How to Use Shop Cash: A Complete Shopper & Merchant Guide

Key Takeaways

• How to use Shop Cash depends on the checkout route: eligible shoppers can redeem it in the Shop app, on the Shop website, or through a Shop-initiated Shop Pay checkout on a merchant website.
• Shop Cash is a Shopify-funded reward balance and payment method. It is not a merchant discount, gift card, store credit, or conventional merchant-controlled loyalty currency.
• Eligible Canadian shoppers can earn and redeem Shop Cash in supported checkouts, including CAD orders, subject to account, offer, store, product, and checkout requirements.
• Shop Cash can reduce the amount charged through Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments, but shoppers cannot type in a custom redemption amount.
• Eligible Shopify merchants automatically accept Shop Cash and receive its portion of the order through Shopify Payments; there is no separate Shop Cash activation step.
• Merchants should make sure their ERP, OMS, accounting, fulfillment, and return systems recognize Shop Cash as a separate payment method and support multi-method orders.

Learning how to use Shop Cash starts with one simple detail: where the purchase begins. Shop Cash is Shopify's rewards currency and a checkout payment method. Eligible shoppers can earn it through qualifying promotions and use an available balance on eligible purchases started through Shop. It is not unrestricted cash, and simply seeing Shop Pay on a store does not mean Shop Cash will be available for every order.

Shop Cash also extends beyond the US. Eligible Canadian shoppers can redeem it on supported checkouts, including CAD orders, when the account, store, product, and payment requirements are met. Expiration rules deserve extra attention in Canada because Shopify's current terms include specific provisions for Ontario and Quebec.

This guide explains the full journey from earning and checking a balance to redeeming Shop Cash, handling refunds, and understanding expiration and currencies. It also covers the merchant side: payments, reconciliation, connected systems, and the separate role of optional Shop Campaigns.

What Is Shop Cash?

Shop Cash is a Shopify-funded reward balance for eligible Shop users. When an order qualifies, the shopper can apply that balance as a payment method during checkout. The balance stays with the shopper's Shop account and follows Shopify's eligibility and expiration rules, so it should not be treated like cash that can be withdrawn or spent anywhere.

For merchants, that distinction has practical consequences. Shop Cash is recorded as a payment method, not a discount, gift card, or store credit. If an ERP, OMS, accounting platform, return app, or other integration reads Shopify transaction data, it needs to recognize that payment correctly.

Shop Cash vs. Shop Pay

Shop Cash and Shop Pay often appear in the same purchase, but they do different jobs.

When a shopper uses both, a single order can contain a Shop Cash transaction plus a Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments transaction for the remaining amount.

Shop Cash vs. Traditional Loyalty Programs

A traditional loyalty program is usually designed and controlled by an individual retailer or loyalty provider. The merchant may determine how points are earned, what they are worth, and where customers redeem them.

Shop Cash is different. The shopper's ordinary Shop Cash balance is Shopify-funded, and eligible merchants accept that balance under Shopify's rules rather than creating their own base Shop Cash earning or redemption system. Merchant loyalty programs can still coexist with Shop Cash because they represent separate reward relationships.

Shop Cash vs. Shop Offers and Shop Campaigns

The names are similar, but they describe different parts of the Shop ecosystem.

A Shop Cash balance is value the shopper already holds. Shop offers can provide promotional value, including special pricing or opportunities to earn additional Shop Cash. Shop Campaigns are an optional advertising program through which eligible merchants set acquisition goals and budgets to reach customers.

For merchants, the key point is simple: accepting ordinary Shop Cash and running a Shop Campaign are not the same decision. Eligible stores accept Shop Cash automatically, while Shop Campaigns are optional, merchant-funded acquisition campaigns. A shopper's existing balance and campaign-related value can still appear together in the same purchase.

How Does Shop Cash Work?

A typical Shop Cash journey has four stages:

1. An eligible promotional opportunity appears in the Shop app or on the Shop website.
2. The shopper completes a qualifying purchase using Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments.
3. Earned Shop Cash is added to the balance associated with the qualifying Shop account.
4. On a later eligible purchase, available Shop Cash appears as a checkout payment option and can be applied toward the order.

