Launching an online store is not the same as launching a brochure website. A store takes money, calculates GST, quotes shipping, holds stock and sends order confirmations, and every one of those moving parts can fail quietly on launch day. A shopper who hits a broken discount code or a checkout that rejects Afterpay does not email you to complain. They leave, and you never find out.
That is why a structured launch matters. Working through a checklist before you go live turns a stressful guessing game into a sequence of small, verifiable checks. This guide is built specifically for Australian ecommerce, so it covers the things a general site launch skips: payment methods your customers actually use, 10% GST on products and shipping, Australia Post rates, buy now pay later, and returns rules under Australian Consumer Law.
If you are launching a standard business or marketing website rather than a store, start with our companion website go-live checklist instead, then come back here for the store-specific layers. The two are designed to work together.
We have grouped the tasks by area and split each one into what to do and why it matters. Then we have added a condensed “top priorities” list, a launch-day and post-launch section, and an FAQ. Work top to bottom and tick as you go.
How to use this checklist
The full launch runs in three phases:
- Pre-launch is the bulk of the work: design, product data, checkout, payments, tax, SEO, security and legal pages. Do this on a staging or password-protected version of the site.
- Launch day is verification and switching the lights on: final test order, remove the holding page, submit the sitemap, confirm tracking fires.
- Post-launch is the first two weeks of monitoring: watch real orders, fix what breaks, and start reading the analytics.
Most items below sit in pre-launch. The launch-day and post-launch sections at the end tell you what to leave until the site is live.
Design, UX and mobile
More than seven in ten Australian ecommerce sessions happen on a phone, so mobile is the primary experience, not an afterthought.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Test the full journey on a real phone, not just the desktop preview |
Tap targets, sticky headers and pop-ups behave differently on small screens and break add-to-cart flows |
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Check the homepage states what you sell and who you serve above the fold |
A confused first-time visitor bounces before reaching a product |
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Confirm navigation and category menus are logical and every link resolves |
Shoppers browse by category far more than they use search |
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Make site search return relevant results and handle typos |
Searchers convert at a much higher rate, so a weak search leaks revenue |
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Test across Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on iOS and Android |
A layout that works in Chrome can collapse in Safari |
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Add a visible, reachable contact method (phone, email or chat) |
Pre-purchase questions that go unanswered become abandoned carts |
Product pages
The product page is where the buying decision is made. Thin or inaccurate product pages are the single most common reason a new store fails to convert.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Use clear, specific product titles (brand, model, key attribute) |
Titles feed both the shopper’s scan and your search rankings |
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Write descriptions that answer real pre-purchase questions |
Sizing, materials, care and compatibility doubts kill conversions when unanswered |
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Add multiple high-quality images, including scale and in-use shots |
Shoppers cannot touch the product, so images carry the whole sensory load |
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Confirm every variant works: size, colour, quantity, bundles |
A broken variant selector means the customer cannot buy the thing they want |
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Check prices are correct and show GST-inclusive amounts |
Australian consumers expect the displayed price to be the price they pay |
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Connect stock levels so sold-out items show as unavailable |
Selling stock you do not have forces refunds and damages trust |
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Add delivery estimates and a returns note on the page |
Buyers want to know cost, timing and risk before they add to cart |
For a deeper treatment of merchandising and conversion once you are live, see how to increase sales on your ecommerce site.
Cart and checkout
Checkout is where money either arrives or evaporates. Cart abandonment across the industry runs around 70%, and a large share of it comes from avoidable friction: forced account creation, surprise costs and clunky forms.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Offer guest checkout |
Forcing account creation is one of the top reasons Australians abandon carts |
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Keep the checkout to as few steps as possible |
Every extra field and page is another chance to lose the sale |
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Show all costs (shipping, GST) before the payment step |
Unexpected charges at the end are the leading cause of abandonment |
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Display trust signals: secure-payment badges, returns policy, contact |
Reassurance at the point of payment lifts completion rates |
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Test discount codes, gift cards and cart editing |
A code that errors out at checkout reads as a broken store |
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Send an order confirmation email automatically |
Silence after payment makes customers wonder if the charge went through |
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Test the entire flow on mobile end to end |
Most abandoned carts happen on phones, where forms are hardest |
Payments and buy now pay later
Australian shoppers expect a specific mix of payment options, and buy now pay later is now mainstream rather than a nice-to-have.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Accept Visa, Mastercard and Amex via a reliable gateway (Stripe, Square, Shopify Payments) |
Card is still the default, and a declined-card bug blocks most of your revenue |
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Add PayPal |
A large group of Australians will only check out with PayPal |
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Add at least one BNPL option, typically Afterpay or Zip |
BNPL is expected on higher-priced carts and lifts average order value |
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Enable Apple Pay and Google Pay for one-tap mobile checkout |
Wallets remove the biggest mobile friction point, typing card details |
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Place a real test order with each method and then refund it |
The only way to know a payment method works is to move actual money through it |
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Confirm the gateway settles to your business bank account |
A misconfigured payout means you sell but never get paid |
If you are still choosing a provider, our guide to the payment gateway options walks through fees, settlement and setup.
