Shopify Store Setup Checklist for Beginners

A good Shopify store setup checklist covers ten things in order: planning, plan and account, theme, collections, products, store pages, payments, shipping, taxes, and a test order before launch. Work through them one at a time and tick each off. This guide walks you through every item with the Indian details that beginners usually miss, such as UPI, GST and pin-code shipping.

Plan before you open Shopify

The first item on any Shopify store setup checklist happens outside Shopify. Decide your niche, your target buyer, your store name and your rough product list. Check that the name is free as a domain and on Instagram and Facebook. Write one line that says who the store is for and what makes it worth buying from.

Also decide your model. If you stock your own goods, you will need packing and courier plans. If you run a dropshipping model, a supplier ships on your behalf, so supplier quality and delivery time matter more. Our guide on how to start dropshipping in India covers that choice in more depth.

Create the account and choose a plan

Sign up on Shopify with an email you will keep long term, since it becomes the owner login for the store. Shopify charges a monthly subscription, and it has offered trial periods in the past, so check what is available when you sign up. The cheapest paid plan is enough for most beginners, and you can move up later when your needs grow. Check the current pricing on Shopify's own site, because plans and fees change.

Keep in mind that the Shopify subscription is paid directly to Shopify. Budget for it, along with the domain, any paid apps and your ad spend. Many beginners forget that the monthly subscription continues even in months with no sales.

The core Shopify store setup checklist at a glance

Print this list or copy it into a notes app. Each item is explained in the sections below.

1. Store basics: store name, contact email, address, currency set to INR and time zone set to India.
2. Theme: pick a clean theme and set your logo, colours and fonts.
3. Collections: create clear categories before adding products.
4. Products: add titles, photos, descriptions, prices and variants.
5. Pages: About, Contact, shipping, returns, privacy and terms.
6. Navigation: menu, footer links and search.
7. Payments: enable an Indian gateway with UPI and cards, plus cash on delivery if you choose.
8. Shipping: delivery zones, rates and package details.
9. Taxes: GST settings checked with your accountant.
10. Test and launch: test orders, mobile check, domain connected, store password removed.

Set store basics and pick a theme

In your store settings, add your legal or trading name, support email, phone or WhatsApp number and business address. Set the store currency to Indian rupees. The address and contact details also appear in your policies and invoices, so check spelling now.

Shopify's default free theme is a sensible starting point. Resist the urge to try twenty themes. Pick one with fast loading, a clear mobile layout and a simple header. Upload your logo, set two or three brand colours and keep fonts consistent. A plain, tidy store usually earns more trust than a busy one packed with banners and pop-ups.

Create collections and navigation

Collections are your categories. Create them before you add many products, so each item has a home. Aim for names a shopper would actually search for, such as Women's Kurtis or Phone Cases, instead of internal labels. Keep the menu short: five to seven top-level links is plenty for a new store.

Think about how the collections will grow. A starter store might begin with six to twelve collections, and each should have enough products to look worth visiting. An empty or one-product collection makes a store look unfinished. If a category is thin, merge it into a broader one for now.

Add products properly

This is the longest part of any Shopify store setup checklist, and the part that most affects sales. For each product, write a clear title, a helpful description, a fair price, accurate weight and, where relevant, variants such as size and colour. Add several photos, with the first one clean and bright.

• Titles: say what the item is in plain words, with the key detail first.
• Descriptions: cover material, size, use, care and what is in the box. Use short paragraphs and bullets.
• Photos: keep a consistent background and size across the store. Compress them so pages load quickly.
• Pricing: work out product cost, shipping, payment fees and your margin before you set a price.
• Stock and weight: fill these in so shipping rates and sold-out labels work correctly.

If you use supplier products, rewrite titles and descriptions in your own words and check the claims. Copied text looks generic and can make your pages blend into every other store selling the same item.

Publish the pages shoppers look for

Before launch, publish About, Contact, shipping policy, returns and refund policy, privacy policy and terms of service. Shopify can generate policy templates, but you must read and adapt them to what you really do. If your return window is seven days, say seven days and say who pays for return shipping.

Our guide to legal and policy pages for Indian online stores explains what each page should cover and why Indian shoppers check them. Have a qualified professional review the final text, because you are responsible for the promises on your site.

Payments, shipping and taxes

For payments, enable a gateway that supports Indian methods, so shoppers can pay by UPI, cards and net banking. Approval needs documents such as PAN and bank details, and it can take some time, so apply early. Fees and requirements differ by provider, so check the provider's own pages. If you offer cash on delivery, say so clearly and think about how you will handle refused parcels.

For shipping, create delivery zones and decide between free, flat-rate or calculated rates. Weigh a packed sample of each product, since courier charges depend on weight and size. For taxes, tax rules depend on your turnover and products, so ask a chartered accountant whether you need GST registration, how to show tax on prices and what your invoices must include. We do not give tax advice.

Run a test order and launch

Do not announce the store until you have bought from it yourself. Place a test order using a real low-value payment, or use Shopify's test mode if your gateway supports it. Check that the confirmation email arrives, the order shows in your admin, stock reduces, shipping is charged correctly and the invoice looks right. Try the whole journey on a phone, because most visitors will use one.

Ask one or two friends or family members to place an order without your help. Watch where they pause, which button they miss and what they ask you. Fresh eyes find problems you can no longer see. Write down every issue, fix the important ones, and test again. Finishing this Shopify store setup checklist item properly saves a lot of embarrassment on launch day.

Then run through launch basics. Connect your custom domain early, since changes can take time to reach everyone. Remove the storefront password. Add your store link to Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp business profiles. Our broader website launch checklist adds a few general items worth reading as well.

Mistakes that break a Shopify store setup checklist

Most beginner problems are small and avoidable. Stores go live with the default sample content still on the home page. Shipping charges are set too low, so every order loses money. Product photos differ in size, which makes collection pages look uneven. Policies are copied from another site and do not match the real process. Another frequent slip is installing many apps early, which slows the store and adds monthly charges that are easy to forget.

A second group of mistakes is about people, not settings. Owners ignore the mobile view, never read their own checkout, or leave customer messages unanswered for days. Indian buyers often check WhatsApp or call before paying a new shop, so make sure your number works and someone replies. Keep this part of your Shopify store setup checklist visible until it becomes a habit.

What to do in the first weeks after launch

Launching is the start, not the finish. In the first few weeks, watch your orders and messages closely, fix any confusing page, and note the questions buyers ask repeatedly. Add those answers to product pages or an FAQ page. Check that abandoned or failed payments are not caused by a settings problem.

Then think about getting visitors. You can promote product links in relevant communities for free, or run paid ads on Meta, where the ad spend is paid directly to Meta. Our comparison of Meta Ads vs organic marketing for dropshipping helps you choose. Whichever route you take, results depend on your product, market, budget and effort, and nothing is guaranteed.

If you would rather have it built for you

Not everyone wants to spend a week on setup. Ragnar Studios offers three fixed-price Shopify dropshipping store plans for people starting a dropshipping business. Basic is ₹2,000 with 70 optimized products and 6 collections. Startup is ₹4,000 with 100 products, 8 collections, a custom logo and a domain provided by us. Premium is ₹6,000 with 150 products, 12 collections, full brand identity and a professional business email. Each includes a built store, supplier integration and a training session.

The Shopify monthly subscription, supplier platform fees and ad spend are not included and are paid directly to the platform. Results depend on your product, market, budget and effort, and nothing is guaranteed. If your store is not a dropshipping store, we also build custom stores, and you can read about our Shopify store development service.

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