Earning and spending are separate. A shopper can hold Shop Cash and still reach a checkout where it is unavailable. Likewise, a store offering Shop Pay does not automatically make every purchase eligible to earn or redeem Shop Cash. The promotion, shopper account, store, products, checkout route, currency, and payment method can all affect eligibility.

How Shoppers Earn Shop Cash

Shop Cash earning opportunities are promotional. Shopify says eligible offers can appear through promotional events in the Shop app or Shop website, and a Shop Cash banner can appear at qualifying checkout. Shoppers must pay using Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments through Shop; purchases completed directly on a merchant's online store do not earn Shop Cash under the current earning rules.

Only the eligible card-funded portion earns Shop Cash. Amounts covered by gift cards, rebates, discounts, or other promotional value do not earn rewards. Gift cards, digital products, and wholesale purchases are excluded, and subscriptions earn only on the initial payment rather than later recurring charges.

Important Account and Offer Rules

Shop Cash offers can be personalized, so two shoppers should not assume they will see the same promotion. Shoppers also cannot manually add Shop Cash, retroactively apply it to a processed order, merge balances between accounts, transfer Shop Cash to another account, or recover a balance from a deleted account.

That is why the account matters before checkout. Confirm that you are signed in to the Shop account that actually holds the reward you want to use.

How to Use Shop Cash at Checkout

To use Shop Cash at checkout, sign in to the correct Shop account and start an eligible purchase through Shop. If Shop Cash appears as a payment method, review the amount being applied and the remaining amount due through Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments before placing the order. Shop Cash cannot be added after the purchase is complete.

The steps vary slightly depending on whether you stay in the Shop app, use shop.app in a browser, or are redirected from Shop to a merchant's website.

How to Redeem Shop Cash in the Shop App

1. Open the Shop app and confirm the account. Make sure you are signed in with the email associated with the Shop Pay account that holds your Shop Cash.
2. Choose an eligible product or store and proceed to checkout. Shop Cash is not guaranteed for every item or transaction.
3. Look for Shop Cash among the available payment methods. Its appearance at checkout indicates that it is available for that order.
4. Confirm its use and review the payment split. Shop determines the eligible Shop Cash contribution. Any remaining balance is paid through Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments.
5. Complete the order and review your receipt. When Shop Cash is redeemed, it is identified as a payment method on the order receipt in the Shop app.

If Shop Cash is missing, pause before placing the order. A merchant or support agent cannot simply add it afterward; it needs to be available and applied during the eligible checkout.

How to Use Shop Cash on the Shop Website

You can also use Shop Cash online at shop.app. Sign in using the email associated with the Shop Pay account holding your balance, select an eligible purchase, and continue through checkout. Your Shop Cash balance is visible from the account area on the Shop website, and Shop Cash should appear as a checkout payment method when the purchase qualifies.

The browser experience follows the same eligibility rules as the Shop app, so using the Shop website does not bypass exclusions involving unsupported products, currencies, accounts, or stores. Before submitting the order, review the Shop Cash contribution and the remaining amount being charged through Shop Pay.

How to Use Shop Cash on a Store Website After a Shop Redirect

Shop Cash can also appear on a merchant website, but only in a specific type of journey.

Shopify supports redemption when a shopper starts the shopping journey in Shop and is then redirected to the merchant's website to finish an eligible Shop Pay checkout. For example, you might discover a product in Shop, select it there, and then be sent to the merchant's checkout. Shop Cash can remain available in that flow when all other requirements are met.

A direct visit to the merchant's website is different. If the purchase was not initiated from Shop, Shop Cash is not available simply because the store runs on Shopify or offers Shop Pay.

How Much Shop Cash Is Applied to an Order?

You cannot type in your own Shop Cash redemption amount.

For an eligible checkout, Shopify applies the lesser of your available Shop Cash balance and the eligible order total. However, checkout also preserves a minimum amount that must remain payable using the other payment method. That minimum varies with the checkout currency.

