- Short answer
- No: Shopify won't text shipping updates; its one order-confirmation text needs no email and a store based in 12 countries. Shipping SMS needs an app.
- Who gets the text
- Customers with a phone number and no email; email customers can't switch to SMS
- Where it works
- Business address in one of 12 countries; CBD stores excluded
- Cost and wording
- Free to you; carriers may charge customers; the text can't be edited
- Shipping updates
- A transactional SMS app, or push notifications for customers who use the Shop app
- Phone-only trade-off
- No abandoned checkout recovery, no replies, no Shop Pay on a phone number alone
What does Shopify text your customers by itself?
If you allow it, customers can enter a phone number instead of an email at checkout. If their profile has no email, Shopify sends a single order confirmation SMS; customers with an email can't choose SMS instead. On shipping, Shopify is explicit:
Customers won't receive shipping notifications or other notification types by SMS.
As of October 2026, that confirmation works only for a business address in one of 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom or the United States, and not for stores selling CBD. It's free to you, though carriers may charge customers standard rates, and the text can't be edited.
How do customers get shipping updates on their phone?
- A transactional SMS app from the Shopify App Store
- Named by Shopify's SMS help for stores in any country
- Push notifications for shipping milestones, for customers who use the Shop app
- Track with Shop is on by default for every store
If your SMS app sends its own order texts, deactivate Shopify SMS notifications to avoid duplicates: open Order confirmation, switch to the SMS tab and click Deactivate.
- Settings
- Notifications
- Customer notifications
- Order confirmation
SMS marketing is a separate setting, and its campaigns are managed in Shopify Messaging.
Should you let customers check out with just a phone number?
Only with a plan for shipping updates: Shopify won't text phone-only buyers shipping updates, so add an SMS app or let them opt in to email updates. Phone-only checkout also costs you:
- Checkouts started with a phone number can't be recovered as abandoned checkouts.
- Customers can't reply to an SMS notification.
- Shop Pay won't work with only a phone number.
- International customers might miss the SMS without their area code.
The setting is Customer contact method in checkout settings: Phone number or email, or the email-only option to require an email.
- Settings
- Checkout
- Customer contact method
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