How to Make Sure Your Shopify Customers Include a Country Code at Checkout!

When running a Shopify store, customer communication is key. But what if your customers leave out an essential part of their contact information, like the country code on their phone numbers?

This might cause delivery issues, failed SMS notifications, or other communication errors, especially if your customers are international. Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t allow you to make the country code mandatory at checkout.

But don’t worry—there’s a clever workaround!

In this guide, we’ll show you how to update the labels, placeholders, and help tips on your checkout page to encourage customers to enter their phone numbers in the correct format with a country code. Let’s dive in!

Why Should Customers Add a Country Code?

Adding a country code to phone numbers has significant advantages, particularly for stores with international customers. Here’s why:

1. Better Communication: Whether you're sending SMS updates, calling with important order updates, or addressing issues directly, having a complete phone number, including the country code, ensures that your communication reaches the customer quickly and without delay.
2. Prevent Delivery Issues: Some shipping carriers use phone numbers to confirm deliveries or contact customers. Incorrect or incomplete numbers can result in failed deliveries, especially in different time zones.
3. Improved Customer Experience: A complete phone number makes it easier for you to verify customers’ orders if there’s an issue, enhancing trust and satisfaction.

Step-By-Step Guide to Setting Up Phone Number Hints for Country Codes in Shopify

While we can’t make the country code mandatory, we can guide customers with clear instructions on what’s expected when they enter their phone number.

Step 1: Access Your Shopify Admin Panel

1. Login to Your Shopify Admin: Go to your Shopify admin and sign in.
2. Navigate to Online Store: On the left-hand side, find the Online Store section, and click it to expand the menu.
3. Press the three dots menu ... and “Edit default theme content”

Step 2: Go to the Checkout & System

Now, we are into the Theme content editor, which allows us to change how certain text elements display across your store, including the checkout page.

Navigate to “Checkout & System”: At the top of the language editor page, you’ll see various tabs. Click on Checkout & System to view all the editable text for checkout.

Step 3: Customize the Phone Number Field

In this section, we’ll update the text for the phone number input field to guide customers on entering their phone numbers with a country code.

1. Find the Phone label: In “Checkout contact” section, scroll down until you find the option for Phone label.
2. Edit the Label: Change the label to something like, "Phone number (include country code)". This will make it clear to customers from the beginning that a country code is expected.
3. Add a Placeholder Text: Find the Phone placeholder and add an example of a full phone number with a country code. For example, "+1 123-456-7890". This helps customers see what the format should look like.
4. Update the Phone tooltip: Use this field to provide more guidance, such as, "Please include your country code to ensure smooth delivery and notifications."

Step 4: Save Your Changes

Once you’ve updated the text for the phone field label, placeholder, and help text, click Save at the top right of the page. These changes should now be visible on the checkout page.

Step 5: Test Your Checkout Page

After you’ve made these updates, it’s essential to preview the checkout page to make sure everything looks good and communicates clearly to the customer.

1. Go to Your Storefront: Click on View your store from the Shopify Admin dashboard.
2. Add an Item to Cart: To access the checkout page, add a test item to your cart.
3. Proceed to Checkout: Go through the checkout process to the section where customers enter their contact information. Check to ensure that your updated phone number label, placeholder, and help text appear as expected.

Give these changes a try on your Shopify store, and watch how smooth your order process becomes with just a few small adjustments!