Shopify tips: what to set up in your first 30 days
A practical checklist for new merchants — the stuff we wish someone had told us on day one.
By The Appnary Team
Most Shopify advice is written for stores already doing seven figures. Here's a tighter list for stores in their first 30 days.
1. Install the basics, then stop. Pick one analytics app, one email app, and one reviews app. Anything beyond that is distraction in month one. You don't know what you'll need yet.
2. Set up a real abandoned-cart email. The Shopify default is decent. The first follow-up should fire within an hour. Keep it short — subject line, product photo, one button.
3. Watch your real conversion rate, not the one in your head. New merchants almost always overestimate. Check the actual number once a week.
4. Pick a pricing test in month one and stick with it. Tinkering every day means you'll never know what works.
5. Set up your policies before you launch ads. Refund, shipping, and privacy pages aren't optional. They also help conversion — shoppers check.
6. Don't buy a theme over $200 until you've made at least your first sale. The free themes are good. You'll change the theme anyway once you know what you need.
7. Track one number that matters. Pick the metric that, if it improved, would change your business. Track it on a sticky note.
None of this is glamorous. All of it compounds.