Getting started with Ecwid

We are excited that you start selling online! If you want to create a stylish and professional site with an online store without spending tons of money and time on programmers and designers, you came to the right place. This guide will help you through the basic steps to open your Ecwid store and start selling within a day. Once you sign up and set up your store, you don't have to do anything else — your store is up and running. Meaning it's open, and customers can check your storefront and make orders.

Okay, let’s get started!

Step 1: Sign up

You can sign up or log in to Ecwid on your desktop or by using the Ecwid app for iOS or Android. All you need is an email address.

To create a new account:

That’s it, now you have a store that is located on your Ecwid Instant Site that is absolutely free. As a new store owner, you will also have a forever-free plan.

With Ecwid account created, you can choose to:

• Sell on Instant Site →
• Sell on your own website →
• Sell on Facebook and Instagram →

Whatever way to sell you choose, you can manage your store from your Ecwid admin. Navigate to different sections using the menu on the left. For example, go to Website in your Ecwid admin to configure your online store and create a name for it, or go to Catalog to manage your products and orders. You can also upgrade your store plan and chat with customer support when assistance is needed. On the Free plan, live chat support is available during the first 30 days after sign-up.

You can always sign out of your Ecwid account.

Step 2: Add and organize products

Now it's time to add products to your store. With Ecwid, you can sell physical or digital products, services, and anything in between. On a Free plan you can sell up to 5 items. You can sell digital goods on a paid plan only.

Note that after you sign up for Ecwid store, there will be items in your store. They are not real products but just a demo to show you how your store may look. Feel free to remove the demo items before uploading your products.

It’s very convenient to add products through the mobile app. If you download the mobile app, you can try it for free for 28 days.

To add a new product:

That's it! You have successfully added a product to your store!

Next, you can create product categories to organize your products, making it easier for your customers to navigate and search. For example, you can create the following types of categories:

• clothes for women, men, and children
• sale items
• items in a certain color or size
• seasonal items

Depending on how many products you plan to offer, adding and organizing your product listings can be the most time-consuming step in setting up your store. So give yourself enough time to do the work. Make sure you set up all the applicable taxes (if any) so that you can collect them according to your countries' legislation.

Step 3: Set up a web address

Now when you have your catalog uploaded, let’s decide with the web address. With the Ecwid Instant Site, you already have your site with your products in it.

Every Ecwid store on the free Instant Site has a company.site web address in the form of "YourStore123.company.site". It’s a free subdomain where the first part of the address can be customized by you to better reflect your brand. You can change the free web address for your store on Instant Site or connect your own domain.

To customize the web address on Ecwid subdomain:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Website, and scroll down to Domain name and site address.
2. Click Change Address.
3. Enter the preferred name.
4. Click Save.

To add your own domain, you can buy it from Ecwid admin or connect an existing domain that you bought from a third-party registrar.

In case you’ve already created a site on a sitebuilder like Wix or WordPress or any other, you don’t have to create a unique domain. Just add your Ecwid store to your site that already has a domain name. The same goes for stores on Facebook or Instagram — you can simply add an Ecwid store and start selling online.

Step 4: Personalize store design

To help you get started, the Design page of your Ecwid admin has a default set of settings to customize the look of your store. There are a lot of elements you can personalize in your storefront: header image, logo image, page layout, etc. With so many possible variations of design, you can create a very personalized and unique store. Ecwid has a responsive design, meaning that your store looks good on any screen size.

Every time you make a change on the Design page, you can preview how these adjustments appear in your store. Just click on the View [your store name] button in the top right corner to open your storefront in a new page. You may need to refresh the page to see the changes.

Check out this short video tutorial on making design and layout changes in your store:

For Instant site users: If you decide to go with an Ecwid Instant Site, go to Sales Channels, scroll down to Instant Site and click Manage Instant Site, then Edit Site. You can personalize your storefront design and add content like images, your company’s story, maps, and more using content blocks. Start with adding headline and cover image, then add your business’s story and information. Any changes you make are shown right there in the editor, so you can see how your store will look.

Step 5: Add business information

In the General settings and Legal sections, add your business information, such as your store name and work email, then enter your currency, language, legal information, etc.

Entering all of this information is crucial for both you and your customers. For example, your name and email will automatically be shown in customer email notifications. Setting up a timezone allows you to process the orders on time if you offer a scheduled local delivery or in-store pickup. You will need to give your customers access to your policies for refunds, privacy, and terms of service before they buy a product.

Make sure to add:

1. Company’s name, web address, and email
2. Company’s physical address
3. Currency
4. Legal pages

See help article on how to configure the general settings of your store for more detailed instructions.

Step 6: Enable payments

Next, you will need to add a payment gateway to collect sales revenue. Ecwid supports a variety of offline and online payment methods including Lightspeed Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Square, and many more.

Set up at least one payment method in your store by going to the Payment section in your Ecwid admin.

Step 7: Set up shipping and pickup

If you sell physical products that require shipping, you must decide how to distribute your products to your customers. There are three methods for distribution: self pickup, shipment via postal or delivery service, and third-party fulfillment services.

To set up shipping, you will need to:

1. Define your shipping strategy.
2. Calculate the rates.
3. Set up the shipping rates in Shipping & Pickup so that you charge your customers the appropriate amount based on your products and the customers’ location.

Follow our in-depth instructions to set up shipping for your business. Or watch this quick video tutorial on setting up shipping:

Step 8: Check the store before launching

Now, when everything is ready, one last step before launching is to check how your store works for customers. Here’s what you can do to make sure your store runs smoothly:

1. Make an overall store review: check the whole design and navigation. Make sure that pictures and descriptions match items in your store. To open your store’s page, go to Ecwid admin and click the link with your store’s name in the top left corner.
2. Place a few dummy orders to test the checkout flow. During the tests pay attention if shipping and tax rates appear correctly and that your shipping options are available within the right delivery zones. Make sure you receive the transaction for an order.
3. When placing a test order, enter your email to check how the notification about the order will look for a customer. You can also check that notifications about the order are sent to your store’s email. If you use Ecwid mobile app, you will receive a push notification every time a new order is placed.
4. If you changed the design with the help of CSS codes, make sure that all the buttons and links are clickable and the elements are not overlapping.

Step 9: Go live!

After you double-checked everything, it’s time to start selling.

Check that your storefront is visible to everyone. Go to Settings → General → Store Profile, scroll down and make sure storefront is open:

If you're using Instant Site for your sales, also make sure you've published its final version. 

That’s it. Everything runs like clockwork, it’s time to make your first sale. And don’t forget to spread the word on social media.

Next steps

With Ecwid, it’s easy to expand your business and start selling not only on your website or Instant Site, but on social media and any other websites. The Ecwid storefront can be added to multiple platforms and you can manage them all from one central location. 

Here's what will help you start:

Place a test order →

Promote your store to make a first sale →

Process orders →

Start selling on Instagram and Facebook →

Expand to marketplaces →