How to Start an Online Store: A 7-Step Plan
By Savora Finance · Reviewed 2026-11-08
A practical seven-step plan to go from a product idea to a store that is open for business.
1. Choose a product you can supply
Decide whether you will make it, buy it wholesale, use print on demand or sell digital files. Pick one product or a small group of related ones to start.
2. Check the numbers first
Work out your price, product cost, shipping and payment fees before you build anything. Our profit calculator shows your profit per sale and how many sales cover your monthly costs.
3. Name the store and get a domain
Choose a short, clear name and check that the domain is available. Your name should tell people what you sell.
4. Set up the store
Open a Shopify trial, pick a theme and add your products with clear photos and honest descriptions. Themes and the visual editor mean you do not need to code, and Shopify's connector for Claude can help draft a store preview and product descriptions.
5. Set shipping, returns and payments
Write simple shipping and return policies, turn on payments and set tax settings for where you sell. Customers buy more readily when the rules are clear.
6. Place a test order
Buy your own product to check checkout, emails and shipping rates before anyone else does.
7. Launch and tell people
Share the store with friends, on social media, in local groups and by email. Collect email addresses from day one so you can sell to the same people again.
What a realistic first week looks like
Most first stores take longer than people expect, and the delay is rarely the technology. It is the product photos, the descriptions and the policies. A realistic plan is a few evenings for the setup, a few more for photos and writing, and one more to test checkout and fix what you find. If you try to do everything on one weekend you will likely launch with thin product pages, and thin product pages sell poorly.
Prepare these before you open the store editor
Having the material ready makes the setup itself quick. Gather four things first:
- Photos. Three to five clear images per product: one on a plain background, one showing scale or the product in use, and one close-up of detail or material. Natural window light and a plain surface beat a cluttered room.
- Product facts. Size, weight, materials, colors, care instructions and anything a buyer would ask before purchasing. The weight matters twice: it feeds your shipping rates.
- A cost sheet. What each item costs you to make or buy, to package and to ship. Without it you cannot tell whether a sale makes money.
- Draft policies. Shipping times, return window, who pays return shipping, and how customers contact you. See our guide on shipping and returns policies.
Where Claude can help, and where it cannot
An AI assistant is good at the blank-page problems of a new store. It can suggest names for products and collections, turn your rough notes into readable product descriptions, draft a first version of your FAQ and policies, and write a short welcome email for your first customers. Our guide on writing product descriptions with Claude includes prompts you can copy.
It cannot know your costs, your suppliers or your customers, and it can state things confidently that are wrong. Treat every draft as a first draft: check the facts, remove claims you cannot back up, and have the final say on anything about money, safety or the law. Do not paste customers' personal details into any AI tool unless you have checked that this is allowed.
Mistakes new store owners make
- Launching with too many products. Ten well-photographed, well-described products beat a hundred rushed ones.
- Skipping the cost sheet. A product that sells well at a loss is still a loss. Run the numbers in our calculator first.
- Copying manufacturer descriptions. Other sellers use the same text, and it gives shoppers and search engines no reason to prefer you.
- Hiding shipping costs until checkout. Surprise costs are a leading reason shoppers abandon carts. State shipping times and costs on the product page or in a visible policy.
- Having no way to reach people again. Add an email sign-up from the first day.
A first-week checklist
- Pick one product or a small related group and finish the cost sheet.
- Open the store trial, choose a theme and set your store name and contact email.
- Add products with photos, honest descriptions, prices and weights.
- Turn on payments, set shipping rates and tax settings for where you sell.
- Publish your shipping, returns, privacy and contact pages.
- Place a test order, check every email, and refund yourself.
- Tell ten people you know, and ask each for one piece of honest feedback.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a business license to start?
Requirements depend on where you live and what you sell. Check with your local authority or a qualified adviser. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
How much money do I need?
It depends on your product. The fixed costs are the plan, a domain and any paid theme or apps. Our cost guide lists them, and the calculator shows how many sales cover them.
Should I sell on a marketplace instead?
Marketplaces bring ready-made shoppers but take larger fees and give you less control. Many sellers use both. See Etsy vs Shopify fees.
Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you sign up for a paid plan through the button below. It does not change your price.
Ready to test your idea? Open a Shopify store, and use its Claude connector to help build it.
Choose yearly and keep more of what you earn. Shopify Basic is $39 a month, or $29 a month on annual billing. That is $348 for the year instead of $468, a saving of $120, or about a quarter off. A full year on one plan also lets you settle in, try ideas and fine-tune your store without watching the billing calendar. Pick the annual option when you choose your plan, and check Shopify's current terms before you pay.
Keep reading
Check your product's profit. Use our free profit calculator before you spend money.
Open the calculatorGeneral information only, not financial advice.