Shopify's store credit is an extremely convenient tool for customers. Using this system allows purchases at your store to go more smoothly, contributing to greater customer satisfaction. Store credit can be applied flexibly across various transactions and purchases, giving customers a reason to return.
This article deepens your understanding of the fundamentals of store credit while explaining in detail how to use it and its effects.
What Is Store Credit?
Store credit is essentially "money that can be used at the store" that the store issues to customers. For example, you can issue a refund as store credit instead of cash when processing a return, or grant it to customers as part of a promotion or loyalty program.
Customers can use the store credit in their account to pay for purchases both in the online store and in physical stores (Shopify POS). Store credit is a convenient mechanism for encouraging customers to make repeat purchases and boosting customer satisfaction.
Differences Between Store Credit, Coupon Codes, and Gift Cards
Each has a different purpose, issuer, and usage, so it's important to use them appropriately depending on your goal.
Store Credit
Credit issued by the store to customers for use at the store, mainly used as part of refunds, rewards, or promotions. Customers can use the full amount for payment while logged in, in the online store or on Shopify POS.
For Shopify stores created on or after May 12, 2025, orders paid with store credit are subject to a third-party transaction fee. Store credit cannot be gifted to anyone other than yourself.
Coupon Codes (Discount Codes)
A mechanism where customers enter a code at the time of purchase to receive a discount, with configurable discount amounts and conditions. Coupon codes are mainly used for sales promotion and can be used in the online store and on Shopify POS. Orders using coupon codes are not subject to a third-party transaction fee.
For more details on coupon codes (discount codes), please refer to the blog article below.
Gift Cards
A prepaid card that customers can purchase and give to others or use themselves, usable as payment when purchasing products. Gift cards can be sold and used in the online store and on Shopify POS.
For Shopify stores created on or after May 12, 2025, orders using gift cards are subject to a third-party transaction fee.
For more details on gift cards, please refer to the blog article below.
[Store Side] How to Enable Store Credit
(1) Click "Settings" in the Shopify admin
(2) Click "Customer accounts" in the settings menu
(3) Turn store credit "on"
[Store Side] How to Grant Store Credit
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Customers
(2) Open the detail page of the customer to whom you want to grant store credit
(3) Click the "edit balance" pencil icon for store credit
(4) Under adjustment, select "Credit"
(5) Choose a currency and enter an amount
(6) Set an expiration date
(7) Click "Review changes"
(8) Confirm that the store credit amount to be granted is correct
(9) If everything looks correct, click "Credit OO"
Once store credit is granted, a history entry showing "who granted how much store credit" appears in the timeline, and the balance after granting is displayed in the store credit section.
[Store Side] How to Reduce Store Credit
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Customers
(2) Open the detail page of the customer whose store credit you want to reduce
(3) Click the "edit balance" pencil icon for store credit
(4) Under adjustment, select "Debit"
(5) Choose a currency and enter an amount
(6) Click "Review changes"
(7) Confirm that the store credit amount to be deducted is correct
(8) If everything looks correct, click "Debit OO"
Once store credit is reduced, a history entry showing "who reduced how much store credit" appears in the timeline, and the balance after reduction is displayed in the store credit section.
[Store Side] Checking the Store Credit Log
(1) Go to Shopify admin > Customers
(2) Open the detail page of the customer whose store credit log you want to view
(3) Click the amount in the store credit section
As shown in the image above, you can check the log of store credit grants, deductions, and usage.
[Customer Side] How to Use Store Credit When Placing an Order
(1) Add a product to the cart
(2) Go to the checkout page
(3) Check the box for "Apply store credit"
[Customer Side] How to Check the Store Credit Balance
The store credit balance can only be checked if the customer is using a customer account.
(1) Log in to the store
(2) Click the icon in the top right of My Page
(3) Click on the profile
The store credit balance is displayed in the payment methods section.
[Customer Side] How to Check the Store Credit Log
The store credit log can only be checked if the customer is using a customer account.
(1) Log in to the store
(2) Click the icon in the top right of My Page
(3) Click on the profile
(4) Click "Store Credit" in the payment methods section
The store credit log is displayed in a pop-up format, as shown in the image above.
Points to Note About Store Credit
Partial Use Is Not Possible
Customers cannot use only part of their store credit like points. For an order, they can only choose to use all of their store credit or none of it.
Legacy Customer Accounts Cannot Use It Immediately
For stores using legacy customer accounts, customers cannot use store credit immediately even after it's distributed to them.
Store credit can only be used if the customer "logs in through their customer account" or "uses Shop Pay."
Shopify's help page states that customers can use it once they log in via the "customer account-specific URL (admin > Settings > Customer accounts > URL)."
However, we actually tried this ourselves in a test environment (a legacy customer accounts test environment) and were unable to use store credit. (As of July 2025)
For more on customer accounts, please refer to the blog article below.
Transaction Fees Apply
Note that for orders that include store credit as a payment method, an external service transaction fee applies to the portion of the order amount paid with store credit.
However, stores on the Shopify Plus plan with Shopify Payments enabled are exempt from this fee.
For more on transaction fees, please refer to the blog article below.
Subscription Orders Can Only Use It on the First Order
Store credit can only be used on the first order of a subscription and cannot be used for the second order onward.
There's a Cap on the Amount That Can Be Granted per Person
Store credit has an issuance cap of up to 10,000 US dollars per person. In Japanese yen, that's roughly 1.45 million yen (at an exchange rate of 145 yen to the dollar).
[Bonus] How to Rename "Store Credit" to "Points"
There may be cases where you'd like to display "Points" instead of the name "store credit" to customers. This section introduces how to change the name "store credit" to "points."
(4) Enter "store credit" in the search form
(5) Edit the text displayed on My Page or the checkout page
(6) Once you've finished editing, click Save
Once the wording on My Page and the checkout page has been changed to "Points" as shown in the images above, you're done.
The blog article below introduces recommended points apps on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
Conclusion
As introduced in this article, Shopify's store credit is a convenient and effective purchasing tool for customers. By understanding how it works and its features, store owners can leverage it as a powerful tool for meeting customer needs and increasing repeat customers. By making good use of store credit, you can deepen relationships with customers and drive business growth. Take this opportunity to adopt store credit and further develop your business.
