You’ve decided on the type of eCommerce business you’ll start and you’ve chosen Shopify as your eCommerce platform. What’s next? There are so many tasks to complete before the launch that it can be truly overwhelming. Where should you start?
You don’t have to worry about it—we’ve put together this eCommerce launch checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything important before the grand opening.
1. Add a Custom Domain
Once you sign up for a free trial on Shopify, you’ll be given a URL for your online store called “myshopify.com.” You can technically launch your e-store using this URL, but it is far better to attach a custom domain name to it because it is easier to remember, encourages customer trust, and will help with brand recognition.
A custom domain can be purchased from a registrar (such as Gandi or Namecheap) or directly from Shopify.
Also read: How to Choose Best Domain Name for Your Business : Here’s 14 Tips
2. Check Your Product Pages
Entering data for the products you’re going to sell will likely take up a large portion of the time spent setting up your Shopify store, especially if you have a huge inventory. It is critical that this information is entered correctly; otherwise, things can quickly go awry.
For instance, you may face disgruntled customers, returns, and refunds if your product descriptions or photographs are inaccurate. You could also end up wasting a lot of time rectifying administrative issues or even paying out of pocket if the tax rates or shipping costs you’ve applied are not correct. In the worst-case situation, you could be fined by the IRS for not accurately applying taxes. So, the bottom line is: always double-check the data on your product pages.
3. Install Inventory Management Software
Inventory control or inventory management is the process of obtaining, storing, and distributing your goods across several platforms. It entails keeping track of how much stock you have on hand and estimating how much you’ll need depending on sales.
A solid grasp of inventory management and a good Shopify inventory management solution can help avoid problems like understocking, overstocking, and overselling, which are all caused by inventory distortion.
4. Check if Payments Are Accepted Properly
Before you start driving traffic to your store, be sure that visitors can actually make a purchase. The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is around 70%, according to Baymard Institute.
It’s critical to make sure your Shopify store’s checkout process is running smoothly. Testing the checkout process on Shopify typically entails determining whether tax rates and shipping costs are applied correctly, whether credit card payments are accepted without problems, whether multi-currency features are functional, and whether discount codes can be applied.
5. Review Email Notifications
Communication with clients is an important aspect of establishing an online business. As a result, it’s important to make sure you’ve set your email notifications so that all of the information is correct, and that they’re being delivered and received without a problem.
Remember that you might need to set up and test refund alerts, shipping updates, and shipping confirmations in addition to order notifications. By heading to Settings > Notifications in your Shopify store dashboard, you can see and change all of your store’s email notifications.
Also read: What are the Benefits of Adding an Instagram feed on Shopify?
6. Create a Marketing Strategy
Before you open your Shopify store, make sure you have a marketing strategy in place that outlines how you’ll promote your new online business. A pre-launch marketing strategy should include social media, content marketing, internet advertising, and any new sales channels, such as Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, and so on.
It’s also crucial to consider your store from the standpoint of SEO (search engine optimization): make sure you’re utilizing the proper keywords in the right places, and that your site loads as quickly as possible.
Final Thoughts
It’s a lot of work to launch a store, but with this Shopify store launch checklist, it’ll be a lot easier. Keep in mind that you’ve merely learned how to start an eCommerce store; now you need to learn how to expand it.
It’s all about attempting to enhance your sales, customer service, customer experience, and, most importantly, yourself when you run an online business. The possibilities are infinite with hard effort and a sales push on your side.
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