Shipping, returns and GST
This is the layer a generic launch checklist ignores and the one that gets Australian stores in trouble. Get tax and delivery right before you take a cent.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Set accurate shipping rates by weight, cart value or region |
Undercharging on freight erodes margin on every order; overcharging kills conversions |
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Decide and display any free-shipping threshold |
A clear threshold nudges basket size upward |
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Connect Australia Post (and a courier for bulky items) rates |
Live rates keep quoted postage in line with what you actually pay |
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Register for GST if turnover is at or above $75,000, then charge 10% |
Above the threshold GST registration is a legal requirement, not a choice (source: ATO / business.gov.au) |
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Apply GST to both products and shipping |
Australian GST is calculated on the freight-inclusive value, not the product alone |
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Show GST-inclusive prices and note “GST included” at checkout |
Australian Consumer Law requires the total price to be clear and not hidden |
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Publish a returns and refunds policy that meets Australian Consumer Law |
Consumers have guaranteed rights to refunds or replacements for faulty goods regardless of your store policy |
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Test the fulfilment flow: label, notification, stock deduction |
A test order end to end catches inventory and notification gaps before customers do |
SEO
A store that launches invisible to search has to buy every visitor. Get the technical SEO foundations in before launch so indexing starts on day one.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Write unique title tags and meta descriptions for key pages |
These are your listing in Google results and drive click-through |
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Add product and organisation schema markup |
Structured data can surface price, stock and star ratings directly in search |
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Generate and submit an XML sitemap in Google Search Console |
It tells Google which product and category URLs to crawl |
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Set up 301 redirects from any old or changed URLs |
Redirects preserve existing rankings and stop customers hitting 404s |
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Check the site is not blocked by robots.txt or a stray noindex tag |
A leftover “discourage indexing” setting from staging keeps you out of Google entirely |
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Give category and product URLs clean, readable slugs |
Tidy URLs help both ranking and the customer’s sense of trust |
Ecommerce SEO has its own rules for category structure, faceted navigation and product feeds. Our explainer on what is ecommerce SEO covers those in depth, and for ongoing work our ecommerce SEO service can take it off your plate.
Technical, performance and Core Web Vitals
Speed is a ranking factor and a conversion factor. Google’s Core Web Vitals measure the experience your shoppers actually feel, and stores that fail them lose both rankings and sales.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Compress and lazy-load images, and serve modern formats like WebP |
Product imagery is the heaviest part of most stores and the first thing to slow it down |
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Aim for Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds |
LCP measures how fast the main content loads; slow pages lose mobile shoppers |
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Keep Cumulative Layout Shift low by reserving space for images and banners |
Content that jumps as it loads makes customers tap the wrong button |
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Keep Interaction to Next Paint responsive so taps register quickly |
INP measures responsiveness; a laggy add-to-cart feels broken |
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Enable caching and a content delivery network |
Faster delivery to shoppers across Australia and overseas |
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Test on a real 4G connection, not just office wi-fi |
Many customers browse on mobile data, where a heavy page crawls |
Our breakdown of Core Web Vitals explained shows how to read and fix each metric.
Security
You are handling payments and personal data, so security is non-negotiable and partly a legal duty.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Install a valid SSL certificate so the whole site runs on HTTPS |
Browsers flag non-secure checkout pages and shoppers will not enter card details |
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Use a PCI-DSS compliant payment gateway and avoid storing raw card data |
Compliance is mandatory for taking card payments and limits your liability |
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Force strong admin passwords and enable two-factor authentication |
Store admin access is the keys to the kingdom for an attacker |
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Keep the platform, theme and plugins updated |
Outdated components are the most common way stores get compromised |
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Set up automatic backups |
A backup is the difference between a bad hour and a lost business |
Analytics and conversion tracking
If tracking is not live before your first sale, that data is gone forever. Set it up while the site is still private.
