Shopify new customer accounts replace the old email-and-password login with a passwordless system: shoppers sign in with a one-time six-digit code sent to their email. Shopify launched them for all shops back in January 2023, but the decision got urgent in February 2026, when legacy customer accounts were officially deprecated. New stores can no longer turn legacy on, deprecated stores can’t revert, and legacy gets no new features or support. So the honest answer to “should you migrate now?” is yes—but do it deliberately, because the switch changes how customers log in, which apps work, and what data lands in your customer list.
A customer account is simply the logged-in space where a shopper sees order history, tracks shipments, manages saved payment methods, and starts self-serve returns. That definition hasn’t changed. What changed is the login method and the plumbing behind it.
Are Shopify’s new customer accounts worth it?
For most stores, yes—but the win is about friction, not features. Passwordless login removes the single biggest reason people bounce from a sign-in screen: forgotten passwords. Roughly 25% of users abandon account creation when they’re forced to set a password, and 21% have abandoned a purchase because they couldn’t remember their login. A six-digit email code sidesteps both.
The catch is control. New accounts drop Liquid customization and Multipass SSO, and a code-only signup often creates a customer record with just an email—no name attached. If your growth depends on heavily branded account pages or clean CRM data, plan for that before you flip the switch.
Shopify new customer accounts vs classic: what changed
The classic (legacy) system and new customer accounts differ on login, customization, and app support. Here’s the side-by-side that the setup guides usually skip:
| Feature | Classic (legacy) accounts | New customer accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Login method | Email + password | Passwordless one-time 6-digit email code |
| Login popup / storefront links | Theme login popup and pages | Login links to a Shopify-hosted portal |
| Page customization | Liquid templates, custom CSS/HTML | Checkout branding + UI (account) extensions |
| Loyalty apps | Broad support | Supported, but many apps needed updates for the new portal |
| Subscription apps | Broad support | Supported; managers like Ordergroove carry settings over after updating |
| Wishlists / extensions | Theme-based widgets | Native customer account UI extensions |
| B2B support | Limited / workarounds | Native B2B, reordering, and profile updates |
| Multipass / external SSO | Supported | Not supported |
| Account-creation & login rate | No Shopify-published figure | No per-store figure; passwordless cuts sign-in friction industry-wide |
The recurring theme: new accounts trade theme-level control for a faster, Shopify-managed experience and stronger B2B. If subscriptions are central to your model, review our Shopify subscriptions guide before migrating so nothing breaks in the customer portal.
Does passwordless login lift account creation and repeat purchases?
Directly, passwordless login lifts account creation by removing friction; indirectly, more accounts can support higher repeat purchase rates—if you give logged-in shoppers a reason to return. Each extra authentication step cuts conversion by 10–15%, so replacing a password wall with a single code is a real conversion lever.
Each authentication step reduces conversion by 10 to 15 percent. — MojoAuth, 2026
Accounts matter for retention because logged-in, known customers are the ones who come back. Repeat customers spend about 3x more per visit than first-timers and drive nearly half of all ecommerce transactions, while the baseline ecommerce repeat purchase rate sits around 28%. More accounts don’t create loyalty on their own, but they make it measurable and reachable—see what a healthy number looks like in our repeat purchase rate benchmarks. Pairing accounts with a well-run loyalty program is where the compounding happens.
What are the types of customer accounts?
Shopify has two account types, and after the 2026 deprecation only one is a forward-looking choice. Legacy (classic) accounts use email-and-password login with Liquid-customizable pages and Multipass. New customer accounts use passwordless email-code login, a Shopify-hosted portal styled through checkout branding, and native B2B. Guest checkout is not an “account type”—it’s a no-account path, and it stays available alongside either system.
For B2B specifically, new accounts are the stronger option: they support company profiles, reordering, and profile updates natively, where legacy relied on apps and workarounds.
How do I create a new customer account on Shopify?
You enable new customer accounts from your admin in about a minute. Go to Settings → Customer accounts, turn on Show login links, select New customer accounts instead of Legacy, and click Save. Storefront login links then appear, and shoppers create an account the first time they enter a one-time code sent to their email—no password to set.
After enabling, test the flow end to end: place a test order, check that the customer record captures the fields you need, and confirm your loyalty, subscription, and reviews apps render inside the new account portal.
Your migration checklist before legacy sunsets
Migrate before the final legacy sunset date, which Shopify has said is coming but hasn’t fixed yet. Work through this order:
- Audit your apps. Confirm loyalty, subscriptions, wishlists, and reviews support the new customer account extensions, and update them.
- Rebuild branding. Move any Liquid account-page customization into checkout branding settings and account UI extensions.
- Replace Multipass. If you use external SSO, plan an alternative, since new accounts don’t support Multipass.
- Fix data hygiene. Because code-only signups may store just an email, set up a routine to capture names and merge duplicate profiles.
- Measure. Track account-creation and repeat purchase rates before and after so you can prove the switch paid off.
Every extra account you create is a customer you can bring back cheaply instead of re-buying through ads—the same logic behind group buying at Farabiulder, where shared demand lowers acquisition cost. Model that trade-off with our CAC calculator once your new accounts are live.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are customer accounts on Shopify?
Customer accounts are the logged-in areas where shoppers view order history, track shipments, manage payment methods, and start returns. Shopify offers two versions: legacy accounts with email-and-password login, and new customer accounts that use a passwordless one-time email code and native B2B support.
How do I add customer accounts to Shopify?
In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Customer accounts. Under Login links, turn on Show login links, choose New customer accounts instead of Legacy, and click Save. Storefront login links then appear so shoppers can create an account with a one-time email code.
How do I turn off customer accounts on Shopify?
Go to Settings, then Customer accounts, and set login links so accounts are not shown or required at checkout. You can hide login links to effectively disable accounts, but note that once you disable legacy accounts you cannot switch back to them.
Can you merge customer profiles in Shopify?
Shopify does not offer a one-click merge, but you can combine duplicates by editing the customer records so a single email is used, then deleting the redundant profile. New accounts created by code-only login often store just an email, so audit for duplicates before and after migrating.