What do I need to set up before launching a Shopify store?

Before launching a Shopify store, you need: a connected payment processor (Shopify Payments or PayPal), at least one published product with photos and descriptions, a shipping zone with rates, legal pages (privacy policy, terms of service, refund policy), and a custom domain. Shopify's built-in setup checklist in the admin dashboard walks you through each step.

How long does it take to launch a Shopify store?

A basic Shopify store can be launched in 1–3 days if your products and photos are ready. A well-optimised store with custom branding, email flows, and analytics properly set up typically takes 1–2 weeks. Use Shopify's 3-day free trial to build before you pay.

Is Shopify good for beginners?

Yes — Shopify is the most beginner-friendly full-featured ecommerce platform. The setup wizard, built-in payment processing, and free themes mean you can launch a real store without coding knowledge. Over 1 million businesses use Shopify worldwide.

What Shopify plan should I start with?

Start with the Basic Shopify plan ($39/month) — it includes everything a new store needs: unlimited products, 2 staff accounts, discount codes, and Shopify Payments with 2% third-party transaction fees. Upgrade to Shopify ($105/month) once you're doing consistent sales and need lower transaction fees (1%) and professional reports.

Shopify Store Launch Checklist 2026: Everything to Do Before You Go Live

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Short answer

Before going live on Shopify, you need four things confirmed: products published with photos and descriptions, a payment processor connected, shipping zones set, and legal pages in place. This checklist covers all 30+ steps — follow it top to bottom and you won't miss anything critical.

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Starting from scratch? Start your free Shopify trial → — 3 days free, then from $39/month. You can build your entire store during the trial. Also see our free Shopify Launch Checklist PDF — a printable version of this guide.

Phase 1 — Store setup (before you add products)

Account and domain

[ ] Create your Shopify account and choose a plan (Basic covers everything for a new store)
[ ] Connect your custom domain — go to Settings → Domains and either buy through Shopify or connect from Namecheap or another registrar
[ ] Set your primary domain (the one customers will see) and redirect any others to it
[ ] Remove the default .myshopify.com domain from being accessible to the public

Branding and theme

[ ] Upload your logo (Settings → Brand) — minimum 512×512px PNG with transparent background
[ ] Pick a theme — start with a free Shopify theme (Dawn or Crave work for most product types)
[ ] Set your brand colours and fonts in the theme editor to match your logo
[ ] Customise your homepage: hero image, featured products, trust badges

Store policies (required — Shopify checks these before approving payments)

[ ] Privacy Policy — use Shopify's generator: Settings → Policies → Create from template
[ ] Terms of Service — generate from the same screen
[ ] Refund Policy — be clear: what's returnable, how long, who pays return shipping
[ ] Shipping Policy — where you ship, how long delivery takes
Add all four to your footer navigation so they're findable from every page

Phase 2 — Products

Product listings

[ ] Every product has a title, description, and price
[ ] Every product has at least 3 photos — one on white background, one lifestyle, one detail shot
[ ] Product descriptions answer the key questions: size/material/weight, who it's for, what problem it solves
[ ] Variants (size, colour, style) are set up correctly with individual inventory counts
[ ] Compare-at price is set for sale items so the strikethrough price shows
[ ] All products are tagged and organised into collections

Inventory and SKUs

[ ] SKUs entered for every product (required for fulfilment and tracking)
[ ] Stock quantities are correct in Shopify
[ ] If dropshipping: supplier integration is tested and a sample order has been placed

Phase 3 — Payments and checkout

Payment setup

[ ] Shopify Payments activated (Settings → Payments) — eliminates the extra transaction fee and is the fastest payout method. Requires a bank account and government ID verification
[ ] PayPal express checkout enabled as a backup payment option
[ ] Test a real transaction with your own card — place a $1 test order and verify the money reaches your bank account
[ ] Currency set to match your primary market (Settings → Store details → Store currency)

Checkout settings

[ ] Email notifications are working — place a test order and confirm the customer gets an order confirmation email
[ ] "Require phone number" turned off unless your shipping carrier needs it — reduces checkout friction
[ ] Abandoned cart recovery emails turned on (Settings → Checkout → Abandoned checkouts)
[ ] Order confirmation page thank-you message personalised (not just the default text)

Tax settings

[ ] Tax collection enabled for every region you're legally required to collect in
[ ] In the US: economic nexus thresholds vary by state — Shopify's built-in tax tool handles this automatically if you enable it under Settings → Taxes and duties
[ ] Digital products: taxes on digital goods differ by country — check if your products qualify

Phase 4 — Shipping

[ ] At least one shipping zone is set up with a rate (flat rate or weight-based)
[ ] Free shipping threshold configured if you're offering it (e.g., free over $50) — set under Settings → Shipping → Rates
[ ] International shipping zones added if you're shipping globally, with accurate rates
[ ] A packing slip template is set up (or you're using Shopify's default)
[ ] You've tested the checkout end-to-end with a physical address to confirm the right shipping rates appear

Phase 5 — SEO before launch

[ ] Homepage title and meta description set (Online Store → Preferences) — under 60 chars for title, under 160 for description
[ ] Every product page has a unique meta description — edit via the product's Search engine listing section
[ ] Product image file names are descriptive (blue-leather-wallet.jpg, not IMG_4821.jpg) — this is set before upload; you can't rename files after the fact in Shopify
[ ] Google Analytics 4 connected (Online Store → Preferences → Google Analytics)
[ ] Google Search Console verified — add the property and submit your sitemap (yourstore.myshopify.com/sitemap.xml redirects to your custom domain sitemap automatically)
[ ] Social sharing image set (Online Store → Preferences → Social sharing image) — 1200×630px

Phase 6 — Email and marketing

[ ] Email marketing app connected — Shopify Email is free up to 10,000 emails/month; Klaviyo integrates more deeply for advanced segmentation
[ ] Welcome email sequence set up for new subscribers — even a single "here's 10% off your first order" email captures value from every signup
[ ] Discount code for first-time buyers created (Marketing → Discounts)
[ ] Facebook Pixel and/or TikTok Pixel installed if you're running paid ads

Phase 7 — Final pre-launch checks

[ ] Password removed — Online Store → Preferences → scroll to Password protection and disable it
[ ] Store is visible to search engines — same page, confirm "Restrict search engines from indexing" is unchecked
[ ] Mobile checkout tested on a real phone — look for anything that's hard to tap or read
[ ] 404 page customised (optional but professional — edit via the theme editor)
[ ] Favicon uploaded (Online Store → Themes → Customize → Favicon) — the tiny icon in browser tabs
[ ] All social media links in the footer point to live accounts

Shopify launch checklist — printable PDF

Download the free Shopify Launch Checklist →

A printable version of this guide, formatted for printing or saving as a PDF. Tick off each step as you go.

After launch: first 30 days

The store is live — now focus on these:

Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console — search engines won't index your store overnight; submitting manually speeds it up
Check your first real order end-to-end — confirm the customer got their confirmation email, track the shipment, and make sure it arrives correctly
Set up a review request email — Shopify's built-in review request sends automatically after delivery. Social proof from real buyers is the fastest trust-builder
Watch your abandoned cart rate — if it's above 70%, your checkout has friction. Common causes: unexpected shipping costs, required account creation, or too many form fields
Run a weekly revenue check — Shopify Analytics → Overview. Track sessions, conversion rate, and average order value. If conversion is below 1%, start there before running ads

Ready to start?

Start your free Shopify trial → — 3 days free, then $39/month for Basic. Build your entire store during the trial, connect your domain, and launch when you're ready.

Also see: How to set up a Shopify store (step-by-step)