How to Start a Shopify Store: Step by Step (2026)

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To start a Shopify store, sign up for the trial, fill in your business settings, add products, set up payments, shipping and taxes, place a test order, then select a plan and switch your store from private to public. Every step below comes from Shopify's own help center, with the admin menu names it uses.

This guide is for first-time store owners selling physical products online in the US. If you are migrating an existing store or selling mainly in person, Shopify's help center has separate migration and POS launch checklists.

What you need

To be at least 18. Shopify's setup checklist says you must be at least 18 to use Shopify.
An email address, or a Google, Apple or Facebook account to sign up with.
A paid plan before launch. You can build during the trial, but Shopify's launch guide lists "Select a subscription plan" as a required step before your store can go public. Basic is $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, on Shopify's US pricing page. The trial is 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months.
Your store address, which Shopify requires before launch.
Bank details for payouts if you use Shopify Payments, plus two-step authentication on your account.
Product titles, prices and photos, and your refund, privacy and terms of service policies.

For what each plan costs once you are selling, see our Shopify pricing guide.

Step by step

1. Sign up for a trial

Go to shopify.com and click Start for free. Create an account with an email and password, or with Google, Apple or Facebook. You can add billing information now so your store stays open after the trial, or click Skip and add it later. You can also answer the setup questionnaire for suggestions tailored to your industry, or select Skip customized setup. Your Shopify admin then opens.

During the free trial, Shopify's help center says your online store is automatically in private mode, so nobody can shop until you launch.

2. Fill in your business settings

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > General.

In Store contact details, set your Store name and Store address, then click Save. Both are public.
In Business details, set your legal business name.
In Store defaults, check your currency, Unit system and Default weight unit.

Shopify warns that changing your store currency after your first order carries risk, and that if you use Shopify Payments you change currency through its bank account settings instead. Set it right now.

3. Decide on your store address (domain)

Every store gets a free myshopify.com address, and you can connect a domain you own or buy one. To rename your myshopify.com address, go to Settings > Domains, hover over it, click the pencil icon, enter a new name and click Add domain.

Shopify's warning here matters: you can change your myshopify.com domain only once, and you still use it to log in and when contacting Support. Pick a name you will keep.

4. Add your products

From your Shopify admin, go to Products and click Add product. Enter a title and any other details, then click Save. A title is the only required field, though Shopify's setup checklist notes that products need at least a title and a price to sell.

Tips from the help center:

Add colors or sizes as variants of one product instead of duplicating products.
Avoid changing a product's URL handle often, because the product may drop out of search results.
Search engines may cut off page titles over 70 characters and descriptions over 320 characters.

5. Organize products, pages and menus

Collections: go to Products > Collections, click Add collection, add a title, description, image and products, then click Save.
Pages: for About and Contact pages, go to Online Store > Pages and click Add page.
Menus: go to Content > Menus, choose a menu, click Add menu item, then Save menu.

Shopify notes that new pages do not appear in your menus automatically. Add a menu link for every page and collection you want customers to find.

6. Choose and customize a theme

Shopify's checklist says to pick a theme and customize it, and to preview themes before publishing. Once it is set up, its store design checklist recommends testing page speed (optimize images, remove unused apps, fix broken links) and previewing the store on a phone to check that images, menus and checkout work on small screens.

7. Set up payments

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments. If no provider is set up, click Complete account setup in the Shopify Payments section. Enter your store details and banking information, click Save, then Complete account setup.

Before you start, check that Shopify Payments is available in your country, and turn on two-step authentication, which Shopify requires. Shopify also warns that activating Shopify Payments removes any other payment provider from your account.

Why it matters for cost: orders through Shopify Payments carry no third-party transaction fee. With another provider, Shopify charges an extra 2% per sale on Basic.

8. Set up shipping

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery. In Packages, click Add package, enter a name, type, dimensions and weight, and choose whether it is your default.

Shopify lets you charge flat rates you set, offer free shipping, or use carrier-calculated rates. To sell to a country, it must be part of an active market. Shopify notes that shipping rates are gradually moving to shipping options by market, so your screen may differ.

