Admin / Improvement

Unified Branding
Set branding once: unify Checkout × Customer Accounts × Sign-in all at once

Set your logo, colors, typography, and section styles in one place, and they carry straight through everything from checkout to account pages. No more breaking Customer Accounts just by tweaking Checkout.

On this page
  1. What's actually changing (in 30 seconds)
  2. How it works: where your settings apply
  3. 4 key features
  4. Before vs. Unified Branding
  5. How the color palette works
  6. Setup steps
  7. 5 points developers should know
  8. 3 practical use cases
  9. A one-line summary for your pitch

1What's actually changing

Until now, branding settings for Checkout, Customer Accounts, and the Sign-in page were separate, so fixing one could break another.
With this update, branding for all three surfaces has been consolidated into one place: the Checkout & Accounts editor .
Mismatch

Before: separate settings per surface

Checkout settings were independent from Customer Accounts/Sign-in settings. It was easy to miss updating a color or logo, leaving each surface looking different.

New: Unified Branding

Set it once in the Checkout & Accounts editor and it applies consistently across all three surfaces: Checkout, Customer Accounts, and Sign-in.

2How it works: where your settings apply

Checkout & Accounts Editor Logo Color / palette Typography Section styles Single source of settings Checkout Checkout surface Customer Account Account pages Sign-in Page Sign-in surface Shopify Plus only Checkout and Accounts Configuration API Per-surface detailed overrides
the Checkout & Accounts editoris shared across all three surfaces—Checkout, Customer Accounts, and Sign-in—flowing down to each one.
Fine-grained per-surface overrides (surface-specific override) are available on Shopify Plus only, via the Configuration API.

34 key features

① Unify in one place

Set logo, colors, typography, and section styles in one place, and apply them consistently across Checkout, Customer Account, and Sign-in.

② Flexible color choices

Freed from the constraints of "color schemes"—specify colors directly by value, with no limit on the number of colors.

③ Reusable palette

Save up to 20 brand colors in a palette. Edit a palette color once and the change applies everywhere it's used.

④ Per-surface overrides

Specify a different logo or main background color for each surface. Shopify Plus can apply more granular overrides via the API.

4Legacy vs. Unified Branding comparison

ItemLegacyUnified Branding (new)
Where it's configured Scattered Configured per surface Unified A single place in the Checkout & Accounts editor
How colors are specified Assigned to color schemes (limited number) Direct color values for unrestricted choices
Brand color management Not documented (set individually each time) Palette storage Up to 20 colors; changes apply everywhere at once
Per-surface overrides Not documented Logo and main background color supported by default. Finer control with Plus + API
Risk of inconsistency across surfaces High Breaks when an edit is missed Low Single source of configuration

5How the color palette works

Brand palette (up to 20 colors) #008060 ← registered as "Brand Primary" Buttons Heading accents A Text color Background
Update a palette color once, and everywhere that uses that brand color changes all at once. This dramatically lowers the effort of swapping colors for rebrands and campaigns.

6Setup steps

1

Open the Checkout & Accounts editor

Access the editor from the admin.

2

Configure brand elements

Set the logo, colors, typography, and section styles. Colors can be saved to a palette.

3

Automatically applied across 3 surfaces

Applied consistently to Checkout, Customer Accounts, and Sign-in. Set surface-specific overrides if needed.

Surface-specific overrides are Shopify Plus only, and only via the Checkout and Accounts Configuration API. On non-Plus plans, the default goes as far as swapping the logo and main background color.

75 key points for developers

SoT

1. A single source of truth for settings

Branding settings for Checkout, Customer Accounts, and Sign-in are now unified. Going forward, this editor becomes the "single source of truth" for brand settings.

RGB / HEX

2. Freedom from color scheme constraints

Instead of a limited set of "color schemes," you now specify color values directly. This makes it easier to faithfully reproduce brand guidelines.

PLUS API

3. Surface-specific overrides require Plus + API

By default, you can only swap the logo and main background color. Anything more surface-specific is handled by Shopify Plus Checkout and Accounts Configuration API via the API.

PALETTE 20

4. Palettes are connected by "reference"

When you update one color in a palette, every place that references that color changes at once. The design lets you treat them like CSS variables.

5. The relationship with the old Checkout Branding API isn't spelled out in the article

A "Checkout Branding API" already exists, but how it integrates with or coexists alongside the new Configuration API is not statedin the original article. You'll need to check the spec in the dev docs before adopting it. If your implementation makes branding calls from the app or theme side, advance validation is recommended.

83 use cases you can apply at work

USE CASE 1

Eliminate "per-surface inconsistencies" in rebranding projects

Challenge
When refreshing a logo or renewing colors, it's easy to fix only Checkout and leave the Customer Accounts and Sign-in colors outdated.
Solution
Consolidate into Unified Branding, then update the logo, palette, and typography just once to switch all 3 surfaces at the same time.
Result
Far fewer checklist items and release risks for rebranding work. It also cuts review effort for both designers and merchants.
Technical note
Palette color updates work by "reference," so they apply everywhere at once. Before swapping, preview all 3 surfaces.
Main store Branch A Branch B Branch C
USE CASE 2

Surface-by-surface brand tuning across multiple brands/stores

Challenge
You run stores for multiple brands within the same group and want to vary the tone slightly by surface (e.g., a calmer color for Sign-in only).
Approach
Keep shared settings consistent per store with Unified Branding, then override the logo/main background color only on the surfaces that need it. With Plus, you get fine-grained control via the Configuration API.
Result
Balances a unified feel with intentional, surface-by-surface differentiation, raising fidelity to your brand guidelines.
Technical notes
Detailed surface-by-surface overrides are Plus-only. When operating across multiple stores, an automation script built on the Configuration API works well.
Campaign colors
USE CASE 3

Bulk-swapping seasonal/campaign colors

Challenge
You want to swap the main color during sale and holiday periods, but editing each surface individually made it easy to miss some.
Approach
Register a "campaign color" as one slot in the palette → just swap its HEX each period to apply it across Checkout, Customer Account, and Sign-in all at once.
Result
Lightens the work of launching and retiring campaigns, enabling short-cycle operation while keeping brand consistency.
Technical notes
The palette holds up to 20 colors. Deciding upfront how to split slots between permanent brand colors and temporary-use colors keeps operations from breaking down.

9One-line summary for proposals

Brand settings for Checkout, Customer Account, and Sign-in are now consolidated into a single Checkout & Accounts editor .
Colors can be set directly or referenced from a palette of up to 20 colors for one-shot application, and per-surface overrides are supported too.
Lowers the accident rate of rebranding work and streamlines the operation of swapping campaign colors."