Every order in a Shopify customer account has a small menu of buttons. Shopify puts Buy again there, and apps can add their own. Two are worth adding for almost any store: one that lets customers reorder only what they want, and one that handles questions about the order.
Reorder items
Shopify's Buy again puts the whole order back in the cart. That suits a coffee subscription and not much else. Someone who bought a jacket and three pairs of socks usually wants the socks.
Reorder items opens a short list of the order's products with a tick box and a quantity for each. The customer unticks what they don't want, changes the numbers, and goes straight to checkout with the rest. Products that are no longer for sale are left out, and the same product bought twice in one order shows once with the total quantity.
Shopify's Buy again stays where it is, so the new button needs its own name. Two buttons called Buy again side by side would confuse people.
Get help
Most order emails ask the same handful of things, and "where is my parcel?" is usually the first. Get help answers those before the customer writes.
The modal opens with your answers for the order's stage. An order that hasn't shipped gets your "where is my order" answer. A shipped order gets your answer about late parcels. A delivered order gets your returns answer. You write the answers and choose which stage each one is for.
If the answer doesn't help, the customer picks a topic and writes a message. The message goes three places:
- a line at the end of the order note in Shopify admin, with the date and topic
- the order tag
scw-help, so you can filter orders that have a question waiting - the Customer accounts page in the app, as a list
The customer sees a confirmation and can send up to five messages per order per day, which keeps a frustrated customer from flooding the note.
If the store uses self-serve order editing and the order can still be changed, Get help shows a link to edit it first. A customer who only wants a new address doesn't need to message you at all.
Return window
A related block goes on the order page itself. It counts the days left to return, from delivery, or from shipping when the carrier never reported a delivery. Before the order ships it says how long the customer will have. You can also tag final-sale products and the block lists them, so nobody discovers it after sending a parcel back.
Adding the buttons
- Create the Get help and Reorder items blocks in Smart Checkout Widgets. Write your answers and topics in Get help.
- In Shopify, go to Settings, then Checkout, then Customize, and open the Order status page.
- Click Add block and pick Get help with an order, then Reorder items. Both land in the order menu, which also shows on the Orders page.
Shopify's guidelines suggest two-word button labels, a verb and a noun, and the defaults follow that. You can rename both.
Both buttons are part of the Growth, Advanced and Pro plans, and work on every Shopify plan with the new customer accounts. For the rest of the account pages, see how to customize Shopify customer account pages.
Frequently asked questions
How is Reorder items different from Shopify's Buy again?
Buy again adds the whole order back. Reorder items lets the customer pick which products and how many, then goes to checkout.
Where do Get help messages go?
Onto the order note in Shopify admin with the date and topic, the order tag scw-help, and a list in the app.
Can customers change an order from Get help?
If self-serve order editing is on and the order can still be changed, Get help links to it first.
Do these buttons appear automatically?
No. Add them as blocks on the Order status page in Shopify's checkout and accounts editor. They then show on the Orders page too.
Do they need Shopify Plus?
No. They work on every Shopify plan with the new customer accounts, on the Growth, Advanced and Pro app plans.