Before you turn on ads: a store launch checklist

26 checks for checkout, couriers, tracking, speed and trust. Tick them off as you go.

Open the checklist ↗

Ads send people to whatever is broken, faster. Run through these on a phone, with a real test order, before spending a rupee. Your ticks are saved in this browser only.

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Checkout & paymentsPlace a real test order on your phone with every payment method you offer.Check the order email arrives, for you and the customer, and isn’t in spam.Compare shipping charges with your courier’s real rates for a few cities.Show any free-delivery threshold before checkout, not only at it.Test a coupon. Then test it again after it should have expired.

Product pagesEvery variation has its own photo, price and stock.Sizes come with a guide in real units: inches or centimetres.Out-of-stock items say so and can’t be ordered.Titles say what the product is before what it’s called.

Orders & couriersDecide who confirms cash-on-delivery orders, and how quickly.Book one test parcel with each courier, start to finish.Open the tracking link as a customer would, on a phone.Write the returns policy, then write what staff actually do.

TrackingYour purchase event fires exactly once per test order.Your product catalogue feed syncs with no rejected items.Links you share on WhatsApp and Instagram carry UTM tags.

Speed & mobileLoad the home and a product page on a mid-range phone over mobile data.Compress big images; keep the first image under about 200 KB.Remove plugins or apps you no longer use.Pop-ups wait, or don’t appear on a first visit.Tap every button in the header and footer with your thumb.

TrustA contact page with a working phone number and email.Privacy, refund and shipping policies linked in the footer.Real photos where it matters, and mockups labelled as mockups.Your WhatsApp button opens the right number with a useful first message.Search your store name on Google and check what shows up.

Want a second pair of eyes on your store? Ask me to run it with you.

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