Launching your Shopify store is an exciting venture, but it demands meticulous preparation to guarantee a smooth and successful start. Shopify’s user-friendly interface might make it seem straightforward, but establishing a prosperous eCommerce business entails more than meets the eye. To avoid overlooking essential elements and lay the foundation for a successful Shopify store launch, it’s imperative to adhere to a Shopify launch checklist.
This blog post will help you navigate the intricate process of starting your online store on Shopify, offering insights into everything you need to consider before the big launch.
Before hitting that “go live” button, having a checklist for Shopify store launch in place is crucial. This checklist involves vital steps, from optimizing your product listings and ensuring a responsive design to setting up payment gateways and crafting compelling marketing strategies. By following the Shopify checklist before launch, you can significantly reduce the risk of oversights and delays that might otherwise hamper your store’s success. If you’re new to the eCommerce world or an experienced entrepreneur, a well-structured Shopify website launch checklist will serve as your compass, ensuring a seamless and prosperous start to your online retail journey.
General Checklist for Starting a New Shopify Store
1. Choose the Most Appropriate Sales Channels
Shopify is a powerful platform, but attracting traffic can be challenging during the initial stages of your store. Consider integrating other sales channels into your Shopify store to reach a wider audience. This can help you tap into potential customers who may not discover your store through traditional means.
Some popular sales channels to consider include:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Google Shopping
If you’re migrating from another platform, you can efficiently import your products to Shopify using CSV files.
2. Add a Custom Domain
Establishing a unique brand identity is essential for your online store’s success. Adding a custom domain enhances your brand recognition and makes it easier for customers to remember your store’s name. Conduct a domain search to see if your desired business name is available and untrademarked. Consider alternative names that align with your business goals if it’s already taken.
Shopify even allows you to purchase a custom domain directly through their platform if it’s available and suits your business. Your domain name plays a crucial role in building trust with potential customers, so choose a name that sets you apart from competitors.
3. Optimize the Checkout Process
A smooth and user-friendly checkout process is vital to reduce cart abandonment rates. Approximately 70% of shoppers abandon carts due to a complicated checkout process. To ensure a seamless checkout experience, consider the following:
- Clearly state shipping rates during the checkout process.
- Provide options for editing carts and tracking orders.
- Display shipping policies and other legal terms clearly.
- Offer language and currency options for international customers.
4. Add Payment Methods
Offering diverse payment methods caters to the preferences of a wide range of customers. Ensure your Shopify store supports multiple payment gateways to facilitate easy and secure transactions. Verify that payment services are integrated correctly and function without errors. Providing various payment options enhances the shopping experience and encourages conversions.
5. Create Standard Web Pages
Your Shopify store should include essential web pages to establish trust, credibility, and provide valuable information to customers. The key pages to create include:
- Homepage: Your website’s main page should feature an eye-catching headline, clear navigation, calls-to-action (CTAs), testimonials, and case studies.
- About Page: Share your company’s background brand story and introduce the people behind the scenes. Articulate your vision and mission to attract like-minded customers.
- Contact Page: Ensure that customers can easily reach out to you by providing contact information, including a phone number, email address, office address, and links to your social media accounts.
- Store Policies Page: Clearly define shipping and return policies, making it easy for customers to find answers to common questions.
Don’t forget to add a favicon to your Shopify store to enhance its professional appearance.
6. Check Email Notification Settings
Email is a powerful tool for boosting eCommerce sales. Configure your email notification settings to communicate effectively with potential customers. Shopify offers email templates tailored to various purposes, such as abandoned cart reminders, welcome emails, and thank-you emails. You can also explore third-party email apps or templates that align with your business needs.
7. Carry Out a Content Audit
Consistency and quality are key when it comes to content. Review your website content for spelling errors, grammar issues, and broken links. Ensure that your content functions correctly across various devices. If you encounter challenges, consider hiring a Shopify developer for expert guidance.
8. Optimize Images on the Website
Image optimization is crucial for a seamless user experience and improved search engine rankings. Optimize your website images by:
- Describing files with relevant keywords.
- Use keywords you want to rank for in your image descriptions.
- Optimizing alt tags for both web accessibility and SEO rankings.
- Reducing file sizes to enhance loading speed.
- Selecting the appropriate file type (e.g., .jpg or .png).
- Optimizing thumbnails for various devices.
