In brief: Creating a Shopify store in 2026 remains accessible (3-day free trial, first month for €1), but the ecosystem has become more sophisticated. Three major changes this year: the arrival of agentic commerce, which allows AI to act as buying agents, the native integration of Sidekick (Shopify AI assistant in the admin), and the generalization of B2B functionalities across all Shopify plans. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the 6 essential steps, updated for 2026.
Do you want to know how to create a Shopify online store or how to build a Shopify site from A to Z? This guide will accompany you every step of the way: account, theme, catalog, payments, shipping, taxes, apps, and going live. Before diving in, a question arises: what exactly is Shopify? In short, it's a SaaS solution that hosts your store in the cloud, manages automatic updates, and allows you to focus on what matters most: selling.
Making the initial settings yourself remains an excellent way to master the platform, optimize your budget, and accelerate launch. That said, depending on your ambitions, it may be wise to consult a Shopify agency to help you with strategic developments: visual identity, in-depth SEO, ERP/PIM/CRM integrations, internationalization, or migration from another platform.
Table of Contents
- The 3 new Shopify features for 2026 to know before starting
- Step 1: Create your Shopify account (with Sidekick activated)
- Step 2: Choose and customize your theme
- Step 3: Organize and upload your product catalog
- Step 4: Set up your site (payments, shipping, taxes, B2B)
- Step 5: Add the right apps
- Step 6: Launch your store
- Shopify B2C or B2B: understanding the positioning
- Agentic commerce: what changes for merchants in 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions
The 3 new Shopify features for 2026 to know before starting
Before diving into the 6 creation steps, here are three structural evolutions that have transformed the merchant experience in 2026.
1. Agentic Commerce: Shopify deployed a native infrastructure for AI agent-driven commerce in 2025-2026. Concretely, AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc.) can now consult your catalog, make comparisons, and trigger purchases on behalf of their users. For Shopify merchants, this opens up a new acquisition channel to structure from the start (clean catalog, structured data, open APIs). We detail the challenges in the section dedicated to agentic commerce below.
2. Sidekick: The Shopify AI assistant is now natively integrated into the admin. It helps create products, write descriptions, configure Flow automations, modify the theme, or analyze performance in natural language. For a new merchant, Sidekick shortens the learning curve by several weeks.
3. B2B integrated on all plans: B2B functionalities (separate catalogs, negotiated prices, payment terms, company carts) are no longer reserved for Shopify Plus. They have been progressively deployed on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans since 2025. Details in our guide Shopify B2B on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans.
These 3 evolutions change how a new store is structured. We integrate them into the steps below whenever relevant.
Step 1: Create your Shopify account (with Sidekick activated)
Go to the Shopify account creation page and enter your email address, then choose a name for your store. This name serves as a unique identifier: it will be visible in your Shopify URL, like myname.myshopify.com. Don't panic if this isn't yet the final name of your brand: you will point your custom domain name to this address once the store is ready.
Fill in the requested information and start your 3-day free trial, followed by a first month for €1. Shopify pricing then starts at €27 / month (Basic plan, annual payment). Take a few minutes from the outset to define your objectives: planned catalog, envisioned sales channels, target languages, and currencies. These choices will guide your theme and app decisions.
Activate Sidekick from the start. The Shopify AI assistant is accessible via the spark icon in the top right of the admin (depending on your version, the location may vary). Sidekick understands natural language queries like: "add a product with this title and description," "configure an automatic welcome email," "generate 5 collection ideas from my current catalog." For a new merchant, this is a massive time-saver in the first few weeks.
If Shopify Plus is relevant to your profile (projected monthly revenue over €100,000, multi-market, advanced B2B), consult our guide what is Shopify Plus to frame the plan choice upstream.
Step 2: Choose and customize your theme
The theme is the graphical interface of your store: its look & feel, its navigation structure, and a large part of its perceived performance. A good theme is not just about being pretty; it must offer modular Online Store 2.0 sections, a solid SEO foundation, and optimal loading speed on both mobile and desktop.
Shopify has an official theme store, free or paid (generally between €180 and €380). These themes are developed by independent publishers but reviewed and approved by Shopify: this is a guarantee of quality, clean code, and lasting compatibility. To identify the theme of an inspiring site, check our Shopify theme detector.
To go further on selection criteria, comparison of paid themes by vertical (fashion, beauty, food, furniture), and the method for customizing or migrating a theme without breaking your store, consult our complete guide on choosing a Shopify theme.
