The 14-point Shopify launch checklist we run before every go-live
The unglamorous checks that stop a new store from leaking orders in its first week.
Most stores don't fail at launch because the theme looks wrong. They fail because a tax rule was never set, a shipping zone excluded half the country, or the checkout asked for a phone number nobody wanted to give.
Before we mark a build live, we run the same list every time. Products have real descriptions and at least three images. Variants carry SKUs. Inventory tracking is on for anything you can run out of. Shipping zones cover every region you actually sell to, with a flat rate you can defend.
Then payments: a live test order on a real card, a refund on that same order, and a check that the payout account matches the legal entity on your invoices. Tax settings should reflect where you have nexus, not where you hope to.
Finally, the boring safety net — an order confirmation email you have read end to end, an abandoned-checkout sequence turned on, and analytics firing on the thank-you page. A store that launches with these in place is already ahead of most of its competitors.