If checkout cannot apply your entire balance, there is no manual field for forcing a larger or smaller amount. Shopify calculates the eligible contribution, and any unused Shop Cash remains in your account for a later qualifying purchase.

This is also why instructions that tell shoppers to look for a free-form “Shop Cash amount” field can be misleading. Current Shopify documentation does not describe such a manual amount selector.

How Shop Cash Works With Different Currencies

Your Shop Cash balance does not need to be denominated in the same currency as the order. Current supported checkout currencies are USD, CAD, GBP, AUD, and EUR. When a qualifying order uses one of those supported currencies, Shopify can convert the balance into the checkout currency.

For example, an eligible shopper with USD-denominated Shop Cash can redeem against a CAD checkout, and the reverse can work when the relevant account and checkout meet Shopify's requirements. The conversion uses the current exchange rate rather than a permanently fixed Shop Cash conversion rate.

Who Can Use Shop Cash and Where Does It Work?

A visible Shop Cash balance is only one part of eligibility. The shopper, account, merchant, checkout route, currency, payment method, and items in the order all need to fit Shopify's current rules.

Account, Country, and Payment Requirements

For redemption, the purchase must be initiated from Shop, use a supported checkout currency, and involve an eligible merchant. The merchant must use Shopify Payments in a supported country and settlement currency, with Hong Kong, Mexico, and the UAE currently excluded from merchant Shop Cash availability. The store must also accept Shop Pay and use Checkout Extensibility.

On the shopper side, Shopify requires a billing address and verified phone number in a Shopify Payments-supported country, excluding the UAE under the current rules. Earning additionally requires an applicable promotional offer and a qualifying Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments purchase in Shop.

It helps to keep four things separate: the shopper's country, the merchant's Shopify Payments country, the checkout currency, and the countries supported by Shop Campaigns. They are related, but they do not follow one identical eligibility rule.

How Shop Cash Works in Canada

Eligible shoppers can use Shop Cash in Canada when the account, store, products, checkout route, and payment requirements qualify. CAD is a supported checkout currency, and Shopify can convert an eligible balance from another supported currency during checkout.

Canadian merchants using qualifying Shopify Payments and Shop Pay setups can automatically accept ordinary Shop Cash, just like other eligible merchants. Canada is also currently an eligible business location for Shop Campaigns, subject to the separate campaign requirements covered later.

Expiration requires special care. Shopify's current global Shop Rewards Terms, modified for regional requirements, say Canadian residents must be at least 18. They also establish specific Ontario and Quebec expiration rules. As of the terms currently published, Shop Cash from a Shop Cash Promo or Shop Promise Rewards generally expires after 180 days, but the period is 30 days from receipt for Ontario residents. Earned Shop Cash has a 180-day period for most Canadians; for Ontario residents it is based on 180 days of Shop Cash inactivity, while Quebec residents receive one year of Shop Cash inactivity. Shoppers should review the terms applicable when the reward is received because these provisions can change.

Eligible and Excluded Checkout Types

In practice, the purchase route is often the first thing to check when Shop Cash does not appear.

Eligible and Excluded Products and Charges

Shop Cash generally supports most physical products that ship. Shopify also lists eligible service charges and order components such as shipping, delivery, pickup, tips, donations, warranties or protection plans, taxes, tariffs, duties, and return or exchange fees.

Current exclusions include gift cards, recurring subscription payments, arbitrary digital products outside Shopify's supported service-charge categories, and wholesale or B2B orders. Merchants cannot selectively turn Shop Cash acceptance on or off for individual products; eligibility is determined during checkout.

First-Time Shop Pay, Subscription, and Installment Conditions

First-time Shop Pay users have an additional redemption condition: their first order must total at least $10 in local currency, excluding taxes and shipping, to redeem Shop Cash.

For Shop Pay Installments, Shop Cash can apply only to the first installment payment when the order is placed, not later installment payments. For subscriptions, it can participate in the initial qualifying payment but not subsequent recurring subscription charges.