Customizing a theme: 2 distinct levels
Customizing a Shopify theme happens at two distinct levels, corresponding to two different merchant profiles.
Level 1: settings changes (no code). This is the native theme editor accessible via Online Store > Themes > Customize. You can modify colors, fonts, images, section layouts, add or remove blocks, configure the mega menu, and manage global theme settings. With Online Store 2.0, you can compose each template (homepage, product, collection, cart, blog) with different sections using drag-and-drop. This level covers 90% of a standard merchant's needs and requires no technical skills.
Level 2: code customization (Liquid, CSS, JavaScript). When the native editor is not enough (need for a very specific section, integration with an external service, fine customization of the checkout), you need to touch the theme code. Shopify uses the Liquid language for templating logic, HTML/CSS for structure and style, and JavaScript for interactivity. You access the code via Online Store > Themes > ... > Edit code. Always save a copy of the theme before any code modification (Actions > Duplicate).
For advanced customizations (performance, technical SEO, accessibility, ERP/CRM integrations), do not hesitate to contact a Shopify agency or a certified Liquid freelancer. Best practices for 2026 include: creating reusable custom OS 2.0 sections instead of modifying the base theme, versioning code via Git, testing on a staging environment before publication.
Step 3: Organize and upload your product catalog
You have a beautiful empty shell; it's time to fill it intelligently. Before creating your first product listings, take five minutes to think about your nomenclature. Shopify offers three simple yet powerful concepts to structure your catalog.
Product types (main families)
The product type corresponds to the logical family. If you sell clothes, your types could be: t-shirts, pants, dresses, skirts. A product belongs to only one type. This field is managed directly at the product listing level. Types also serve as a signal for agentic commerce: an AI makes better purchases when it understands the product category.
Tags (filters and merchandising)
Tags are free keywords. They serve as criteria for navigation filters and for building dynamic collections. A product can have multiple tags: color, season, promotion, limited edition, certification. They are also found on customer profiles and in Shopify Flow automation scripts.
Collections (automatic or manual groupings)
A collection groups products according to automatic rules (based on tags, type, or title keywords) or manually. It is Shopify's central navigation and merchandising tool: homepage, menus, category pages, collections are everywhere.
Create your product listings (manually, by import, or via Sidekick)
Once your organization is defined, three options to create your listings:
- Manual creation via the Shopify admin, effective for fewer than 20 references
- CSV import or via Matrixify for larger catalogs
- Sidekick-assisted generation: asking it to generate descriptions from bullet points, translate existing listings, suggest relevant tags
Our advice: first create a complete product manually, then export it to get a perfectly structured import file template. This avoids hours of trial and error with file formats.
Step 4: Set up your site (payments, shipping, taxes, B2B)
Essential settings are found in Online Store > Preferences and Settings. Go through each section and modify the default values according to your business. Four points deserve particular attention in 2026.
Payment System (PSP)
The PSP collects payments on your behalf. On Shopify in France, recommended providers are Shopify Payments, Stripe, Mollie, and Payplug. Prefer them over traditional bank connectors, which are often less flexible and more expensive. Also add PayPal, which has become essential to reassure buyers and reduce cart abandonment.
Good news: Shopify Payments has been officially available in France since 2023. This native solution eliminates third-party transaction fees (-0.5 to -2% on each order), significantly simplifies accounting, and accepts Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shop Pay cards.
Shipping and deliveries
Define your delivery zones, your fees based on weight or order amount, and your terms (Colissimo, Mondial Relay, relay points, in-store pickup). Free delivery above a certain threshold remains one of the most effective levers to increase average order value and boost conversion rates (+10 to +25% typically).
Taxes (VAT and international sales)
Verify that the applied VAT rate corresponds to your activity and your products. If you sell in several EU countries, OSS (One Stop Shop) rules apply from €10,000 in annual turnover outside France. A consultation with your accountant is highly recommended before launch. For exports outside the EU (post-Brexit UK, US, Switzerland), plan for automated customs declarations.
Activate B2B features
New for 2026: B2B features (separate catalogs for professionals, negotiated prices per account, payment terms, order approval, multi-user company carts) are now available on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans (with volume limits) in addition to Shopify Plus. If your brand combines consumer DTC and B2B sales (concept stores, retailers, restaurateurs, businesses), activate these options from the start.
To understand which B2B features are available depending on your plan, consult our dedicated guide: Shopify B2B on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans.
