Live Logout Guide for Shopify Plus Plan

No matter what your path to launch on the Shopify Plus plan is, it will all lead up to a live launch date , which is when your customers can finally shop on your new store.

This guide offers resources for preparation, execution, and post-launch activities that are important to follow to successfully launch on Shopify Plus. This checklist is intended to be used in addition to the general Shopify Plus launch checklist. Each topic includes additional context and links to resources. You may want to print this checklist or download it as a PDF file to refer to during launch day.

If you need help, contact the Shopify Plus support team.

A guide to preparing for an animal launch

Consider the following points as you prepare for an animal launch:

• Order flow check
• Integration testing
• Checking Analytics Settings
• DNS and server settings checks
• Data backup

Order flow check

Thoroughly test your order flow by running sample orders. Refer to the Sample Order Checklist to learn what scenarios to consider during testing.

Integration testing

Make sure all your integrations are working properly. Thoroughly testing your integrations will ensure you start with strong technology and good integration, and help you avoid issues after launch.

The exact details of what to check at this point depend on the systems and apps that are connected to your Shopify. You may have a mix of Shopify-supported apps and integrations and third-party apps and integrations.

Confirm the functionality of the integrations

Checking Analytics Settings

Any data tracking you want to enable needs to be configured.

Connect your Google Analytics account to Shopify

Set up Google Tag Manager

DNS and server settings checks

Find out the following information at least four weeks before your desired launch date:

Which domain registrar do you use?

Who has access to your domain registrar?

How to update your settings to point to Shopify

If you use any hosting services (like AWS), and if you will need them even after you get to Shopify

If you use a DNS management system or proxy service (like Cloudflare), and if they are compatible with Shopify

About a month before your launch date:

Change the TTL with your domain provider to 300

The Shopify Plus plan includes an SSL certificate with your subscription at no additional cost. Existing SSL certificates from another provider cannot be transferred to Shopify. This should be considered in preparation for launch.

Data backup

Shopify doesn’t offer a way to back up your store data. If, for example, you delete all the products in your store, there’s no way to restore that data.

For this reason, we recommend that you plan to back up your store data manually or with a third-party app . This is especially important when you have a large team or integrations that can affect your store data, such as products, inventory, customers, pages, or templates.

Run data backups

Live launch checklist

You should thoroughly review all aspects of your store and integrations with other systems. This checklist will help you confirm that everything is in place before moving to Shopify Plus.

Refer to the following sections:

• Data and content migration
• Data organization
• Front interface
• Apps and integrations
• Discounts and pricing rules
• Store settings
• Payment process and order creation
• Automation
• Order management
• Expansion stores
• DNS settings
• Analytics
• Live launch

Data and content migration

Make sure you have entered or created the following content:

Products

Customers

Orders

Gift cards

Pages (About, FAQ, Contact, and Privacy Policy, for example)

Blogs

Blog articles

Files (images and PDFs)

Data organization

Confirm that your content is organized the way you prefer by checking the following:

Collections

Navigation

Customer tags

Product tags

Other tags (orders or transfers)

Front interface

Confirm that the following areas of your store look and function as you want:

Template design

Create a customer account

Subscribe to the newsletter

Newsletter design

Social media links

Payment process design (including payment processing)

404 page design

Languages ​​and currencies

Shopify Scripts (Line Details, Payment, Shipping)

Apps and integrations

Test the following integrations to make sure they are working properly:

Apps installed from the Shopify App Store

Custom integrations

Sales channels

When necessary, you should also uninstall any apps you installed but decided not to use:

Remove unwanted apps

Discounts and pricing rules

Check the following to confirm that they are working as expected:

Discount codes

Automatic discounts

Store settings

Confirm the following settings for your stores:

Online store preferences

Store name and shipping level

Shipping prices

Tax prices

Locations

International

Customer Privacy

Payment providers

Notifications

Payment settings

Team accounts and permissions

Payment process and order creation

Check these scenarios to make sure the checkout functions are working properly:

Simple payment process

Payment with discount code

Payment with a gift card

Abandoned payment process

Transaction failed

Contractual order/send invoice

Orders from sales channels

Test in different browsers and devices

Check as a customer, both online and offline

Automation

Test the following automations to make sure they are working properly:

Shopify Flow Workflows

Launchpad Events

Custom workflows

Order management

Test the following functions to make sure that orders are working as expected:

Order fulfillment

Order cancellation and refund

Change order

Returns

Expansion stores

Confirm the following:

All required stores have been added to the Plus contract

All required objects have been moved to expansion stores

DNS settings

Confirm the following DNS settings:

You lowered the TTL to 300.

You have added your SPF or DKIM TXT records.

Analytics

Confirm that these analytical tracking systems are working:

Google Analytics

Meta Pixel

Google Tag Manager

Additional scripts for tracking

Live launch

Complete the following tasks:

Create domains for all stores

Add domains to Shopify

Set up live payments

Remove online store password

Add URL references

Enable 404 monitoring

Point DNS to Shopify

Submit a new sitemap file to Google Search Console

Send account orders to transferred customers

Live launch

When you’re ready to go live, follow these steps to launch your new store:

1. Change your domain’s A record and point it to Shopify’s IP address.
2. Change the CNAME record to your intended Shopify domain.
3. Connect your domain to Shopify.
4. Set your primary domain in Shopify.
5. Remove your online store password.

Next steps

Refer to the After launching your online store section in the Shopify Plus plan launch checklist to see what to do after launch.

After the store launch

Once you’ve launched your store, there are a few important steps to take to ensure your store continues to run smoothly:

• Track your store’s performance with Google Analytics.
• Check customer feedback and strive to improve the user experience.
• Run marketing campaigns to attract new customers.
• Continue to update your content and product catalog.
• Stay in touch with your customers through newsletters and updates.

Monitoring store performance

One of the most important things to do after launch is to track your store’s performance. Use tools like Google Analytics to check:

• How customers get to your store.
• Which products sell the most?
• Which pages in your store are the most popular.
• Customer conversion rates.

Customer response

Listen to your customers’ feedback. This could include:

• Surveys and questionnaires.
• Product reviews.
• Customer service inquiries.

Improve the user experience based on the feedback you receive.

Marketing campaigns

Run marketing campaigns to attract new customers. This could include:

• Sponsored advertising on social networks.
• Email campaigns.
• Discounts and special offers.

Content updates

Keep your product content and catalog updated. This includes:

• Adding new products.
• Updating product descriptions.
• Improving product images.

Communication with customers

Stay in touch with your customers through newsletters and updates. This could include:

• Sending updates about new products.
• Offering discounts to returning customers.
• Sharing interesting content related to your products.