Liquid Objects Explained: Your Gateway to Shopify Data

Objects are the foundation of Liquid. They’re containers that hold all the data about your Shopify store: products, collections, customers, cart contents, and more. Understanding how to access and use objects is essential for building dynamic Shopify themes.

What Are Liquid Objects?

In Liquid, an object is a container for related data. Each object has properties (also called attributes) that you can access to display information.

{{ product.title }}

In this example:

product is the object
title is a property of that object
{{ }} outputs the value

Dot Notation

You access object properties using dot notation: the object name, followed by a dot, followed by the property name:

{{ shop.name }}
{{ product.price }}
{{ collection.description }}

You can chain multiple properties to access nested data:

{{ product.featured_image.src }}
{{ product.variants.first.price }}
{{ customer.default_address.city }}

The Most Important Objects

Let’s explore the objects you’ll use most frequently.

The `shop` Object

The shop object contains information about the store itself:

{{ shop.name }}              {# Store name #}
{{ shop.email }}             {# Store email #}
{{ shop.domain }}            {# mystore.myshopify.com #}
{{ shop.url }}               {# Full store URL #}
{{ shop.currency }}          {# Store currency code (USD, EUR, etc.) #}
{{ shop.money_format }}      {# How money is formatted #}

Common use case: Displaying the store name in the header:

<header>
  <a href="/" class="logo">{{ shop.name }}</a>
</header>

The `product` Object

The product object is available on product pages and contains everything about a product:

{# Basic Info #}
{{ product.title }}
{{ product.description }}
{{ product.vendor }}
{{ product.type }}
{{ product.handle }}          {# URL-friendly identifier #}

{# Pricing #}
{{ product.price }}           {# Price in cents #}
{{ product.price | money }}   {# Formatted price #}
{{ product.compare_at_price }}
{{ product.price_min }}
{{ product.price_max }}

{# Availability #}
{{ product.available }}       {# true or false #}
{{ product.variants.size }}   {# Number of variants #}

{# Images #}
{{ product.featured_image }}
{{ product.images }}          {# Array of all images #}

{# Metadata #}
{{ product.tags }}            {# Array of tags #}
{{ product.collections }}     {# Collections containing this product #}

Example: A complete product card:

<article class="product-card">
  {% if product.featured_image %}
    <img
      src="{{ product.featured_image | image_url: width: 400 }}"
      alt="{{ product.featured_image.alt | escape }}"
      loading="lazy"
    >
  {% endif %}

  <h2>{{ product.title }}</h2>
  <p class="vendor">{{ product.vendor }}</p>

  <p class="price">
    {{ product.price | money }}

    {% if product.compare_at_price > product.price %}
      <span class="compare-price">
        {{ product.compare_at_price | money }}
      </span>
    {% endif %}
  </p>

  {% unless product.available %}
    <span class="badge sold-out">Sold Out</span>
  {% endunless %}
</article>

The `collection` Object

The collection object represents a group of products:

{{ collection.title }}
{{ collection.description }}
{{ collection.handle }}
{{ collection.image }}
{{ collection.products }}         {# Array of products #}
{{ collection.products_count }}
{{ collection.all_products_count }}

Example: Looping through collection products:

<h1>{{ collection.title }}</h1>

{% if collection.description != blank %}
  <div class="description">
    {{ collection.description }}
  </div>
{% endif %}

<div class="products-grid">
  {% for product in collection.products %}
    <div class="product-card">
      <a href="{{ product.url }}">
        <img src="{{ product.featured_image | image_url: width: 300 }}">
        <h3>{{ product.title }}</h3>
        <p>{{ product.price | money }}</p>
      </a>
    </div>
  {% endfor %}
</div>

The `cart` Object

The cart object contains the current shopping cart:

{{ cart.item_count }}         {# Number of items #}
{{ cart.total_price | money }}
{{ cart.items }}              {# Array of line items #}
{{ cart.currency }}
{{ cart.note }}               {# Cart note #}

Example: Cart summary:

<div class="cart-summary">
  <p>{{ cart.item_count }} items in your cart</p>

  <ul>
    {% for item in cart.items %}
      <li>
        {{ item.product.title }} - {{ item.variant.title }}
        <span>{{ item.quantity }} × {{ item.price | money }}</span>
      </li>
    {% endfor %}
  </ul>

  <p class="total">
    Total: {{ cart.total_price | money }}
  </p>
</div>

The `customer` Object

The customer object is available when a customer is logged in:

{% if customer %}
  <p>Welcome back, {{ customer.first_name }}!</p>
  <p>Email: {{ customer.email }}</p>
  <p>Total orders: {{ customer.orders_count }}</p>
{% else %}
  <a href="/account/login">Log in</a>
{% endif %}

Important: Always check if customer exists before accessing its properties, as it’s nil when no one is logged in.

