A coffee roaster ordered 2,000 labels in March: 3 by 2 inches, matte stock, their own artwork uploaded. They run out every couple of months. Today they open their account and click Buy again. What lands in their cart?
The label product. Not the size, not the matte stock, not the quantity, and not the artwork file. Shopify's Buy again button adds the product variant and drops everything the customer configured.
The fix is to turn Buy again off and give customers a reorder button that brings the whole job back, artwork included. Appify Custom Product Options does that in the customer account, in the order confirmation email, and for your own team in the app.
Why does Shopify's Buy again button drop custom options?
Buy again only knows about variants. A variant is a fixed choice, like Small or Oak.
A configured product carries much more than that. Size, stock, finish, quantity, the artwork the customer uploaded: each is saved on the order line, outside the variant. Buy again leaves all of it behind.
Shopify staff confirmed on the developer forum that the team knows about it and put it on the backlog, with no date for a fix.
What does the customer end up with?
The product, with none of their choices and none of their artwork. To get their last order back they have to remember every setting, find the original file, and upload it a second time. Or email you to ask what they ordered last time and what you printed it on.
Some won't bother, and you won't hear about it. The customer never complains, they just don't come back. That's the reorder you never see in a report.
Buy again vs Appify Custom Product Options, side by side
| What comes back on reorder | Shopify Buy again | Appify Custom Product Options |
|---|---|---|
| The product itself | ✓ | ✓ |
| Every option they configured | ✗ | ✓ |
| Their uploaded artwork and design | ✗ | ✓ |
| The price those choices set | ✗ | ✓ |
What should you use instead?
Appify Custom Product Options saves each customized line's configuration when it's added to the cart. Three reorder surfaces read it back.
1. Appify Reorder in customer accounts
The Appify Reorder block gives signed-in customers a Reorder button on their Orders page and on each order's status page. It rebuilds the configured product, options included, in their cart.
Setup takes two steps in Shopify's checkout and customer accounts editor, on the Orders page:
- Turn off Buy again. Open Settings (the gear icon), scroll to Buy again button, and turn off Allow customers to reorder.
- Add Appify Reorder. Open the Apps sidebar and add Appify Reorder to Orders and Order status. Save.
The editor preview often hides app blocks, so check the live account page after you save.
2. Reorder this item in the order confirmation email
Every order confirmation can carry a Reorder this item link under each customized product, right below the options the customer chose. One click rebuilds that line in their cart and adds it to whatever is already there.
You don't have to find the right spot in Shopify's email code yourself. Copy the template into Update with AI on the app dashboard, and it hands back the email with the options and reorder link already placed.
3. Staff reorder from the Orders tab
When a customer asks for the same order again, your team can rebuild it. The app's Orders tab lists every order with configured products, searchable by order number, email, or name.
Open the order and click Reorder on a line, or Add Order to Cart to rebuild the whole order, regular products included. It's a quick way to repeat a wholesale order.
The artwork comes back with it
On a print job the file is the order. A reorder brings back the artwork the customer uploaded and the design they built in the editor, not just the size and the stock. They don't go looking for the original file, and you don't chase them for it.
If this run needs a change, a new date on a label or a tweaked logo, Edit options reopens everything in place. It's a small edit instead of starting the job over.
The configuration survives the order. Size, stock, quantity and the artwork they uploaded: the customer gets back the job you already printed, not a blank product.
What does the customer see when they reorder?
From the email link, a short "Restoring your cart…" message on your store, then the cart page with their product rebuilt. Fee and shipping-weight rows come back with it, the same way they did the first time.
What if you've changed the calculator since the first order? The customer sees their filled-in options and confirms them against the current calculator before the line is added.
And if they want a change this time, a bigger label or a different stock, Edit options in the cart reopens the calculator with everything filled in. They change one thing and update the line.
Which products can customers reorder this way?
Any product built with an Appify Custom Product Options calculator. Print work reorders the most often: labels, business cards, banners, packaging and stickers, where the same job runs again every few months. The same applies to made-to-measure goods like blinds and flooring, and to personalized gifts with engraving.
The same configuration also powers the rest of the order's life. Your team sees every option in the Orders tab, and a Restore your cart link can rebuild abandoned carts with their options intact. That one runs before the sale rather than after it: abandoned cart recovery that keeps product customizations.
What happens when you change your pricing or options?
Reorders read the calculator you have published now, not a frozen copy from the original order. Raise a rate, add a stock, retire a size, and the next reorder prices at today's numbers.
The customer isn't dropped into a blank form when that happens. Their previous choices come back filled in, and they confirm them against the current calculator before the line reaches the cart.
That matters for repeat business, because the usual way to handle a reorder is to duplicate the old order, and duplicated orders quietly keep running at last year's prices.
For the pricing side, read how to price complex custom products on Shopify. Selling in bulk? Here's how a quantity discount calculator for custom products works, so repeat orders price correctly at volume.
FAQ
Does Shopify's Buy again keep line item properties?
No. Buy again adds the product variant only, so custom options saved on the order line are left out.
Can I hide the Buy again button?
Yes. In the checkout and customer accounts editor, open Settings on the Orders page and turn off Allow customers to reorder.
Where do customers find the Reorder button?
On their Orders page and on each order's status page in Shopify customer accounts, added by the Appify Reorder block.
Does Reorder this item empty the customer's cart?
No. It adds the rebuilt product to whatever is already in the cart.
What happens if I changed the calculator since the order?
The customer reviews their filled-in options before the line is added, so the reorder matches your current calculator.
Can my team reorder for a customer?
Yes. Open the order in the app's Orders tab and click Reorder on a line or Add Order to Cart for the whole order.
Can customers change something before they reorder?
Yes. Once the product is in the cart, Edit options reopens the calculator with their choices filled in.
Last order, back in the cart, options and all.
Whatever you sell, however you price it · The last options app you'll shop for