Select

A simple, reliable way to let customers choose one value from a list.

Select uses the browser’s native dropdown, so the picker is rendered by the customer’s browser or device. This makes it familiar and easy to use, especially on mobile.

The trade-off is that native dropdowns offer limited customization. You cannot fully style them or display colors and images inside the list.

If you need more control over the appearance or want to show richer choices, use Dropdown instead. See the comparison below.

What customers see

A closed field shows either the placeholder or the currently selected value. When the customer selects it, the device opens its native picker — typically a list on desktop and a wheel or bottom sheet on mobile.

Basic

Setting	What it does
Label / Name	The customer-facing label and the name stored with the order
Required field	Block add to cart until something is chosen.
Hidden label	Hide the label.
Option values	The list of choices, each with an optional price. See Working with option values.
Allow multiple	Let the customer choose several.
Placeholder	The unselected prompt. Start as -- Please select --.
Help text	Guidance that stays visible.
Default value	Preselect one of the values.
Conditional logic	Show or hide based on other choices.

Advanced

Setting	What it does
Add-on quantity / Quantity	How the add-on scales with quantity.
Prefix / Prefix icon / Prefix text	An icon or text at the start of the field.
Help text position	Where the help text sits.
HTML class / Column width	Styling hook and field width.

What Select does not have

Missing	Because
Swatch style	A native dropdown cannot draw colors or images inside itself.
Search suggestion	The device's picker has its own behavior; the app cannot add a search box to it.
Min and max selections	Not offered on this type, even with Allow multiple on.
Out of stock options	Out-of-stock values cannot be blurred or struck through in a native picker.
Not allow deselect	Deselection is handled by the device.
Personalizer	Not supported on this type.

If you need any of the features above, use Dropdown instead.

Select or Dropdown?

	Select	Dropdown
Rendered by	The customer's device	The app
Matches your design settings	No	Yes
Colors or images per entry	No	Yes
Search	No	Yes
Min and max selections	No	Yes
Out-of-stock display	No	Yes
Personalizer	No	Yes
Feels native on mobile	Yes	Less so

Use Select when the list is short and simple, and you prefer the native look and feel of the customer’s device. Use Dropdown when you need more styling or richer content.

Add-on pricing

Prices are set for each option value in the values table’s Price column. Each value supports all three pricing modes, while the option-level Add-on quantity dropdown controls how the charge is calculated.

Because Select cannot display out-of-stock states, avoid using it for values linked to limited inventory. A customer could select a sold-out value without seeing a warning. Use Dropdown instead.

See Add-on pricing.

Examples

A short, plain list

Setting	Value
Label / Name	Card style
Option values	Plain, Ribbon, Foiled
Placeholder	Choose a card style
Required field	On

A country or region list

For a long, simple list with no prices, Select is fine. For lists with more than about 30 entries, consider Dropdown with search to make finding a value easier.

A quantity band

Values 1-10, 11-50, 51+, no prices, used to route the enquiry rather than to charge.

Notes

• Available on all plans.

• Works in Shopify POS.

• No Personalizer support.

• Values appear in the same order as the values table.

• The selected value is stored in the order as text.

• Very long lists are supported, but the device’s native picker is the only way to navigate them. Search is not available.