A proposal promising “a complete store with payments and shipping” may leave everyday questions unanswered. Who enters products? Does warehouse stock update automatically? What happens when a customer pays but the notification has not arrived? Who corrects an address after a shipment is prepared? Before comparing two proposals, describe the order cycle as your team actually performs it.
You do not need every available feature at launch. You need to know what you can operate, what remains manual and what depends on another party. This checklist helps review the scope of a store build. It is neither a standard price list nor a promise that one platform covers every situation.
Use representative products and orders with fictional data
Imagine a fictional homeware retailer selling a mug in two colors, with a warehouse and a physical branch. Choose a sample reflecting that complexity: an image for each color, separate variant codes, quantities by location, prices and clear sales conditions. A generic item labelled “test product” will not represent products that need options, dimensions or bundles.
Decide who prepares images, descriptions and specifications, how many products and variants will be entered, and who checks them. “Product upload” may mean importing a prepared file or cleaning and reorganizing information. Those are different scopes. State whether you are also moving an existing store and need to preserve its URLs and data.
Break the scope into deliverables you can accept
| Area | Scope question | Acceptance evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog | Who prepares items, variants and images? | Sample products matching approved source data. |
| Payments | Which gateway, account, currency and failure cases? | Recorded success and failure tests with correct order states. |
| Shipping | Does integration create labels or only show prices? | A test order producing the agreed shipment and tracking updates. |
| Inventory | Which system owns stock, and when does it change? | Reconciliation of sales, cancellations and returns with the responsible system. |
| Operations | Who views orders, changes them and approves refunds? | Role testing, training and handoff materials. |
Mark every item as included, excluded or dependent on an input. Do not leave a blank that can later be mistaken for agreement. If branch inventory is outside phase one, document how it will be updated manually and how conflicts will be controlled instead of assuming synchronization exists.
Define what happens after a payment attempt
Identify the business account receiving funds and the countries and currencies supported for that account. Finding a gateway name in an extension list does not establish that every business or currency is eligible. The developer explains technical requirements; the business checks account eligibility and provider terms before making a launch date depend on an unissued approval.
Request tests for successful and declined payments, delayed notifications and repeated confirmation clicks. The order team must understand whether an order is waiting for verification or ready for fulfillment. Shopify documentation presents test orders as a way to check several settings, but the procedure depends on the gateway, plan and configuration. Do not initiate real charges without an agreed arrangement.
“Shipping included” needs a precise meaning
The work may cover manually entered shipping prices, or it may connect a carrier to create and track labels. Ask about excluded areas, weights and dimensions, address corrections, cancellation and failed label creation. Separate dependencies on your carrier contract from work covered by the development fee.
In the mug example, what happens if a customer orders two units stored at different locations? You might consolidate them after an internal transfer, send two parcels, or expose only one location to the online store. This is a commercial and operational decision before it becomes an administration button. The implementer needs to understand it and reflect it in the scope.
A return is more than a change of order status
Write a short return journey: receive the request, review it, receive and inspect the item, decide what returns to stock, and process the money through the approved method. A damaged mug should not automatically become sellable stock simply because a refund is completed.
WooCommerce order documentation distinguishes order statuses from the work involved in managing orders. Treat this as a reminder that a screen label cannot fully describe your team's procedure. Identify which events are automatic, which require approval, and how each role sees the relevant record without unnecessary permissions.
Separate platform expenses from the company's fees
Understand what you pay for setup, design, integration, content and training, and what may later be payable to the platform, hosting company, app providers, messaging services, payment processor or carrier. Do not combine these into one figure presented as a permanent all-inclusive cost.
Clarify ownership of administration accounts, the domain and paid extensions, including what stops working if a subscription ends. When a proposal relies on a third-party extension, ask who updates it and tests conflicts. You do not need every suggested extension; request its purpose and the business process it serves.
The handover session should resemble a working day
Have a team member add a product, place a test order, and follow payment, preparation, shipping, cancellation or return. Review messages in the required language on a phone. Make sure staff can locate an order and explain its state. Record shortcomings with reproduction steps rather than a broad comment such as “the store needs improvement.”
- Do product data, prices and delivery areas match the approved setup?
- Does the team know what is automatic and what requires manual intervention?
- Have permissions and unsuccessful cases been tested alongside an ideal order?
- Do you control the accounts and have handoff materials and a support route?
- Are outstanding dependencies preventing a responsible launch?
For the broader platform decision, see the Salla, Shopify and WooCommerce guide. When discussing e-commerce development, send your order cycle and this checklist with the brief. This produces a proposal that responds to your operation and makes deliberate deferrals visible before handover.
Brief references
Checked on 3 November 2026: Shopify setup checklists, test orders and WooCommerce order management. These support specific concepts, not availability of every feature on every platform or in every country. The example, table and handover checklist are original buyer guidance. The content was prepared with AI assistance and review of the text and sources.
