We checked 128 product pages from a random sample of 360 US Shopify stores in October 2026. 48% (61 of 128) showed an express checkout button. 16% (20 of 128) had a returns or guarantee line. Only 2% (2 of 128) showed a delivery date. Most product pages skip the details that answer a shopper's last questions.
This post covers seven buy box elements: what share of stores have each, why each matters, and how to add it on Shopify. It is part of our Shopify store benchmarks 2026 report.
What share of Shopify product pages have each element?
| Element |
Product pages with it |
| Add to cart button stays on screen as you scroll (sticky) |
49 of 104 (47%); 53% not sticky |
| Express checkout button (Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, dynamic checkout) |
61 of 128 (48%); 52% none |
| Pay later messaging (Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm, Shop Pay Installments, "pay in 4") |
57 of 128 (45%); 55% none |
| Guarantee, money-back, risk-free or "N-day returns" line |
20 of 128 (16%); 84% none |
| Size or fit guide mentioned |
24 of 128 (19%) |
| Product video (video tag or YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia embed) |
12 of 128 (9%) |
| Delivery date or "ships by / arrives by / order within" text |
2 of 128 (2%) |
The sticky row uses a different base. We could detect an add to cart (or add to bag, buy now or pre-order) button on 104 of 128 (81%) product pages, and checked stickiness on those 104.
How did we measure?
We drew 360 US Shopify storefronts at random from a commercial store database. 226 homepages loaded, and on 128 we loaded the first linked product that was not a gift card. Each page was loaded once in headless Chrome at a 1200x900 desktop viewport with an empty cache, and we read the text, buttons and scripts that had rendered once the page settled. Text that an app draws after load, such as a delivery date, may be missed. The full method and limits are in the benchmarks report.
Of the 104 product pages where we found an add to cart button, 47% (49 of 104) kept it on screen as we scrolled. 53% did not.
A sticky button matters most on long pages. A shopper who decides while reading reviews or the size chart has to scroll back up to buy. Our test used a desktop viewport, so check mobile separately: that is where the buy box scrolls away fastest.
How to check yours: open a product page on your phone, scroll to the reviews, and see whether a buy button is still visible.
How to fix: look in the theme editor under the product template for a sticky add to cart or sticky buy bar setting. Some themes include one. If yours does not, a sticky add to cart app or a small developer task adds it. Make sure the bar does not cover a chat button: 22% (49 of 226) of homepages in our sample had a chat widget or WhatsApp button.
Should you show express checkout on the product page?
48% (61 of 128) of product pages showed an express checkout button. 52% showed none.
Shopify says accelerated checkout buttons let customers "skip the cart" and go straight to checkout (Shopify Help). Payment choice also shows up in abandonment research: 9% of shoppers who abandoned checkout in Baymard's survey cited not enough payment methods (Baymard).
Shopify is candid about the tradeoff. Unless your store gets many orders for one kind of product, the buttons "might not benefit your sales." Stores that sell bundles or multi-item orders should test before rolling out everywhere.
How to check yours: look under the add to cart button for Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or a "Buy it now" button.
How to fix: in the theme editor, go to Products > Default product, open the Buy buttons block in Product information, and check Show accelerated checkout buttons (Shopify Help). To limit it to some products, use an alternate product template. Branded buttons show only for payment methods you have activated.
Does pay later messaging belong on the product page?
45% (57 of 128) of product pages showed pay later messaging. 55% did not.
The message works at the price, where a shopper weighs the total. Showing the installment amount next to a higher priced product answers "can I spread this out?" before checkout. We have no sourced conversion figure for it, so test it against your own average order value.
How to check yours: look directly under the product price for an installment line such as "4 payments of".
How to fix: if you use Shop Pay Installments, the banner may already be in your theme: Shopify says themes installed after January 31, 2022 may include it. If not, add {{ form | payment_terms }} inside the product form in your theme code (Shopify Help). Duplicate the theme first. For Afterpay, Klarna or Affirm, follow the provider's own Shopify setup docs for on-site messaging.
