Guides> Beginner's Shopify Guide
Checklist for launching a Shopify Plus plan
Checklist for launching a Shopify Plus plan
This list provides guidance and resources for key steps when launching a store on Shopify Plus. Each topic includes additional context and resource links. You may find it helpful to print this list or download it as a PDF so you can refer to it during the setup process.
For guidance on technical implementation planning, start with the Shopify Academy Solution Planning Fundamentals learning path.
If you need help, contact the Shopify Plus support team.
Getting started
Log in with your Shopify admin and add employees to your store.
Data transfer
Before migrating your data, review the data migration documentation. You can use the following options to migrate your data:
| Transfer option | |
|---|---|
| Description | |
| CSV import | Import products and customers via CSV file directly from your Shopify admin. This option is best suited for simple catalogs and small tax returns. |
| Third-party transfer apps | Use a third-party data migration app to migrate your data and avoid working on field mapping with CSV import. |
| Transfer services | Use third-party migration services, like LitExtension and Cart2Cart , which can make your data migration faster and easier. Learn about additional migration partners in the Shopify Plus Partner Guide . |
| Custom integrations | If you’re working with an agency or development team to launch your Shopify Plus store, consider creating your own custom migration solution using Shopify’s API . Your developers can use either the REST or GraphQL API. |
The order in which you import your product, customer, and historical order data is important. To ensure that you have access to your customers’ complete transaction history in Shopify, you should follow the migration order below. The migrated orders are also linked to their corresponding products and customers.
1. Transfer of products
Migrating your product data populates all of your product listings, variations, and product collections in Shopify. Before you import your products, consider planning the collections for your store so that you can assign your products to the correct collection during the migration.
- Transfer products using a CSV file
- Transfer products using the Products API
Information fields that are not part of the default product list, such as expiration date, can be added to a product using metafields.
2. Customer transfer
Once you transfer your customer data, all of your customer records will be available in your Shopify admin. This includes information like customer contact information, addresses, and marketing preferences.
- Transfer customers using a CSV file
- Transfer customers using the Customer API
Information that is not part of the default customer profile, such as date of birth, can be added to the customer profile using metafields or tags.
3. Transferring historical orders
Migrating order data ensures that information about product sales and customer purchase history is transferred to your Shopify store. At a minimum, transfer all historical orders within your business’s return policy window so that customers can access their order history for any orders that are still open for return or exchange. However, it’s a good idea to import orders from the last two to five years.
You receive notifications for every new order placed on your store. New order notifications are also enabled for every order that is shipped.
If you are importing a large amount of historical orders into your store and want to avoid receiving notifications for each imported order, you can disable new order notifications from your Shopify admin in Settings.> Notifications or contact Shopify Plus support to temporarily disable notifications. If you’re using a third-party app to import your orders, contact the app developer for instructions.
4. Transfer gift cards
If you’re transferring gift cards that can be used in your previous store, you need to transfer your gift card data to Shopify right before you launch your Shopify store. You can’t edit or delete gift cards in Shopify, so if a customer used a gift card in your previous store after you imported your gift card data, you can’t update that gift card in Shopify.
Before you transfer your gift cards, please review the following guidelines:
- Gift card numbers are encrypted. Once you create a gift card, only the last 4 digits will be displayed in your Shopify admin. If you need to keep a record of gift card numbers, maintain an external database.
- Gift cards can only be canceled, and cannot be deleted. The same gift card number cannot be used again in the future, even if the original card with that number is disconnected.
- If you are importing existing gift cards with a customer’s email address assigned, to prevent customers from receiving a notification when you import their gift cards, you can contact Shopify Plus support to temporarily disable the gift card notification email.
- Transfer gift cards manually
- Transfer gift cards using the Gift Card API
You can also use a third-party gift card transfer app to transfer existing gift cards to Shopify.
5. Transfer of other data
Depending on your business needs, there may be additional data you want to transfer. Contact Shopify Plus support for migration advice. You can transfer your offers and blogs using a third-party data migration app .
Creating content and uploading files
Create content, such as pages and blog posts, and upload your files and images. Use meta fields and meta objects to customize your Shopify store.
Pages
You can create pages, such as FAQ, About Us, or Contact Us, for your online store. If you’re using a Shopify store template, you can use Online Store 2.0 templates, which allow you to create your own page templates using sections and blocks.
Blogs
Shopify has a content management system, so you can create different blogs, each with its own set of blog posts to engage your customers. Shopify also has features that allow you to include meta titles, descriptions, and more on your web pages. You can also set up URL redirects from previous blog pages.
Uploading files and images
Make sure your content and media meet the file requirements.
Meta-fields
Meta fields help you customize the functionality and appearance of your Shopify store by allowing you to store special information that isn’t captured by default in the Shopify admin. You can use meta fields for internal tracking, or to display special information about your online store in different ways.
Meta-objects
An Online Store 2.0 template or compatible third-party template is required to display meta object records in your template viewer.
Notifications
Data organization
Organize your customers, products, and orders with tags. Group your products with collections and create automatic collections with meta fields.
Collections
You can group your products into collections to make it easier for customers to find them by category. You can choose to display a collection to be visible to customers in your online store, or use the collection internally for yourself and your employees, such as by creating a tax-exempt product collection.
Customer, product, and order tags
For accuracy when using tags, make sure you use universal letters and spaces so that additional users are not accidentally created.
Meta-fields
You can create and edit meta field settings directly in your Shopify admin using APIs or apps.
