How to Set Up a Shopify Store in 9 Steps

There are a few different ways to set up your Shopify store – from the more complicated and time-consuming, like going through an agency or signing contracts with developers.

Setting up your online shop is the next stage in beginning an eCommerce company, or moving your retail store online, after drafting a business strategy and sourcing your items. Our top recommendation for the best eCommerce platform is Shopify, which provides a user-friendly site builder for selling items and is suitable for a variety of enterprises.

You can sell your own items, dropship, control your sales channels, and experiment with third-party markets by learning how to set up a Shopify site. Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to commit to a premium membership plan just yet. You don’t need to provide your credit card information to join up for the 14-day free trial. Create a free account and follow our step-by-step instructions to get started.

1. Create a Shopify account.

To open a Shopify shop, you must first register an account. All you need is an email address, and when you join up, you’ll select a password and a shop name.

When you start your trial, you’ll be prompted to name your store, which will serve as your default internet address (e.g., storename.myshopify.com). You won’t be able to modify it, so consider it carefully. You will, however, be able to purchase a custom domain (for example, yourstore.com) and link it afterwards (more on this later).

You’ll need to provide information about your present company, income, and the items you’ll offer.

Adding your address and contact information is the last step in establishing your account.

Don’t worry if you get stuck on a step when setting up your business. You may skip a step and return to it later since Shopify will notify you if you haven’t completed setting up a section. In your Home dashboard, you can also see which steps you need to complete.

2. Include Products

Click Products on the left navigation bar after entering your account. Then choose All Products from the drop-down menu. Because your page is empty if it’s your first time, you’ll notice the “Add product” button in the center of it. The button for more product imports may be found in the top right corner. To begin an upload, click that.

Shopify will prompt you to fill in the following details about the product:

• Whatever you enter in this field will be seen to customers.
• Goods description: This is where you’ll explain as well as sell your product. Include vital information that customers will want to know before making a purchase.
• Add product images, 3D models, and videos to the media section.
• Set the price of the product, as well as the currencies, taxes, selling prices, and cost per unit (more on these later).
• Number of SKUs: An SKU is a unique code that may be provided to each product and is used to monitor and report on it internally.
• Variants: If an item comes in different sizes, colors, smells, and other variations, you should enter them all as one product with several variants rather than many separate goods.
• Indicate whether or not the product is physical and from which nation it will be sent.
• Shopify allows you to connect to various sales channels such as point-of-sale (POS), Amazon, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and more. You have complete control over the goods you wish to offer in each category.

Your product’s description describes (and sells) it. It doesn’t have to be properly written; all you have to do is write them with your buyer in mind. Consider what they’ll need to know to feel secure in their purchase choice.

The way a product is photographed makes all the difference. Make use of high-resolution images. Starting small is a good idea. Most smartphones can already take images, and you can edit them with free photo editing software. Learn how to shoot your own product photographs.

You can only have three versions per product on Shopify. If you’re selling shirts, for example, you may provide size, color, and material choices. There may be many variations of these possibilities (e.g., Size: S, M, L; Color: Black, White, etc.)

To monitor your earnings on each transaction, add your wholesale cost per item to your retail price. In this essay on how to price a product, we go through margins and markups.

For tangible items, you’ll need to put up shipping regulations. Individual goods, collections, or your whole shop may have shipping rules set up simply (e.g., flat rate, free delivery, nation or region-based prices). In the next sections, we’ll go through this in further detail.

You may also change the meta information that appears on Google and other search engines’ query results sites.

Other information about the product that may be included as an option are:

• Product type: To structure your site and inventory monitoring, you may add multiple product categories, such as shirts, trousers, and coats.
• Add the vendor or supplier’s details to make it easier to repurchase things when they run out.
• Create collections for consumers to peruse by subject or occasion, such as “Fall 2020” or “Back to School.” They allow you to arrange and curate your items based on their intended use and audience. Similar to a catalog, show collections in your navigation or on your homepage. The same product may be included in numerous collections when creating them.
• Tags: These are similar to keywords that you may add to items to make them easier to find on your website. If you sell trousers, for example, you may create tags depending on the color (navy, khaki), fabric (denim, cotton), and other factors. Tags may also be used to automate operations in your business, such as adding a product with a specified tag to a particular collection.
• Search engine listing preview: Make changes to each product’s page title, description, and slug to make it simpler to locate on Google.