How to Check Your Shop Cash Balance and Expiration

A balance that appears missing may be associated with another Shop account, may have been redeemed, may have expired, or may have been adjusted after a refund. Start by verifying the account before assuming the reward is lost.

Find Your Balance and Activity

In the Shop app, tap your account icon and open Payment methods. Shop Cash is displayed there as a payment method. To review Shop Cash activity, open the Shop Cash balance and its activity view; transaction history can distinguish reward earning and redemption activity.

On shop.app, sign in and select the account icon. Shopify says the Shop Cash balance appears next to the account name and email. The Shop Cash activity view can then be used to review balance-related entries.

Make Sure You Are Using the Correct Account

Use the email address associated with your Shop Pay account. If you received an email telling you that Shop Cash was awarded, Shopify specifically recommends signing in with the email named in that notification.

If the balance does not appear, log out and sign back in using the appropriate email before escalating the issue. Balances cannot be merged or transferred between separate accounts.

Check When Your Shop Cash Expires

Shop Cash uses rolling expiration, so different portions of one balance can have different expiration dates. Unless stated otherwise, Shopify says most Shop Cash expires 180 days after it is earned, although promotional or giveaway rewards can have different periods. If only part of a Shop Cash balance is redeemed, Shopify says the expiration date on the remaining balance can reset from the purchase date. Expired Shop Cash cannot be recovered.

Canadian shoppers should also check the regional terms described above, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, because the current legal terms contain provincial exceptions.

How Refunds, Returns, and Exchanges Affect Shop Cash

Refunds can affect Shop Cash in two fundamentally different ways: Shopify may deduct a reward that was earned from an order later refunded, or it may return Shop Cash that was used to pay for an order. Keeping those two events separate makes balance changes much easier to understand.

Refunds on Orders That Earned Shop Cash

When a purchase earns Shop Cash and that purchase is later refunded, the Shop Cash earned from it is deducted from the shopper's balance. That deduction can include reward value the shopper already spent. As a result, a refund can reduce the balance below zero.

This is one reason a lower or negative balance does not automatically mean there is an account error.

Refunds on Orders Paid With Shop Cash

When an order was paid partly or fully with Shop Cash and is refunded, the redeemed Shop Cash is generally returned to the shopper's Shop Cash balance. An important exception is expiration: Shop Cash that has expired is not restored simply because the associated order is later refunded.

That is distinct from the previous case. One rule deals with reversing Shop Cash earned from a refunded purchase; the other deals with returning Shop Cash that funded a purchase.

Full vs. Partial Refunds

For a full refund involving Shop Cash and another payment method, Shopify admin defaults to refunding the card or Shop Pay Installments payment first and then returning the remaining eligible amount to Shop Cash. The merchant can adjust allocation within the amount originally captured on each payment method.

For a partial refund, merchants can choose the amount allocated back to Shop Pay and the amount returned as Shop Cash. Neither portion can exceed what was originally captured on that respective payment method. Separate refund transactions can therefore exist for one order.

Refund Timing, Returns, Exchanges, and Store Credit

Refunded Shop Cash can take up to 48 hours to reappear in the customer's balance after the store processes the refund. A processed Shop Cash refund cannot be reversed, so merchants should verify the allocation before submitting it.

Returns and exchange tools need to understand that an order can contain multiple payment methods. Shopify advises merchants using third-party return workflows to confirm that the tool can return the correct amounts to Shop Pay and Shop Cash.

Store credit is different again. Shop Cash is its own payment method and ledger behavior; merchants should not classify a Shop Cash refund as store credit or assume issuing store credit restores the shopper's Shop Cash balance.

Common Shop Cash Problems and How to Fix Them

Most Shop Cash problems become easier to diagnose when you check the purchase route first, then the account, checkout, products, and reward history.

Why Can’t I See Shop Cash at Checkout?

First, confirm that you started the purchase in the Shop app or Shop website. A direct visit to a merchant's checkout does not qualify for redemption. Then confirm that Shop Cash appears as an available payment method, the order uses USD, CAD, GBP, AUD, or EUR, the store uses Shop Pay and Checkout Extensibility, your phone number is verified, and the cart does not contain an excluded purchase type.

