Shopify store setup, shipped in 14 days.
A fourteen-day launch for first-time merchants and brands replatforming from WooCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace. Theme, catalog, payments, growth stack, legal pages, launch checklist. Shipped, not sold.
Day 0 to Day 14. Here is what changes.
Most Shopify store setup pages sell process. This page sells a delivery date. Below is a literal manifest: what sits in your Shopify admin on Day 0 (an empty trial, one welcome email, zero configuration), and what sits there on Day 14 (a production storefront, full catalog, tested checkout, armed Klaviyo flows, six published legal pages, and a signed launch checklist). The gap between those two columns is the service.
- 01Empty Shopify trial with default sample products visible.
- 02Domain either unregistered or pointing at your old host.
- 03Product data in a spreadsheet, a Google Drive folder, or a sunset Shopify competitor.
- 04No payment gateway connected. No Shopify Payments application filed.
- 05Zero tax zones configured. Zero shipping zones configured.
- 06No legal pages. No cookie banner. No accessibility statement.
- 07Klaviyo not connected. No welcome flow, no abandoned cart flow.
- 08No Meta Pixel. No Conversions API. Google Analytics 4 unlinked.
- 09A default theme that looks the same as thousands of other new stores.
- 10A checkout that has never been tested with a real card on a real device.
- 01Production storefront on your custom domain, SSL verified, email forwarding live.
- 02Theme customised to your brand tokens, tested at 320, 768, 1024, and 1920 pixels.
- 03Complete product catalog with variants, SKU taxonomy, SEO metadata, alt text.
- 04Shopify Payments approved plus one alternative gateway, checkout tested with five real test orders.
- 05Tax rates set per region, shipping zones live, return and refund rules codified.
- 06Six published legal pages plus a working GDPR or CCPA cookie consent banner.
- 07Klaviyo connected with welcome, abandoned cart, and browse abandonment flows armed.
- 08Meta Pixel plus Conversions API verified, Google Analytics 4 ecommerce events live.
- 09Core Web Vitals in the green on top five URLs (LCP under 2.5s, CLS under 0.1).
- 10A 20-point launch checklist signed by both sides plus a recorded team training.
No Shopify setup competitor we audited publishes this manifest. Most describe "store configuration" without naming what moves from column one to column two. The manifest above is the Standard Launch shape. Sprint ships a subset (up to 50 SKUs, single market) in 10 days. Plus Launch adds checkout extensibility, B2B catalog pricing, and five markets over 21 days. Pricing and timelines per tier sit further down in section § 12.
Six phases. One lock-in gate between each.
Store Genesis is our named methodology for turning an empty Shopify trial into a live store in fourteen working days. Each phase has a fixed duration, a named deliverable, and a lock-in gate that both sides sign before the next phase begins. The gates are the only reason a 14-day build does not slip into 28 days: we refuse to start Commerce if Design is still in review.
Foundation
Kickoff call, brand audit against your existing assets, Shopify plan selection, domain claim, DNS configuration, email forwarding, shared engineering workspace, and a Figma audit of any prior design work.
Design
Theme selected from the Shopify theme store (or bespoke if Plus Launch), customised to your brand tokens, responsive breakpoints tested at 320, 768, 1024, 1920 pixels, five template pages built, accessibility pass to WCAG 2.2 AA.
Catalog
Product data imported via CSV or Shopify Admin API, variants structured, collections organised, SEO metadata written, alt text applied, Product JSON-LD published, sitemap and robots.txt configured.
Commerce
Shopify Payments plus one alternative gateway (Shop Pay, PayPal, local gateway), shipping zones and rates, tax rules via Shopify Tax, return and refund workflows, checkout tested with five real test orders across iOS, Android, desktop.
Growth Stack
Klaviyo connected with three default flows, Google Analytics 4 with enhanced ecommerce, Meta Conversions API server-side, review widget, customer accounts activated.
