E-commerce checklist

Online stores carry everything from the general checklists on this site, plus a set of commerce-specific concerns where small mistakes directly cost sales. This checklist covers what's distinct about running a store.

Product pages

• Every product has a unique, descriptive title and a genuinely useful, non-duplicated description—not just the manufacturer's boilerplate copied across every retailer that sells it
• Pricing, availability and variant options (size, color) are accurate and clearly displayed
• Multiple, high-quality product images are provided, including any angles or details a buyer would want before purchasing sight-unseen
• Product pages clearly show shipping cost or delivery estimate information, or link clearly to where that's explained
• Related and complementary products are suggested where genuinely relevant, not as generic filler

Product structured data

• Product Schema.org markup is added with accurate price, availability and, where genuine, review/rating data (see the structured data checklist)
• Structured data is kept in sync automatically with actual inventory and pricing—stale markup claiming an out-of-stock item is available is a real trust and compliance risk
• Markup is validated with Google's Rich Results Test

Checkout & payment trust

• Checkout runs entirely over HTTPS with no mixed-content warnings
• Accepted payment methods are clearly displayed before checkout, not discovered as a surprise at the final step
• Total cost—including shipping and any fees or taxes—is shown clearly before the final purchase step, not sprung on the customer at the last screen
• A guest checkout option exists, or the reason an account is required is made clear
• Trust signals—secure-checkout indicators, clear contact information, recognizable payment logos—are visible during checkout

Cart & conversion basics

• The cart clearly shows item, quantity, price and how to edit or remove items without confusion
• Checkout has as few unnecessary steps and form fields as the process genuinely requires (see the conversion & forms checklist)
• Error messages during checkout (declined card, out-of-stock item) are specific and explain what to do next
• Cart and checkout have specifically been tested on mobile, where a meaningful share of shopping traffic happens

Abandoned cart & lifecycle email

• Abandoned-cart and post-purchase emails are sent through a properly authenticated path so they actually reach the inbox (see the email deliverability checklist)
• Abandoned-cart messaging is genuinely helpful—a reminder with accurate cart contents—rather than manipulative urgency that doesn't reflect real stock levels
• Order confirmation, shipping and delivery emails are tested end-to-end and confirmed to arrive reliably

Fraud & risk basics

• Payment processing goes through a reputable processor rather than handling raw card data directly on your own server
• Order review or fraud-screening tools appropriate to your order volume and risk level are in place
• Refund, chargeback and dispute processes are documented and understood by whoever handles customer service

Policies & support pages

• Shipping information (costs, timeframes, regions served) is published clearly and easy to find
• A returns and refund policy is published and written in plain language
• Customer service contact information is easy to find from any page, not buried
• Policies are accurate and actually match how the business operates—not aspirational copy nobody follows

Store-wide SEO

• Category pages have unique, useful content and aren't just a bare product grid with no descriptive text
• Out-of-stock or discontinued products are handled deliberately—either kept live with clear status and alternatives, or properly redirected, rather than left as broken dead ends
• Faceted navigation (filters by size, color, price) doesn't generate large volumes of thin, near-duplicate indexable URLs
• If the store sells or ships internationally, localized pricing, currency and content follow the international SEO checklist

Marketplace & product feed considerations

• If the store submits a product feed to a shopping platform or marketplace, feed data (price, availability, images, identifiers) matches what's actually on the live page exactly
• Product feeds are regenerated or refreshed on a schedule that reflects how often pricing and stock actually change, not left stale for long stretches
• If the store also sells through third-party marketplaces, inventory and pricing are kept genuinely in sync across every channel to avoid overselling or price mismatches
• Product identifiers (SKUs, barcodes) are consistent across the website, feeds and any marketplace listings, rather than diverging over time
• Category and attribute mapping between the site and any external feed is checked periodically, since a mismatch can quietly cause products to be misclassified or rejected by a platform

Everything in the on-page SEO, performance and security checklists applies to a store as well—an online shop simply has less room for error, since every friction point has a direct cost.