"I opened an online store on Shopify, but sales are not increasing."
"I want to cancel my Shopify subscription but I don't know how to do it."
Some business owners may consider canceling their contract after opening a store but not seeing sales or finding that another e-commerce service is a better fit.
However, when it comes to cancellation, there is less information and case studies available compared to opening and operating an account, so you may have many unknowns and concerns.
Also, rather than cancelling your subscription straight away, if your sales aren't increasing, you may want to consider pausing your store or changing your plan.
This article will explain in detail how to cancel or pause your Shopify store and the important points to note. We will also introduce how to change your plan for reference.
How to cancel or pause your Shopify store
To cancel or pause a Shopify store, follow the steps below. Cancelling or pausing a Shopify store must be done manually by the store owner. Shopify support cannot cancel or pause a Shopify store.
1. Log in to your admin page as the store owner
2. Click [Settings] on the admin page → Click [Plan and Permissions] or [Account]
*"Settings" is at the bottom of the menu on the left of the admin screen.
If single login is set, [Plan and Permissions] will be displayed, and if not, [Account] will be displayed. * Single login is a system where both store owners and staff members can log in to all stores and Shopify services to which they have access using a single unified email address and password.
3. In the Store Status section, follow the steps below:
Cancellation: Click [Close store] → Enter password → Click [Close store]
Pause: Click [Stop store] → Click [Stop store]
The difference between cancelling and pausing
Cancellation
Cancellation/closing is permanent. Once you cancel/close your account, you will no longer be able to access the admin page, and your store will no longer be displayed even if you enter the URL.
If you create a new store, you will not be able to use the same store name or myshopify domain. However, all of your store data and settings will be retained for 30 days after cancellation.
Pause
The pause is temporary and will not incur the regular monthly fee, but will cost $14 (USD) per month. You can resume your subscription at any time by selecting your plan.
Even when your store is paused, you can still access your Shopify admin and your store will still be visible. You won't be able to purchase items, but you can still view them (you can also hide them).
Points to note when cancelling or pausing Shopify
If you're canceling, closing, or pausing your Shopify store, be sure to check the following before proceeding:
Settlement of outstanding fees
Before you can cancel or pause your Shopify store, you'll need to settle any outstanding fees.
You can check the payment status of Shopify in the Billing Information section of the admin screen. Payments for Shopify are generally made via registered credit card or PayPal.
There are two types of fees for using Shopify: regular charges and one-time charges. When canceling or pausing your Shopify store, you should pay particular attention to regular charges.
Recurring billing includes the following charges:
- Shopify Subscription: A Shopify subscription fee based on your Shopify plan. Billing cycle is 30 days/1 year/2 year/3 year. Payment is made in advance for the next subscription period each billing cycle.
- Recurring Application/App Charges: Charges for apps that have a flat rate or monthly usage. Both have a 30-day billing cycle and the monthly fee is charged on your next invoice.
- Transaction fee: A fee charged for orders placed using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments or a manual payment method. The fee for that month will be charged on your next invoice.
Since Shopify subscriptions are paid in advance, it is unlikely that you will cancel or suspend your subscription without paying. However, be sure to pay any app fees and transaction fees before cancelling or suspending your subscription.
The one-time fee includes the following charges. If you have used these charges before canceling or pausing, make sure to pay before canceling or pausing.
- One-time app purchase fee
- domain
- theme
- Intermediary services (expert marketplace)
- Shipping labels and shipping adjustments
Please note that recurring charges are combined into one monthly invoice, while one-time charges will be on a separate invoice.
Canceling individual plugins (apps)
One of the advantages of Shopify is that you can easily add various functions by using plugins (apps).
However, if you cancel or pause your Shopify subscription, it will not cancel or pause any apps you are using at the same time. Therefore, you will need to cancel (cancel) each app separately before canceling or pausing Shopify.
If you do not cancel each app individually, you will continue to be charged for the app even though you have canceled or paused your Shopify subscription. Since you cannot pause an app, it is basically a cancellation.
Points to note when cancelling or closing Shopify
In addition to the points mentioned above, you should also pay attention to the following when canceling or closing your Shopify store:
Transferring or deleting a custom domain
If you're planning on migrating from Shopify to another service, you'll want to be especially careful about how you handle your custom domain.
First, any custom domain you purchase through Shopify can be transferred to another provider.
Also, if you purchased a custom domain from a third party, you can remove it from your Shopify store in the admin. If you don't do this before canceling or closing your Shopify store, you may not be able to use the domain on another website, so be careful.
HSTS remains in effect for 90 days after closure
For security reasons, Shopify uses HSTS, a mechanism that ensures that browsers only use HTTPS connections when accessing certain websites.
This HSTS will remain in effect for 90 days after you close your Shopify store, even if you close it and port your domain to a new platform.
Therefore, if the platform you are migrating to does not use HTTPS, during that 90-day period, users will see error messages such as "This site is untrusted" or "Certificate is invalid" when they access your website.