Launch
The 20-point readiness checklist (see § 08), soft launch on a password-protected URL, fix sweep of anything the checklist flags, DNS flip, post-launch monitoring for 48 hours, recorded training video, written runbook delivered.
Seven stones. One store that stands.
Six moss-green keystones for the body of the build (domain, theme, catalog, payments, email, analytics) and one amber crown stone for the go-live moment. A dry-stone arch holds itself up because of how the stones press against each other, not because of mortar. A well-built Shopify store holds its first thousand customers the same way.
The six moss-green stones are the deliverables that must exist before any store can take orders. The amber crown is the cut-over: the moment the DNS flips, the checkout goes live, and the first real customer can find you on Google. Every other piece of the build serves that last stone. Nothing goes live until every stone is in place.
What you hand over. What we return.
Every Shopify store setup depends on inputs only the founder can produce. A vector logo, product photography, and a legal entity cannot be generated by a service team. Below is the two-column manifest: left side is what we need from you on Day 1, right side is what we hand back on Day 14. The list is short on purpose. If you can deliver the left column, we can deliver the right one.
- Vector logo in SVG or Adobe Illustrator format, plus a raster version at 2000px for favicon generation.
- Product data spreadsheet on our provided template: title, description, SKU, price, variant options, inventory, category, image filename.
- Product photography at 2000px minimum on the long edge, consistent white or lifestyle background, one primary plus two to four alts per product.
- Brand colors and typography as hex codes and font family names (we handle the licensing sanity check).
- Legal entity details: registered business name, address, tax ID, banking details for Shopify Payments application.
- Domain name either already registered and accessible, or a budget to register one (we file the registrar paperwork).
- Return and shipping policy decisions: do you ship internationally, what is your window for returns, who pays for return shipping.
- Copy for the five key pages: home, about, contact, FAQ, plus the first three collection descriptions. Or a Loom voicing the brand, and we write from that.
- Production Shopify store on your custom domain, SSL verified, DNS propagated globally, email forwarding live for every public address.
- Complete product catalog with SEO-optimised titles, descriptions, metafields, alt text, Product JSON-LD, and a valid sitemap submitted to Google Search Console.
- A tested checkout across Shopify Payments plus one alternative gateway, five successful test orders verified, receipt emails branded.
- Growth stack live: Klaviyo with three armed flows, Meta Pixel plus Conversions API, Google Analytics 4, review widget, customer accounts.
- Six legal pages: Privacy, Terms, Shipping, Returns, Contact, Accessibility, all region-specific where applicable, plus a working cookie consent banner.
- A 20-point launch readiness checklist signed by both sides, so you have written evidence of what was green on launch day.
- A recorded team training (60 to 90 minutes on Loom) covering product management, order fulfillment, refund flow, email flow edits, and where to look when something feels wrong.
- A written runbook handed to your team: every app installed, every service account, every rotation key, every known limitation.
If the Day 1 column feels heavy, the discovery call will take it apart and say what is actually critical versus what can be produced during the build. Nothing on the left side is a surprise on Day 14; every requirement lands in your inbox on kickoff day.
Five launch kits, one per vertical.
Generic store setup ignores the reality that a fashion brand, a dropshipping operator, and a B2B wholesaler need different things configured on Day 14. A fashion brand needs a size chart and swatch selector; a dropshipper needs supplier SLAs codified in the shipping policy; a B2B account needs NET-30 terms in the checkout. Each kit adds two to five days to the standard timeline and ships the correct apps plus the correct configuration.