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Task |
Why it matters |
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Install Google Analytics 4 with ecommerce tracking enabled |
Without it you are flying blind on where revenue comes from |
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Confirm purchase, add-to-cart and view-item events fire correctly |
Broken events make every downstream report wrong |
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Install the Meta pixel and any ad platform tags you will use |
Retargeting only works if the pixel was collecting from day one |
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Connect Google Search Console |
It reports indexing, impressions and search queries you cannot see elsewhere |
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Place a test order and confirm it shows as one conversion, not zero or three |
Miscounted conversions wreck your reported return on ad spend |
Legal and policy pages
Australian Consumer Law and the Privacy Act set a baseline you have to meet. These pages also reassure buyers.
|
Task |
Why it matters |
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Publish a privacy policy covering what data you collect and how you use it |
Required once you collect customer data, and expected by shoppers |
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Publish clear terms and conditions of sale |
They set the rules for orders, pricing errors and cancellations |
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State a returns and refunds policy consistent with Australian Consumer Law |
Consumer guarantees on faulty goods apply on top of whatever policy you write |
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Add a cookie or tracking notice if you run ad pixels |
Transparency about tracking is expected and increasingly required |
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Display your business name and an ABN or contact details |
Legitimacy signals reduce hesitation and meet disclosure norms |
Launch marketing
The store is ready. Now make sure people actually arrive on day one.
|
Task |
Why it matters |
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Build a pre-launch email list with a coming-soon page |
An engaged list gives you sales in the first hour, not the first month |
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Prepare launch-day social posts and any influencer or partner tie-ins |
Coordinated noise beats a quiet switch-flip |
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Set up an abandoned-cart email flow |
It recovers a meaningful share of the carts you will otherwise lose |
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Prepare a welcome or first-order discount |
A small incentive converts hesitant first-time buyers |
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Have Google Ads or Meta campaigns drafted and ready to switch on |
Paid traffic fills the gap while SEO builds |
Top priorities: the ten checks you cannot skip
If you are short on time, do these before anything else:
- Place a real test order end to end with each payment method, then refund it.
- Confirm guest checkout works and all costs show before payment.
- Verify GST is charged at 10% on products and shipping, with GST-inclusive prices.
- Publish privacy policy, terms, and a returns policy that meets Australian Consumer Law.
- Install SSL and confirm the whole site runs on HTTPS.
- Set up GA4 ecommerce tracking and confirm a test purchase records as one conversion.
- Remove any staging noindex or robots block and submit your sitemap.
- Test the full journey on a real phone across Safari and Chrome.
- Confirm stock levels sync so sold-out items cannot be bought.
- Check shipping rates and any free-shipping threshold are correct.
Launch day
Save these for the moment you go live:
- Remove the holding or coming-soon page and make the store public.
- Place one final live test order, then refund it.
- Submit the XML sitemap in Google Search Console and request indexing of key pages.
- Confirm analytics and ad pixels are firing on the live domain.
- Send the launch email and publish social posts.
- Watch the first few real orders come through and confirm confirmations, labels and stock updates all fire.
Post-launch: the first two weeks
- Check orders daily for payment, tax or shipping errors and fix fast.
- Read GA4 for drop-off points in the funnel and abandoned-cart patterns.
- Watch Core Web Vitals in Search Console as real traffic loads real pages.
- Ask early customers for a review or a quick note on anything confusing.
- Turn on paid campaigns once you have confirmed the checkout is solid.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an ecommerce launch take?
The build varies, but the launch checklist itself is a focused block of one to two weeks for a small store, longer if you have hundreds of products to load and photograph. Rushing the payment, tax and legal steps is where most avoidable problems start.
Do I need to register for GST before I launch?
You must register once your turnover reaches $75,000 a year, and within 21 days of realising you will cross it (source: ATO / business.gov.au). Many new stores register from day one so pricing and invoicing are correct and they can claim GST credits on purchases. If you register, charge 10% on products and shipping and show GST-inclusive prices.
What payment methods should an Australian store offer?
At a minimum: Visa, Mastercard and Amex through a gateway like Stripe or Shopify Payments, PayPal, and one buy now pay later option such as Afterpay or Zip. Apple Pay and Google Pay are worth adding for faster mobile checkout.
What does Australian Consumer Law require for returns?
Consumer guarantees give buyers the right to a repair, replacement or refund when goods are faulty, not as described, or do not do what you said they would. These rights apply regardless of any “no returns” policy you write, so your published policy should sit alongside them, not contradict them.
Should I offer free shipping?
Free shipping lifts conversions, but only if the margin supports it. A common approach is a free-shipping threshold that sits a little above your average order value, which encourages larger baskets while protecting margin on small orders.
Which platform should I launch on?
Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce are the common choices in Australia, each with trade-offs on cost, control and scale. Our guide to the best CMS for ecommerce compares them for local stores.
How do I make sure Google can find my new store?
Confirm no staging noindex tag or robots.txt block is left in place, submit an XML sitemap in Google Search Console, add product schema, and write unique titles and meta descriptions. Indexing then starts within days rather than weeks.
Ready to launch with confidence?
A clean launch is the payoff for the boring work of checking every step. If you would rather have a team handle the build, the checklist and the go-live, MediaPlus Digital in Melbourne runs ecommerce projects end to end. See our ecommerce web design and development service, or if you are set on Shopify, our Shopify website development team can take you from an empty store to a launch-ready one. Get in touch for a chat about your store.