If one of those conditions fails, Shop Cash may not appear even though you have a balance.

Why Can’t I Use My Full Shop Cash Balance?

Checkout preserves a minimum amount that must be paid through the other payment method. If using your entire Shop Cash balance would push that payment below the required minimum, Shopify reduces the Shop Cash contribution.

You cannot work around this by entering your own redemption amount because Shop Cash does not offer shopper-controlled partial-value entry. Any amount not applied remains in your balance.

Why Is My Shop Cash Balance Missing or Lower?

Confirm that you are signed into the email associated with the correct Shop Pay account, especially if you received the reward notification by email. Log out and sign back in if necessary.

Then review Shop Cash activity. A balance can fall because Shop Cash was redeemed, expired, or deducted when an order that originally earned a reward was refunded.

Can Another Account’s Negative Balance Affect My Shop Cash?

Yes. Shopify's current customer guidance says that, to earn or redeem Shop Cash, any other Shop Pay account you own must not have a negative Shop Cash balance.

If you cannot identify the affected account or believe the balance adjustment is incorrect, the issue belongs with Shop support rather than the merchant because it concerns Shop account and rewards eligibility.

Why Didn’t My Purchase Earn Shop Cash?

Redemption and earning have different rules. To earn Shop Cash, an applicable promotional opportunity must apply, and the qualifying purchase must be made in the Shop app or Shop website using Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments. Purchases made directly through a merchant's online store do not earn Shop Cash under the current earning rules.

Only the eligible card-funded portion earns the reward. Gift cards, rebates, discounts, and other promotional value do not.

For order-specific cancellation, return, exchange, and refund processing, contact the merchant. For unresolved Shop account, balance, eligibility, or reward issues, contact Shop support.

How Shopify Merchants Accept and Process Shop Cash

For merchants, Shop Cash is less about switching on a new payment feature and more about making sure the systems around Shopify understand a second payment method correctly.

Merchant Requirements and Automatic Acceptance

Eligible Shopify stores automatically accept Shop Cash. Shopify states that merchants cannot opt out, and there is no separate “Enable Shop Cash” setting to configure. Ordinary acceptance adds no separate fee beyond the Shopify Payments terms applying to the order.

Current eligibility requires Shopify Payments in a supported country and settlement currency, excluding Hong Kong, Mexico, and the UAE; Shop Pay; Shop-initiated checkout; and Checkout Extensibility. The order itself must also meet product, currency, and shopper eligibility requirements.

Merchants cannot make particular SKUs accept Shop Cash while excluding other otherwise-eligible products. Shopify determines product and order eligibility at checkout.

How Shop Cash Appears on Orders

Shop Cash must be treated as a payment method, not a price adjustment.

Where gateway values are available, Shopify records the Shop Cash transaction using the gateway value shop_cash. One order can contain both a shop_cash payment transaction and a separate Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments payment.

For example, in Shopify's illustrative order shape, a $100 order can consist of $25 Shop Cash and $75 paid by the other method. That means an integration that assumes “one order equals one payment transaction” can import the order incorrectly.

Do not map shop_cash to discounts, gift cards, or store credit. Doing so can distort revenue, tax, refund, receivable, and settlement workflows.

How Shop Cash Payouts and Fees Work

The shopper's ordinary Shop Cash balance is Shopify-funded. Once the Shop Cash portion is captured, Shopify creates a settlement for the merchant, produces a Shop Cash credit in the Shopify Payments balance, and includes that balance transaction in an eligible payout. Merchants do not need a separate Shop Cash bank account.

Shopify says accepting a customer's ordinary Shop Cash balance creates no additional acceptance fee beyond the Shopify Payments processing terms applying to the order. In payout details, merchants can see the payment type as Shop Cash credit.

If currencies differ, Shopify converts the value where supported and the merchant receives settlement in the applicable local currency.