Tip: Make the most of appropriately putting up your tags and keywords. Customers can simply locate goods and similar items in your shop thanks to collections and tags.

If you already have a POS or inventory management system, downloading the CSV template and adding your items in bulk will certainly save you time.

If you’re just getting started or have a small inventory, introducing items one at a time may be the best option. Uploading your items in bulk might save you a lot of time whether you’re putting your brick-and-mortar business online or transferring from another eCommerce platform. You may get an example CSV file from Shopify, fill it up with your product details, and then submit it to the Product Manager.

3. Establish a payment processing system

For your Shopify shop, you may utilize Shopify Payments or a suitable third-party payment processor.

Customers may use the following payment options with Shopify:

• Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Diners Club are all accepted credit cards.
• Shop Pay
• PayPal
• Apple Pay
• Amazon Pay
• Google Pay

You’ll need to give the following information if you wish to utilize Shopify Payments:

• Information about banking
• Your orders’ average price
• Your orders’ average shipping time

To get started with Shopify Payments, go to Settings in the left menu bar, then Payments.

Shopify Payments is the simplest (and, for new companies, the most cost-effective) payment processing mechanism for Shopify shops.

If you haven’t set up a credit card payment provider for your account yet, you’ll have the option to complete the account setup, or Activate Shopify Payments if you’ve enabled a different provider. Any providers linked with your account will be removed, and Shopify Payments will take their place.

You may also change your payment options, such as:

• Payout Information: Shopify will transfer proceeds from sales into your bank account immediately. The default payment description is “Shopify,” but you may alter it to the name of your shop or company (if, for example, you have multiple Shopify stores).
• Schedule of payouts: Select whether you want to get paid daily, weekly, or monthly.
• Fraud prevention: You may opt to automatically deny charges that fail AVS postal verification (the customer’s payment method’s ZIP code does not match what they submitted) or AVV verification (the customer’s payment method’s ZIP code does not match what they entered) (they enter the wrong 3- or 4-digit security code).
• Choose what name appears on consumers’ bank statements when they make purchases from you, and provide a contact phone number.
• Accept a variety of currencies, including Canadian dollars, British pounds, and euros, among others.

It’s a good idea to execute a test transaction on your site once you’ve put everything up.

PayPal payment options are simple to add to Shopify.

You can still use PayPal and Amazon if you’re utilizing Shopify Payments.

Pay to provide additional one-click or one-touch payment choices to customers. Alternative payment methods, such as buy-now, pay-later, and installment payment plans from Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, Sezzle, and others, are also available.

4. Create a Store Design

Here’s when the real fun starts! Now that you’ve completed the tedious procedures of adding items and setting up payment processing, it’s time to use Shopify’s website design tools to bring your idea to life. You have the option of creating your own designs or using one of Shopify’s numerous templates.

To access free themes, buy a theme, or upload a theme, go to your Shopify dashboard and choose “Customize theme.”

Create a Store Design Select a Theme Make a navigation system Individually Created Pages Personalize Your Shop

Select a Theme

First, you’ll Select a Theme for your online store. You can use a templated theme or create your own. If you use a premade theme, you have the option to customize it so it’s unique for your online store. Browse free and paid themes in the Shopify Theme Store.

Once you’ve found the one you like, click Try theme to give it a try before buying and installing it on your site. Select Buy theme (Add theme if it’s free) to apply the theme to your Shopify shop if you like it.

You may also add the.zip file to your Shopify site if you have your own theme. To do so, go to the left navigation bar and select Upload theme under Themes. Choose File and upload the.zip file you wish to utilize in the pop-up box.

Tip: Before releasing your site to the public, make sure it’s password-protected so that only people with the code may access it.

