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ID verification after checkout

Example of an ID check shown in the order confirmation page on Shopify

If you have one or more automatic ID verification rules enabled, on qualified orders Real ID will automatically prompt your customer to complete their ID verification via a unique link sent over email or SMS.

However, to make ID verification even more seamless and intuitive for your customers, you can enable Real ID to collect your customer's ID within your native checkout flow.

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We recommend this ID verification flow if possible. It's the most flexible and is the least amount of friction for your customers to finish their buying journey.

However, if your compliance requires ID verification before checkout, during checkout, or before customers can view your store, we have options for you.

Using BigCommerce? See our BigCommerce After Checkout guide for platform-specific setup instructions.

Getting Started​

Your automatic ID verification settings can be found under the Automations section of the Settings page:

Automatic ID verification settings within the the app

To enable automatic ID verification, click the checkbox next to Enable automated ID checks, then select the After Checkout option:

Enabling the after checkout ID verification flow

After choosing the after checkout ID verification flow, click Save to apply the change.

Real ID will automatically embed the ID verification flow within your store's order confirmation page, no coding or theme changes required.

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You'll need to define one or more triggers for Real ID to start verifying customer IDs.

Configuring triggers​

Triggers control which orders require ID verification. You can enable triggers like high-value orders, address mismatches, specific products, and more.

See all available triggers →

You can also exclude certain orders from verification — for example, already-verified customers, in-store pickup orders, or specific payment gateways.

The ID check process​

Real ID will send ID checks to orders that meet one or more of your triggers rules.

If the customer is able to finish ID verification successfully, they're automatically tagged with ID verification completed.

However, if their photos are rejected either due to missing fields, blurry photos, fail to meet age restrictions, or additional rules, then they're tagged with ID verification failed.

Failed IDs are shown within the Real ID app as In Review, this filter allows your team to review failed submissions and potentially approve them.

Below is a diagram that shows the complete lifecycle of an ID check.

How the customer completes ID verification

Real ID will sync tags, notes as well as metafields on both the order and customer during the ID check lifecycle.

If your store is running on WooCommerce, then Real ID will sync the ID check status as metadata on the customer and order as well as optionally override the order's status.

Where the ID check is displayed​

If you have the after checkout flow enabled and the order triggers an ID check then Real ID will display the ID check in the order status page within your site automatically.

It will also send the ID check via email and/or SMS if the customer provided their phone number during checkout.

Adding the Real ID checkout block​

With Shopify Checkout Extensibility enabled, you can add the Real ID checkout block to your Thank You and Order Status pages to prompt for ID verification after the customer has placed their order.

To add ID verification to the order status page, open the Online Store sales channel from the left hand menu, and select Themes:

Opening the themes section from the Shopify online store sales channel

Now let's open the Theme Editor by selecting the Customize button:

Opening the Shopify theme editor by clicking the Customize button in the Themes section in the Shopify Online Store sales channel.

Once the theme editor is loaded, click the top dropdown to select the Checkout & Customer Accounts page:

Opening the checkout and customer accounts page in the Shopify Theme Editor

You should now see a sample checkout page loaded. At the top of the page click the dropdown and select Order status:

Select the Order Status page from the page dropdown menu again

Then at the bottom left hand side of the page, you'll see an Add app block prompt. Click this button to show a menu of available blocks to add to the page:

Add app block available at the bottom of the page

Then, select the ID verification block:

Select the ID verification block to add it to your Order Status page

Now drag it to the top of the Order details layout section on the page:

Moving the ID verification app block to the very top of the Order Status page in your Shopify online store.

And that's it! Your customers will see a prompt to verify their ID if their order meets one of your trigger conditions, or if you've set up a Shopify Flow workflow to create ID checks for them.

Legacy classic checkout

If your store still uses Shopify's classic checkout, Real ID will automatically inject into the .section__content selector on the order status page without any theme changes. However, Shopify is migrating all stores to Checkout Extensibility. We recommend upgrading to take advantage of the checkout block approach above.

Frequently Asked Questions​

What happens if a repeat customer makes another order? Will they be prompted to verify their ID again?​

In Shopify, Real ID leaves a special tag on all customers that have completed ID verification. If this tag ID check completed is present on the customer's profile, they will not be prompted to verify their ID again.

In WooCommerce, Real ID updates meta on the customer account that they have completed ID verification.

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Please note, it's uncommon but unverified customers can place multiple orders.

This will trigger multiple unique ID checks, one for each order placed. However, when the customer verifies their ID with at least one of these orders, then the customer will be verified for future ID checks. But the other in progress ID checks are independent and will need to be comleted or manually approved by your staff.

What does this order status page look like when a customer fails ID verification?​

If a customer fails their ID check, whether automatically or manually by you or your team - they will be notified by email and if they return to the order status page they'll be presented with a warning screen.

Then your staff will be able to review the photos and accept or reject them.

Can customers automatically retry after they've failed their ID check?​

By default, no customers will not be able to redo the ID check. This is by design, so that way you don't have uncontrolled costs on your ID check usage.

If you wish, you can send new ID checks to customers that fail on their first attempt manually. Or you can enable automatic retries and limit how many retries a customer is given.

Will my customers still be notified by email or SMS after checkout as well?​

Yes. Real ID will still send a notifications to your customer containing their ID verification link. The same ID check is delivered over your order status page, or by email and SMS.

I'm using Shopify Classic Checkout, can I still use Real ID?​

Yes, Real ID is compatible with the classic Shopify checkout. It will automatically inject the ID verification prompt into the order status page without any theme changes. However, Shopify is migrating all stores to Checkout Extensibility — we recommend upgrading and using the checkout block approach described in the setup section above.

Can I require ID verification during checkout, before the order is placed?​

Yes! If you'd like customers to verify their ID before they can submit their order, see our during checkout guide. This requires Shopify Plus with Checkout Extensibility enabled.

I don't see a trigger that I need​

See the full list of available triggers. If none of the built-in triggers fit your use case, on Shopify you can use our Shopify Flow integration to create ID checks based on any condition. On any platform, our REST API and JS SDK can be used to create ID checks programmatically.

If you need help setting up a specific trigger for your business, please contact us.

If I switch from before checkout to after checkout ID verification, will my past verified customers still be remembered?​

Yes, Real ID will track your customers ID checks even if you decide to switch between before or after checkout flows. There are some minor differences on how ID checks are tracked between the flows, but your verified customers will still be remembered even if you switch between the before or after checkout flows.