Shopify
Shopify store checklist: 10 essential things to add to your store
This Shopify store checklist covers the 10 things every store needs before it can sell well: not just a theme and products, but the navigation, product pages, reviews, policies, checkout, speed, email, tracking and agent readiness that turn visitors into customers. Each item says why it matters and where it lives in Shopify.
Short answer
A Shopify store checklist covers two layers: the setup Shopify needs to take an order, such as a domain, payments, shipping, taxes and policies, and the things that make people buy. Those are clear navigation and search, complete product pages, real reviews, visible delivery and returns, trust signals, a fast checkout, a quick mobile theme, email capture and reliable tracking.
- A store can be fully set up and still convert poorly, so the checklist goes past setup to what makes visitors buy.
- AI assistants read your product data, not your design, so state product facts, prices and policies in plain text.
- Add Shopify apps one at a time for a named problem, and remove any you stop using.
- Before launch, place real test orders on desktop and on a phone with every payment method.
- After launch, track add to cart, reached checkout and completed checkout by device, over whole weeks.
What should a Shopify store checklist include?
A Shopify store checklist should cover two layers. The first is setup: domain, payments, shipping, taxes and policies, the things Shopify needs before it will take an order. The second is what makes people buy once they arrive: navigation, product pages, reviews, trust, checkout, speed, email, tracking and agent readiness. Most launch checklists stop after the first layer.
This page focuses on the second layer, because that is where most new stores lose sales. A store can be fully set up and still convert poorly if visitors cannot find products, do not trust the site or meet a surprise at checkout. The ten essentials below come from the problems Convertica sees most often when it audits online stores. To run that review on your own store, follow the Shopify CRO audit steps.
The setup basics to finish first
Before adding anything for conversions, finish the setup basics Shopify needs to sell: a custom domain, a payment provider, shipping zones and rates, tax settings and written store policies. Shopify's Help Center has its own step-by-step launch checklists for these. Get them right first, because a mistake here, such as wrong shipping rates, costs sales no design can win back.
| Basic | Why it matters to conversions |
|---|---|
| Custom domain | A store on its own domain looks like an established business; a default store address does not. |
| Payment provider | Shoppers abandon when their preferred way to pay is missing. |
| Shipping rates and zones | Wrong or surprising shipping costs at checkout are a common reason to leave. |
| Tax settings | Prices that change at the last step feel like a trick, even when they are correct. |
| Store policies | Returns, shipping, privacy and terms answer the questions careful buyers ask before paying. |
Shopify's own general checklist for starting a new store walks through these settings in order.
10 essential things to add to your Shopify store
The 10 essential things to add to a Shopify store are: a homepage that routes visitors, clear navigation and search, complete product pages, real reviews, visible delivery and returns terms, trust signals near the buy button, a fast checkout with accelerated payments, a quick mobile theme, email capture with abandoned checkout recovery, and tracking you can trust. An eleventh, agent readiness, is now worth adding too.
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A homepage that sends people somewhere
Your homepage should say what you sell in a few seconds and link straight to your main categories and bestsellers. It is a signpost, not a brochure. Replace auto-rotating slides with a single clear hero and visible category tiles, and keep the search field in view. See the full guide to ecommerce homepage best practices.
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Navigation and search that match how shoppers think
Build your menu from the words customers use, keep it shallow, and add filters to any collection with more than a screen or two of products. In Shopify, menus are edited under Content, then Menus. Shopify's Search and Discovery app adds filters and search synonyms. Read your search terms monthly for products people cannot find. The guide to ecommerce navigation covers this in depth.
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Product pages that answer every question
A product page has to replace touching the product in a shop. Show several large images from different angles and in use, a description that leads with what the product does for the buyer, the specifications people compare on, a size or fit guide where it matters, the price, delivery time and returns terms near the button. Add alt text to images so screen readers, search engines and AI agents can read them.