How to Reconcile Shop Cash Payouts

Avoid reconciling Shop Cash by bank-deposit date alone. The Shop Cash and card portions of the same order can settle separately, and a single Shop Cash credit can represent more than one order.

The Shop Cash and card portions of one order can settle separately and appear in different, sometimes adjacent, payouts. Shopify also processes Shop Cash settlement activity in batches, so a single Shop Cash credit row can represent multiple orders.

Finance teams should reconcile using the identifiers available in their workflow, including order ID, order transaction ID, payout ID, balance transaction ID, refund transaction ID, and payment method or gateway value.

Relevant export transaction types can include shop_cash_credit, shop_cash_credit_reversal, shop_cash_refund_debit, and shop_cash_refund_debit_reversal. Historical pre-January-2026 campaign entries can also appear because Shop Campaign billing previously flowed through payout activity.

An accounting implementation may use a clearing-account model. For example, A2X recommends mapping the Shop Cash gateway side and related Shop Cash credit to the same clearing account so the entries can offset during reconciliation. That is one implementation pattern, not universal accounting advice; merchants should validate the treatment against their own books and accounting policies.

Preparing ERP, OMS, Accounting, Fulfillment, and Return Systems

Before relying on Shop Cash at scale, test every connected system that receives order or payment data. The goal is straightforward: make sure multi-payment orders move through ERP, OMS, accounting, fulfillment, and returns without Shop Cash being flattened into a discount or losing the transaction relationships needed for captures and refunds.

A practical readiness checklist is to verify that each connected system can:

• support more than one payment method on a single order and map shop_cash as its own payment method;
• preserve order transaction IDs and parent relationships instead of treating Shop Cash as a discount, gift card, or store credit;
• store authorization values as complete, variable-length opaque strings without truncating, parsing, normalizing, or inferring meaning from them;
• refund the refundable Shop Cash capture transaction rather than attempting to refund the authorization;
• handle grouped Shop Cash payout credits and settlement timing that differs from the card portion; and
• keep fulfillment, accounting, and return logic working when the order contains two payment methods.

Shopify advises using transaction IDs and parent relationships for capture, void, and refund operations rather than treating the authorization string as an identifier. API refunds must be parented to the Shop Cash capture transaction.

For merchants reviewing these connected workflows, ShopX can support the broader work of assessing and improving Shopify integration services. Shop Cash eligibility itself remains controlled by Shopify.

Captures, Cancellations, and Preorders

Shop Cash has capture behavior that can matter for preorders and fulfillment-delayed businesses.

A Shop Cash authorization is valid for approximately 30 days after the order is placed. Unfinished authorizations are then automatically voided through Shopify's process, and Shopify Plus extended authorization periods for the card or Shop Pay Installments portion do not extend the Shop Cash authorization window.

Orders paid entirely with Shop Cash are automatically authorized and captured when placed even if the merchant normally uses manual capture. On mixed-payment orders using a delayed capture flow, Shop Cash follows the order's capture flow, but capture can fail if its authorization has expired or been voided.

Shop Cash also does not support partial or multiple captures against one authorization. The first successful capture captures the full authorized Shop Cash amount. Merchants with partial-fulfillment, capture-at-fulfillment, or long preorder workflows should therefore validate timing, cancellation, OMS behavior, and support procedures before depending on a delayed capture beyond the authorization window.

How Merchants Handle Shop Cash Refunds

Before submitting a refund, review how much will go back to the customer's card or Shop Pay Installments payment and how much will return as Shop Cash. Full-refund flows default to the other payment method first, while partial refunds allow allocation within the captured amount available for each payment method.

Treat each payment leg as its own refund transaction, refund the Shop Cash capture correctly, and remember that a processed Shop Cash refund cannot be reversed. Third-party return and exchange systems should be tested for multi-payment compatibility before staff rely on them for customer service.

How Shop Campaigns Work for Merchants

Shop Campaigns are best understood as a separate advertising and customer-acquisition program. Merchants do not need to run one in order to accept ordinary Shop Cash.

