How to start a Shopify Store

Starting a Shopify store: a general checklist and guide

Our checklist will walk you through each step of getting started with Shopify. These steps will guide you through the process of setting up, opening and marketing your online store. You might find it useful to print or download this checklist as a PDF so that you can refer to it during the installation process.

It’s important to know your objectives before you begin setting up your Shopify store. Pose some basic questions to yourself about your store. Do you want to sell your products both online and in-person, for example? Do you want to sell your products on Facebook or other social media platforms? This can assist you in concentrating your attention and expediting the setup process. You should also consider which pricing plan best suits your requirements. One of the best advantages of Shopify, that marketing agencies such as Benlola often remind you, is that you don’t have to choose a plan until your 14-day free trial is over.

Create an online Shopify store

Before you start adding products to your Shopify store, you’ll need to fill out some information about yourself and your business. For your product listings and customer transactions, you’ll need to establish some basic guidelines. You must also set up your domain in order for your customers to be able to find your store online.

• Find experts to help you with taxes and laws that can affect your business.
• You can migrate your eCommerce website to Shopify if you already have one.
• Select the sales channels that you want to use.
• If you want to sell in person, learn more about Shopify’s point-of-sale hardware.
• Consider which pricing plan you require.
• Consider using Exchange Marketplace to purchase an existing Shopify store.

Shopify Exchange Marketplace

Exchange Marketplace is a simple and secure way to buy or sell a business over the internet. Shopify assists both parties in completing the sale if you browse our listings and find something that’s right for you. You can use Exchange to search for pre-made online stores with high traffic, semi-automated drop shipping businesses, or pre-made Starter Stores that include everything you need to get started selling. The exchange has attracted thousands of buyers looking for eCommerce businesses of all sizes since its launch.

Set up your Shopify Online Store

Before you start adding products to your Shopify store, you will need to fill out some information about yourself and your business. For your product listings and customer transactions, you’ll need to establish some basic guidelines. You must also set up your domain in order for your customers to be able to find your store online.

• Log in to your Shopify account.
• Protect your Shopify store with a password.
• Give your store a name.
• Choose a legal business name and address for your company.
• Fill in your billing details.
• Set up a payment processor.
• Set your store’s default currency.
• For your store listings, choose a default weight unit.
• Configure your shipping options.
• Set up local pick-up and delivery.
• Prepare your taxes.
• Configure your payment processors.
• If necessary, get staff for your store.
• Create and set up your domain.
• Look through the Shopify App Store to see which apps might be useful for your company.

Create a plan and organize for your online Shopify store.

Two of the most important aspects of your online store are the appearance of your store and the types of products you’ll sell. Try out a few different themes to see which one you like best, and then start selling your products. Adding and organizing your product listings can be the most time-consuming step of setting up a Shopify store, depending on how many products you plan to offer. Allow plenty of time to enter your products, organize them into groups, and enter the necessary tax and shipping information.

• With a theme, you can make your website look fantastic.
• Make your theme unique by customizing it.
• Add your products to the store.
• Sort products into categories.
• Make your menu and navigation unique.
• Add a blog to your store’s website.

Test your Shopify store.

Place some test orders before launching your online store to see how the checkout process works.

• Test successful and failed transactions
• Test refunding and canceling orders
• Test fulfilling and partially fulfilling orders
• Test archiving successful orders
• Learn about Shopify’s fraud analysis settings

Open your online Shopify store and start selling

You’re ready for people to see your online store now that you’ve chosen a plan and tested it. You can change the password for your online store and add a chat widget to make it easier for visitors to ask questions.

Promote your Shopify store

You must promote your online store after it has been launched. You can boost your store’s visibility by including information that search engines will use and promoting it in all of the appropriate places.

• Define your home page meta description (metadata)
• Promote your store
• Create a marketing plan
• Set up Shopify Email and use it for email marketing
• Improve Search Engine Optimization on your store
• Use discount codes and the sale option
• Customize your dropped/abandoned cart emails
• Read and engage with your customers via Shopify Inbox

We hope this post will help you open and run a successful Shopify store. If you need help or have questions feel free to contact us!