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Real customer reviews
Reviews answer the question your own copy cannot: is this any good, according to people like me? Add a reviews app, ask every customer for a review after delivery, and show the rating near the product title and the full reviews further down. Placement and design matter: in Convertica's reviews section case study, moving reviews from the bottom of the product page to just below the product lifted orders 42.38% for a bedding store, with the gain on mobile, and completed orders 20.34% for a jewelry store, with the gain on desktop, in two-week A/B tests at a 98% confidence level.
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Delivery, returns and policies people can find
Write clear shipping, returns, privacy and terms policies (in Shopify: Settings, then Policies), then surface the parts shoppers care about where they decide: delivery time and cost on the product page, the returns window near the add to cart button and on the cart page. In Convertica's policy visibility case study, shipping and refund policy badges on the cart page lifted the desktop order completion rate 21.8% at a 97% confidence level; the case study does not state the test length. Another case study tested a free shipping badge placed beside the price on product pages.
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Trust signals near the buy button
Payment icons for the methods you accept, a money-back or returns promise, secure checkout wording and contact details all reassure a hesitant buyer. Put them beside the add to cart button and in the cart, where doubt peaks, not only in the footer. The guide to trust badges covers which ones to use.
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A fast checkout with accelerated payments
Offer the payment methods your customers already use, and turn on accelerated checkout buttons. Shop Pay, part of Shopify Payments, saves a customer's email, payment method and shipping details so returning shoppers do not have to type them again. Allow guest checkout, show the full cost before the final step, and place a test order yourself on a phone.
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A quick, mobile-first theme
Choose a theme that is fast and looks right on a phone first, then check every page on a real device. Each app you add can add code to your storefront, so install only what you need and remove what you stop using. Shopify notes that if you change your published theme, app blocks need to be activated again in the new theme.
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Email capture and abandoned checkout recovery
Most visitors will not buy on their first visit. Offer a reason to join your list, such as early access or a useful guide, and set up automated emails: a welcome series, an abandoned checkout reminder and a post-purchase message that asks for a review. Shopify has built-in marketing automations, and apps such as Klaviyo and Omnisend offer more control.
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Tracking you can trust
Check that orders in your analytics match orders in your Shopify admin for the same dates. Shopify reports conversion rate as sessions that completed checkout divided by all sessions, alongside the sessions that added to cart and reached checkout. If you also use Google Analytics 4, make sure purchases are recorded; the guide to conversion rate in Google Analytics shows where to find it.
The new essential: can AI channels read your store?
Shoppers now ask AI assistants for product recommendations, and those assistants read your product data, not your design. Shopify says its agentic storefronts feature lets customers discover and buy products in AI channels such as ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Meta, and that it is active by default for eligible stores. The quality of your product data decides what those channels can say about you.
- Write product titles and descriptions that state what the product is, who it is for and its key specifications in plain text.
- Fill in product type, variants, options and images completely.
- Keep prices, stock and shipping information accurate, because AI channels repeat them.
- State your returns and shipping terms in text, not only inside images or badges.
- Review which AI channels you sell on in your Shopify admin under Sales channels, then Agentic.
Source: Shopify Help Center, Shopify agentic storefronts. Agent readiness is one of the eight checks in Convertica's free CRO audit.
Where each essential lives in Shopify
Most of the ten essentials are set up in three places in Shopify: the theme editor for anything shoppers see on the page, the Settings area for policies, payments and checkout, and apps for reviews, email and search. This table maps each item to where you start and what to check once it is live.
| Essential | Where to start | Check after launch |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Theme editor | Share of homepage visitors who go on to a collection or product |
| Navigation and search | Content, then Menus; a search and filter app | Searches with no results; collections people leave without clicking |
| Product pages | Products, and the product template in the theme editor | Add to cart rate by product and device |
| Reviews | A reviews app, added as an app block | Share of products with reviews; review requests sent |
| Policies | Settings, then Policies; menus for links | Questions to support about delivery and returns |
| Trust signals | Theme editor, near the buy button and in the cart | Cart to checkout rate |
| Checkout and payments | Settings, then Payments and Checkout | Sessions that reached checkout vs sessions that completed it |
| Theme and speed | Online Store, then Themes | Load time on a real phone; apps you no longer use |
| Marketing automations or an email app | Recovered checkouts; list signups | |
| Tracking | Analytics, plus Google Analytics 4 if used | Orders in analytics match orders in the admin |
How to choose Shopify apps without slowing your store
Choose Shopify apps one at a time, each for a specific problem you can name, and remove any app you stop using. Every app is another script, another style sheet or another setting to maintain, and together they can slow a store down. Before installing, check that the app works with your theme as an app block, and test your store speed afterwards.
