A Shopify store launch checklist: what I verify before pointing DNS

At TruTech I launched more than 30 Shopify storefronts, typically around two weeks from start to launch. At that pace you stop relying on memory. You write a checklist, because the problems that bite are rarely exotic. They're the boring things somebody forgot.

This is the shape of the list I use. Adapt it to your store and your region.

Before anything goes public

Remove or confirm the password page. A store left behind a storefront password after launch is a classic. Check it from a private browser window, not while logged into the admin.

Policies and legal pages. Privacy, refunds, shipping and terms pages exist, are linked in the footer, and say what's actually true for this business.

Contact and business details. Store email, sender name and legal business details are correct, not left as placeholders.

Products and catalogue

• Products have the right titles, descriptions, prices, images and alt text.
• Variants and inventory are correct. Spot-check the best-sellers and the strangest product, because oddities hide in edge cases.
• Collections show the right products, in a sensible order.
• Product identifiers (barcodes) are present if the store will use Google Shopping. See catalogue fields that matter.
• No leftover "test" products.

The buying journey, end to end

Place a real test order, through to the confirmation email.

• Add to cart from a product page, on mobile and desktop.
• Cart, shipping options and shipping rates for each region you serve.
• Taxes and currency display are what you expect.
• Each payment method works. Use the payment provider's test mode where it exists, and then refund or cancel.
• Order confirmation, shipping and other notification emails arrive and look right.
• Discount codes and gift cards behave.

If you can't place a test order, you aren't ready to launch. Everything else is secondary.

Domain, DNS and email

Take the DNS values from Shopify's own documentation or admin at the time you do it, not from memory and not from a blog post, including this one. They can change, and a typo here takes a store offline.

• Connect the domain, set the primary domain and confirm HTTPS is active.
• Check the redirect from the non-www to www (or the reverse) works.
• If you change the sender email domain, check that email authentication records are set up so your messages don't land in spam.
• Redirects from the old site. If this is a migration, every old URL that had traffic or rankings needs a redirect. Test a sample.

Tracking and compliance

• Analytics and ad pixels fire once, not zero or twice. Check in a browser tool, not just in the settings screens.
• Cookie and consent settings match the markets you sell in.
• Search engine settings: titles, descriptions, and the store isn't set to hide from search engines by accident.

Performance and polish

• Mobile first. Look at the real pages on a real phone.
• Run a performance baseline on home, collection and product pages (see Lighthouse lies for what to record).
• Favicon, 404 page and social sharing image.
• Apps: only what's needed is installed, and each is configured. See measuring app cost.

Access and handover

• Staff accounts and permissions are right, and any developer access is time-limited.
• Two-factor authentication is on for the owner account.
• A short handover note: what was built, what's custom, how to edit the key sections, who to call.

After launch

Watch the first day. Check orders are coming through, emails are going out and no page is erroring. Keep the old setup available for a few days where you can, in case of rollback.

Why a checklist, and not just skill

Experience tells you which things go wrong. A checklist makes sure you check them on store thirty-one at the end of a long week as carefully as on store one. That's most of what I mean when I say I can launch reliably.