Online Store / Change

Adding a confirmation step before customers leave for an external site
A new safeguard that protects customers from unexpected redirects

Before customers leave your store for an external website, they now see a short message showing the destination address. Customers can choose to continue to that site or go back to the store.

What's on this page
  1. What's changing (in 30 seconds)
  2. How it works: what happens after a link is clicked
  3. Links that do and don't show the message
  4. Before vs. after
  5. What the announcement doesn't say
  6. 5 key points for developers
  7. 3 practical use cases
  8. One-line summary for proposals

1What's changing

When customers go from your online storeto a website outside your store, they're now asked to confirm before leaving.
The goal isto protect customers from unexpected redirects.

A short message appears

A confirmation message is shown before moving to an external site.

Shows the destination address

The message displays the website's address.

Customers decide

Customers choose whether to continue to that site or return to the store.

2How it works: what happens after a link is clicked

Customer Browsing the store Check the destination Outside the store? Not affected External site Navigates directly with no message Connected domains / supported Shopify and social sites Shows a confirmation message Shows the destination address Continue Back to store To external site Stay on store
The detailed logic for when the message appears (which link types and script-driven navigations are covered) isnot stated in the article. The article only states that customers are asked to confirm before being sent to a website outside the store.

3Links that do and don't show the message

No message

Not shown

Domains connected to the store

No confirmation message appears when navigating to a domain connected to the store.

Not shown

Supported Shopify and social sites

Supported Shopify sites and social sites are excluded. The specific list of covered sites is not stated.

May show the message

May be shown

Merchant-owned but unconnected sites

Even if the merchant owns the website, the message may appear if it isn't connected to the store.

Shown

All other external sites

Customers are asked to confirm before being sent to a website outside the store.

Easy to overlook:Links to sites you own but haven't connected to your store, such as a brand site, a landing page on a separate domain, or a booking site, may also show customers a confirmation message.

4Before and after

ItemBeforeAfter
Navigating to external sites Not stated Confirmation required Confirmation message before leaving
Destination visibility Not stated Shown Show the website address
Customer options Not stated Continue / Return to store
Connected domains — Not affected No message
Supported Shopify and social sites — Not affected No message
Owned but unconnected sites — May be shown

5What the article doesn't say

Not stated

Disabling / allowlisting

The article doesn't say whether merchants can disable the message or add any domain as an exception.

Not stated

List of supported sites

The exact scope of "supported Shopify and social sites" isn't specified.

Not stated

Eligible plans, regions, and APIs

Eligible plans, available regions, and handling in themes, apps, or APIs aren't stated.

The classification is Changed / Online Store. To gauge the operational impact, the surest way is to click external links in a live store and check.

65 key points for developers

1. Applies to navigation "outside the store"

A confirmation step appears when the online store sends customers to an external site. Navigation within the store isn't mentioned.

2. Domain connection is the deciding factor

Connected domains don't trigger the message. Conversely,even domains you own may trigger it if they aren't connected. Auditing your domain setup doubles as checking the scope of impact.

3. Supported social and Shopify sites are excluded

Links to supported social sites and Shopify sites don't show the message. However, no list of what's covered is provided.

Settings?

4. No controls are mentioned

The article doesn't cover disabling the message, registering exception domains, or controlling it via API. Don't build or propose anything that assumes these exist.

5. Review flows that send customers off-site

Flows that send customers to external sites (other sites you own, external booking or application pages, etc.) may gain an extra confirmation step.tracking and customer flows after an external link is clickedVerify in a live store that these behave as expected.

7Three use cases you can put to work

Store Connected Not connected
USE CASE 1

Audit your own domains to see where unexpected confirmation messages appear

Challenge
Your store links to sites you own but haven't connected to the store, such as a brand site or a campaign page on another domain.
Action
List every external link destination in your store and note whether each domain is connected. Click through the links to your unconnected sites and check what customers see.
Impact
You'll know in advance where customers will see the confirmation message, so you can estimate the effect on support inquiries and customer journeys.
Tech note
According to the article, connected domains are excluded, but your unconnected sites may show the message. Use this to decide which domains you should connect.
USE CASE 2

Add it to QA checks for flows that send customers to external sites

Challenge
You can't be sure that flows sending customers from product pages or the footer to external booking, application, or brand sites still work as intended after this change.
Action
Add these items to your pre-release and regular QA checks: whether external links show a confirmation message, whether continuing takes customers to the right page, and whether going back returns them to the store.
Impact
You won't miss changes to customer journeys, and you can explain them to clients with evidence.
Tech note
The article doesn't mention a way to turn off the message. Check your flows on the assumption that this behavior stays.
USE CASE 3

Explain it to merchants as reassurance for customers

Challenge
You need a way to explain things when customers worry or ask about being sent to an external site.
Action
Let merchants know that Shopify now shows the destination address by default before customers leave for an external site, so customers can choose to continue or go back.
Impact
You can point to this built-in protection against unexpected redirects when explaining how trustworthy the store is.
Tech note
No implementation work is needed (the article describes no setup steps for merchants).

8One-line summary for proposals

"Online stores now have built-in protection that shows customers where they're going and asks them to confirm before they leave for an external site.
Connected domains and supported social media and Shopify sites are excluded, but check any of your own sites that aren't connected.
Review your flows that send customers to external sites, along with which domains are connected."