Guide

Shopify Push Notifications: What They Are and When to Use Them

Written by the Appziot team (Product). Published October 5, 2026. Updated October 5, 2026. Questions: support@appziot.com.

A push notification is a short message that shows up on a phone from an app the person installed. For a Shopify store, that usually means a branded shopping app, not the website. The customer has to install the app and allow notifications. If they say no, you do not have a push channel to them.

Push can remind someone about a cart, a restock, or a product you just launched. It does not automatically increase sales. A noisy app gets notifications turned off, and then the channel is gone.

How push differs from email and SMS

Email waits in an inbox. People expect promotions there, and they can filter them. SMS is more personal and, in many countries, more regulated. Push sits on the lock screen of someone who already installed your app. It is good at “this is happening now.” It is a bad place for a weekly newsletter.

You still want email. Most of your customers will never install the app. Push is an extra path for the ones who did.

When it is useful

  • A product they viewed is back in stock.
  • An order update they would rather see on the phone than hunt through email.
  • A replenishment reminder for something they buy on a schedule, if you actually know the schedule.
  • A launch for people who bought from that line before.
  • A cart they already filled, deep-linked to that cart, sent once or twice. Not five times.

The cart example is easy to get wrong. The abandoned cart notes cover timing and deep links in more detail. The short version: name the product, open the cart, and do not pretend it is urgent if it is not.

When it becomes annoying

Daily discounts. Messages at night in the customer’s time zone. A blast to everyone because a campaign calendar had a gap. “We miss you” with no reason to open the app. Sending a promotion to someone who bought an hour ago.

If you would mute a brand for that message, do not send it. One noisy week trains people to disable notifications for the whole app. You will not see a neat report that says “we annoyed them.” You will just stop being allowed to talk.

What to decide before the first campaign

Who can send. How many promotional pushes a person can get in a week. What is transactional and should not be buried under a sale. Where the tap lands. What you will not say. Write that down before the app is featured, or the first quiet Tuesday becomes a broadcast.

Where Appziot fits

If the app is built with Appziot, push starts on Starter and Growth adds rich push. Lite does not include push. You write the message, schedule it or send it now, and you can open a product, a collection, or the cart. That is the tool. The judgment about whether to send is still yours. Stores that are not ready for an app at all should not collect push permission “for later.” See do you need an app?.

Frequently asked questions

Do Shopify mobile apps support push notifications?

They can. The customer must install the app and allow notifications. In Appziot, push is included on Starter and rich push is on Growth. Lite does not include push. A theme or a PWA is a different setup, and browser support varies.

Should I send a discount in every push?

No. Back-in-stock and order updates work without training people to wait for a code. If you do send a code, it has to be a real Shopify discount you already honor.

Can push replace email?

No. Push only reaches opted-in app users. Everyone else still needs email, SMS, or the website.

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