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

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 every step in order. Prefer to tick items off as you go? Use our interactive Shopify launch checklist, which saves your progress in your browser.

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Starting from scratch? Start your Shopify trial →: 3 days free, then $1/month for your first 3 months (Shopify pricing page, October 2026). You can build the whole store during that time.

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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
• Leave the .myshopify.com address alone: it cannot be removed, but once your custom domain is primary, visitors are redirected to it

Branding and theme

• Upload your logo (Settings → Brand), ideally a PNG with a transparent background
• Pick a theme: start with one of Shopify's free themes and switch later if you outgrow it
• 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

• 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

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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

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Phase 3 — Payments and checkout

Payment setup

• Shopify Payments activated (Settings → Payments). Using it avoids the extra fee Shopify charges when you use another payment provider (2% on Basic). It needs your bank details and identity 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 checkout emails turned on (in Shopify's marketing automations)
• 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

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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

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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): rename files before you upload them
• Google Analytics 4 connected through the free Google & YouTube app, which sets up GA4 for your store
• Google Search Console verified, and your sitemap submitted: Shopify creates it automatically at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
• Social sharing image set (Online Store → Preferences → Social sharing image) — 1200×630px

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Phase 6 — Email and marketing

• Email marketing set up: Shopify Email is free to install and sends from inside Shopify (check its current sending allowance, as additional charges may apply); Klaviyo is the common upgrade 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

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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

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Interactive Shopify launch checklist

Open the free interactive checklist →

Tick off each step as you go; your progress is saved in your browser, and the page prints cleanly or saves as a PDF.

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After launch: first 30 days

The store is live — now focus on these:

1. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console — search engines won't index your store overnight; submitting manually speeds it up
2. Check your first real order end-to-end — confirm the customer got their confirmation email, track the shipment, and make sure it arrives correctly
3. Ask for reviews — install a product reviews app and send a review request a few days after delivery. Reviews from real buyers help new visitors trust the store
4. Watch abandoned checkouts — if many people reach checkout and leave, look for the usual causes: unexpected shipping costs, required account creation, or too many form fields. See how to reduce cart abandonment
5. Run a weekly check in Shopify Analytics: sessions, conversion rate and average order value. Fix conversion before you spend on ads

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Ready to start?

Start your Shopify trial →: 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months, then Basic at $39/month or $29/month paid yearly (Shopify pricing page, October 2026). Build the store, connect your domain, and launch when you're ready.

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

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