Until your store is launched, Home starts with a card called Set Up Your Store. It lists every step between a new store and a live one, in the order that works for most stores, and ticks each one off by itself as you finish it. Five steps are Needed to launch; the others make your store better but never stop you. The guide disappears once you launch.
The Card
- A progress bar and a count: "4 of 10 steps done".
- One row per step: its title, a line of help, a Needed to launch mark when it is required, and a button that takes you to the right screen. The next step to do has its button filled in.
- HIDE FOR NOW folds the guide into one line, "Setup guide: 4 of 10 steps done", with SHOW SETUP GUIDE to open it again. This is remembered in this browser only.
Everyone on the team who can see settings sees the guide. Its buttons that change things (such as I HAVE CHECKED and the sample products) need the right to change settings.
The Ten Steps
| Step | Needed to Launch | Done When | Button |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add Your Store Details | Yes | Every detail marked Needed in Store Details is filled in: legal name, type of business, address, customer care email, phone and hours, grievance officer and their role, email and phone, days to dispatch and delivery time | ADD DETAILS |
| Make It Yours | No | You saved a look in the Theme editor or added a logo | ADD YOUR LOGO |
| Add Your First Product | No | At least one active product of your own (sample products do not count) | ADD A PRODUCT, and IMPORT |
| Check Your Delivery Charges | No | You pressed I HAVE CHECKED after looking at your delivery charges | REVIEW DELIVERY and I HAVE CHECKED |
| Choose How You Get Paid | Yes | Cash on delivery is on, or a payment gateway (Razorpay) is connected | PAYMENT SETTINGS |
| Set Up Tax | Yes | You told Mercayo whether you are registered for GST | TAX SETTINGS |
| Create Your Store Policies | Yes | All six policies are published | OPEN POLICIES |
| Connect Your Own Domain | No | A domain of your own is verified | CONNECT DOMAIN |
| Place a Test Order | No | An order was placed with the email of someone on your team | OPEN YOUR STORE |
| Launch Your Store | Yes | The store is launched | GO TO LAUNCH |
Add Your Store Details
Your legal name, address and contact go on your invoices and into your policies, so they come first. See Store Details for every field.
Make It Yours
Opens the Theme editor, where you add your logo, choose colours and fonts, and give your store a tagline.
Add Your First Product
ADD A PRODUCT opens a new product. IMPORT opens Import and Export to bring your catalogue from Shopify, WooCommerce or Dukaan. See Add Your First Product.
Check Your Delivery Charges
A new store starts with free delivery. Press REVIEW DELIVERY to look at Shipping and Delivery, set your charges, then come back and press I HAVE CHECKED. The step is ticked only when you confirm, because "free delivery" may well be what you want.
Choose How You Get Paid
Cash on delivery is switched on for every new store, so this step is usually done already. Connect Razorpay to take UPI, cards and net banking too. See Set Up Payments.
Set Up Tax
Tell Mercayo whether you are registered for GST and, if you are, your GSTIN. You pick the GST rate for each product. See Taxes.
Create Your Store Policies
Mercayo writes six policies from your store details: Terms of Sale, Privacy Policy, Shipping Policy, Returns, Exchanges and Refunds, Contact and Grievance, and Cancellation Policy. Read them, edit if you need to, and publish all six. See Write Your Policies.
Connect Your Own Domain
Your store already works at its free Mercayo address. Connect yourbrand.in when you are ready. See Connect Your Own Domain.
Place a Test Order
Order from your own store with your own email, to see what shoppers see. The guide shows the email to use: "Use this email for the test order: you@example.com". The step is ticked when an order arrives with the email of anyone on your team.
Launch Your Store
Opens the Launch screen, which repeats what is still needed, lets you set the password page, and has LAUNCH MY STORE. See Launch Your Store.
Sample Products
Want to see a store with products in it first? Under the steps, the guide offers LOAD SAMPLE PRODUCTS. It adds a handful of sample products with a sample category and collection, so you can see how your store, your product pages and Home look when they are full.
- While they are loaded the guide says "Sample products are loaded (… items). They are only for looking. Delete them before you launch."
- DELETE SAMPLE DATA removes them all, with their sample category and collection. Products you added yourself are not touched. This cannot be undone.
- Sample products stop you from launching: the Launch screen lists "Delete the Sample Products" until you do.
- The offer appears only before launch, only while no sample data is loaded, and only if Mercayo offers sample products to your store.
Good to Know
- The guide checks its steps each time Home opens. A step done on another screen shows as done when you come back.
- The steps are the same for every kind of store.
- Once launched, the guide is gone for good. Everything it pointed to stays in Settings.
Questions
Which steps must I finish before launching?
Five: store details, how you get paid, tax, policies, and the launch itself, which also needs a paid plan and no sample data left. The others are recommended.
I hid the guide. How do I get it back?
Press SHOW SETUP GUIDE in the line that replaced it on Home. Hiding is remembered in that browser only.
Why is "Check Your Delivery Charges" not ticked?
It is ticked only when someone presses I HAVE CHECKED, because the free delivery a new store starts with may already be what you want.
Why did my test order not tick the step?
The order must use the email address of someone on your team. Check that you typed the same email at checkout.