A practical ecommerce launch checklist: verify payments, stock, delivery, mobile checkout and measurement with a clear acceptance check for each step.
Use this checklist with your store operator and developer. Record pass, fail or not applicable, plus the evidence and owner. A working homepage alone is not a launch test.
1. Choose the platform around the order
List your product types, variants, stock locations and delivery markets. Build one representative product and order before committing to a platform. Pass when the required workflow works without an unplanned manual workaround.
2. Control the domain
Confirm who owns the domain and can renew it or edit DNS. Open the preferred address and its alternate hostname. Pass when both reach the same secure store and your business controls the account.
3. Verify hosting and recovery
Agree who maintains the store and where backups live. Restore a backup in an isolated environment, not over the live shop. Pass when products, orders and configuration can be recovered and the responsible person knows the procedure.
4. Check secure access
Open product, account and checkout pages over HTTPS. Check that staff have individual accounts and only the permissions they need. Pass when no insecure resources or shared administrator login are needed to complete an order.
5. Let staff manage the catalogue
Ask the person who will operate the store to add a product, change its stock and unpublish it. Pass when they can do this without editing code and the storefront reflects the changes.
6. Confirm payment-provider eligibility
Verify supported business country, settlement currency, payout account and product restrictions directly with the provider. For a Caribbean business, do not assume support from a foreign demo store. Pass when the provider confirms your actual business setup.
7. Explain the purchase terms
Show what the customer is buying, how acceptance works and how to contact you before payment. Have the applicable terms reviewed for the markets you serve. Pass when the published terms match the order process; this checklist is not a substitute for jurisdiction-specific advice.
8. Map customer data
List the data collected by checkout, accounts, support and measurement tools. Check the privacy notice against that list and implement the consent choices required for your markets. Pass when the notice and actual behaviour agree.
9. Test returns and refunds
Describe eligibility, contact steps and expected handling times without contradicting applicable rights. Rehearse an eligible return and a refund in the provider sandbox. Pass when staff can follow the policy and the order record shows the outcome.
10. Keep card handling in the approved flow
Confirm security responsibilities with your payment provider and acquiring bank. Do not place card details in application logs, emails or analytics. Pass when the intended payment flow works and no card data appears in those destinations.
11. Confirm business requirements
Check registration, invoicing, tax and product restrictions for where your business operates and sells. Assign an owner to each unresolved requirement. Pass when the required operational approvals are documented, not inferred from a generic online checklist.
12. Complete checkout on a phone
Use a real narrow-screen device to select a variant, change quantity, enter an address and reach confirmation. Check keyboard access and readable errors too. Pass when totals stay correct and no field or button is hidden by the keyboard.
13. Prevent stock mistakes
Test the last unit, an unavailable variant and an order cancellation. Decide whether stock is reserved before or after payment. Pass when the store follows that rule and does not silently sell an unavailable item.
14. Keep product information consistent
Compare the product page, cart, checkout and confirmation for the same item. Pass when the name, variant, image, quantity and price agree at every step, including a discounted order if discounts are offered.
15. Make support reachable
Check the contact page and the support link in an order confirmation. Confirm who handles enquiries and failed deliveries. Pass when the displayed channels work and the customer can identify your business without searching social media.
16. Check search access
Inspect product and category URLs for accidental noindex, incorrect canonicals and broken links. Keep private checkout and account information out of search. Pass when public catalogue pages are crawlable and their sitemap lists the intended canonical URLs.
17. Measure accepted orders
Define what counts as a purchase before configuring events. In an isolated test, compare the order record with the measurement event. Pass when a successful order is counted once, while a failed payment or page refresh does not create another purchase.
18. Verify transactional messages
Check confirmation, cancellation and refund messages in a test mailbox. Pass when order details and support links are correct, the customer receives the appropriate message and no real customer receives a test notification.
19. Plan the first traffic source
Choose one launch audience, one destination and a clear action. Check that the destination answers the promise made by the campaign. Pass when the team can explain how a visit should become an order without relying on an impression count.
20. Connect useful content
Link buying guides to the products or categories they explain, and link products back to genuinely useful guidance. Pass when every link leads to an available page and the text describes its destination.
21. Answer product questions
Review dimensions, materials, compatibility, availability and delivery expectations for representative products. Pass when a shopper can distinguish variants and understand what is included without asking support for basic facts.
22. Handle interrupted and failed payments
Use the provider sandbox to test a decline, a cancelled payment and returning after an interruption. Pass when the buyer sees the correct status and can retry without duplicated charges or orders. Do not create real charges solely for this check.
23. Reconcile reporting
Compare accepted, cancelled and refunded test orders with your operational report. Keep revenue, orders and sessions separate. Pass when the team can explain each difference, including consent-related measurement gaps, instead of treating analytics as the accounting ledger.
24. Validate delivery zones
Test one address inside each supported zone and one outside it. Include pickup if offered. Pass when charges and delivery promises match the operational plan and unsupported addresses cannot silently complete an impossible delivery.
25. Assign the launch decision
Keep a short evidence sheet with each check, its owner, result and unresolved issue. Recheck the complete order after the last material change. Launch when critical failures are resolved and the team knows how to pause checkout or roll back a broken release.
Plan your store with MDX
Our ecommerce website service starts with your catalogue, payment setup and delivery workflow. Review the Trinidad ecommerce planning guide, or tell us what your store needs.
Planning a project like this? See our digital marketing service or tell us about your project.
