Updated 12 September 2026
Also asked as: “where do I start” · “how do I set up my store” · “what do I need before my first order” · “start selling” · “getting started guide”
This guide takes you from creating your account to a store that is ready for its first order. Each step says what it asks of you and links to the page with the detail, so you can follow along here and open a page only when you want more.
A new store already has a finished theme, so your customers see a complete shop from the start. Making it look like yours is something you can do whenever it suits you.
1. Create your account
Sign up with Google, or with your email address: enter it, type in the six-digit code we send to it, then add your name and a password.
Use an address you will keep. It is what you sign in with and where your order emails go, and it cannot be changed later.
See Create your account.
2. Create your store and choose a plan
Give your store a name, and choose its Shoponent domain: the web address your store opens on, such as adascloset.myshoponent.com. On the form it is the Store URL field. We suggest one from your store name, and you can change it before you continue.
Then choose a plan, and either pay or start the free trial when one is offered. Once the plan is in place, your store is online at its Shoponent domain.
See Create your store and choose a plan and Your Shoponent domain.
3. Get to know the setup checklist
You arrive on Home, where Complete your store setup lists what a store needs and ticks each row as soon as the thing it names exists. Nothing is locked while a row is open, so you can work through them in any order. The last row, a custom domain, is only for when you want one.
See Your Home page and the setup checklist.
4. Add your products
A product needs a title, a price and at least one photo, and a description helps customers decide. Save it as Active and it appears on your store. The form has more, such as variants and stock for each location, and you can fill those in as you need them.
Adding your first product by hand is a good way to learn the form. If your products are already in a spreadsheet, you can import the rest together.
See Add your first product and Import and export products.
5. Choose how you get paid
Switch on at least one payment method:
- Pay on Delivery needs nothing set up. Customers pay when the order reaches them.
- Manual Bank Transfer needs the bank account customers pay into, and you confirm each payment yourself.
- Card payments go through your own Paystack, Monnify or Stripe account. You can take orders with the other two methods while that account is being set up.
See Set up payment methods, Pay on delivery and Connect Paystack.
6. Choose how orders reach your customers
Offer delivery, collection, or both. Either one completes Configure shipping on the checklist.
- Delivery: add one delivery rate for the whole country, and customers anywhere in it can check out. Once you know where your orders go, you can set different rates for particular states or areas.
- Collection: add a pickup location, and customers can choose Store Pickup at checkout, free of charge.
See Configure shipping and Pickup locations.
7. Place a test order
Before you share your store, order something from it yourself, on your phone if you can, the way a customer would. Pay with a method you switched on, then open Orders in your dashboard and find it there. It shows you your store through your customers' eyes, and it confirms that your products, payment and delivery work together. Cancel the test order when you are done.
See Cancel, refund or return an order.
Your store is ready
With products, a way to be paid and a way to reach your customers, your store can take orders. Share your Shoponent domain wherever your customers find you: your WhatsApp status, your Instagram bio, a message to your regular customers.
When you want to go further
- Make it look like yours. Choose Set up your branding on Home to add your logo and brand colour, or preview other themes on your own store before applying one. See Set up your branding and Choose a theme.
- Use a domain you own. Customers then see your own name, such as
adascloset.com, and your Shoponent domain keeps working alongside it. You add records at your DNS provider, and most domains connect soon after; a longer wait usually means DNS is still updating. See Connect a subdomain, which takes one record, or Connect a root domain, which takes three and lists what each DNS provider calls them. - Organise your catalogue. Group products into collections, and set low stock alerts so you hear before something runs out.
- Bring in help. Invite a team member to share the work.
If you get stuck
Every page in this help centre ends with what to do when the screen does not match. If none of it helps, email support@shoponent.com with your store name and what you were trying to do. We read and answer every message.