The online store launch checklist: 31 things to check before you share the link.

Products (10 minutes)

1. Every product has a price and it's the price you mean to charge (compare-at price set only where there's a real discount).
2. Every product has at least one photo that isn't a placeholder, and the first photo is the clean product shot.
3. Sizes and colours are options on one product, with stock set if you track it.
4. Descriptions answer fit, material, delivery and returns — the two-paragraph formula.
5. Products are in the categories the menu shows, and no category is empty.
6. Names are what buyers search for, not SKU codes.

Checkout and payments (10 minutes)

1. Your payment gateway is live, not test mode, and connected on your own account.
2. Cash on delivery is on (with a COD charge if you want one) — or deliberately off, and the product pages say so.
3. WhatsApp checkout points at the right number, with country code.
4. The checkout asks for phone, pin code, city and state as required fields.
5. Shipping charge and free-shipping threshold are set, and shown before the last step.
6. Order IDs have your prefix (SP-0001 style) so buyers and couriers can quote them.
7. The order confirmation email and your new-order alert are going to real addresses.

Shipping (5 minutes)

1. Courier aggregator connected, pickup address correct, wallet topped up.
2. Delivery timeline stated somewhere the buyer sees it ("ships in 1–2 days, delivered in 3–6").
3. Packaging for your first twenty orders is physically in the house.

Trust pages (10 minutes)

1. Returns & refunds, Shipping, Privacy and Terms pages exist and contain your words, not placeholders — the template.
2. Contact page has a WhatsApp number that rings and an email you read.
3. About says who you are, where you are, and one sentence on why.
4. Footer links to all of the above.
5. Product reviews are switched on, so the first deliveries start producing proof.

The test order (10 minutes — do not skip)

1. On your phone, on mobile data, open the store like a stranger. Find a product from the home page in two taps.
2. Add it to the cart with a variant, go to checkout, place a COD order to your own address.
3. Check: did the order appear in your dashboard? Did the confirmation email arrive? Does Track Order find it?
4. Place a ₹1 prepaid test if your gateway allows it, then refund it.
5. Ship the test order to yourself through the aggregator so you see the label, the pickup and the tracking flow once.

Mobile and speed (5 minutes)

1. Home page loads in under 3 seconds on mobile data; hero image isn't a 6 MB upload.
2. Menu opens, categories work, the WhatsApp button doesn't cover the Add to cart button.
3. Store name, logo and favicon are yours — the tab doesn't say "My Store".

Launch day

1. Store link in the Instagram bio with what it is ("Order online · COD available").
2. Link in the WhatsApp Business profile and a status post with one product and the link.
3. Personal messages to the first fifty people, one at a time — the first 10 orders plan.
4. Phone on loud. Reply to every DM with a product page link.
5. That evening: mark the first delivered order delivered, and watch the first review land.

FAQs