Step 5: Add the right apps
The Shopify App Store now has over 10,000 apps in 2026. The majority are useless or unnecessarily slow down your store. An effective app strategy is based on 4 indispensable fundamentals.
Matrixify, bulk data import and export
The essential application for managing your store's data in bulk. Matrixify allows you to import and export all Shopify data: products, collections, customers, orders, 301 redirects, metafields, metaobjects. Essential for migrations from another platform, seasonal catalog updates, accounting exports. Compatible with Excel, CSV, Google Sheets formats.
Judge.me, customer reviews and SEO rich snippets
The #1 application on Shopify for collecting and displaying customer reviews. Judge.me automates post-purchase review requests (email, SMS), displays reviews with rich snippets (stars in Google), manages photo and video reviews, and offers advanced moderation. Compatible with Online Store 2.0 and native integration into theme sections. Free plan is sufficient for launching brands.
Weglot, turnkey multilingual site
Simple to install and set up, Weglot allows you to have a multilingual site in just a few hours. The application manages both on-the-fly automatic translation and manual review. Compatible with multilingual SEO (hreflang, sitemaps by language). French company, French support. For brands with international ambitions in Europe or beyond.
Sendcloud, multi-carrier shipping management
The most suitable application for the French market for logistics. Sendcloud centralizes labels, tracking, automated returns, multi-carrier integration (Colissimo, Mondial Relay, DHL, UPS, Chronopost, DPD). Essential if you ship more than 30 to 50 packages per month.
Metafields and Metaobjects (native Shopify, no app)
Before adding a third-party app, check if the native functionality is sufficient. Metafields and Metaobjects are Shopify's native solutions for storing and displaying custom data: materials, care instructions, size guides, store locator, lookbooks, global FAQs. No code required, direct integration into the OS 2.0 editor via "dynamic sources."
Beyond these 4 fundamental apps, the Shopify ecosystem is full of specialized tools (page builders, product configurators, pop-ups, loyalty, subscriptions, advanced search, etc.). For an updated selection by use case, consult our complete guide: the best Shopify applications in 2026.
Golden rule: each app adds JavaScript and potentially slows down the site. Audit performance after each installation, uninstall unused apps every 6 months, prioritize OS 2.0 compatible apps.
Step 6: Launch your store
Once you have thoroughly tested your store (complete customer journey on desktop, mobile, and multiple browsers, real payment test, verification of transactional emails, Core Web Vitals performance), it's time to connect your domain name. Simply follow the procedure in Online Store > Domains. DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours worldwide.
And after launch, don't neglect SEO. Optimizing your Shopify store for Google is a long-term effort that starts with the site structure (metas, URLs, structured data, loading speed) and continues through content creation and netlinking. Also, remember to structure your data for agentic commerce 2026 (clean catalog, schema.org Product, public API).
Congratulations, you've just launched your Shopify store. Would you prefer to entrust this project to an expert Shopify agency that masters the 2026 full stack (Shopify Plus, applied AI, SEO, B2B, agentic commerce)? Consult our guide to choosing a Shopify agency in 2026 with criteria, price ranges, and a detailed FAQ.
Shopify B2C or B2B: understanding the positioning
Shopify is historically and primarily a B2C platform (sales to individuals). More than 90% of Shopify stores worldwide are DTC sites that sell to end consumers. It's this profile that has made the platform so successful: a fluid, mobile-first shopping experience, optimized for mainstream conversion.
But since 2023-2024, Shopify has massively invested in integrated B2B. B2B functionalities (separate catalogs, negotiated prices, deferred payment, multi-user carts, hierarchical order validation, ERP integration) are now available on all plans with progressive volume limits. This allows a brand to easily combine a DTC channel for individuals and a B2B channel for wholesalers or retailers without needing two distinct platforms.
Typical B2B use cases on Shopify: a cosmetic brand that sells to concept stores in addition to its DTC, a food brand that develops a channel for gourmet food stores and restaurateurs, a fashion brand that manages its resellers in parallel with its consumer site. To understand which B2B functionalities are available according to your plan, consult our Shopify B2B guide on Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans.
Agentic commerce: what changes for merchants in 2026
Agentic commerce refers to the ability of AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and their equivalents) to act as purchasing intermediaries: consulting catalogs, comparing products, triggering orders on behalf of their users. This is the major evolution of online commerce in 2026, comparable to the arrival of mobile in 2010 or marketplaces in 2015.
For Shopify merchants, agentic commerce concretely changes three things.