Consider the following factors while selecting a theme:

• Check to see whether the theme you prefer has the functionality you want, such as an autocomplete search bar or a section that shows press mentions.
• Choose a theme that isn’t dependent on colors or fonts. All of these items may be changed afterwards.
• For a one-time cost, you may test out a premium theme before purchasing it.

Make a navigation system

Your site’s dropdown menus assist visitors in navigating to various pages, and you may alter them as needed. On the left menu, choose Navigation.

You can simply customize Shopify’s default navigation menus. You may also create new menus or create nested menus by linking to listings.

To add additional navigation choices, click Add menu item. Here’s where you’ll put the title and where you’d want it to link to. After you’ve finished adding all of your menu items, click Save Menu.

Your website may have three different ways of navigation:

1. The top menu or the main navigation. To prevent cluttering the item, add submenus (i.e. dropdown menus) underneath it.
2. Navigation in the footer. This is where you include links to sites that may distract visitors but must still be accessible. Most online customers are aware that information such as your return policy or contact page may be found here.
3. Search. This is particularly handy if your website has a vast product catalog and several pages.

Tip: Prioritize the activities you want visitors to perform by organizing your navigation—with an emphasis on shopping, of course.

Individually Created Pages

There should be more to your Shopify business than simply a webpage. To assist consumers get to know your business and goods, you’ll need product pages, a contact page, and other pages.

Go to Pages in the left menu to create a new page. Then choose Add page from the drop-down menu.

Choose a publication date under Visibility to publish the page. You may always choose Hidden or schedule it for a later date if you’re not ready for the world to see it yet. Click Save when you’re finished.

Many themes will have pre-built pages that you may edit, such as product pages, collections, blogs, and shopping pages.

You don’t have to have all of your pages ready to go before you start, but the following are some of the most useful pages to create: About page, Contact page, FAQ page, and Policy page.

About this page: 1) a video introducing yourself or the company, 2) links to awards and press mentions, and 3) photographs that illustrate your supply chain or show the people behind your business operations are all good options for this page.

Contact: Most Shopify themes make it simple to make one. Give clients advice on how to contact you or perhaps a link to another page, such as a FAQ, to let them fix their own difficulties first.

To create a contact page, navigate to the right side’s Template section and choose the Contact template. This should result in a form being added to your page.

A commonly asked questions page might assist answer some of the most prevalent customer service issues.

Policy pages: Policy pages are standard practice for online businesses. Under Settings > Legal in Shopify, you’ll be able to generate templates that you can customize according to your business and local laws. It is recommended you develop the following policies: return policy, policy on data protection, Service terms and conditions, and Policy on shipping.

Personalize Your Shop

Customizing the appearance and feel of your shop is the last stage in the design process. Return to the Themes area of your dashboard to make further changes to the look of your Shopify site. Click Customize on the theme you wish to change. Fonts, colors, social network connections, and even page layout may all be changed using the theme editor toolbar.

When making any modifications, make sure to test your theme in both mobile and desktop formats.

Consider what objectives you want your site to achieve and how they may assist your company while building your homepage. Consider the following scenario:

• Make first-time visitors a priority. To persuade people to purchase, make it easy for them to grasp your company.
• Returning visitors should be accommodated by making it simple for them to explore and buy things.
• Create your homepage with the assumption that the majority of people will be accessing it on mobile phones. Make scrolling simple for them.

5. Make a domain connection

When creating a Shopify site, you have the option of using your own domain or purchasing one from Shopify.

To understand how to transfer your own domain name or purchase one via Shopify, go through the sections below:

• Changing a Domain
• Purchase a New Domain

To utilize your own domain, go into the portal of whichever service you used to buy and maintain it. Get the transfer permission code and unlock the domain you wish to move to Shopify. Select Domains from the left menu in Shopify. Select Connect to an existing domain, then enter your domain name.

Click Next after entering the domain name.

Choose the option to verify the domain. “Domain unlocked” or “domain locked” will appear. To proceed with the former, click Next. In the latter situation, you may need to contact your provider again.

