Setup Guide and Launch
From Sign-Up to Your First Real Order, Step by Step
Starting a store should feel like a clear path, not a maze of settings. Mercayo's setup guide shows exactly what is done and what is left, and Launch opens your store only when the essentials are in place.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
Sign Up
Sign up with a one-time code to your email or to an Indian mobile number (by WhatsApp first, else SMS), accept the terms, then name your store and choose its address, yourstore.mercayo.com, and the kind of store you run. Your free trial starts at once (the number of days is on the pricing page).
The Setup Guide
On your admin's Home, a checklist is ticked from your real data, each step with a link to where it is done:
| Step | Done When |
|---|---|
| Store details | legal name, address, support email and phone saved |
| Logo and colours | a logo is set or the theme was changed |
| First product | a product of your own exists (or sample data is loaded) |
| Shipping | your delivery charges are reviewed |
| Payments | cash on delivery is on, or Razorpay is connected |
| Tax | your GST registration is saved (registered or not) |
| Policies | your six policies are generated and published, with every must-fill detail |
| Domain | your free address works (your own domain can be added) |
| Test order | an order placed with a team member's email |
| Launch | the essentials are done and your plan is paid |
Before Launch
Until you launch, visitors see an opening-soon page with a password box (your team can look around), search engines are kept away, and real orders are refused by the database: only test orders from your team's emails can be placed.
Launch
When store details, payments, tax, policies and a paid plan are in place (and no sample data remains), the owner presses LAUNCH MY STORE: the store opens, search engines may list it, and the trial banner goes. A launched store does not go back behind the password page.
Your Policies, Generated
Fill in your store details once (legal name, business type, address, support email, phone and hours, the grievance officer, days to dispatch and the delivery estimate) and Mercayo generates six policies from templates: terms of sale, privacy policy, shipping policy, returns, exchanges and refunds, contact and grievance, and cancellation. Each starts as a draft you can edit in the page editor and publish; regenerating shows what would change and never overwrites a page you edited without asking. They are a starting point, not legal advice.
Limits That Protect You
A person can create up to three stores on their own; a fourth needs Mercayo's approval. Some store addresses are reserved.
For your store
Why It Matters
Most stores that never open get stuck between "I signed up" and "I am ready". A checklist that ticks itself from what you have really done, with a link to each next step, keeps the path short and honest.
Launch's rules protect you too: a store does not take real orders before it has policies, tax settings and a way to be paid, and a test order shows you the whole flow, from checkout to the GST invoice, before your first customer does.
Step by step
How It Works
Sign Up
Get a one-time code by email or on your phone, name your store and pick its address.
Follow the Guide
On Home, work through the steps; each one opens the screen where it is done and ticks itself when it is.
Generate Your Policies
Fill in your store's details once, and Mercayo generates your six policies from templates; publish them.
Place a Test Order
Order something with your own email and follow it through the admin: confirm, invoice, label.
Pay for Your Plan and Launch
In Settings → Plan and Billing, choose your plan; then press LAUNCH MY STORE in Settings → Store Status.
- Sign Up14 days free, no card. Your store's name and address.
- Add ProductsBy hand, or many at once from a spreadsheet.
- Payments and DeliveryConnect Razorpay and Shiprocket, set cash on delivery and delivery charges.
- Choose a PlanMonthly or yearly, plus GST, with a tax invoice.
- LaunchYour store opens to everyone at your own address.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
Before launch, visitors see your opening-soon page. After launch, your full store.
Settings
Settings You Control
All are under Settings → Store Status.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Mercayo sets the trial length and the grace after a missed payment, and can extend them for a store. A person can create up to three stores on their own; a fourth needs Mercayo's approval. Mercayo can suspend a store for a reason, with the reason recorded.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- Sign-up by phone is for Indian (+91) numbers only.
- Launch needs a paid plan; the trial is for setting up and testing, and real orders are refused until launch.
- Sample data must be deleted before launch.
- A launched store cannot go back behind the opening-soon page.
Questions
About Setup Guide and Launch
Are the policies legally checked?
They are templates written for Indian online stores and filled with your details, a starting point and not legal advice. Have them checked if your business needs it.
Do I need a card to start?
No. The trial starts at sign-up; you choose and pay for a plan when you are ready to launch.
Can I take real orders during the trial?
No. Until launch, only test orders from your team's emails can be placed, so no shopper pays a store that is not ready.
What blocks Launch?
Missing store details, no way to be paid, no tax registration, unpublished or incomplete policies, sample data still in the store, or no paid plan. The Launch screen says which.
Can I keep using my free address after launch?
Yes, yourstore.mercayo.com keeps working; you can add your own domain too.
Can my team see the store before launch?
Yes, with the store password on the opening-soon page.
Related
Related Features
- Plans and BillingA free trial, then a monthly or yearly plan: your use against its limits, every payment with its GST invoice, and nothing deleted if a payment is late.
- Sample DataLoad a small set of sample products for your kind of store to see how pages look, and remove exactly those rows with DELETE SAMPLE DATA before launch.
- Opening-Soon PageUntil you launch, your store is hidden from search engines and, if you like, behind a password, while your team sees everything and tests real orders.
- Custom DomainsConnect a domain you own, like yourbrand.in, with a guided DNS check and an automatic secure certificate; your free Mercayo address always keeps working.
- Content Pages and BlogWrite your About page, FAQ, contact page, guides and blog posts in the admin, from ready sections that match your store's look.
More in Admin on Your Phone: Orders · Products · Inventory · Import and Export · Collections and Categories · Order Alerts · Customers · Admin on Your Phone · Search and Command Palette · Sample Data · Contact Inbox · Notification Credits · Plans and Billing · Draft Orders · Catalogue Tools · Media Library · Locations, Barcodes and Stock Counts · Installable Admin
Try It on Your Own Store
Every feature is in every plan, free for 14 days.