Global vs. Template-Specific Objects

Some objects are available everywhere in your theme:

Global Objects	Description
`shop`	Store information
`cart`	Shopping cart
`customer`	Logged-in customer (or nil)
`request`	Current page request info
`settings`	Theme settings
`localization`	Language/currency info

Other objects are only available in specific templates:

Object	Available In
`product`	product.liquid, product.json
`collection`	collection.liquid, collection.json
`article`	article.liquid
`blog`	blog.liquid
`page`	page.liquid

Accessing Array Elements

Many objects contain arrays (lists of items). You can access specific elements:

{# First and last items #}
{{ product.images.first }}
{{ product.images.last }}

{# By index (0-based) #}
{{ product.images[0] }}
{{ product.images[1] }}

{# Size/count #}
{{ product.images.size }}

Example: Display first 3 product images:

{% for image in product.images limit: 3 %}
  <img src="{{ image | image_url: width: 200 }}" alt="{{ image.alt }}">
{% endfor %}

Using Square Bracket Notation

Sometimes you need to access properties dynamically. Use square brackets:

{% assign property_name = "title" %}
{{ product[property_name] }}
{# Same as: {{ product.title }} #}

This is useful when the property name comes from a variable or setting.

Checking if Objects Exist

Always check before accessing nested properties that might not exist:

{# Bad - might error if no image #}
{{ product.featured_image.alt }}

{# Good - check first #}
{% if product.featured_image %}
  {{ product.featured_image.alt }}
{% endif %}

{# Also good - use default filter #}
{{ product.featured_image.alt | default: product.title }}

Common Patterns

Displaying Money

Prices in Shopify are stored in cents. Always use the money filter:

{# Wrong: displays "1999" #}
{{ product.price }}

{# Right: displays "$19.99" #}
{{ product.price | money }}

{# With currency code: "$19.99 USD" #}
{{ product.price | money_with_currency }}

Conditional Display

{% if product.available %}
  {% if product.compare_at_price > product.price %}
    <span class="sale-badge">Sale!</span>
  {% endif %}
{% else %}
  <span class="sold-out-badge">Sold Out</span>
{% endif %}

Handling Empty Values

{# Using blank check #}
{% if product.description != blank %}
  {{ product.description }}
{% else %}
  <p>No description available.</p>
{% endif %}

{# Using default filter #}
{{ product.description | default: "No description available." }}

Practice Exercise

Try creating a product information panel that displays:

Product title and vendor
Price (with sale price if applicable)
Availability status
First 3 tags
Number of variants available

<div class="product-info">
  <h1>{{ product.title }}</h1>
  <p class="vendor">by {{ product.vendor }}</p>

  <div class="pricing">
    {% if product.compare_at_price > product.price %}
      <span class="sale-price">{{ product.price | money }}</span>
      <span class="original-price">{{ product.compare_at_price | money }}</span>
      <span class="discount">
        Save {{ product.compare_at_price | minus: product.price | money }}
      </span>
    {% else %}
      <span class="price">{{ product.price | money }}</span>
    {% endif %}
  </div>

  <p class="availability">
    {% if product.available %}
      ✓ In Stock
    {% else %}
      ✗ Out of Stock
    {% endif %}
  </p>

  {% if product.tags.size > 0 %}
    <div class="tags">
      {% for tag in product.tags limit: 3 %}
        <span class="tag">{{ tag }}</span>
      {% endfor %}
    </div>
  {% endif %}

  <p class="variants">
    {{ product.variants.size }} variant{% if product.variants.size != 1 %}s{% endif %} available
  </p>
</div>

Try it live: Explore product, collection, cart, and customer objects in our Liquid Playground with realistic mock data you can edit.

Key Takeaways

Objects contain data about your store, products, customers, etc.
Use dot notation to access properties: object.property
Global objects (shop, cart, customer) are available everywhere
Template-specific objects (product, collection) are only available in certain templates
Always check for nil before accessing nested properties
Use filters to format output (especially money for prices)

What’s Next?

Now that you understand objects, you’re ready to learn more about Filters, which are powerful tools for transforming and formatting your data.

You might also want to explore the complete object reference in Shopify’s official documentation.

Liquid Objects Explained: Your Gateway to Shopify Data

What Are Liquid Objects?

Dot Notation

The Most Important Objects

The `shop` Object

The `product` Object

The `collection` Object

The `cart` Object

The `customer` Object

Global vs. Template-Specific Objects

Accessing Array Elements

Using Square Bracket Notation

Checking if Objects Exist

Common Patterns

Displaying Money

Conditional Display

Handling Empty Values

Practice Exercise

Key Takeaways

What’s Next?

Finished this lesson?

Discussion

What Are Liquid Objects?

Dot Notation

The Most Important Objects

The shop Object

The product Object

The collection Object

The cart Object

The customer Object

Global vs. Template-Specific Objects

Accessing Array Elements

Using Square Bracket Notation

Checking if Objects Exist

Common Patterns

Displaying Money

Conditional Display

Handling Empty Values

Practice Exercise

Key Takeaways

What’s Next?

Finished this lesson?

Discussion

The `shop` Object

The `product` Object

The `collection` Object

The `cart` Object

The `customer` Object