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Guest Wishlists

Guest wishlists allow visitors to save products without creating an account. This reduces friction and helps capture interest from customers who aren't ready to sign up yet.

Updated this week

Guest Wishlists

Guest wishlists allow visitors to save products without creating an account. This reduces friction and helps capture interest from customers who aren’t ready to sign up yet.

How It Works

When guest wishlists are enabled:

  1. Visitors can add items to a wishlist without logging in

  2. A unique guest ID is stored in their browser

  3. Their wishlist persists across browser sessions

  4. Optionally, you can prompt them to enter their email

Enabling Guest Wishlists

  1. Open the Wishlist app in Shopify Admin

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Find Storefront Settings

  4. Toggle Enable guest wishlists ON

  5. Click Save

Email Capture

When a guest adds their first item, you can prompt them to enter their email address. This allows you to:

  • Send wishlist reminder emails

  • Follow up with marketing campaigns

  • Help guests recover their wishlist if they clear their browser data

The email capture modal appears after the first item is added. Guests can: - Enter their email to save it - Skip for now (the prompt won’t appear again during that session)

Accessing the Wishlist

Guests can access their wishlist through:

  1. Quick Access Widget - The wishlist icon in your header or floating button

  2. Direct URL - The wishlist page URL (default: /a/wishlist)

Their guest ID is automatically included, so they see their saved items.

Converting to Customer Accounts

When a guest creates an account or logs in:

  • Their guest wishlist is automatically merged with their customer wishlist

  • No items are lost in the transition

  • This happens seamlessly in the background

Data Persistence

Guest wishlists are stored:

  • On our servers - Linked to the guest’s unique ID

  • Guest ID in browser - Stored in localStorage

If a guest clears their browser data: - They lose access to their wishlist - Unless they provided an email (they can recover via the email link)

Best Practices

  1. Enable email capture - Protects against lost wishlists and enables follow-up

  2. Encourage account creation - Remind guests that accounts make wishlists permanent

  3. Add login links - Make it easy for guests to create accounts

Disabling Guest Wishlists

If you prefer to require login:

  1. Go to Settings

  2. Toggle Enable guest wishlists OFF

  3. Click Save

Non-logged-in users will see a login prompt when trying to add items.

This is useful if you: - Require customer accounts for your business model - Want to focus exclusively on registered customers - Prefer to keep wishlist data linked to verified accounts

Related Articles
Save For Later
Translations
Quick Start
Confirmation Styles
Wishlist Page
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