General checklist for starting a new Shopify store

This checklist outlines all the steps that you need to take to get started with Shopify. These steps will help guide you create, open, and promote your online store. 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 setup process.

Before you start

Before you start setting up your Shopify store, it's important to understand your goals. Ask yourself basic questions about your store. For example, do you want to sell your products both online and in person? Do you want to sell your products through social media channels like Facebook? This can help you to focus your attention and speed up your setup process. You might also want to think about which pricing plan meets your needs. However, you don't need to choose a plan until the end of your trial.

Set up your online store

Before you stock your Shopify store with products, you need to enter some information about yourself and your store. You need to decide on some basic standards for your product listings and customer transactions. Also, you need to set up your domain to make sure that your customers can find your store online.

Organize your online store

The way that your store looks and the kinds of products that you're going to sell are two of the most important parts of your online store. Try a few different themes to see which one looks best, and then add some products to sell. Depending on how many products you plan to offer, adding and organizing your product listings can be the most time-consuming step of setting up a Shopify store. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to add your products, to organize them into groups, and to set the necessary tax and shipping information.

Test your online store

Before you launch your online store, place some test orders to see how the checkout process works.

Open your online store

After you've picked a plan and tested your online store, you're ready for people to see it. You can remove your online store password, and add a chat widget to make it easy for online store visitors to ask questions.

Add other online sales channels

After you launch your online store, your business might benefit from adding some other online channels to your Shopify store. There are several online channels that you can add to your Shopify admin when selling online.

Promote your online store

After you launch your online store, you need to promote it. You can improve your store's visibility by adding the information that will be used by search engines and by promoting your store in all of the appropriate spaces.

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