9. Install Analytics Tool
Analytics tools are much needed when planning to launch your online store. They help you understand customer behavior and can keep a track record of the same. Shopify offers built-in reporting tools to measure the performance of your online store, marketing performance, and much more on a single dashboard. The Shopify Analytics tool can be a good choice for a beginner. But you can have better insights by installing Google Analytics 4, which offers detailed information. It is one of the most popular analytics tools used widely by many. It provides key metrics like web traffic, conversion rate, total sales, etc.
Analytics is the foundation of data-driven decision-making in eCommerce. By setting up the right analytics tools, you can gather valuable insights about your customers and their interactions with your online store. This data can help you refine your marketing strategies and improve the user experience.
10. Create a Pre-Launch Marketing Plan
When launching an online Shopify store, people must know about it. The only way to do it is by having a solid marketing plan. Strategize your pre-launch marketing plan accordingly and carry out all required steps. Inform a large number of people about the launching of your online and the products that you will offer. A pre-launch marketing plan mainly includes social media marketing, content marketing, and online advertising.
You can also follow our Shopify SEO checklist to prepare your online store for search engine optimization.
Marketing is essential to generate excitement and anticipation for your store’s launch. Develop a content calendar, plan your social media posts, and consider running targeted ads to reach your potential customers. Building a buzz before the launch can lead to a successful opening day.
11. Check Tax and Shipping Settings
It is advisable to check the tax and shipping settings before launching a Shopify store. The shipping charges may vary depending on the location; we must add them accordingly. If the rates are lower, then you would incur a loss. So, if you are not very aware of the tax settings, you can consult with an accountant you are familiar with who can guide you. Set up sales tax in Shopify to collect the tax.
Taxes and shipping are often overlooked but are critical aspects of your eCommerce business. Incorrect tax settings can lead to legal issues, while miscalculated shipping costs can upset customers. Double-check these settings to ensure a smooth shopping experience.
12. Ensure that Visitors can Contact You
As previously mentioned, setting a contact page on your website is important. It is not only the place where you need to provide information about how the shoppers can contact you. Make the best possible try to include the contact information on every website page through the footer. As a result, no matter which page they are, they can easily contact you when required.
You must include your phone number, business address, and social media accounts, and even integrate a live chatbot on your website. The shoppers can easily connect with a salesperson in case of any queries or issues. So they can get a prompt response and even minimize cart abandonment chances.
Customer support is crucial for building trust and addressing customer concerns. Ensure that your contact information is easily accessible, and consider implementing live chat support for real-time assistance.
13. Install Essential Apps
There are ample apps available in the Shopify store, but you are not required to install all of them. Installing the apps that are essential for your store is highly recommended. The necessity of particular apps depends on the industry and business you are involved in. Several free apps are available on the Shopify store, whereas there are monthly subscription charges for some.
Here’s where our expertise comes into play. At Shopify Guruz, we offer custom app development services tailored to your unique needs. We understand that certain apps, such as product reviews, shoppable links, and social media feeds, can significantly enhance your business operations. Our team can create custom solutions that optimize your website’s performance and user experience.
Certain apps can help run your business more effectively. They are product reviews, shoppable links, social media feeds, and more. The app requires resources to run, so ensure you install only the essential ones and avoid installing the unnecessary ones. You may require installing some Shopify SEO apps & tools to get your site ready for the search engines.
Choose your Shopify apps wisely. Too many apps can slow down your website and create a cluttered experience for your customers. Focus on apps that enhance the customer experience, streamline operations, and support your business goals.
14. Set Up Billing Information
Before launching an online store, one of the ultimate things to consider is setting up a billing cycle, billing information, Shopify plan, etc. Select the plan and ensure that you have billing information before the end of the 14-day trial period. Without the billing information, you might face issues accepting and processing orders.
Billing information ensures that you can process payments and manage your subscription effectively. This step is crucial to avoid any disruptions in service when your store goes live.
15. Launch Your Shopify Store
You are ready to go!
After performing all the essential steps and going through the Shopify launch checklist, it’s the best time to open the doors of your online store. You can look at the analytics dashboard to change and determine the areas of improvement. A good Shopify checklist will cover everything from choosing a domain to marketing and launching your online – comprising everything you need to create an online Shopify store.
The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. Launch your Shopify store and start serving your customers. Remember that the launch is just the beginning, and you should continuously monitor and improve your online store based on customer feedback and data analytics.
Final Words
No need to worry about what to know before starting Shopify after reading our blog post.
Now that you have tips for a successful eCommerce store launch, you’re ready for go time. Here we are at the end of this post. We hope our detailed Shopify launch checklist makes it easy for you to grow your business. If you don’t have experience, let us help you!
