How to Set Up a Shopify Store in 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide

You can set up a Shopify store in a weekend, but a store that's ready for customers takes a little more care. The order matters. Get the plan, domain, products, payments, shipping, taxes and policies right before you spend time on design tweaks, and launch day will be uneventful in the best way.

This guide walks through the setup step by step, using Shopify's plans, trial terms and settings as of October 2026. Some details have changed recently: the free trial is now 3 days, followed by $1 a month for 3 months; the middle plan is called Grow; and new stores use the current customer accounts, because legacy accounts are no longer offered to them.

Work through the steps in order, then use the launch checklist at the end before you remove your store password.

Plan, account and domain

Step 1: Choose a plan and start the trial

Sign up at shopify.com. As of October 2026, Shopify's pricing page offers "3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months." No credit card is needed for the free days. Shopify notes that trial length can vary by store and location and can't be extended, and stores created through certain AI tools and partner integrations currently get a 4-month trial. If you don't choose a plan by the end of the trial, the store is paused until you do.

Most new stores should start on Basic and upgrade when card fees or staff needs justify it. Our Shopify pricing plans guide compares the plans in detail, and our breakdown of Shopify transaction fees explains how card rates change with each plan. Shopify also offers a $0 Agentic plan for selling only in AI channels, but an online store built on it stays password-protected until you upgrade.

Step 2: Add your business details and secure the account

In Settings, fill in:

• Store details: legal business name, business address (you need one before you can remove the store password), contact email and phone number.
• Store currency and units: pick these before adding products, because changing currency later affects pricing and reports.
• Security: turn on two-step authentication for your Shopify account straight away. If you add staff later, give each person their own login with only the permissions they need. Our Shopify security guide covers this in more depth.

Step 3: Set up your domain

Every store starts with a free yourstore.myshopify.com address. Customers should see your own domain instead. You have two options:

• Buy a domain through Shopify. It's set up automatically and renews on your Shopify bill.
• Connect a domain you already own. Update the DNS records at your registrar, following the steps Shopify gives you in Settings > Domains.

Set your custom domain as the primary domain so all traffic redirects to it. If you're moving from another platform, keep your old URLs listed so you can add redirects later (Step 10).

Theme and products

Step 4: Pick a theme, but don't over-design yet

Go to Online Store > Themes and choose a starting theme. Shopify's own free themes, including the 10 Horizon themes released in 2025, are a sensible start. Paid themes from the Theme Store cost between $100 and $500 as a one-time fee, as of 1 October 2026. You can preview paid themes in your store before you buy.

At this stage, set only the basics: logo, colors, fonts and the homepage structure. Detailed design work goes faster once real products, photos and collections are in place.

Step 5: Add products and collections

Products are the heart of the store, so take your time over them. For each product:

• Title and description: clear, specific and written for customers, with the details they need to decide.
• Media: sharp images with descriptive alt text. Shopify allows up to 250 media items per product.
• Price, cost and compare-at price: entering cost per item gives you profit reports later.
• Inventory: SKU, barcode and stock quantity for each location.
• Shipping: accurate weight, which calculated rates and labels depend on.
• Variants: up to 3 options (such as size, color and material) and up to 2,048 variants per product.
• Product category: choose the right category. It drives category metafields, filters and Shopify Tax exemptions.
• Search engine listing: edit the page title, meta description and URL handle.

Then group products into collections, such as by category, by use and new arrivals, and build your main menu from those collections.

Payments, shipping and taxes

Step 6: Set up payments

In Settings > Payments, activate Shopify Payments if it's available in your country (40 countries as of October 2026, including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia). It handles cards, Shop Pay and other accelerated checkouts, and with Shopify Payments active you avoid Shopify's extra third-party transaction fee on orders paid through it. For US online card payments, rates start at 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic.

You'll need business and bank details and, depending on your business, identity verification. Then review:

• Your payout schedule (daily, weekly or monthly).
• Accelerated checkouts such as Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.
• Your statement descriptor, so customers recognize the charge.

Step 7: Configure shipping and delivery

In Settings > Shipping and delivery, create shipping zones for where you sell and set rates for each: flat, free above a threshold, or calculated. Turn on local delivery or pickup if customers can reach you. Shopify Shipping lets you buy discounted labels in the admin, advertised at "up to 87% off" on all plans.

Step 8: Set up taxes

In Settings > Taxes and duties, decide whether to use Shopify Tax or manual rates. Shopify Tax calculates US sales tax, EU and UK VAT and Canadian tax. It's free until your store reaches $100,000 in sales. For stores created on or after 13 May 2026, that's a lifetime threshold. Turn on collection only in places where you're registered to collect. Get advice from a tax professional for your own situation.

Policies, apps and analytics

Step 9: Add policies and legal pages

In Settings > Policies, add or generate your policies. Shopify's policies page lists return, privacy, terms of service, shipping, legal notice and subscription policies. Shopify says that once you add them, "they're automatically linked in the footer of your checkout pages." Generated templates are a starting point only. Shopify reminds merchants that "you're responsible for following your published policies," so edit them to match how you actually operate.

Also add a contact page, an about page and an FAQ page, and set up a cookie consent banner if you sell to regions that require one.

Step 10: Install essential apps, carefully

Start with Shopify's own free apps. Most stores need little else at launch:

• Shopify Messaging for email and SMS (10,000 free emails a month).
• Shopify Flow for automation (free on every paid plan).
• Shopify Search & Discovery for filters, synonyms and product recommendations.
• Shopify Inbox for customer chat.
• Sales channels such as Google & YouTube and Facebook & Instagram.

Add third-party apps one at a time, and only to solve a specific problem. Every app that loads code on your storefront can slow pages down. If you're moving from another platform, use Shopify's URL redirects tool to send each old URL to its new page.

Step 11: Analytics and tracking

Shopify's built-in analytics includes 200+ reports on every plan. For marketing, connect Google Analytics 4 and your ad platforms through their official Shopify apps, which use Shopify's customer events, rather than pasting code into theme files. Submit your sitemap (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml) in Google Search Console once the password is off.

Step 12: The launch checklist

1. Place test orders. Use Shopify's test mode, or a real order you then refund, to check checkout, confirmation emails, tax and shipping charges.
2. Check every notification email (order confirmation, shipping, refund) for your branding and correct details.
3. Review on mobile. Check the homepage, a collection, a product, the cart and checkout on a phone.
4. Click every menu and footer link. Make sure there are no broken links or empty pages.
5. Check page speed on product and collection pages, and remove apps you aren't using.
6. Confirm your domain is primary and redirects correctly, with a valid SSL certificate.
7. Confirm SEO basics: titles, meta descriptions, alt text and redirects.
8. Pick your plan, then remove the password from your online store preferences.

Our launch checklist for custom Shopify stores adds extra steps for larger builds.

Common setup mistakes

• Choosing yearly billing before you know the store will work. Monthly billing costs more, but it keeps you flexible early on.
• Skipping product weights, which breaks calculated shipping and label prices.
• Installing a dozen apps before launch.
• Using untouched policy templates that don't match how you really ship and refund.
• Turning on tax collection in states where you aren't registered.

Once you're live, browse the Shopify hub for guides to marketing, SEO and growth.

Conclusion

Setting up a Shopify store in 2026 is straightforward if you follow the right order: plan and trial, business details, domain, a starting theme, products, payments, shipping, taxes, policies, a few essential apps, analytics, then a careful launch check. The decisions that cost the most to fix later are the boring ones (weights, taxes, policies and redirects), so give them your attention first. If you'd prefer expert help, eSEOspace offers Shopify website design for new stores and redesigns.

Frequently asked questions