Fashion & Apparel
- Size chart builder with per-product override
- Color swatch selector with image switching
- Low-stock alert thresholds per SKU
- Wishlist app (Wishlist Plus or Swym)
- Klaviyo back-in-stock flow armed
- Shopify Markets for multi-currency
Dropshipping
- Supplier app (DSers, Zendrop, or Spocket)
- Shipping-time calculator surfaced on PDP
- Realistic delivery window on cart + checkout
- Supplier SLA terms in shipping policy page
- Returns policy aligned with supplier no-return reality
- AliPay + Stripe gateways for global reach
Food & Beverage
- ReCharge subscriptions with one active plan
- Recipe or usage cards per product
- Allergen + dietary badges (gluten-free, vegan)
- Same-state or same-region shipping restrictions
- Temperature + shelf-life notes on PDP
- Launch-day email segment for local VIPs
Digital Products
- File delivery app (SendOwl or Digital Downloads)
- License key generation where applicable
- Zero-shipping + digital-only checkout rules
- EU VAT MOSS compliance for digital services
- Download link expiration + retry policy
- Post-purchase upsell to physical bundle
B2B & Wholesale
- Shopify Plus B2B with company accounts
- Catalog pricing per customer segment
- NET-30 / NET-60 payment terms at checkout
- Minimum order quantities per SKU
- Tiered volume discounts (5%, 10%, 15%)
- Quote request flow for custom pricing
- Purchase order upload at checkout
- Retail plus wholesale storefront on one store
Named tools. Named versions. Armed on Day 14.
Every Shopify store setup agency lists "email marketing" and "analytics" in their scope. Few name the exact tool, the version, and the specific flow that will be live. The stack below is what we ship on a Standard Launch. Every item is configured, tested, and handed off with the admin keys in your runbook.
| Surface | Tool | What we configure |
|---|---|---|
| Payments | Shopify Payments + Stripe | Application filed, bank account verified, Shop Pay enabled, one alternative gateway as backup, PCI DSS 4.0 scope confirmed. |
| Klaviyo | Welcome flow (3 emails), abandoned cart (2 emails), browse abandonment (1 email), signup form on homepage + exit intent. | |
| Analytics | Google Analytics 4 | Enhanced ecommerce events (view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase), DebugView verified, Search Console linked. |
| Ads pixel | Meta Pixel + CAPI | Server-side Conversions API via Shopify native integration, event match quality verified in Event Manager. |
| Support | Gorgias or Shopify Inbox | Macros configured for top 5 customer questions, order-lookup integration, auto-tagging by issue type. |
| Reviews | Judge.me or Loox | Post-purchase email armed, star widget on PDP + collection pages, photo review upload enabled. |
| Search | Shopify native + Searchanise | Native search for under 200 SKUs, Searchanise upgrade above that, synonym rules for top 20 queries. |
| Markets | Shopify Markets | Multi-currency pricing where required, geo-redirect rules, domain or subfolder strategy per market. |
| Automation | Shopify Flow | Low-stock alerts, high-value customer tagging, fraud review trigger, abandoned checkout escalation. |
| Performance | web.dev Vitals | LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1 on top 5 URLs, image lazy-load, font preload. |
Kit choices above are defaults. Any item can be swapped for an equivalent (Klaviyo for Omnisend, Gorgias for Zendesk, Judge.me for Yotpo). The swap costs nothing if raised during Phase 1; after Phase 5 it becomes a post-launch scope item.
Every day, planned. Every checkpoint, written.
The calendar below is the actual Standard Launch schedule. It is a 14 working-day span (calendar days extend over three weeks including weekends). Your required availability is two 30-minute calls per week: a Monday kickoff plus checkpoint, and a Thursday review. Everything else happens asynchronously with you approving Loom walk-throughs.
- Day 1Kickoff call (60 min). Brand audit. Shopify plan selected. Domain verified. DNS configured. Email forwarding live.
- Day 2Engineering workspace set up. Figma audit of existing design. Theme shortlist delivered to you for approval.
- Day 3Theme installed on staging. Brand tokens applied (color, type, spacing, radius). First pass on homepage.
- Day 4Product detail page, collection page, cart, account templates. Accessibility contrast pass.
- Day 5Responsive review at four breakpoints. Thursday design review call (30 min). Lock-in gate signed.
