Setting up your online store

After you've set up Shopify, most of the work is done:

• Your online store automatically uses your Shopify settings for checkout and order fulfillment.
• Your products are automatically displayed on your online store.
• Your online store is automatically assigned a unique myshopify.com domain name, or website address. You domain name is based on either the store name that you entered when you signed up or the domain name that was autogenerated if you did not enter a store name at that time. You can choose a new myshopify.com domain name after you sign up for Shopify to display in the address bar to customers. You can only change the myshopify.com domain one time. Learn more about choosing a new .myshopify.com domain name.

There are a few steps you should follow before launching to make sure your online store is ready for customers.

Grow your business

If you need help setting up or customizing your online store, then you can hire a Shopify Partner. Learn more about hiring a Shopify Partner.

Edit the theme defaults

Your online store uses a default theme, Dawn, to lay out content. You can choose a different theme, but either way you will need to edit the theme's default sections using the theme editor.

You can also change the General settings for the theme to customize colors and fonts to match your business.

Grow your business

Looking for an in-depth course on online store design? Visit Shopify Academy to browse free educational courses designed to help you build your business. Learn more about brand identity, store customization, marketing, and more from industry experts and established Shopify entrepreneurs.

Link to store policies

You should link to store policies from your online store navigation so that your customers will know what to expect for order fulfillment and returns.

Preview your store

Before you launch your store, you can preview your storefront. In your Shopify admin, navigate to the Sales channels section and hover your mouse pointer over Online store. Then, click the eye icon that's displayed.

The preview opens in a new tab and displays your store as it would be displayed to a customer. To return to the Shopify admin, return to your previous tab or click Navigate to admin at the bottom of the screen.

Customize and launch your online store

Launch your online store and open for business by removing the password. You can further customize your online store, but it is best to start selling as soon as possible. If you launch your online store, then you can start promoting your products and working to increase traffic to your store. Then you can use reports and analytics to review how customers are interacting with your online store and make improvements based on that information.

There are a few things you can do to customize your online store:

• Use a custom domain to help customers find your online store.
• Choose a different theme and customize it for your business.
• Upload images or other files to use in your theme, product details, webpages, and blog posts.
• Add a webpage with store information.
• Add a blog to share news and other content.
• Group your products into collections to help customers discover them.
• Set up menus to help your customers find their way around your online store.
• Add chat to online store pages by installing Shopify Inbox.

Upgrading from Shopify Lite

The Online Store sales channel is automatically added to your Shopify admin in the Sales channels list, unless you are on a Shopify Lite plan. If you update your plan from Shopify Lite, then you can add the Online Store sales channel.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Select the Uninstalled tab.
3. Click ⋯ beside Online Store.
4. Click Install.

In this section

• Setting your online store preferences