly.
This final step completes Shopify's vision for a truly modern, secure, and frictionless customer sign in Shopify experience.
A difficult login process isn't just a nuisance; it's a direct tax on your revenue. When a customer, especially a returning one, has to struggle to access their account, they are significantly more likely to abandon their purchase. The data on this is overwhelmingly clear.
.jpg)
Beyond the numbers, there's a deep psychological component at play. When you offer "Continue with Google," you are performing a "trust transfer." Customers inherently trust the security of their Google account far more than they trust the security of a new or unfamiliar online store. By letting them use that trusted credential, you are borrowing Google's credibility, which can ease anxiety and make the entire checkout process feel safer. A smooth customer sign in Shopify is a powerful trust signal.
To see the real-world impact of this feature, let's tell the story of a fictional Shopify store, Takara Japanese Restaurant, and one of their loyal customers, Michael.
The "Before" Scenario The Friction of a Forgotten Password
Michael is a busy marketing director in Chicago and a huge fan of Takara's premium, at-home ramen kits. It's Friday afternoon, and he wants to order his favorite Tonkotsu Ramen kit for a relaxing weekend dinner. He goes to the Takara website, adds the kit to his cart, and proceeds to checkout.
He sees the login page. He knows he has an account. He types in his email, but the password eludes him. Was it TakaraRamen1! or RamenLover22? After two failed attempts, he gives up and clicks the "Forgot Password?" link. He checks his email. Nothing yet. He gets pulled into a last-minute work call. The reset email arrives five minutes later, but by the time his call is over, his focus has shifted. The impulse to order is gone.
The result? A loyal, high-value customer abandoned a cart not because of price or product, but because a clunky customer sign in Shopify process got in the way of his purchase. Takara lost a guaranteed sale.
The "After" Scenario The Magic of a Single Click
The owner of Takara, Jacky, is a savvy entrepreneur. He reads about Shopify's New Customer Accounts and immediately enables the social sign-in feature.
A few weeks later, Michael is craving ramen again. He visits the site, adds the kit to his cart, and lands on the login page. But this time, something is different. Right below the email field is a shiny, familiar button: "Continue with Google."
Curious, Michael clicks it. A small pop-up from Google asks him to confirm his account. He clicks "Confirm."
Instantly, he's logged in. His name appears at the top of the page. His saved shipping address is already there. The entire process took less than three seconds. Delighted by the ease, he feels a renewed sense of loyalty to the brand. He not only re-orders his favorite ramen kit but also adds a bottle of premium sake he'd been curious about. The total time from landing on the site to completing his purchase is under a minute.
The result? Jacky not only saved the sale but increased its value. By upgrading his store's customer sign in Shopify experience, he made his customers' lives easier, which in turn made them more loyal and more likely to spend. He realized that investing in a frictionless experience is a direct investment in customer lifetime value.
Inspired by Jacky's success? The good news is that implementing this feature is incredibly simple. You can have it up and running in just a few minutes.
.jpg)
In your Shopify Admin, look at the menu on the left. Click on Settings, and then find and click on Customer accounts. This will take you to the main control panel for your store's login experience, as seen in the provided screenshot.
To use the new social sign-in feature, you must select the "New Customer Accounts" option. The Legacy version relies on the old password system and does not support this functionality. Making this switch is the most important step to modernizing your customer sign in Shopify flow.
Once you have selected the new account version, scroll down to the "Configurations" section and find the "Authentication" setting. Click "Manage".
.jpg)
This is the key difference. Instead of a simple toggle switch, you will see a new "Authentication" screen (as shown in your first screenshot). Here, under "Available connections," you will see options for Google and Facebook with a "Connect" button next to each.
When you click "Connect" next to Google, you will be taken to a detailed setup page titled "Sign in with Google" (as shown in your second screenshot).
Why is this process so involved?
Think of Shopify and Google as two highly secure institutions. For them to "talk" to each other safely and verify your customers' identities, they need a pair of "encrypted keys" that only they know.
- The Client ID is like a public identifier.
- The Client Secret is the confidential key.
By creating these on Google's platform and providing them to Shopify, you are securely authorizing your store to request authentication on your behalf. This is an industry security standard (called OAuth 2.0) that protects data.
Steps to complete the Google connection:
1. Go to the Google Cloud Console: As the on-screen instructions in Shopify indicate, you need to go to Google's developer platform.
2. Create or Select a Project: You will need to create a new "project" for your Shopify store.
3. Copy the URLs from Shopify: This is the most critical step. On Shopify's "Sign in with Google" setup page, you will see fields like "Authorized JavaScript origins" and "Authorized redirect URIs". You must copy these exact URLs and paste them into the corresponding fields within your project settings on the Google Cloud Console. This tells Google that only your Shopify store is permitted to send authentication requests.
.jpg)
4. Create Credentials (Client ID and Secret): After configuring the URLs, you will create "Credentials" in the Google Cloud Console. Google will then provide you with a Client ID string and a Client Secret string.
5. Paste the Credentials into Shopify: Copy these two strings from Google and paste them back into the "Client ID" and "Client Secret" fields in your Shopify admin page.
6. Save and Activate: After saving, the connection will be established, and you can activate the option for customers to sign in with Google.
The process for connecting Facebook is similar, requiring you to set up an app on the Facebook for Developers platform to get an App ID and App Secret.
This final step is crucial. After you’ve saved your settings, log out of your own store account or open an incognito browser window. Go through the entire process as if you were a customer. Test the customer sign in Shopify flow using the "Continue with Google" button. Ensure it's a smooth, fast, and intuitive experience.
Implementing social sign-in is easy, but its strategic impact runs deep. This feature is more than just a convenience; it's a foundational element of a modern e-commerce strategy.
1. The Impact on Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): As the Takara story illustrates, the easier it is for a customer to log in and re-order, the more likely they are to do so. By removing the primary point of friction for returning customers, you are actively encouraging repeat purchases and building a more loyal customer base.
2. The Data Advantage: Social logins often provide more accurate and verified data. When a customer signs in with Google, you receive the name and email address associated with their verified account. This reduces the chance of typos or fake information, leading to a cleaner customer list, fewer bounced marketing emails, and better data for personalization.
3. Preparing for the Future of Commerce: This update is part of Shopify's broader vision for a more connected and seamless commerce ecosystem, anchored by unified digital identities like Shop Pay. By adopting this new customer sign in Shopify system, you are aligning your store with the future of the internet, where identity is portable, secure, and password-free.
For too long, the password has been a necessary evil of the internet—a source of constant friction and frustration for users and a direct cause of lost revenue for businesses. With the full rollout of New Customer Accounts featuring social sign-in, Shopify is providing merchants with the tools to finally move beyond it.
You invest so much in your products, your branding, and your marketing to get a customer to the point of purchase. Don't let a forgotten password be the reason you lose a loyal fan and a valuable sale.
Navigate to your settings today. Make the switch to the new customer account experience and enable social sign-in. The most important, most profitable click your customer makes on your site might just be that simple, elegant "Continue with Google" button.
We try to make easy and simple for every professionals. Get 30 days free trial - No credit card required.
