A Shopify store setup checklist keeps you from launching with broken checkout emails, missing tax settings or a product feed Google won’t accept. Shopify makes it easy to get a store looking good in an afternoon. The settings behind the storefront are where most launch problems hide.

Below are 40 checks we run before a store’s password page comes down, grouped by area. Work through them in order, tick them off, and place at least two test orders before you announce anything. If you’re building for a client, the same list doubles as a handover document.

Store details and account settings

Start in the Settings area of your Shopify admin. These are the basics that show up on invoices, emails and legal pages.

  1. Set the store name, store contact email and sender email that customers will see.
  2. Enter your legal business name and address under store details. This appears on invoices and some checkout pages.
  3. Pick the plan you’ll launch on, then choose the store currency, unit system, default weight unit and time zone. Changing currency after orders come in is messy.
  4. Add staff accounts with only the permissions each person needs, and turn on two-step authentication for every account.

Domain, theme and menus

Your theme is the shop window, and many shoppers will see it on a phone first. Test every change there before you test it on a laptop.

  1. Connect your custom domain and set it as the primary domain so the myshopify.com address redirects to it.
  2. Pick a theme and keep a duplicate as a backup before you make heavy edits.
  3. Upload your logo, favicon and brand colors in the theme editor.
  4. Build the main menu and footer menu. Keep the main menu to the categories people shop by.
  5. Check every template on a phone: home page, collection, product, cart, search and the 404 page, and delete any demo content the theme left behind.

If the stock theme can’t do what you need, that’s the point where custom theme work starts paying for itself. Our ecommerce store setup and development service covers custom sections and theme builds.

Products and collections

Product data is the part of setup that takes longest, and it feeds everything else: search, filters, shipping rates, Google Shopping and your reports. Get it right once and you avoid editing hundreds of products later.

  1. Write a unique description for each product. Copying manufacturer text gives Google little reason to rank your page.
  2. Add clear photos from several angles, sized consistently, with descriptive alt text.
  3. Set up variants for size, color or material, each with its own SKU, price and stock count.
  4. Fill in weight for every physical product so shipping rates calculate correctly.
  5. Turn on inventory tracking and decide whether each product can keep selling when it’s out of stock.
  6. Create collections, using automated collections with conditions on product type, vendor or tag where it saves manual work.

Payments, taxes and checkout

This section is where a mistake costs real money, so check each item twice.

  1. Activate Shopify Payments if it’s available for your country and business, or connect a supported third-party provider.
  2. Add PayPal, Shop Pay and any wallets your customers expect, then check they appear at checkout.
  3. Review tax settings for every region you sell into. Rules differ between US states, the UK, the EU and Australia, so confirm them with your accountant.
  4. Decide whether prices include tax. Stores selling mainly into the UK, EU or Australia often show tax-inclusive prices.
  5. In checkout settings, choose which contact details customers must give and whether they can check out as guests.
  6. Add a checkbox for email marketing consent at checkout and leave it unticked by default.

Shipping and delivery

Surprise shipping charges at checkout put shoppers off, so set rates that are simple to understand and show them on product pages or in the cart.

  1. Set up shipping zones for each country or region you’ll ship to, and remove the ones you won’t.
  2. Create rates for each zone: flat, free over a threshold, or calculated carrier rates.
  3. Enter the correct package sizes and your shipping origin address.
  4. Set up local pickup or local delivery if you offer them, and test both options at checkout.
  5. Write a shipping policy page that matches the rates you set, including processing times.

These pages rarely get visits, but customers, payment providers and ad platforms all look for them. Missing or generic policies can hold up ad account approval.

  1. Fill in the refund, privacy, terms of service and shipping policies in the policies settings. Shopify offers templates, but edit them to match how you work.
  2. Add a contact page with a working form, and test it lands in the right inbox.
  3. Customize the order confirmation, shipping confirmation and abandoned checkout emails with your logo and voice.
  4. Set up the cookie consent banner if you sell to the UK or EU. Shopify’s customer privacy settings can help with this.

Shopify SEO and tracking before launch

Search and analytics work is easier to set up now than to fix after a few months of lost data.

  1. Write a unique page title and meta description for the home page, each collection and each top product.
  2. Use short, readable URL handles, and add redirects for any old URLs if you’re moving from another platform.
  3. Verify the store in Google Search Console and submit the sitemap at /sitemap.xml.
  4. Connect Google Analytics 4 through the Google & YouTube app and confirm purchase events record.
  5. Install the Facebook & Instagram app if you’ll run Meta ads, and check the pixel fires on purchase.
  6. Set up the Google Merchant Center product feed if you plan to run Shopping ads or show in free listings.

For the wider search work after launch, our SEO services page covers what we handle each month.

Test orders and the final check

  1. Place a test order with a real card or Shopify’s test mode, then refund it. Check the confirmation email, the order in the admin and the payout record.
  2. Run one more test order on a phone using a different shipping address and a discount code, so you see taxes, shipping and discounts together.
  3. Run the home page and a product page through Google PageSpeed Insights, and remove any apps you installed but don’t use.
  4. Remove the password page and visit the store in a private browser window to confirm it’s live.

That’s the full 40. Most stores pass the first 30 quickly. The checks on tax, tracking and test orders are where launches usually slip.

What to do in the first two weeks

Launch day is the start of the work. In the first fortnight, check each order by hand, reply to every customer message the same day, and watch for failed payments or wrong shipping charges. Set up abandoned checkout emails if you haven’t, and send your first small campaign to people who opted in.

Repetitive jobs like order tagging, low stock alerts and review requests are good candidates for automation once you see the pattern. Our list of seven workflows to automate first is a good starting point. Ecommerce owners who want more ideas for growing a store can read our page for ecommerce brands.

Want the setup handled for you

Intelligent Solutions Tech sets up and builds Shopify and WooCommerce stores for businesses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. We work on a staging copy you review before anything goes live, then run this checklist with you before launch. See our ecommerce development service, or get a starting estimate from the website cost calculator.