How does the post-purchase flow work?
The order in which post-purchase offers are shown, what happens when the buyer accepts or declines, and how they are charged.
A post-purchase funnel has up to three steps. In the funnel editor they're labelled Upsell #1, Upsell #2 and Downsell #1, joined by If customer accepts offer and If customer rejects offer. The buyer sees at most two of them.
The path through the steps
| Buyer is on | Buyer accepts | Buyer declines |
|---|---|---|
| Upsell #1 | Goes to Upsell #2 | Goes to Downsell #1 |
| Upsell #2 | Goes to the Thank You page | Goes to the Thank You page |
| Downsell #1 | Goes to the Thank You page | Goes to the Thank You page |
So a buyer who accepts the first offer can be offered a second product. A buyer who declines the first offer is offered the downsell instead, which is usually a cheaper product or a bigger discount.
The flow ends early if the next step has nothing to show. For example, if Downsell #1 is empty and the buyer declines Upsell #1, they go straight to the Thank You page. If Upsell #1 is empty, the page opens on Upsell #2.
Several products in one step
If a step has more than one product, the buyer sees one product at a time, with ← and → arrows to move between them. Accepting or declining applies to the product on screen and then moves the buyer to the next step.
When the page doesn't open at all
Before the page opens, the app removes offers the buyer can't take:
- products that are out of stock;
- the exact variant the buyer has just bought.
If no offers are left for Upsell #1 or Upsell #2, Shopify skips the post-purchase page and shows the Thank You page. The buyer never sees an empty page.
The funnel's own conditions decide whether it runs for an order at all. See Funnels.
How the buyer is charged
When the buyer clicks the accept button (by default Pay Now):
- The app asks Shopify to add the item to the original order, at the offer price.
- Shopify charges the payment method used at checkout. The buyer doesn't enter card details again.
- The item appears on the same order in your Shopify admin, not as a new order.
The amount on the button is what the buyer is charged: the offer price plus any extra shipping and tax. See What the buyer sees.
If Shopify can't take the payment, the buyer isn't stuck. After a failed payment on Upsell #1 they move on to Upsell #2, not to the downsell. After a failed payment on any other step they go to the Thank You page.
Subscriptions
- A post-purchase offer can be sold as a subscription, a one-time purchase, or both. When it's a subscription, the buyer must tick Shopify's subscription consent box before the accept button works.
- Shopify allows only one subscription to be added per order after checkout. If the buyer already accepted a subscription offer, later offers only show their one-time option. The editor shows a Subscription Limitation banner about this.
- If the original order already contains a subscription, the subscription options are removed from the offers.
Declining
Clicking the decline button (by default Decline) records the decline and moves the buyer to the next step, as in the table above. Nothing is charged.
Upsell Master must be selected under Post-purchase page in your Shopify checkout settings. Otherwise none of this runs. If it isn't selected, the app shows an Action needed banner with an Enable Setting button.