Click Next after entering the authorization code.

Choose Buy and then Transfer. In most cases, your domain will be transferred in 20 days or fewer.

You may also buy a brand-new domain name straight via Shopify, making the process a little more smooth.

Every Shopify account starts with a Shopify domain, but you may upgrade to a more personalized domain name by purchasing or transferring it in. Rather than using the normal pitbull-andy.myshopify.com, we acquired pitbullandy.com in this example.

Click Buy a new domain in the left navigation bar under Domains. Choose your extension and enter the name of the domain you want.

Click Buy after you’ve found a URL you like. Shopify will then walk you through the domain registration and purchasing procedure. Your domain may take up to 48 hours to become operational.

6. Customize Back-Office Options

Create a tax collection system

You may need to alter your Shopify store’s tax settings depending on where your company and customers are situated. For US-based sellers and transactions, Shopify automatically adjusts taxes, but if you’re in Canada, you’ll need to add tax and input your tax registrations or use default or custom rates for each location if you’re outside the US and Canada.

To examine your preferences, go to Taxes in the left menu. Taxes for delivery, individual goods or collections, digital products, exempt consumers, and more may all be adjusted.

Organize your billing.

You’ll need to offer Shopify your credit card or bank account details for regular payments before you can activate your business beyond the 14-day free trial. This may be changed at any time.

Navigate to Billing in the left navigation menu to monitor and amend your billing information. To modify your billing method, go to the Payments methods section. You’ll want to hunt for a word or phrase that says “replace.” Under Recent Bills, you may also see your billing history.

Adapt Your Notifications

When specific requirements are satisfied, Shopify may send you, your staff, or your customers’ alerts. For instance, you may be notified if a new order is made, an item is out of stock, or a parcel is dispatched. To accomplish the following, go to Notifications on the left menu:

• Make changes to notification templates
• Notifications may be added, changed, or removed.
• Create email and text message alerts

7. Establish fulfillment procedures

If you’re just starting out, you’ll probably manage order fulfillment in-house until your firm grows. Third-party fulfillment providers may be linked to your Shopify shop. Shopify Fulfillment, which integrates easily with your site and links you to a full-service network of end-to-end shipping and fulfillment suppliers, is another option.

Choose your shipping options.

In the left navigation menu, look for Shipping and Delivery. You may perform the following here:

• Include shipping addresses.
• Package types may be added, edited, and deleted (look for Packages)
• Set the default dimensions for packages (in the Saved packages section)

Shopify provides low shipping rates and labels, as well as the ability to easily define standard package sizes.

Establish Store Policies

The following policies are available to Shopify merchants:

• Policy on refunds
• policy on data protection
• Service terms and conditions
• Policy on shipping
• Notice to the public
• COVID-19 policy for prevention

Find Legal in your left-hand menu and either type in your ready-to-go policies or choose Create from template to start using Shopify’s boilerplate content. After you’ve finished making your changes, click Save. These policies will appear at the footer of your Shopify site. You may also use them in product pages, menus, and social media posts.

Make Your Checkout Page

Now it’s time to think about how customers will feel after they check out. One of the nicest features of Shopify is that it enables you to personalize your checkout experience without having to use any code. That also means you have a lot of options to choose from.

Navigate to Settings > Checkout to manage:

• Accounts of customers: Choose whether user logins are necessary for purchases, optional, or disabled.
• Methods of contact: Choose whether or not customers may submit their email and/or phone number during the checkout process, or whether their email address is necessary. Select whether or not customers are asked to add shipment updates to their alerts or to download Shopify’s Shop app to follow order progress.
• Choose whether areas like first and last name, business name, address, and phone number are hidden, optional, or obligatory for consumers to fill out at checkout.
• Choose whether or not to provide tipping alternatives when shipping.
• Processing of orders: Choose whether to utilize a client’s delivery address as the default billing address, whether to automatically fulfill electronic products like gift cards and when to archive a customer order.
• Choose whether or not to display a sign-up option at checkout, and whether or not it should be pre-selected.

