Shopify Plus plan go live guide
No matter what your launch journey on the Shopify Plus plan is, it all leads to a go-live date, which is the time your customers can finally shop on your new store.
This guide offers resources for the preparation, execution, and post go-live activities you should carry out for a successful launch on Shopify Plus. This checklist is intended to be used in addition to the general Shopify Plus plan launch checklist. Each topic includes additional context and resource links. You might find it helpful to print this checklist or to download it as a PDF so that you can refer to it throughout the launch day process.
If you need help, then contact the Shopify Plus Support team.
On this page
Prepare to go live guide
Refer to the following sections as you prepare to go live:
- Order flow check
- Integrations check
- Analytics setup check
- DNS settings and servers checks
- Backing up data
Order flow check
Thoroughly check your order flow by placing test orders. Refer to the test order checklist to learn about what scenarios to consider when testing your order flow.
Integrations check
Ensure all your integrations are working properly. A careful review of your integrations will make sure that you go live with a robust, well-integrated tech stack, and help to avoid issues after launch.
The exact details of what you need to test in this phase depend on what systems and apps you have connected to Shopify. You might have a combination of Shopify-supported apps and integrations and third-party apps and integrations.
Analytics setup check
Any data tracking that you want to activate should be set up.
DNS settings and servers checks
Find out the following information at least four weeks ahead of your desired go-live date:
About 1 week before your go-live date:
The Shopify Plus plan provides an SSL certificate with your subscription at no additional cost. Existing SSL certificates from another provider can’t be transferred to Shopify. Please take this into account as you prepare to go live.
Backing up data
Shopify does not offer an option to back-up your store data. If, for example, you delete all the products on your store, then there is no way to restore this data.
For this reason we recommend that you make plans to back up your store data manually or with a third-party app. This is especially important when you have a large team or integrations that can impact your store’s data, such as products, inventory, customers, pages, or themes.
Go live checklist
You should thoroughly test all aspects of your store and its integrations with other systems. This checklist will help you to confirm that everything is in place before making the switch to Shopify Plus.
Refer to the following sections:
- Data and content migration
- Organizing data
- Front-end
- Apps and integrations
- Discounts and price rules
- Store settings
- Checkout and order creation
- Automation
- Order management
- Expansion stores
- DNS settings
- Analytics
- Going live
Data and content migration
Ensure that you've imported or created the following content:
Organizing data
Confirm your content is organized to your preference by checking the following:
Front-end
Verify that the following areas of your storefront look and perform how you want them to:
Apps and integrations
Test the following integrations to ensure they're functioning properly:
When applicable, you should also uninstall any apps that you installed but decided not to use:
Discounts and price rules
Test the following to confirm they're behaving as expected:
Store settings
Verify the following settings for your stores:
Checkout and order creation
Test these scenarios to ensure proper checkout functionality:
Automation
Test these automations to ensure proper functionality:
Order management
Test these functions to ensure orders are working as expected:
Expansion stores
Verify the following:
DNS settings
Confirm the following DNS settings:
Analytics
Verify that these analytics tracking systems are in place and working:
Going live
Complete the following tasks:
Go live
When you’re ready to go live, follow these steps to launch your new store:
- Change the A record of your root domain and point it to Shopify’s IP address.
- Change the CNAME record to your Shopify-hosted domain.
- Connect your domain in Shopify.
- Set your primary domain in Shopify.
- Remove your online store password.
Next steps
Refer to the Shopify Plus plan launch checklist's After launching your online store section for a checklist of what to do after you've launched your store.