Do I need my customer's phone number at checkout?

In September 2026, we made some internal adjustments to how shipping is handled. As part of this, we now work more closely with local shipping carriers in your customers' regions, in addition to our existing carrier partners. This change is designed to make deliveries faster and more reliable for your end customers.

To make sure both you and, more importantly, your customers get the best possible shipping experience, we recommend collecting the customer's phone number as a mandatory field at your checkout.

What has changed?

• As of September 2026, we've adjusted how shipments are routed, working more closely with local shipping carriers to speed up delivery.
• Local carriers frequently use the recipient's phone number to coordinate delivery — for example, to send delivery notifications, arrange redelivery, or resolve address issues quickly.
• Without a phone number, carriers may not be able to reach your customer if something goes wrong during delivery, which can lead to delays or return tot sender.

Why this matters for US orders

All US orders ship with Maersk, which then hands the parcel to one of four last-mile partners for final delivery: OnTrac, Amazon, SpeedX or USPS.

All four of these carriers require a phone number to complete delivery reliably. Make the phone field mandatory in your checkout — without it, delivery may be delayed or the parcel may be returned.

The last-mile partner is assigned based on the delivery address and region, and is not known before the order is dispatched — so there is no order for which the phone number can safely be left out.

What should I do?

Make sure your checkout process on connected platforms collects the customer's phone number, and consider making it a mandatory field.

• See Shopify's options here
• See WooCommerce's options here
• Always include a phone number when placing manual or sample orders through your dashboard.