New vs legacy customer accounts: what furniture stores should do

Shopify deprecated legacy customer accounts on February 26, 2026. That announcement did not mean every existing account stopped working that day. It did mean the older account system was no longer available to new adopters, with feature updates and technical support ending.

For a furniture store, plan the move around customers who return during a long build or to find an earlier order. Shopify’s deprecation announcement said a final sunset date would be announced later in 2026. Use the planning time to test the experience and preserve the useful parts of it.

Treat deprecation as a reason to plan

Deprecation means the older approach is being retired, not that a particular customer’s order has been canceled or deleted. Keep those ideas separate when speaking to staff.

There is no benefit in telling customers that “accounts are going away” when the task is to move them to the supported account experience. The useful message explains how they will sign in and where they will find their information.

Shopify’s developer announcement also warns that legacy account customizations need attention. Apps relying on old Liquid account pages do not simply become compatible with the newer system.

You do not have to invent an immediate deadline before Shopify announces one. You should have an owner, an inventory of dependencies, and a planned test rather than waiting for a busy weekend to expose the missing piece.

Understand what changes for the customer

Legacy accounts use an email address and password. The newer customer accounts support email verification codes instead, alongside other supported sign-in options. Shopify’s account comparison lists the differences.

Both account versions include order history and status views. The newer system also supports functions such as store credit, self-serve returns, B2B, and app-based customization, subject to the store’s setup.

For furniture, the practical question is which of those functions makes the customer’s next visit easier. A person waiting for a sectional may want their specification and progress. A returning trade buyer may want to find the order for a particular project.

The familiar password reset is one task the newer email-code route avoids. Give staff a simple explanation of the new sign-in process so they can help without asking customers to remember an old password from the last dining table.

Choose the account features that suit your store

Shopify’s Summer ’25 release added account support for Markets, using the store’s domain for sign-in, and hiding the Buy again button. Markets keeps the customer’s country, language, and company location consistent between the storefront and account pages.

The Winter ’26 release added Google and Facebook sign-in, customer email changes verified with a one-time passcode, and web pixels on account pages. These are separate choices: a different sign-in method affects customer access, while pixels serve the store’s measurement needs.

These changes deserve a furniture-specific review. A one-click reorder is useful for some repeat purchases. It deserves more care for a sofa whose fabric, dimensions, or availability needs a fresh conversation.

Use the store’s branding to make the sign-in page recognizable. Review the sender email for verification codes, too. A customer who cannot find the code will call the showroom, not the person who configured the account page.

Enable functions because the store can support the resulting job. Self-serve returns still need the store’s return process, and trade access still needs the correct customer and company setup.

Inventory every legacy customization

List the account pages, menus, app additions, links, and theme changes customers use. Include the quiet items: a trade application link, a document download, a contact instruction, or a project reference.

For each item, decide whether a native feature, compatible app block, or clear link replaces it. Shopify’s upgrade guide explains that legacy customizations do not carry over automatically.

A duplicate theme can protect theme work, but it is not the whole test environment for customer accounts. Account configuration is managed separately. Review the checkout and accounts configuration as well as any theme navigation that leads to it.

Ask the colleague who answers customer calls what people actually use. The most useful account feature may be a plain link that the original designer barely remembers adding.

Test history with a returning customer record

Do not assume that a general “order history supported” feature list proves your particular returning-customer experience. Test a sample customer with earlier orders before publishing the change.

Check the email address used for the original order, the customer record being authenticated, and any duplicate records that could divide the history. Then open the expected earlier order from the account.

If an order is missing, investigate the identity and association before creating another customer record or telling the customer the history is lost. A successful sign-in and the right order list are separate acceptance checks.

Keep the result of this test with the migration notes. Staff should know what was checked and how to escalate a customer who cannot see an earlier purchase.

Use a room order as the migration example

Say a sample customer bought a dining table and later requested a sofa quote. The table has been delivered; the sofa is still under discussion. This illustrative case tests more than a new customer with an empty history.

Follow the customer from the store’s navigation to sign-in, then to the earlier order. Check the documents and contact route your store provides. Separately, follow the email link to the sofa quote.

The customer should not have to guess whether “My account,” “My orders,” and “View quote” are three versions of the same place. Give each route a clear purpose and remove links that lead to an obsolete page.

The order-status-page guide covers the related post-checkout surface. Review it alongside the account migration so the two experiences do not contradict one another.

Keep the emailed OrderPilot route easy to find

OrderPilot’s portal can be opened from the store’s order email without requiring a storefront login. That route gives customers access to their quotes and orders while the Shopify account experience is being reviewed.

The portal supports reviewing the record, signing, paying an enabled amount, messaging the store, and asking for a change. Staff review change requests before applying them. If the customer cannot find the email, they can request a fresh portal link. Staff should know that route and the email address associated with the customer’s record. The fresh-link guide explains the recovery path. Keep it easy to explain over the phone; “find the message from several weeks ago” is not much of a service process.

Test trade buyers by project and identity

A designer ordering for several clients needs clear project references and the correct account association. Start with a sample trade buyer and several distinct records, then test what that person can see.

Do not assume a shared office email means every colleague should have identical access. Establish who is buying, which company or customer record owns the purchase, and which contact receives the order communication.

Within OrderPilot, use recognizable order references and the customer’s portal records to keep the conversation tied to the right sale. A project name is more memorable than asking the designer to recall a sequence of order numbers.

The customer portal guide shows how quotes, messages, and approvals remain connected. Test the trade buyer’s route separately from a retail customer’s single purchase.

Give staff a short migration checklist

Before switching:

• Assign an owner and list the old account customizations.
• Choose the supported replacement for each useful function.
• Review branding, navigation, and verification-code delivery.
• Test a returning customer with earlier orders.
• Test a trade customer and multiple project records.
• Confirm the OrderPilot email and fresh-link routes.
• Give staff a plain explanation and a contact for exceptions.

The made-to-order Shopify guide puts accounts in the context of the full sale. The migration is successful when the customer can find the right record and continue the conversation without starting over.

Sources

1. Legacy customer accounts are deprecated — Shopify Changelog, February 26, 2026.
2. Legacy customer accounts are now deprecated — Shopify developer changelog, February 26, 2026.
3. Upgrading to customer accounts — Shopify Help Center.
4. Customer accounts and legacy customer accounts — Shopify Help Center.
5. Summer ’25 Editions — Shopify, 2025.
6. Winter ’26 Editions — Shopify, Winter ’26.