Why do so few product pages show a delivery date?
Only 2% (2 of 128) of product pages had delivery date, "ships by", "arrives by" or "order within" text at load. Apps that draw the date after load may be missed by our check, so the true share may be higher.
Delivery timing is a known abandonment driver. In Baymard's checkout research, 20% of shoppers who abandoned said delivery was too slow (Baymard). Baymard's shipping study found that when only a speed was shown, testers had to work out arrival dates themselves, which caused hesitation. Testers also hesitated when a delivery window was wider than about 5 to 7 days (Baymard).
How to check yours: look for an actual date on the product page. "Ships in 3 to 7 business days" is a speed, not a date.
How to fix: if you qualify, Shop Promise shows a delivery badge for qualifying US domestic orders. Shopify notes the badge needs accelerated checkout buttons turned on (Shopify Help). Otherwise, an estimated delivery date app calculates dates from your cutoff time and processing days. Baymard's testers treated the date as a promise, so set it conservatively.
Where should the returns line go?
16% (20 of 128) of product pages had a guarantee, money-back, risk-free or "N-day returns" line. 84% had none.
Baymard found that 60% of 1,032 respondents look for return policy information on the product page. 15% of 1,026 US online shoppers abandoned an order in the past quarter because the return policy was unsatisfactory (Baymard).
How to check yours: look within one scroll of the add to cart button for a returns or guarantee line.
How to fix: write or update the policy in Settings > Policies (Shopify Help). Then add a text or collapsible row block below the buy buttons with one plain line, such as "Free returns within 30 days", linked to the policy page. Only promise what your policy says.
Do you need a size guide?
19% (24 of 128) of product pages mentioned a size or fit guide. Our sample covers every product type, and many products do not need one, so read this number in that light.
For apparel, the gap is well documented. Baymard's apparel benchmark found 83% of desktop sites and 87% of mobile sites fail to provide sufficient sizing information. Uncertainty about sizing was a common reason testers abandoned a product (Baymard).
How to check yours: on a sized product, find the size guide link. Is it next to the size selector? Does it show measurements in inches and centimeters?
How to fix: create a page with the size chart and link it from the product template, or use a pop-up or collapsible block in the theme editor if your theme has one. For charts that differ by product type, store them in a metafield, or use a size chart app. Put the link beside the size selector: Baymard found links placed far from it were easy to overlook.
Is product video worth the weight?
9% (12 of 128) of product pages had a product video.
Video answers questions photos struggle with: scale, texture, fit and how the product works. Baymard reports that 42% of users try to judge product size from images (Baymard). A short clip of the product in hand helps with that.
Video also adds weight. The median product page in our cold desktop test made 231 requests, and embeds add more. Our Shopify speed benchmarks explain how to keep embeds from slowing the page.
How to check yours: count how many of your top 10 products have a video in the media gallery.
How to fix: in Products, open the product and upload the video in the Media section, or add a YouTube or Vimeo URL through Select existing > Add from URL (Shopify Help). Your theme must support video in the product gallery.
What else did the product pages miss?
A few smaller findings from the same 128 pages:
- Low stock or urgency text: 3 of 128 (2%).
- Subscribe and save option: 7 of 128 (5%).
- No visible H1 heading: 12 of 128 (9%).
- No product structured data: 23% of pages lacked schema.org Product markup.
Two bigger gaps get their own posts. Only 19% (24 of 128) of pages gave Google a star rating, covered in Shopify review stars not showing in Google. And 62% (77 of 125) of pages with large images had at least one with no alt text, covered in Shopify image alt text.
What should you fix first?
Start with the cheapest. A returns line and accelerated checkout buttons are theme editor changes. Pay later messaging and a delivery date take an app or a few lines of theme code. A size guide and video take content work.
For the wider playbook, read our Shopify product page CRO guide and checkout optimization guide. To see how your store compares, run the same checks on your store. If you want a second pair of eyes on your buy box, talk to our team.