If you're considering migrating from Shopify to another service, take this into consideration when making your decision.
Things to note when pausing Shopify
In addition to the points mentioned above, here are some other things to keep in mind when pausing your Shopify store:
Viewing your store and editing product information
When you pause your Shopify store, you won't be able to buy products online, but your site will still be available and you can browse your products.
If you leave it in this state, you may receive inquiries from users, so customize the theme and change the following two points.
- Hide product prices
- Hide the Add to Cart button
If you don't want to display the site itself, you can password protect it and display a password page instead, so that the site can only be accessed by entering the password. You can also display a message on the password page.
The steps are as follows:
1. Go to the admin page [Online Store] → [Various Settings]
2. Scroll down to the password protection area and check "Enable password"
3. Enter the password for accessing the store in the [Password] field.
*Be careful not to use the same password as your admin login password!
4. In Message to store visitors, enter a message to display on the password page, or leave it blank if you don't want to display a message.
5. Click Save.
To disable password protection, simply uncheck [Enable password page].
How to reopen your store
Reopening your Shopify store is very easy, just follow the steps below:
- Log in to your Shopify admin as the store owner.
- Click [Settings] → [Plan and Permissions] or [Account]
- Click [Compare plans]
- Select a rate plan from the available options
Selecting a plan will unpause your service. Please note that you will not automatically be reverted to the plan you were using before the suspension.
Changing plans is also an option
Shopify offers three pricing plans:
- Basic: $29 (USD) per month
- Standard: $79 (USD) per month
- Premium: $299 (USD) per month
If your sales aren't increasing and you're considering closing or pausing your store, it might be a good idea to consider switching to a more affordable plan.
Even the most reasonably priced basic plan has enough functionality to run an e-commerce site, making it a sufficient plan for a small team.
The basic features that are not included in the basic plan but are available in the other plans are as follows:
- Gift Cards
- Professional Report
- Advanced Report Builder
- Third-party calculated shipping rates
The basic features available only in the top premium plan are as follows:
- Advanced Report Builder
- Third-party calculated shipping rates
In addition, the higher the plan, the more staff accounts you can use, as shown below.
- Basic: 2
- Standard: 5
- Premium: 15
Additionally, transaction fees and monthly fees are some of the factors that may influence whether you should change your plan.
The higher the plan, the lower the percentage of the transaction fee, so one approach is to compare two plans and if the difference in transaction fees is smaller than the difference in the monthly usage fee, go for the lower plan, but if it is larger, go for the higher plan.
Steps for changing plans
You can change your plan at any time from the management screen. The procedure is as follows.
- Click [Settings] on the admin page → [Plan and Permissions] or [Account]
- Plan details section Click "Compare plans"
- Click "Choose this plan" (choose one of the available plans)
- Click on Billing Cycle to read more about your credit card billing
- Click [Confirm changes] → Accept the new agreement or click [Cancel]
Please note that if you pause your Shopify store, your previous plan will not be carried over when you resume it, and you will need to select a new plan from the available plans.
If you still don't know how to cancel, contact support.
If you have any questions or concerns about canceling or closing your Shopify store, and you can't find a solution even after reading this article, please contact Shopify Support.
Once you cancel or close your subscription, you will no longer be able to access the admin screen, so we recommend that you cancel or close your subscription carefully.
The final steps in the cancellation/closure procedure are: <click [Close store] → enter your password → click [Close store]>, but if you have any questions, please contact support before finally clicking [Close store].
If your account is temporarily suspended, you can easily resume it, so there's no need to worry too much. However, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact Shopify Support for help.
External link: Shopify Support
[Summary] How to cancel Shopify
You can easily cancel or pause your Shopify subscription by going to your Shopify admin > Plan and permissions or Account > Store status section and choosing "Sell or close store" or "Deactivate store."
However, before cancelling or pausing, please take note of the following:
- Settlement of outstanding payments
- Canceling individual plugins (apps)
If you are thinking of switching to another platform after canceling your subscription, you should also keep the following points in mind:
- Transferring or deleting a custom domain
- HTTS support for the destination platform
If you cancel or close your Shopify store, you will no longer be able to access the admin screen, and your site will no longer be displayed even if you enter the URL. Data and settings will be retained for 30 days, but you should proceed with caution.
If you pause, it's easy to resume so you don't need to worry too much, but there are some things you should be careful of after pausing.
Although products cannot be purchased when your site is paused, it will still be visible, so to avoid confusing users, it is a good idea to take the following steps:
- Hide product prices and the "Add to Cart" button
- In some cases, the site itself can be password protected and hidden.
If you are considering canceling your subscription because your sales are not increasing, instead of cancelling straight away, consider pausing your subscription temporarily to get things in order or switching to a more reasonable plan.
And whether you're canceling or pausing, if you have any questions or concerns, contact Shopify support before completing the process.