The theme editor may also be used to make changes such as adding a backdrop, logo, or picture, altering the font and colors, adding bot protection, and tweaking the form fields.

8. Get your Shopify store up and running.

Make a trial order

Test your Shopify shop with a simulated transaction before releasing it to the public. Go to Payment providers in your left-hand options menu. If necessary, disable your payment gateway.

Click Choose third-party provider under the Third-party providers’ area, then Bogus Gateway. Bogus Gateway may be activated (for testing) by clicking the Activate (for testing) button. Then go to your shop and buy something.

Shopify suggests experimenting with more than simply making an order, such as:

• Transactions that go well
• Transactions that have failed
• Refunds
• Orders that were canceled
• Fulfillment in parts vs. fulfillment in its whole
• Successful orders are saved in a database.

Bogus Gateway may be used to test your Shopify shop before it goes live.

Analytics

Shopify has built-in analytics monitoring and reporting, as well as integrations with third-party services like Google Analytics. Its inbuilt data reporting features will begin to function automatically. Dashboards, Reports, and Live View are the three tools you’ll have straight away.

Total sales, returning customer rate, conversion rate, average order value, traffic source, and other information may be seen on the dashboard on a daily or date range basis. Sales, acquisition, profit margin, customers, behavior, finances, marketing, and inventories are all broken out in-depth in the reports. Live view enables you to see who is now visiting your website.

9. Get the word out about your Shopify store.

Shopify has a lot of built-in features to help you grow your client base and revenue. One of the finest aspects of Shopify is that it interacts effortlessly with many different online marketplaces, in addition to its in-store and omnichannel sales solutions. As a result, you can sell on social media platforms like Facebook and Amazon, and manage all of your orders from the Shopify dashboard.

Increase the number of sales channels

POS, Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, Instagram, eBay, Buy button (to add to websites and blogs), Facebook Messenger, Google, Pinterest, Rakuten Ichiba, and B2B wholesale shops are among Shopify’s alternative sales channels.

To Increase the number of sales channels, you can either find the corresponding channel in the Shopify App Store or through your dashboard, depending on the channel. For the latter, click the + icon next to the Sales channels heading in your left menu. In the Add sales channel box, select the channel you want to add and click Add channel.

Create an email marketing campaign

You may send newsletters to your subscribers using Shopify Email. Add the app to your shop and then access it from the Marketing area of your dashboard. To create your first email, click Create campaign and choose Shopify Email.

Allow customers to opt-in to receive emails. This is a setting you can configure under Settings > Checkout.

Make use of Shopify’s built-in campaign tools.

Shopify marketing includes a variety of marketing tools to help you create and promote campaigns, including blogging tools, SEO capabilities, automation tools, Facebook ad targeting, Google ad targeting, and more.

Abandoned cart recovery, SMS messaging for promotions, and email list segmentation are among Shopify’s automated applications and add-ons.

Create an SEO strategy for your store.

Another area of your store where you’ll want to keep SEO in mind is the Title and meta description fields, which can be found under Settings > Preferences.

In the Preferences tab of your navigation menu sidebar, configure SEO settings for your whole shop. Always keep in mind that search engines offer the user the most relevant results, so use keywords that are closely related to your company.

Keep track of your clients.

This is an example of how your dashboard reports appear. Date ranges for comparison may be customized.

Go to Analytics in the left menu and pick Reports to discover more about your consumers. Look for the section under “Customers.” You may design your own reports as well as get the following insights here:

• Customers that come back vs. first-time customers
• Customers based on their location
• Customers that come back
• Customers who have only purchased once
• Customers in jeopardy
• Customers that are loyal to you

You can use Google Metrics for free to get more granular analytics and more flexible reporting.

Conclusion

Learning how to set up a Shopify shop is a great approach to get your online company off the ground. The user interface is straightforward and clear, and there are hundreds of applications available to enhance your website’s functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours does it take to set up a Shopify store?

It generally takes at least five hours.