1. Your catalog data becomes a strategic asset. AIs buy better when they understand your products: descriptive titles, structured attributes (type, material, color, size, certifications), clear tags, jargon-free descriptions. A well-structured product page will gain "agentic" sales, a sloppy one will be ignored.
2. Your public APIs become acquisition channels. Protocols like Model Context Protocol (MCP) and other agent-merchant interaction standards allow AIs to interact with your Shopify without going through the classic user interface. Configuring your schema.org Product, Open Graphs, and JSON-LD feed becomes strategic.
3. The weight of classic SEO shifts towards GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). Appearing in a ChatGPT response to the query "which French solid cosmetic brand do you recommend" can now generate as many or more sales than a top 3 on Google. Optimizing for LLMs (citations, sources, Wikipedia mentions, rich schema.org markup) becomes a marketing pillar.
Shopify is gradually deploying native agentic functionalities on its platform (catalog exposed to agents, merchant consent management, monitoring of AI-generated sales). For new merchants, structuring the store from creation with this logic saves 12 to 18 months of late adaptation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to create a Shopify online store step by step in 2026?
Create a Shopify account with a 3-day free trial, activate Sidekick (the AI assistant), choose an OS 2.0 compatible theme, structure your catalog (types, tags, collections), configure payments/shipping/taxes/B2B, install fundamental apps (Matrixify, Judge.me, Weglot, Sendcloud), thoroughly test, then launch.
What is Sidekick and how to use it?
Sidekick is the AI assistant integrated into the Shopify admin since 2024-2025. Accessible via the spark icon, it understands natural language queries: product creation, description generation, automation setup, theme modifications, performance analysis. It shortens the Shopify learning curve by several weeks for a new merchant.
How long does it take to create a Shopify site in 2026?
With a ready-to-use theme and Sidekick activated, a few hours are enough for a simple store. For a custom project with extensive personalization, allow 6 to 10 weeks. For a Shopify Plus project with ERP/PIM/CRM integrations, 10 to 20 weeks.
Do you need to know how to code to create a Shopify store?
No, the platform is designed to be used without code. The first level of customization (setting changes via the native theme editor) covers 90% of a standard merchant's needs. Knowledge of Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript only becomes necessary for advanced theme code customizations (level 2).
What budget should I plan for creating a Shopify site in 2026?
Starting from €27/month for the Shopify Basic subscription, plus potentially a premium theme (€180 to €380), paid apps (€10 to €200/month depending on the stack), and a domain name (€10 to €20/year). With a Shopify agency, project budgets typically range from €5,000 to €30,000.
Can you try Shopify for free?
Yes, Shopify offers a 3-day free trial, followed by a first month at €1. You can create, configure, and fully test your store without commitment. Upgrading to a paid plan is only mandatory when publishing the site to the public.
Is Shopify a B2C or B2B platform?
Historically and primarily B2C (over 90% of Shopify stores are DTC for individuals). But Shopify has heavily invested in integrated B2B since 2023-2024. B2B features (separate catalogs, negotiated prices, deferred payment) are now available on all plans, allowing easy combination of DTC and B2B on a single platform.
What is agentic commerce on Shopify?
It's the ability for AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc.) to act as purchasing intermediaries: consult your catalog, compare products, trigger orders on behalf of their users. Shopify is gradually rolling out native features. For new merchants, structuring your catalog and APIs from the start is strategic.
How to customize a Shopify theme without coding?
Via the native theme editor (Online Store > Themes > Customize). You can change colors, fonts, images, section layouts, add or remove blocks, configure the mega menu. With Online Store 2.0, you can compose each template (homepage, product, collection, blog) with different sections using drag-and-drop. This level covers 90% of needs.
Which Shopify apps are essential for starting in 2026?
Four fundamental apps: Matrixify (bulk import/export), Judge.me (customer reviews and rich SEO snippets), Weglot (multilingual if international), Sendcloud (multi-carrier logistics in France). Plus native Shopify Metafields and Metaobjects which avoid adding third-party apps to store custom data. Beyond that, consult our guide to the best Shopify apps in 2026.
Is it better to create your site yourself or go through an agency?
For a small project or an MVP, do it yourself with Sidekick and a premium theme. For a complex or ambitious site (Shopify Plus, advanced B2B, migration from another platform, internationalization, ERP integrations), an agency provides expertise and saves time. Stellar Projects supports budgets from €5,000 to €30,000. To compare options, consult our comparison of the best Shopify agencies in France or our overview of agencies by region.