Shop Cash Acceptance vs. Shop Campaigns

Ordinary Shop Cash acceptance is automatic for an eligible store. A Shop Campaign, by contrast, is an optional merchant-funded advertising program in which merchants define acquisition goals, audiences, budgets, and supported placements.

A shopper can use their own Shop Cash balance, merchant-funded Shop offer value, or both in one purchase. In order transaction data, Shopify can include the customer-balance and campaign-funded value together in the same shop_cash transaction instead of creating separate Shop Cash and offer transactions.

For finance teams, that makes it especially important to separate payment data from campaign expense data rather than treating the full shop_cash amount as a merchant discount.

Shop Campaign Eligibility Requirements

Shop Campaigns have their own eligibility rules. Shopify currently lists supported business locations including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and numerous European countries. A merchant must have at least one market in a supported country and Shopify Payments configured to accept AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, or USD.

The store must also enable direct checkout in the Shop channel, have Shopify Network Intelligence activated, maintain a valid Shopify billing method, and not be in private mode. Shopify requires ongoing compliance with its merchant, payments, trust, safety, fraud, advertising-partner, and platform policies. If a store becomes noncompliant, new campaigns can be blocked and active campaigns can be paused.

Canada is therefore a currently supported business location and can be a target market when the merchant's market and international-selling configuration support it. A US merchant targeting Canadian shoppers, for example, needs Canada configured appropriately as a market so local-currency selling requirements are met.

How to Create a Shop Campaign

The current Shopify admin workflow is:

1. From Shopify admin, open Sales channels > Shop.
2. Select Advertising, and then Create campaign.
3. Enter the maximum acquisition cost you are willing to pay for All customers.
4. Optionally create a higher acquisition-cost segment override for New customers or Lapsed customers.
5. Choose the countries you want to target, including Canada where appropriate and currently supported.
6. Set the Target order value and Daily budget.
7. Under the additional options, review channels, schedule, an optional end date, and the campaign name.
8. Save the campaign.

Interface labels can change, so merchants should verify the current Shop channel controls before documenting the workflow for their internal team.

Shop Campaign Channels and Targeting

Shop and the Shopify Product Network are included by default when a campaign is created. Eligible merchants can also opt into advertising on other platforms.

Campaigns target all customers by default, with optional acquisition-cost overrides for groups such as new or lapsed customers. Shopify also supports multiple active campaigns. Where campaign audiences overlap, delivery and budget allocation can vary based on performance, so merchants should not assume each campaign will receive an identical share of spend or exposure.

For third-party advertising, merchants can also manage settings such as branded-keyword participation where available. These controls affect campaign advertising strategy; they do not change the underlying rules for ordinary Shop Cash acceptance.

Shop Campaign Billing and Performance Metrics

Shopify does not guarantee conversions from Shop Campaigns. Merchants pay for successful customer acquisitions under the campaign model.

A major accounting change took effect in January 2026: current Shop Campaign fees are charged to the merchant's Shopify bill rather than deducted from Shopify Payments payouts. Campaign charges are added when an order is attributed to Shop Campaigns, and Shopify says the customer-acquisition cost is not refunded merely because the attributed order is later canceled or refunded.

Performance review should therefore go beyond top-line sales. Shopify exposes measures such as orders, average order value, sales, spend, acquisition cost, ROAS, customer breakdowns, and geographic results. A merchant should combine those with refunds, contribution margin, new-versus-lapsed customer quality, and repeat behavior. Revenue or ROAS alone can look positive while the customer remains unprofitable after product cost, fulfillment, returns, payment costs, and acquisition spend.

How Shop Cash Benefits Shoppers and Shopify Merchants

Shop Cash can be useful to both shoppers and merchants, but the value depends on eligibility, checkout behavior, and—in the case of campaigns—the merchant's actual economics.

Benefits for Shoppers

For shoppers with an available balance, Shop Cash can lower the amount that needs to be paid through Shop Pay or Shop Pay Installments on an eligible purchase. Promotional opportunities can also give shoppers another reason to browse products and stores through Shop.