Configure your Shopify admin settings
Set your store’s general information, add employees, and configure store settings.
general
Set or change your online store’s contact information, legal business name and address, store currency, and default weight units.
Users and permissions
Set up employee accounts and grant collaboration permissions for any partners.
Payments
Set up payments and payment methods on your store. Only the store owner can set up Shopify Payments.
When you set up your Shopify store, a PayPal Express Checkout account will be created using the email address you use to sign in to your store. You can use this account, your own account, or cancel PayPal Express Checkout.
Shopping cart customization
Customize your checkout style and behavior. For example, you can choose your checkout language, such as whether to make customer accounts or certain payment fields optional or required.
In addition to checkout customizations and editing your shopping cart and invoices, the shopping cart extension also gives you access to the shopping cart branding API .
You can also customize and extend your payment with third-party apps . Your partner or development team can build payment apps for your store.
- Shopping cart application extensions
- Shopping Cart UI Extensions
- Dedicated expansion
- Shopping Cart UI Extensions Components
- Shopping Cart Extensions API
Customer accounts
Shipping and delivery
If you have complex shipping requirements, you can use third-party shipping apps from the Shopify App Store .
Taxes and duties
Locations
Locations in Shopify represent apps or physical locations where you sell products, ship or fulfill orders, and stock inventory.
Gift cards
Gift cards are set by default to be automatically redeemed when an order is paid for, and the customer receives a notification email. You can change the fulfillment setting to manually redeem all items in the order, including gift cards.
If an order is medium or high risk, then gift cards on that order will not be automatically redeemed. You can redeem gift cards manually from the order details page.
International
International allows you to define additional countries for sale and understand your business.
Customer Privacy
Configure your customer privacy settings to comply with data protection regulations in your sales territories.
Apps and sales channels
Install any necessary apps as early as you can in your store setup so that you have plenty of time to test before launching your store. If you’re considering using apps from the Shopify App Store, test the app’s functionality carefully before installing them. Some apps may have trial periods. Be sure to uninstall the apps before their period ends to avoid unnecessary charges.
Some apps may add code to your template, so it’s important to document the changes the app makes to your template’s code, and remove any unwanted code when you uninstall the app.
Check out the following app recommendations:
Domains
Pixels and customer events
Brand
Notifications
You can customize the content and design of your notifications. As a Shopify Plus merchant, you can contact Shopify Plus support and request to disable your email notifications. This can be helpful when you’re migrating your data or when you want to send order confirmations and updates from your marketing automation system.
Custom data
Languages
If you are building a multilingual store, you can add additional languages to your store.
policy
You can set up your store policies, such as return policies, shipping policies, terms of service, or privacy policies. You can also use the free privacy policy generator .
Setting up your online store
Choose your online store template and set your online store preferences, navigation, and filtering.
Templates
You can explore templates for your online store in the Shopify Template Store . You can choose from free and paid templates. Templates may have different features and are suitable for different needs, such as large or small catalogs. You can install a demo version of the template and preview the template for yourself.
If you can’t find a ready-made template that fits your store’s requirements, you might consider working with a developer or agency to build your own template. Learn more about Shopify template building and best practices .
Preferences
Navigation
Store Filter
Google Analytics
Check out the following resources to learn more about using Google Analytics and best practices:
- Google Analytics for Ecommerce in 2023 (Complete Guide)
- Marketing Analytics 101: How to Measure Your Campaigns
Supported apps and integrations on Shopify
Explore apps and sales channels made by Shopify to upgrade and customize your online store.
Consider using the following Shopify apps to help automate repetitive tasks and upgrade your checkout functionality:
- Launchpad allows you to plan, coordinate, and launch events like sales, product launches, and reserves with a fixed start and end date.
- Shopify Functions supports customizations for discounts, shipping, and payment methods.
- Shopify Flow allows you to automate tasks and processes within your store and between your apps, without the need to write code.
Other apps and sales channels made by Shopify include the following examples:
- Shop
- Shopify Audience
- Shopify Bags
- Shopify Collaborations
- Shopify Collection
- Shopify Email
- Shopify Forms
- Shopify Inbox
- Shopify Point of Sale
- Shopify Search and Browsing
- Marketplace Connect
- Planet app for carbon-neutral shipping
Payments via Shop Pay
With payments through Shop Pay, you can provide your customers with additional payment options without needing a third-party service. Because engagements are built into Shop Pay, all engagement payments are included in your Shopify payments report, reducing the need to reconcile reports from third-party services.
Shopify Tax Engine
Custom integrations
If you’ve explored available apps and integrations, and still need a customized solution, you have the option to build a custom app using Shopify’s API .
Shopify API releases help to continually improve the platform and provide developers with a predictable way to upgrade and deprecate features. To learn about upcoming API changes, check out the developer changelog .
Check out the following resources to help you build your app:
- Custom apps
- Shopify Development
- API documentation
Personalized store experiences
If your business model doesn’t fit into any of the sales channels or apps that Shopify and partners offer, consider working with a developer to build a custom store .
Third-party apps and integrations
You can install third-party apps and sales channels from the Shopify App Store . Some third-party apps are part of the Shopify Plus Verified Apps program , which includes Shopify’s top recommendations for business solutions.
Many of the external systems include sample linking apps. Search the Shopify app store to see if a linking app is available instead of creating a custom integration.
If you need help creating a custom integration, refer to Shopify-supported apps and integrations.