9. Set up taxes

Go to the Taxes and duties page in your settings. Shopify says there isn't a formal list of steps: identify where you must collect tax (usually your default location), register with that state or country, then start collecting there on the Taxes and duties page.

The help center is direct: "Make sure your tax settings are correct for your store, and you need to remember to file your store's taxes." Shopify's setup checklist suggests finding a local expert for tax and legal advice.

10. Add your store policies and email settings

Set your refund, privacy and terms of service policies. Shopify says policies appear as links at the bottom of checkout, and that you also need to publish them on a separate page with a menu link so customers can read them before buying. Templates are available in English.

Also set up your sender email with authentication. Shopify warns that without SPF and DKIM authentication, store emails may land in spam.

11. Place a test order

Go to Settings > Payments. In the Shopify Payments section, click Edit, check Use test mode and click Save. Place test orders to check checkout, inventory, shipping and taxes, and practice refunding, canceling and fulfilling them. Charges do not apply to test orders.

Turn test mode off when you are done. Shopify lists a payment method with test mode deactivated as a requirement for launch.

12. Run Launch Check

In your Shopify admin, go to Apps and open Launch Check. Shopify says a full check takes less than 2 minutes and covers store data, admin settings, storefront elements, B2B setup and POS configuration.

13. Select a plan and launch

Select a subscription plan. Shopify says that if you pick a plan during your free trial, you are not charged subscription fees until the trial expires.

Then launch, using any of these:

Click Launch store from the admin Home page, the Online Store page or the theme editor.
Go to Online Store, click Private, select Public, then click Launch store.
Go to Online Store > Preferences, turn off Private mode in Store access, then click Save.

Your store is now public. Shopify recommends finalizing policies, contact details and shipping rates before this point.

After launch

Shopify's checklist suggests next steps: add sales channels (Google & YouTube, Facebook and Instagram by Meta, TikTok, Shop), verify your site with Google and submit a sitemap, customize abandoned cart emails, and set up Shopify Messaging for email and SMS campaigns. Shopify notes that new pages can take 48 to 72 hours to be indexed by search engines, and that Messaging needs an active paid plan.

Common mistakes the docs warn about

Renaming your myshopify.com domain twice. You only get one change.
Leaving test mode on. You cannot launch, or take real payments, until it is off.
Assuming taxes are handled for you. Collection settings and filing are your job.
Forgetting menu links. New pages and collections do not appear in menus on their own.
Ignoring chargebacks. Shopify warns that high chargeback rates can get Shopify Payments deactivated, and that Shopify does not cover chargeback losses. Review high-risk orders before fulfilling them.
Leaving unused apps installed. App charges can continue until you uninstall.

Is Shopify the right platform?

If you are still deciding, read our Shopify review, or compare it in Shopify vs Wix and Shopify vs WooCommerce.

Common questions

How long does it take to start a Shopify store? Shopify does not give a time estimate for the whole setup. Signing up takes a few minutes, and the rest depends on how many products, pages and settings you need. Launch Check itself takes less than 2 minutes.

Can I launch my Shopify store during the free trial? You can build during the trial, but you must select a plan before launching. Shopify says you are not charged subscription fees until the trial expires if you pick a plan during it.

Which Shopify plan should I pick to start? Most new stores start on Basic, which is $39 a month or $29 a month billed yearly in the US. The higher plans mainly add lower card rates and staff accounts.

Do I need a custom domain to start? No. Every store comes with a free myshopify.com address, and you can connect or buy a custom domain later in Settings > Domains.

How we put this together

We did not set up a store hands-on. Every step comes from Shopify's help center, read in November 2026: "Checklist to set up your online store," the initial setup guide, "Set up your business settings," "Set up your online store," "Set up store management settings," "Prepare for launch," "Store design checklist," "Shopify Launch Check," "Adding and updating products," "Setting up shipping rates" and the Shopify Payments overview. Plan prices come from Shopify's US pricing page. Shopify updates its admin often, so if a button looks different, check the linked help article.