Because qualifying checkouts can support USD, CAD, GBP, AUD, and EUR, Shop Cash is not limited to a single checkout currency. Still, it is better described as a restricted reward balance than as cash or a benefit guaranteed on every purchase.

Benefits for Merchants

For eligible merchants, Shop Cash lets customers spend an existing Shop-funded balance without the merchant building a separate redemption system or turning on a dedicated Shop Cash setting. The payment is handled through eligible Shop-initiated checkout and Shopify Payments.

Shop Campaigns create a separate acquisition option for merchants that choose to use them. They can help a brand reach new or lapsed shoppers, but results such as higher conversion, larger orders, repeat purchases, or customer lifetime value should be measured rather than assumed.

Best Practices for Merchants Using Shop Cash and Shop Campaigns

A reliable Shop Cash experience depends on more than checkout. Customer-facing guidance, payment data, refunds, connected systems, and campaign accounting all need to describe and process Shop Cash consistently.

Explain Eligible Redemption Clearly

Give support teams precise language. Saying that Shop Cash works on eligible Shop-initiated checkouts is much clearer than telling shoppers, 'You can use Shop Cash on our website.' The latter can create confusion when someone visits the store directly and the payment method does not appear.

The same principle applies to earning. Avoid promising Shop Cash on every purchase because earning depends on an eligible promotional opportunity and the qualifying portion of the purchase.

Prepare Support and Operations Teams

Build a short internal troubleshooting flow for the questions support teams will actually receive: Did checkout start in Shop? Did Shop Cash appear? Is the order in Canada or another supported currency? Is the shopper asking about a partial refund? Has the 48-hour refund window passed? A simple decision tree can prevent unnecessary escalations.

Keep escalation ownership clear. The merchant handles its own order, cancellation, return, exchange, and refund processing. Unresolved questions about the shopper's Shop account, reward balance, or eligibility should go to Shop support.

Validate Connected Systems Before Scaling

Test Shop Cash end to end across ERP, OMS, accounting, fulfillment, and returns. Do not assume every order has one payment method or that every payout line maps neatly to one order. Integrations need to recognize shop_cash and preserve the transaction relationships Shopify uses for captures and refunds.

Before automating the workflow, run controlled tests for a low-value Shop Cash order, mixed payment, capture, cancellation or void behavior, payout reconciliation, and refund handling. Shopify's current technical documentation should remain the implementation authority as platform behavior changes.

ShopX's Shopify store optimization work with Just Thrive shows the broader value of improving payment, subscription, funnel, app, and storefront workflows together. The case study reflects wider Shopify optimization work, not Shop Cash performance.

Set Campaign Spending Around Your Margins

Keep Shop Campaign spending separate from ordinary Shop Cash acceptance. A shopper's ordinary Shop Cash balance is Shopify-funded; Shop Campaign costs are merchant-funded advertising expenses under Shopify's current billing model.

Set acquisition-cost limits against the economics of the order: gross margin, fulfillment, payment costs, expected refunds, and expected customer value. A daily budget controls potential spend; it does not guarantee a fixed amount of traffic or conversions.

Review Results Before Expanding Campaigns

Before increasing budgets, compare actual acquisition cost, order value, campaign spend, refunds, new-versus-lapsed customer mix, repeat behavior, and contribution margin. Shopify's reporting can show acquisition and revenue metrics, but profitability depends on costs that ROAS alone does not capture.

There is no universal campaign setting that works for every store. Expansion should depend on whether the customers acquired under your own margins and retention patterns create enough incremental value to justify more spend.

Improve Your Shopify Shopping Experience With ShopX

Shop Cash adds another payment path to the Shopify customer journey, but the experience still depends on the fundamentals: checkout configuration, clean order data, reliable integrations, refund handling, and systems that can reconcile more than one payment method on the same order.

ShopX can help merchants review those broader Shopify workflows, from checkout and store optimization to integration readiness and connected ecommerce systems. Shop Cash eligibility and automatic acceptance remain controlled by Shopify, but the surrounding customer and operational experience is something merchants can actively improve.