Set your store up, in order

A route from an empty store to one that can take an order. Use it in this sequence — each step assumes the one before it is done and checked.

Menu names and the services on offer change with the store's country, currency and language. Follow what the admin shows for this store rather than translating a menu label by guesswork.

Before you start

Confirm the person already has a store and can open its admin. If not, create the store first; everything below happens inside it.

Ask them, and do not decide on their behalf: the country the business is in, the currency they sell in, the store's language, their contact details, and whether they sell physical or digital goods. For physical goods, ask where orders ship from and which destinations they want to reach. Ask how they want to be paid and whether they already own a domain.

Never ask for a password or a verification code, and never type one on their behalf.

1. Store basics

Open Settings → General and go through it with the owner: country, currency, time zone, contact details.

Check: the currency is the one they sell in, before any price is entered. Changing it later does not convert the prices already saved — it only changes the symbol in front of them.

2. First product

Products → Add product. Title, description, at least one image, price, stock.

If the catalogue is digital only, do not switch shipping on for it; a digital product that asks for an address will stall at checkout.

Check: open the storefront and find the product by searching for it. A product that exists in the admin but cannot be found in the shop is not yet on sale.

3. Theme and the pages people read

Pick a theme in the theme gallery — every theme is free on every plan — then set up the menu, the information pages and the legal pages.

Check: from the storefront, a visitor can reach a product, the contact details and the policies, on a phone as well as a desktop. Policy templates are a starting point, not legal advice: the owner reviews what they say.

4. Payment

Settings → Payments. Which methods suit the business depends on the country; see the payment providers for what connects.

Manual methods (bank transfer, cash on delivery) are an option, not a shortcut: with them the owner confirms the money arrived before the order is marked paid.

Check: the methods you switched on appear at checkout, in the store's own currency. Do not promise a provider, an approved contract or a payout time without reading that provider's own terms.

5. Delivery

Settings → Shipping. Define where you deliver and what it costs. Without this step an order cannot be completed at all — it is the step most often skipped.

Check: a test address in a destination the owner wants to serve returns a delivery option and a price that matches what they decided.

6. Address

Use the store's free address to start, or connect one you own. Buying or connecting a domain is a separate decision, with a cost — make it with the owner, not for them.

Check: the address you intend to use opens the storefront.

7. Ready for orders

Go through Orders with the owner so they know where an order lands and how to tell its payment status from its delivery status.

Before you tell anyone the shop is open

Walk the storefront together: product, price, currency, navigation, policies, contact details, payment methods, delivery options.

Write down what you actually checked and what is still open. Reading this page or opening a preview does not prove a setting was saved, a payment went through or a parcel can be delivered. Get permission before you change a setting, register an account, buy a domain, place a test order or take a payment — and agree first who pays for the test. Never record a test as passed if it was not run.