Can I edit the Squarespace checkout?

15 Oct

Every week at least two potential clients will ask me to make coding changes to the Squarespace Checkout. Popular requests including the ability to:

Translate the checkout into a different language
Offer an unsupported currency, such as Japanese yen.
Reorder the delivery options
Add local delivery options based on Zip Code
Add additional payment methods
Set minimum order values or quantities

Can the Squarespace checkout be edited? No!

Squarespace allow you to modify almost every visible web-page generated by your website, but the Squarespace checkout page is beyond your reach. No-one except Squarespace’s own engineers can add or remove code from the Squarespace checkout. The code is controlled in an area of the website that developers cannot reach. There’s nothing you can do to influence the checkout, even if you are a professional developer using developer mode.

Why can’t the checkout be changed?

Squarespace took a business decision to lock down the checkout page to ensure it remains secure and PCI-DSS compliant. They do not allow HTML, CSS or JavaScript and this is regardless of whether you are using a consumer template or developer mode. There are only two fixed elements that you can change (see below).

What is PCI-DSS compliance?

PCI-DSS compliance is a security standard for companies and organisations that handle payment information from consumers. Both of Squarespace’s payment processors, Stripe and PayPal, are PCI compliant.

What aspects of the checkout can I change?

Styles

There’s a Site Styles page so that you can style the checkout page to match the aesthetic of your site. For example, you can customise the header alignment and the background, and button colors. To edit the styles, click Design, then click Checkout Page. You’ll notice that the font name is absent from the available styles. Squarespace have selected their own font (Clarkson) and they don’t allow you to change it.

Custom Checkout Forms

You can add a custom form to the checkout page so that you can collect additional information from customers. This can be useful if you want to capture a single gift message for the order, or if you require customers to agree to your Terms of Service. However, you cannot use code to customise these forms, so if you don’t like the way that it prompts for dates or times, there’s nothing you can do.