- Day 6Product data import via CSV. Variant structure. SKU taxonomy applied.
- Day 7Collections organised. SEO metadata written per product. Alt text applied. Sitemap generated.
- Day 8Monday checkpoint call (30 min). Catalog review. Any product data cleanups. Lock-in gate signed.
- Day 9Shopify Payments application filed. Alternative gateway configured. Shipping zones + tax zones set.
- Day 10Checkout tested with five real test orders. Refund flow tested. Return rules codified.
- Day 11Klaviyo connected. Welcome, abandoned cart, browse abandonment flows built and armed.
- Day 12GA4, Meta Pixel + CAPI, reviews widget, customer accounts. Thursday review call. Gate signed.
- Day 1320-point launch checklist run. Every item either green or scheduled for Day 14 morning.
- Day 14Final fixes. Soft launch on password URL. DNS flip. Go-live. Training session recorded. Runbook delivered.
The calendar compresses to 10 days on Launch Sprint (fewer SKUs, one market) and extends to 21 days on Plus Launch (checkout extensibility, B2B, five markets). A Replatform add-on inserts 5 to 10 days for data migration and redirect mapping at the front of the schedule.
Twenty items, all green before DNS flips.
The checklist below is the actual artifact both sides sign on Day 14. It is not a sales document; it is the switchover gate. If any item is red, the DNS does not flip. You get a copy as a PDF after launch; use it to compare future agencies to what you were delivered on Day 14.
No Shopify setup competitor we audited publishes this checklist. We publish it because the items are not secret, they are table stakes, and any agency not delivering these twenty items is leaving you to find them the hard way. If you are evaluating other quotes, ask the agency if they will sign a document like this before DNS flips. The answer tells you everything.
The legal pages that most setups skip.
Every Shopify store needs six legal pages minimum. Stores selling across borders need more. Stores in regulated verticals (alcohol, CBD, supplements, financial products) need compliance wording that is not optional. No store setup competitor we audited names this as a deliverable; most offer a generic "terms page" at best. On our builds, this sits in the scope from Day 1 because a store without compliant legal pages is a store that can be taken offline by a single complaint.
The Six Pages
- Privacy Policy (region-aware)
- Terms of Service
- Shipping & Delivery Policy
- Returns & Refunds Policy
- Contact page with registered address
- Accessibility Statement (WCAG 2.2 AA)
Generated from Shopify's policy generator baseline, then edited for your jurisdiction, product class, and return reality.
Where You Sell
- EU: GDPR cookie banner, granular opt-in
- California: CCPA "Do Not Sell" link
- Canada: CASL double opt-in for email
- UK: Distance selling regulations statement
- Australia: Australian Consumer Law notice
- India: consumer protection + GST invoicing
Cookie banner via Shopify native or Consentmo. Consent state logged for audit trail.
Your Product Class
- Alcohol: age gate + state shipping rules
- CBD/supplements: FDA disclaimer wording
- Beauty: ingredient disclosure (EU Annex)
- Digital: EU VAT MOSS, license terms
- B2B: payment terms, limitation of liability
- Food: allergen + nutrition labelling
For licensed categories we coordinate with your legal counsel on the wording; we do not replace them.
US: automated nexus tracking via Shopify Tax across 46 states. Marketplace facilitator states configured. Digital goods tax handled per state.
EU: VAT OSS registration guidance, country-by-country rate tables, B2B reverse-charge toggle, digital services MOSS where applicable.
UK: VAT registration threshold guidance (£90,000 per HMRC), post-Brexit customs declarations for EU shipments.
Canada: GST, PST, HST by province; digital services tax where applicable; non-resident registration guidance.
Australia: GST registration over AUD $75K threshold, Low Value Import scheme for international.
India: GST invoicing for B2B, IGST for inter-state, reverse-charge for imports, e-invoicing threshold tracking.
