Prepare to launch your store

Use these checklists to take your store from early preparation through to post-launch verification. Each one is a checkpoint that gives you a chance to fix problems before they reach customers. Adapt them to suit your store.

Work through them in order:

1. Early in the project, confirm your DNS provider can do what you need
2. Pre-production configuration, completed by your StoreConnect team
3. Pre-dry-run checks, completed by you
4. Dry run, at least two days before go-live
5. Go-live cut-over
6. Go-live functionality checks

The functionality check in steps 3, 4, and 6 is the same list each time. You run it at each stage because the configuration underneath it changes: first on pre-production settings, then on production credentials, then on the live domain.

Early in the project

Do this as soon as you have chosen your store domain, because the answer can force a change of DNS provider.

• Find out whether your DNS provider supports an ALIAS or ANAME record on the apex of your chosen domain. If it does not, you either forward the apex to your www subdomain or move provider, and both take time. See connect a domain to StoreConnect.

Pre-dry-run checklist

Your StoreConnect team completes the pre-production configuration checklist first. Once they have, run these checks yourself in the run-up to the dry run, so major issues surface while there is still time to fix them.

Functionality check

• Customer can browse the catalog.
• Customer can add to cart and purchase.
  • Each payment option completes successfully.
  • Each shipping option completes successfully.
• Customer can register after checkout.
• Customer can log in and see their order history.
• Customer receives the checkout flow emails, standard or customized.
• Checkout and customer data appears in Salesforce.
• Automated shipping provider information is syncing, if you use one.
• Web-to-case forms create cases in the production org.
• Web-to-lead forms create leads in the production org.
• Redirects work. Test a sample.
• The merchant feed works, and the right products are listed.

Domain name system

• Your DNS provider supports ALIAS or ANAME records, if you are using an apex domain. See connect a domain to StoreConnect.
• Your DNS provider’s TTL is set to 300 seconds or lower. Lower it to 60 seconds on go-live day for the fastest propagation.

Dry-run checklist

The store owner runs this at least two days before go-live, with help from the StoreConnect team. It confirms access to every system you need and surfaces any red flags while there is still time.

Switch to production settings

• Confirm the store’s “from” email address is configured and verified in Organization-Wide Addresses. See setting up StoreConnect emails.
• Enter production credentials for every payment provider.
• Enter production credentials for every shipping provider.

Dry run functionality check

• customer can browse catalog
• customer can add to cart and purchase
  • each payment option can be successfully used
  • each shipping option can be successfully used
• customer can register after checkout
• customer can login and see their order history
• customer is receiving standard (or customized if done) checkout flow emails
• checkout & customer data appears in Salesforce
• automated shipping provider information is syncing (if used, eg Australia Post)
• if using POS, offline sales queue and sync correctly once the register reconnects. See Take payments while the POS is offline
• any web-to-case forms when filled out by a customer create cases in the production Org
• any web-to-lead forms when filled out by a customer create leads in the production Org
• redirects are working (test a sample)
• check merchant feed is working and correct products are selected to be listed Run the same functionality check as above, this time against the production credentials you just entered.

Existing customer data sync and deduplication

Complete this check when migrating from an existing system with a pre-loaded set of Person Accounts, Contacts, or Leads.

• Confirm existing Contact and Account records have synced from Salesforce to the storefront. Checkout and POS order lookup only match against records that have already synced. See contact matching and lead conversion at checkout.
• Confirm email addresses on existing records are clean and consistent, with no typos, inconsistent casing, or missing values. Matching relies on exact email and name matches.
• De-duplicate existing Contact and Person Account records that share an email address before launch. See merging accounts, contacts, and orders.

:::warning A record created directly in Salesforce is invisible to checkout or POS order lookup until it syncs. If a customer’s existing account has not synced by launch, StoreConnect may fail to find them, or match an older duplicate that shares the same email instead. Confirm sync status before go-live, not after. :::

SEO, AEO and inbound redirects

Complete this check when replacing an existing website, since it depends on content and marketing decisions made before launch.

• Confirm every indexed page on the existing site has an equivalent StoreConnect page and a 301 redirect configured. See redirect to StoreConnect from existing web pages.
• Confirm page, product, and article titles and meta descriptions are set to their intended production values, not placeholders.
• Confirm the sitemap at /sitemap.xml reflects the live catalog and content. See search engine optimization.
• Confirm structured data renders on product pages. See structured data for products.
• Confirm analytics tracking, for example Google Analytics or a Facebook Pixel, fires on the new store and not only the old one.

:::note GEO (Generative Engine Optimization, also known as AEO) measures whether AI-powered search and chat tools cite the store as a source. Sitemap accuracy, structured data, and an optional manually maintained llms.txt file are the levers StoreConnect exposes for this. See Answer engine and generative engine optimization. There is no separate GEO-specific setting to configure. :::

Go-live cut-over checklist

The store owner completes this with help from your StoreConnect support team. Complete the Salesforce changes before the DNS changes, so the store is ready for traffic the moment DNS resolves to it.

Update Salesforce

For each store:

• Update the Store record with the correct production domain, and path if you use one.
• Update the Base URL custom metadata to the new domain, for example https://www.yourstore.com/.
• Update every web-to-case form’s callback URL to the new domain.
• Update every web-to-lead form’s callback URL to the new domain.

Allow a few minutes for the data to sync before moving on.

Update hosting and DNS

For each domain in use:

• Confirm the store’s primary domain is entered correctly.
• Confirm each Web Domain record is Active and its Status field shows Success, which confirms SSL is provisioned.
• Add an apex domain redirect if your DNS provider does not support apex aliases.
• Change the CNAME and apex records as appropriate.
• Wait at least 5 minutes before continuing.

Wait for DNS propagation

DNS can take around 15 minutes to propagate, and some locations and browsers pick the change up sooner than others. Check from as many places as you can: work, home, mobile, and overseas if you have staff there. Use each major browser, in a private window where possible. Once propagation is confirmed, run the go-live functionality checklist.

Go-live functionality checklist

Run this once production settings are in place and your domain points at the store. It is the same functionality check as before, with the additions below for the live domain.

• Customer can browse the catalog.
• Customer can add to cart and purchase.
  • Each payment option completes successfully.
  • Each shipping option completes successfully.
• Customer can register after checkout.
• Customer can log in and see their order history.
• Customer receives the checkout flow emails, from the correct production email address.
• Checkout and customer data appears in Salesforce.
• Automated shipping provider information is syncing, if you use one.
• Web-to-case forms create cases in the production org, and the callback URL lands on the correct domain and page.
• Web-to-lead forms create leads in the production org, and the callback URL lands on the correct domain and page.
• Redirects work, including any high-traffic pages carried over from the previous site. Test a sample.
• SSL works. The address bar shows https:// before your domain, with no certificate warning.
• The merchant feed works, and the right products are listed.
• Production SEO metadata and structured data are live, not staging placeholders.

Also check these, if you have them installed:

• Analytics tracking works on the new store domain, for example Google Analytics or a Facebook Pixel.
• Live chat opens and connects.

Once every check passes, see test your live store for the ongoing post-launch verification.