# Web Merchants > Step-by-step guides to launch, grow and scale a Shopify store. Every step cites the Shopify Help Center or developer docs page it comes from, and each guide states the date it was last checked against that documentation. Not affiliated with Shopify Inc. Full text of every guide: https://webmerchants.net/llms-full.txt. Add .md to any guide URL for a Markdown copy. ## Launch (not launched yet) - [Create your store and find your way around the admin](https://webmerchants.net/guides/create-your-store.md): Sign up for Shopify, set your store name, address, currency and time zone, and learn where the main admin sections live. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Add products, variants and inventory](https://webmerchants.net/guides/add-products-and-variants.md): Add a product with photos, price and shipping weight, give it size or color variants, and turn on inventory tracking. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Pick a theme and edit it in the theme editor](https://webmerchants.net/guides/edit-your-theme.md): Add a free or paid theme, back it up, change sections, blocks, colors, fonts and logo in the theme editor, then publish it. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Set up Shopify Payments or another payment provider](https://webmerchants.net/guides/set-up-payments.md): Activate Shopify Payments, connect your payout bank account and run a test order, or add a third-party or manual payment method instead. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Store SEO basics](https://webmerchants.net/guides/store-seo-basics.md): Set page titles, meta descriptions, alt text and redirects, then submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell in person with Shopify POS](https://webmerchants.net/guides/sell-in-person-with-pos.md): Set up a retail location, install and log in to Shopify POS, turn on card payments, add staff and ring up a first sale. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Set up shipping zones and rates](https://webmerchants.net/guides/set-up-shipping-rates.md): Create shipping zones, add flat, tiered and free shipping rates, and test them at checkout before you launch. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Taxes, store policies and legal pages](https://webmerchants.net/guides/taxes-and-store-policies.md): Start collecting tax where you are registered, choose how prices show tax, and publish return, privacy, terms and shipping policies. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Place a test order and make your store public](https://webmerchants.net/guides/test-order-and-go-live.md): Run a test order through checkout, turn test mode off, and take your store out of private mode so customers can buy. Checked 2026-10-08. ## Grow (first sales) - [Read your analytics and reports](https://webmerchants.net/guides/read-your-analytics.md): Use the Analytics dashboard, reports and Live View to see sales, sessions and orders, compare periods and export data. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Email marketing with Shopify Messaging (formerly Shopify Email)](https://webmerchants.net/guides/email-marketing-with-shopify-email.md): Set up your sender address, then create, test and send an email campaign to your subscribers with Shopify Messaging. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Discount codes and automatic discounts](https://webmerchants.net/guides/discounts.md): Create a discount code or an automatic discount, set who can use it and what it combines with, then share it with a link. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Store SEO basics](https://webmerchants.net/guides/store-seo-basics.md): Set page titles, meta descriptions, alt text and redirects, then submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Recover abandoned checkouts](https://webmerchants.net/guides/recover-abandoned-checkouts.md): Find checkouts that customers started but did not pay for, send recovery emails automatically or by hand, and measure what comes back. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell internationally with Markets](https://webmerchants.net/guides/sell-internationally-with-markets.md): Create a market for the countries you want to reach, then set its currency, language and domain so shoppers there see a local store. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Customer accounts and segments](https://webmerchants.net/guides/customer-segments.md): Let customers sign in to your store, then group them into segments you can email, reward with discounts or export. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell on social and marketplace channels](https://webmerchants.net/guides/sales-channels.md): Add a sales channel such as Facebook and Instagram, Google and YouTube or TikTok, and choose which products it can sell. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Keep your store fast: images, apps and theme code](https://webmerchants.net/guides/keep-your-store-fast.md): Read Shopify's web performance reports, find slow pages, then trim apps, images, sections and tracking code that slow your store down. Checked 2026-10-08. ## Scale (scaling up) - [Stock across multiple locations](https://webmerchants.net/guides/multiple-locations.md): Add warehouses or shops as locations, stock products at each one, choose which fulfill online orders, rank them and move stock between them. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Metafields and metaobjects](https://webmerchants.net/guides/metafields-and-metaobjects.md): Add custom fields to products with metafields, build reusable content with metaobjects, and show both on your store through the theme editor. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Automate store tasks with Shopify Flow](https://webmerchants.net/guides/automate-with-shopify-flow.md): Install the free Shopify Flow app, build a workflow from a template or from scratch, test it safely, turn it on and check its runs. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Customize checkout with the checkout and accounts editor](https://webmerchants.net/guides/customize-checkout.md): Brand your checkout, Thank you and Order status pages, add app blocks, and publish changes safely from a draft configuration. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell in person with Shopify POS](https://webmerchants.net/guides/sell-in-person-with-pos.md): Set up a retail location, install and log in to Shopify POS, turn on card payments, add staff and ring up a first sale. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell internationally with Markets](https://webmerchants.net/guides/sell-internationally-with-markets.md): Create a market for the countries you want to reach, then set its currency, language and domain so shoppers there see a local store. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Sell wholesale with B2B on Shopify](https://webmerchants.net/guides/b2b-wholesale.md): Set up wholesale buyers as companies, give them their own catalog prices and payment terms, and test the buyer experience before you invite them. Checked 2026-10-08. - [Moving to Shopify Plus: what changes](https://webmerchants.net/guides/moving-to-shopify-plus.md): How the upgrade to Shopify Plus works, what it costs, and the checkout, B2B, store and staff features that change once you are on it. Checked 2026-10-08. ## Reference - [Glossary](https://webmerchants.net/glossary): 14 Shopify terms - [Launch checklist](https://webmerchants.net/launch-checklist) - [What changed](https://webmerchants.net/updates) - [How we work](https://webmerchants.net/how-we-work)