- Name the problem first: "shoppers ask about sizing", not "we need more apps".
- Check whether Shopify or your theme already does it.
- Prefer apps that add app blocks you can place in the theme editor.
- Install, then check speed and layout on a phone.
- Measure whether it changed the step it was meant to fix.
- Uninstall apps you no longer use, and remove any code they left behind.
Loyalty programs, upsell tools and social feeds can all help later, once the ten essentials are in place and you have traffic to measure them.
Test your Shopify store before launch
Before you open a Shopify store, place real test orders on desktop and on a phone, using each payment method and shipping option, and read every email the store sends. Then ask someone who has never seen the store to find and buy a specific product while you watch without helping. Every hesitation you see is something to fix before paying for traffic.
- A test order completes on desktop and on a phone
- Each payment method and accelerated checkout button works
- Shipping costs and taxes are correct for each zone
- Order confirmation and shipping emails are correct and on brand
- Every menu link, collection and product page loads
- Search finds your products by name and by type
- Policies are published and linked from the footer
- Contact details are visible and the contact form reaches you
- Analytics records the test order once, with the right value
- A first-time visitor can find and buy a product without help
After launch: measure, then improve
Once your store is live, the checklist turns into a measurement routine. Watch the share of sessions that add to cart, reach checkout and complete checkout, by device and traffic source, over whole weeks. The weakest step is where to work next. Fix clear problems straight away, and A/B test changes you are unsure about once you have enough traffic.
Five numbers are enough for a weekly check, each split by desktop and mobile:
- Sessions, and where they came from
- The share of sessions that added something to the cart
- The share of sessions that reached checkout
- The share of sessions that completed checkout, which is Shopify's conversion rate
- Average order value, so a higher conversion rate is not bought with deep discounts
The free conversion rate calculator shows the formula, and the CRO audit guide shows how to find what is holding your store back, step by step.
Questions about the Shopify store checklist
What should a Shopify store checklist include?
A Shopify store checklist should include the setup basics (domain, payments, shipping, taxes and store policies) and the things that make people buy: clear navigation and search, complete product pages, reviews, visible delivery and returns terms, trust signals near the buy button, a fast checkout, a quick mobile theme, email capture and recovery, working analytics, and products AI channels can read.
What does a Shopify store need before launch?
Before launch a Shopify store needs a custom domain, a payment provider, shipping rates, tax settings, written store policies, products with complete descriptions and images, a working menu, and a test order placed from start to finish on desktop and on a phone. Shopify publishes its own launch checklists in its Help Center.
Which Shopify apps are essential?
Few apps are truly essential. Most stores benefit from a reviews app, an email marketing app and, if the catalog is large, Shopify's own search and filtering tools. Add apps one at a time for a specific problem, remove the ones you do not use, and check your store speed after each one.
How do I add store policies in Shopify?
In your Shopify admin go to Settings, then Policies. Click the policy you want, enter your own text or insert Shopify's template, review it and save. Shopify lists policy links in the checkout footer by default, and you can add them to your store menus from Content, then Menus. You are responsible for following the policies you publish.
How do I know if my Shopify store is converting well?
Shopify defines conversion rate as the share of online store sessions that completed checkout. Track it over whole weeks, alongside the share of sessions that added to cart and reached checkout, split by device and traffic source. A drop at one step shows you where to look. Compare your store with its own past, not with averages from other stores.
Should I add trust badges to my Shopify store?
Add trust signals that answer real worries, such as payment icons for the methods you accept, a clear returns promise and real reviews, and place them near the add to cart and checkout buttons. A badge on its own does not create trust; it supports a store that already looks and works like a reliable business.