We are not tax or legal counsel; for anything complex we recommend a qualified accountant in your primary market. What we do is configure Shopify's built-in tax and legal-page scaffolding correctly the first time, so you start with the right defaults instead of inheriting debt.
Who a 14-day setup fits, and who it does not.
A paid Shopify setup only makes sense when the cost of launching late, or launching wrong, is higher than the cost of the service. If your answer is "neither of those is true yet," we will tell you so during discovery and point you at the self-serve Shopify onboarding or a one-off audit instead.
- Projecting $50K to $500K year one. The time value of compressing six weeks of self-serve learning into two weeks of delivery pays back quickly.
- Replatforming from WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, or BigCommerce. You already have a revenue stream; downtime is expensive. We compress the cutover.
- Selling across borders on Day 1. Multi-currency, multi-region tax, cookie compliance, and localised checkout are the setup items founders almost always miss.
- Subscription or B2B model. ReCharge + Shopify Plus B2B are not self-serve surfaces; getting them right on Day 1 is far cheaper than retrofitting.
- A hard launch deadline. A press announcement, a wholesale order, an influencer drop, a retail partnership. Dates we can work backwards from.
- A founder who does not want to learn Shopify admin. Time on the business beats time in the admin.
- Pre-brand, pre-product. If you do not have a logo, photography, and a catalog decision, we are building on sand. Work with a brand strategist first, then come back.
- Projecting under $20K year one. Shopify's self-serve onboarding is strong. Our 14-day fee is a fraction of your whole year. Do the free path first.
- Already over $2M with bespoke requirements. A 14-day Standard Launch compresses too much. See Shopify Plus agency for the 21-day Plus Launch shape.
- Building something Shopify cannot host. Marketplaces, auction platforms, peer-to-peer payments. You need SaaS development, not store setup.
- Shopping only on price. A 14-day build requires two synchronised teams. If the quote alone is the decision criterion, Fiverr is honest about its price.
- An existing Shopify store that works. You probably need theme customisation or a maintenance care plan, not a new setup.
If your answer sits between the two columns, book a discovery call anyway. The 30-minute call is free and the output is a written scope recommendation pointing you at the right door, whether that door is ours or another agency's.
One launch. Fourteen days. Shipped.
Big Game Sports came to us as a replatform from WooCommerce after three seasons of checkout instability. The ask: a 14-day cutover with zero SEO equity loss, a 400-SKU catalog carried across cleanly, and a Meta ad account that kept firing events through the DNS flip. Below is what shipped.
- 412 products with 3-variant structure intact
- 1,847 historical orders with customer identity matched
- 6,200 subscribers migrated into Klaviyo with consent preserved
- 301 redirect map for 420 URLs, SEO equity preserved
- Checkout with Shop Pay + local gateway for international buyers
- Meta Pixel + CAPI with event match quality above 8.5
- Three-flow Klaviyo setup arming on Day 11
- B2B wholesale segment with catalog pricing + NET-30 terms
"The 14-day calendar felt aggressive until Day 5 when we saw the staging link. The lock-in gates were the reason we didn't slip. By Day 14 we had a store that was measurably better than the one we left behind, and the Meta ad account didn't miss a beat." - Operations lead, Big Game Sports
Three shapes. One of them fits you.
Sprint for first-time merchants. Standard for the majority. Plus for replatforms and Shopify Plus. Scope and timeline differ; the 20-point readiness checklist is identical. Pricing varies by tier and vertical; we do not publish figures because scope choices (markets, SKU count, subscription model, B2B) move the quote more than the tier label does. The discovery call produces a scoped quote within 48 hours.
