When you need a required order note
- Personalised products: engraving text, a name to print or a monogram.
- Gift orders: a gift message for the card.
- Delivery details: a delivery date, gate code or safe place.
- Business orders: a purchase order number or a contact name.
An order that arrives without that detail means an email back and forth, a late shipment or a wrong product. Making the note required stops that before checkout.
Why the theme's note box isn't enough
Most themes show an optional note on the cart page. Making it required usually means editing theme code, and even then the rule only covers that one form. A slide cart, a sticky add to cart bar or an express button such as Shop Pay can still go straight to checkout without a note.
How to require an order note, step by step
EA Sticky Cart Drawer & Upsell replaces the cart with a slide cart drawer. Cart notes are on every plan.
- Install EA Sticky Cart Drawer & Upsell. Install it free from the Shopify App Store and turn on its app embed.
- Turn on cart notes. In Setup, open the Cart notes card and tick "Show cart notes". Set a placeholder that says what you need, for example "Gift message".
- Make the note required. Tick "Require a note before checkout" and fill in "Message when the note is missing", for example "Please add your engraving text".
- Save and test. Click Save, add a product on your store and try Checkout with the note empty. The drawer should ask for the note.
What shoppers see
- The Checkout button, the drawer's express checkout buttons and the sticky bar's or quick buy's "go to checkout" wait until a note is typed. Spaces alone don't count.
- If a shopper tries anyway, your message appears under the notes box, a collapsed notes box opens and the cursor goes into it.
- The note is saved as they type and reaches you as the order note in Shopify.
- The default message is ready in 31 storefront languages, so international shoppers read it in their own language.
Combine it with a clear placeholder, such as "Name to engrave (max 12 letters)", so shoppers know exactly what to write.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the order note required on Shopify without code?
Yes. With EA Sticky Cart Drawer & Upsell, open the Cart notes card, tick "Show cart notes" and tick "Require a note before checkout". No theme code changes are needed.
Does it stop Shop Pay and other express buttons too?
Yes. The express checkout buttons in the cart drawer, as well as Checkout and the sticky bar's go to checkout, wait until the shopper has typed a note.
Is it free?
Yes. Cart notes, including the required note, are on every plan of EA Sticky Cart Drawer & Upsell, the free plan included.
Where do I see the note?
It arrives as the order note on the order in your Shopify admin, the same place as any cart note.
Can I change the message shoppers see?
Yes. Fill in "Message when the note is missing" under the setting.
Get every detail you need with the order
Install free, turn on cart notes and require a note in a few clicks. See every feature and plan.
Install Free on Shopify