How to Set Up a Shopify Store: Key Considerations for Starting Your E-commerce Website

How to Set Up a Shopify Store: Key Considerations for Starting Your E-commerce Website

At Lambda Services, we’ve helped countless clients across many industries transform ideas into profitable online stores. Whether you're a local start-up or a growing brand, launching an e-commerce website is an exciting milestone — but it’s one that requires careful planning and execution.

We’re proud to be official Shopify Partners, which means we’re equipped with the tools, knowledge, and experience to help you build a successful store on one of the world’s leading e-commerce platforms. If you’re wondering how to set up a Shopify store, or simply looking to understand the key ingredients to a high-performing online shop, read on.

For those whose business model is more service-based, we've got you covered — we also build lead generation websites tailored to converting visitors into enquiries and customers. Learn more about our lead generation services.

1. Branding and Theming: The Foundation of Trust

Your brand isn’t just your logo — it’s the feeling your store gives your customers. Strong branding builds trust and communicates who you are at a glance. One of the first steps in how to set up an online store is choosing a clean, modern theme that aligns with your identity.

As Shopify experts, we help you:

  • Choose or customise a theme that’s fast, responsive, and user-friendly

  • Align fonts, colours, and layout to your brand identity

  • Create a professional look that inspires confidence from the first click

Tip 1: Customers decide in seconds whether to stay or leave your site. A visually cohesive and branded experience is a non-negotiable.

Tip 2: Shopify's free theme templates may well be the best available; they are regularly updated with new features being introduced as well as having great flexibility in their design. It may not be for everyone as it depends on the style you are looking for but be aware that paid themes can have lax support or become outdated, so do your homework!

2. Core Pages That Build Trust and Drive Sales

If you’re researching how to start a Shopify store for beginners, one thing that’s often overlooked is the importance of your website’s core pages. Beyond the homepage and product listings, visitors expect clear, informative, and reassuring content.

We recommend including:

  • Homepage: Highlight bestsellers, promotions, and clear calls to action

  • Product Pages: Detailed descriptions, quality images, reviews, and trust badges

  • About Us: Share your story to humanise your brand

  • FAQs: Answer common queries to reduce friction

  • Shipping & Returns: Transparent policies build buyer confidence

  • Contact Page: Easy ways to get in touch builds credibility

These core pages build up the foundation of your content marketing and web presence so consider carefully what your customers will be looking for in your product or service.

 We help you write and structure these pages strategically, so they serve both users and search engines.

3. Policy Pages and Privacy: Legal Confidence for You and Your Customers

In today’s digital landscape, privacy and compliance are critical. Every online store must provide clear and accessible policy pages that address customer rights and your responsibilities as a business. These aren’t just best practices — they’re legal requirements, especially under laws like the UK GDPR.

At Lambda Services, we ensure your store includes:

  • Privacy Policy: Explains how you collect, store, and use customer data

  • Terms & Conditions: Outlines the legal terms of using your website

  • Returns & Refunds Policy: Provides clarity around your returns process

  • Shipping Policy: Sets customer expectations for delivery times and costs

  • Cookie Consent Banner: Ensures GDPR compliance when tracking user activity

These pages protect your business while building trust with your audience. We tailor them to your business model and make sure they’re clearly accessible from your site footer.

Tip: Consider where you are looking to sell your products - going global? Make sure you adhere to each country's data regulation to be able to trade effectively.

4. Shipping Rates & Fulfilment Strategy

A well-thought-out shipping strategy can be the difference between a sale and an abandoned cart. As Shopify Partners, we help you configure shipping rules that make sense for your business.

Options include:

  • Flat-rate shipping

  • Free shipping thresholds (e.g., “Free delivery on orders over £50”)

  • Real-time carrier rates

  • Local delivery and click & collect

We also integrate Shopify with your fulfilment partner or warehouse for streamlined order management.

Tip: Unsure where to start with shipping prices? Find out the average weight of your packages and head to your preferred shipping provider - you will find almost all providers have shipping calculators to help you out.

5. Core Functions: The Must-Have Features

If you’re wondering how do you start an online store that not only looks good but converts, functionality is key. An e-commerce website must guide visitors toward your preferred action with the least friction possible.

Key considerations includes:

  • Clear Calls to Action (CTAs): 'Add to Cart', 'Buy Now', 'Join Newsletter'

  • Payment Gateways: Offer choices like Apple Pay, PayPal, Klarna, and credit/debit cards

  • Mobile Responsiveness: Over 60% of users shop from mobile — your store must perform on any device

  • Search and Filter Tools: Help users quickly find what they need

  • Abandoned Cart Recovery: Win back lost sales with automated follow-ups

Tip: Put yourself in yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer, are there specific features that would make the process from start to finish smoother? 3 - 5 steps between landing on a website and making a purchase is the optimum. 

6. Marketing Tools and SEO Essentials

Simply building a store isn’t enough. To grow, you need traffic. That’s why we build every site with SEO best practices in mind and set you up with essential marketing tools to help scale.

Included in every project:

  • Basic SEO setup (metadata, alt tags, structured URLs)

  • Google Analytics and Meta Pixel integration

  • Newsletter signup forms (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, etc.)

  • Blog functionality to support content marketing

We also guide you through ongoing strategies for SEO and conversion optimisation.

Let’s Build Something Brilliant Together

Whether you're figuring out how to start a Shopify store for beginners or looking for a high-converting design, Lambda Services is here to help.

As trusted Shopify Partners, we deliver fully tailored, conversion-focused online stores — fast, functional, and future-ready. And if your business focuses on generating leads instead of selling products, we also create high-performing lead generation websites built for conversion. Click here to learn more.

Let’s talk. Contact Lambda Services today and take the first step towards launching an e-commerce site that drives real results.

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