Launch Sprint
- Pre-built theme, brand tokens applied
- Up to 50 SKUs, single market
- Standard growth stack
- Recorded training only
- 14-day post-launch fix window
Standard Launch
- Theme customisation + bespoke homepage
- Up to 150 SKUs, two markets with currency switcher
- Full growth stack including subscriptions where relevant
- Live training plus recorded runbook
- 30-day post-launch support
Plus Launch
- Full Shopify Plus with checkout extensibility
- Up to 1,000 SKUs with custom variants
- Five markets via Shopify Markets
- B2B catalog pricing + company accounts
- Dedicated PM, 60-day post-launch support
If you are moving from WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, or BigCommerce, add 5 to 10 working days at the front of the schedule. Covers data migration with variant and customer integrity, historical order import, 301 redirect map, SEO equity preservation, and a cutover rehearsal on staging before the real DNS flip. See also Shopify migration for standalone migration-only scope.
Seven questions founders ask us before they sign.
How long does a full Shopify store setup take?
A standard Shopify store setup ships in 14 working days. A Launch Sprint with pre-built theme and up to 50 SKUs ships in 10 days. A Plus Launch with checkout extensibility, B2B catalog pricing, and five markets takes 21 days. Those numbers assume your brand assets (logo, photos, copy) and product data are ready on day one. If they are not, the clock starts when they land.
What do I need to provide before you start?
Vector logo in SVG or AI format, a product data spreadsheet (we provide the template), product photography (JPEG or PNG at 2000 pixels minimum on the long edge), brand colors and fonts, legal entity details for tax and Shopify Payments, a domain you already own or the budget to register one, and your payment processor intent. We run a day-one checklist call to confirm everything is in hand before the 14-day clock starts.
Should I set up the Shopify store myself or hire a team?
If you are projecting under $50K first-year revenue and have three to six weeks to learn, doing it yourself is honest. Shopify has strong self-serve onboarding, and the platform carries you further than any other. If you are projecting above $100K, replatforming from a live store, selling internationally, running subscriptions, or launching B2B, hiring compresses six weeks into two, and the compliance, pixels, and legal pages are already right on day 14. The DIY path is not cheaper when you price your time at market rate.
Does the setup include product photography or just listing?
Photography is out of scope. We recommend specialist product photography partners if needed. We optimise and upload your provided photos, generate alt text, and apply retinal sizing and lazy-loading. For fashion and beauty brands we will build the size chart, swatch selector, and zoom behaviour around the photos you deliver.
What happens after launch? Is support included?
Standard Launch includes a 30-day post-launch support window covering fixes, small optimisations, and any events that did not fire correctly once real traffic hit the store. Plus Launch extends that to 60 days. After the support window ends, our Shopify maintenance care plans take over as a separate monthly engagement, or you can engage us per hour through Hire Shopify Hours. We do not leave a launched store without a named handoff path.
Can you set up a Shopify store for dropshipping, subscription, or B2B?
Yes. Each model has a vertical launch kit that adds two to five days to the timeline. Dropshipping adds a supplier app connector (DSers or Zendrop), a shipping-time calculator, and a policy page that sets expectations for transit. Subscription adds ReCharge or Shopify Subscriptions with at least one active plan and a cancel flow. B2B adds customer segments with catalog pricing, NET-30 terms, minimum order quantities, and tiered volume discounts. Digital products add file delivery with license keys and a zero-shipping configuration.
How is store setup different from Shopify theme customisation?
Theme customisation modifies the look and sections of an existing Shopify store. Store setup is end-to-end: we start from an empty Shopify trial and ship a live store with catalog, payments, tax, shipping, Klaviyo, pixels, legal pages, and a training handoff. If your store already exists and you only need the theme to feel different, the Shopify theme customisation service fits better. If you are starting from zero or bringing a WooCommerce or Wix store across, store setup is the right door.
A 30-minute call. A 48-hour scoped quote.
On the call we talk through the Day 1 inputs, the vertical kit that fits your model, and the engagement shape that matches your year-one projection. You leave the call with a clear picture of whether a 14-day setup is right for you. Within 48 hours a scoped quote lands in your inbox.
Book my 30-minute store setup call