Create an online store

FromScratch can build two kinds of things: websites and apps, and real online stores. A store is not a mock-up with a fake "Buy" button: it runs a full commerce engine with a product catalog, a cart, a checkout, customer accounts, orders and its own store admin. This guide shows how to start one and what to do in your first minutes.

What you get

When you create a store, FromScratch sets up two parts that work together:

• The storefront — the site your customers see: home page, product pages, collections, cart, checkout and account pages.
• The commerce engine and its admin — where products, prices, orders, customers and settings live. You manage it through the chat, or by hand in the store admin.

Prices are in euros by default. You can switch the store to another currency later (see Currency and shipping).

Create the store, step by step

1. On the Home page, scroll to Or start from a template.
2. Pick Site theme: Light or Dark. The store keeps this mode on every page.
3. Click the E-commerce site card. The Choose your shop design dialog opens.
4. Pick one of the four designs. Each comes with its own demo products, in light and dark:
   • MAISON — Fashion & apparel: editorial serif, full-bleed campaign photo, portrait product cards with sizes.
   • Oaklane — Home & living: calm Scandinavian feel, split hero, shop by room, sage accent.
   • Velour — Beauty & cosmetics: soft blush palette, serif headlines, shop by skin concern.
   • Kinetic — Tech & gadgets: crisp product layout, electric-blue accent, specs on every card.
5. Describe your shop in the box at the top (What do you want to build?) and send it.

Your workspace starts and the preview appears on the right. The very first start of a store takes a little longer than a plain website, because the commerce engine, its database and the storefront all boot.

Tip

Pick the design closest to what you sell, not the one with the nicest photos. The demo products are replaced in a minute, but the layout (size grid, shop-by-room tiles, spec lines…) is what you keep.

Your first message

Give the agent what it can't guess: your shop's name, what you sell, who buys it, your tone and colours. It will reply with a short plan you approve step by step (see Approve the plan, step by step).

A shop called "Atelier Nour" selling handmade ceramic mugs and bowls from Marseille. Keep the Oaklane layout, use warm terracotta instead of sage, write everything in English, and replace the demo products with 6 of mine: I'll give you names and prices.

I already sell on Shopify at atelier-nour.com. Rebuild my shop here with the Velour design and import my products, photos and collections.

Replace the demo products

The demo catalog is there so the shop looks finished from the first second. Ask the agent to clear it and add yours, or to import your existing catalog from Shopify or WooCommerce. Everything is explained in Add products or import your catalog.

Try the whole purchase in the preview

The preview is a working shop. Add a product to the cart, go to the checkout, fill in an address and place an order. At first the checkout only takes orders without payment (the « Manual Payment » option): nobody is charged. When you're ready to take real card payments, connect Stripe from the Payments button — see Take payments in your store.

Note

In the preview, each page of a brand-new store is prepared the first time you open it, which can take up to about half a minute. After that it opens quickly.

Change the look

Everything in the design can be changed by asking: colours, fonts, the home page sections, the menu, the product cards, the footer. Describe the result you want, not the technique:

Make the home page hero shorter, put the "New arrivals" collection right under it, and use a serif font for the product names.

When it's ready

Publishing needs a Starter or Pro plan. Publish puts your store online at its own address, with HTTPS, and gives you the login of the live store admin. Read Publish and update a shop before your first launch: a few things work differently from a plain website.

FAQ

Related

• Add products or import your catalog
• Take payments in your store
• The store admin
• What you can build