/month for the first 3 months. This shows up after you start the free trial — do not pay full price on day one. Wait for the confirmation email that offers the discounted rate. If it does not appear, cancel and restart with a different email.
You will need:
An email address (use a dedicated business email, not your personal Gmail)
A store name (this can be changed later — do not agonise)
Your country and currency preference
The setup wizard will ask you questions about your business. Select "I'm just starting" and "Dropshipping." These answers do not lock you into anything — they just configure default settings.
Time: 5 minutes.
Step 2: Choosing a plan
Shopify has three core plans in 2026:
Basic ($39/month or
/month for first 3 months on promo): 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fees (US), basic reports, 2 staff accounts
Shopify (
05/month): 2.6% + $0.30, professional reports, 5 staff accounts
Pick Basic. You do not need professional reports until you are doing
0k+/month. The 0.3% transaction-fee difference between Basic and Shopify saves you $3 per
,000 revenue. At $5k/month that is
5/month — not worth the $66/month plan upgrade.
Graduate to Shopify plan when you consistently exceed
0k/month and need the reporting depth.
Time: 2 minutes.
Step 3: Domain setup
You have two options:
Option A: Buy through Shopify (
4/year)
Simplest setup — auto-connects, SSL included, no DNS configuration
Go to Settings → Domains → Buy new domain
Pick a .com if available (it almost always is for niche-specific names)
Option B: Connect an existing domain (from Namecheap, GoDaddy, Cloudflare)
Go to Settings → Domains → Connect existing domain
Update your A record to 23.227.38.65 and your CNAME to shops.myshopify.com
Propagation takes 5-48 hours
Domain naming rules:
Keep it short (under 15 characters)
Avoid hyphens and numbers
Make it category-specific OR brand-generic (e.g., "petpawshop.com" or "lumahome.com")
Do not include "dropship" or "aliexpress" in the name
Time: 5 minutes.
Step 4: Theme selection
Your theme is the skeleton of your store. For your first store, you need speed and simplicity — not aesthetics.
Pick Dawn (free). Dawn is Shopify's default theme. It is:
The fastest free theme (Lighthouse score 95+)
Maintained by Shopify directly (always compatible with latest features)
Designed for single-product and small-catalog stores
Mobile-first responsive out of the box
Alternative: Sense (free). If you are in wellness, beauty, or lifestyle — Sense has a warmer visual style with the same performance.
Do NOT buy a
80-350 premium theme at this stage. Premium themes add complexity you do not need. They have more settings, more sections, more ways to break mobile layout. You can upgrade your theme after you have validated product-market fit and have revenue to justify the investment.
Theme customisation (10 minutes):
Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize
Change the color scheme to match your niche (use a free color palette from coolors.co)
Upload your logo (or use a free text logo — Canva generates these in 30 seconds)
Remove any default sections you do not need (blog posts, testimonial sections, multi-collection grids)
Set your announcement bar: "Free shipping on orders over $X" or "Ships in 5-9 business days"
Time: 15 minutes.
Step 5: Essential pages
Every legitimate store needs these pages. Customers check them before buying. Payment processors check them before approving you.
Homepage
Hero section with your best product image and a 1-sentence benefit hook
Featured product (your hero SKU)
Trust bar (shipping speed, returns policy, payment icons)
Keep it short — the goal is to funnel traffic to the product page, not impress them with scrolling
Product page
Covered in detail in Step 8 below
About page
3-4 sentences about why the store exists
Frame it as a solution to a problem ("We started [store] because we were tired of [problem]")
Do NOT lie about being a "family business since 1987" — customers can smell it
Include a real email address for contact
Contact page
Email address (use a dedicated support@ or hello@ address)
Contact form (built into Shopify default)
Expected response time ("We reply within 24 hours, Mon-Fri")
Shipping Policy
Clearly state: processing time (1-3 days), shipping time (7-15 business days for standard), tracking availability
Be honest about timelines. Overpromising causes chargebacks.
Returns Policy
30-day return window (standard for dropshipping)
State who pays return shipping (you, if you want to reduce friction)
Damaged/wrong item: full refund or replacement, no return required
Similar fees to Shopify Payments (2.9% + $0.30 in US)
Note: using a third-party provider incurs an additional Shopify transaction fee (2% on Basic plan)
Apple Pay and Google Pay
Automatically enabled when Shopify Payments is active
Shows up on mobile checkout — significant conversion lift (customers pay in one tap)
No additional setup required
Afterpay/Klarna (optional, add later)
Consider adding at $40+ AOV
Adds 5-8% conversion lift for price-sensitive buyers
Go to Settings → Payments → Add payment methods → Search "Afterpay"
Important: Place a test transaction (Step 9) before going live. Payment gateway misconfiguration is the number one "I set everything up but nobody can buy" failure.
Time: 10 minutes.
Step 7: Shipping settings
Go to Settings → Shipping and delivery.
Strategy: build shipping into your price
The simplest approach for a new store:
Offer "Free shipping" on all orders (or over a threshold like $30)
Add $3-5 to your product price to absorb shipping cost
Customers perceive free shipping as a benefit — it reduces cart abandonment by 18-25%
Configuration:
Create a shipping zone for your target market (e.g., "United States" or "Australia")
Add a rate: "Free shipping" — set to $0
Optional: add a flat-rate option for faster shipping if your supplier offers it
Remove any default shipping zones you do not sell to (reduces checkout confusion)
What to display on product pages:
"Free shipping — arrives in 7-15 business days"
Transparent timing reduces "where is my order?" emails by 40%
Time: 5 minutes.
Step 8: Your first product listing
This is where most beginners spend too long and still get it wrong. The formula:
Title format: Benefit + Product + Modifier
Bad: "Silicone Kitchen Utensil Set 12pcs"
Good: "Non-Stick Silicone Utensil Set — Dishwasher Safe, 12 Pieces"
Bad: "LED Pet Collar"
Good: "Glow-in-the-Dark Dog Collar — Rechargeable, Waterproof"
Images (minimum 5):
Lifestyle shot (product being used by a real person)
Clean product shot (white or neutral background)
Close-up detail (material, texture, key feature)
Scale reference (next to a hand, ruler, or common object)
Packaging or what-you-get flat-lay
Source images from your AliExpress supplier listing. Reorder them in selling sequence — lead with lifestyle, not the generic white-background shot.
Description structure:
1-sentence hook (pain point or desire)
3-5 bullet benefits (not features — what it does for the customer)
"What's included" section (list contents)
Shipping timeline ("Ships within 1-3 days, arrives in 7-15 business days")