hey there Karin here with big cartels
support team and today I'm going to walk
you through it's a big cartel onboarding
process so basically everything you need
to do to set up your shop and launch I'm
gonna show you where to take care of
that in your admin when you sign up
you're going to see this page in your
admin and this is your onboarding page
you're not stuck on the onboarding page
though so you can click around in your
admins navigation to get where you want
to go so if you want to pop over to the
product section you'll just click this
tag icon to get there if you want to hop
over to your account page just click the
account icon and to get back to
onboarding you just need to click your
progress here you can see my progress
bar here and I am at 10% just by signing
up and as we go through the setup
process you're going to notice that both
the progress bar and the percentage
change to reflect how close I am to
launch now the checklist is separated
out into shop essentials premium
features and finishing touches so we'll
go through the entire setup and when
we're finished we will have a Big Cartel
store ready to go and you'll know
exactly where to go in your own admin to
set all this up on your end quick side
note before I get started I'm not going
to complete all of these steps so for
example I'm not going to set up a custom
domain today but I will show you where
to go in your admin to add your own
custom domain if you decide to use one
so first step is to add your products
which is definitely an essential step in
your setup and you'll do that in the
product section of your admin so let's
click this first thumbnail and we see
this pop up and all of the setup steps
have a similar pop-up with info
pertaining to that particular step this
pop-up reads this is where you add the
most important part of your shop your
products start with the basics a product
name and price bonus points for getting
your images and description in there now
it's a good idea to have all of your
product info and images ready to go when
you're adding products so you can get
this step taken care of in one go
because while you can definitely go back
and add your images or descriptions
later it is gonna save you time if you
just get it all done now and I have
three options here to take care of this
step if I click to do it later
this step will not be marked as complete
and I will not see my progress bar go up
I'm kind of snoozing this to do so I
don't forget about it
or I can click to skip this step and if
I click that the step will be marked as
and I'll see my progress bar go up but I
won't have anything to sell in my shop
so I am going to add a product but
before I do let's take a look below this
section will have helpful links that are
pertinent to each step in your shop
setup so if we click this first link
we've got an overview of products for
you it's gonna take us over to our help
manuals product page and you can see all
of our articles related to products like
add a product create product options
like sizes colors lengths charge
shipping for a product track product
inventory and so forth below that we've
got links to some helpful blog posts
this first one is on writing product
descriptions we click that and it takes
us over to our blog where we can learn
how to write really good product
descriptions next one is on capturing
quality product photos which is super
important but doesn't necessarily come
naturally to most people me included and
this last is a guide on pricing your
products again it's really important but
pricing products may not be intuitive to
everyone so that's another great post to
check out we've got a lot of really
helpful info on our blog and in our help
manual and we've linked posts throughout
the onboarding process so definitely
take a look at these as you're going
through your own setup and if you don't
have time now but you do want to visit
this info then you can hop over to our
blog anytime you want it's at blog Big
Cartel calm and you can search for
whatever topic you want more information
on so I'm gonna click to add a product
and here we are in the product section
this is the default forum super simple
and straightforward product name goes in
the name field price in the price field
and so forth so I'm gonna add our get
them tiger sweatshirt to the shop and I
will price it at $45 now while I'm here
I am going to add an image and it's a
good idea to add your images firstly you
can design your storefront around your
products I will skip the rest of this
product form but you will want to make
sure you're taking care of this on your
end when you're adding your products and
if you have any questions about any of
these fields just hop over to our help
manual at help Big Cartel calm or you
can email us at support at Big Cartel
Calm we can always help out so I'll save
this new product and I get this
confirmation yes you've added a new
product and I've gone from 10% to 20% of
my setup now while I'm here I can
more products if I'd like but I can
always come back by clicking the tag
icon so I'm gonna go back over to
onboarding and our first step is grayed
out and checked off next up pick a theme
and customize it reads keep your
branding on point by customizing your
theme pick colors and fonts add your
logo and images make it your own so I
can click to do it later if I want to
come back to it I can click to
completely skip this step or I can take
care of it now which I'm going to do but
first let's take a look at these links
below this first link will take you over
to our help manuals theme page and you
can click through and see all of our
built in themes in action this second
link here will take you to the
customization section of our help manual
where you'll find articles that cover
everything from adding a custom page
like an about Us page to adding links to
a page to adding social media links and
more and below that are a couple of blog
posts one that includes helpful info on
choosing the right theme for your shop
and product line and the next on keeping
your branding consistent which is
important you want your customers to
recognize your branding so again we've
added helpful links to this particular
step of the onboarding process so when
you're going through your own setup make
sure you take some time and click over
to our blog and help manual so I'll
click to customize my theme and here I
am in the design area so while I'm here
I can upload a header image change my
theme colors add some slideshow images
and more and as I go through my design
changes I will see a preview of them so
let's switch themes to Sun screen and I
will upload a logo while I'm here and as
you're going through if you don't like
how your changes look so far you can
just click exit and start all over again
but I like how this looks so far so I'm
gonna click save and exit and here we
are I'm at 30% of my setup and I can get
back to the design area anytime I want
from the account page here just scroll
down and click customize design
all right let's pop over to onboarding
again and next up is set up your
checkout all right hopefully you're
noticing a pattern with you steps they
are super straightforward and simple to
follow I can choose to do it later I can
completely skip this step or I can take
care of it now below this we have got a
link to our help manual on setting up
payments and it breaks down how to
actually set up the checkout it breaks
even further for instructions for web
iOS and Android so even if you're on
your phone you can use our instructions
to set up your checkout below that we've
got links to stripe and PayPal so you
can read up on your payment options
so I'll click to set up the checkout and
I will click to connect let's do PayPal
and I should be redirected to PayPal
login page there we go we need to enter
my email address now when you're
connecting your own PayPal checkout with
your store what you're gonna see next
will be determined by whether or not you
have a PayPal account so if I didn't
have a PayPal account linked to this
email address then I would actually see
the PayPal account page sign up so I
would go through that whole signup and
when I'm finished my new PayPal account
would be linked to my Big Cartel store
but I do have a PayPal account linked to
this email address so when I click Next
I should see a prompt to enter my
password perfect and as long as I
entered my password correctly I should
see confirmation that I've authorized
Big Cartel perfect you've successfully
authorized Big Cartel now I'm not quite
finished yet I have to click to go back
to Big Cartel to complete the connection
and you do too on your end when you're
setting up your PayPal checkout so make
sure you click to go back to Big Cartel
and then you'll see confirmation that
you are now using PayPal to accept
payments I am at 40% of setup and while
I'm here I can also link up stripe if I
want if I want to give customers more
options to pay I just need to click to
edit my payment options then click to
connect stripe and the setup is pretty
much the same if I have a stripe account
I'll log in and link it to my Big Cartel
store but if I don't have a stripe
account I'll just go through the stripe
account sign up and when I'm finished my
new stripe account will be linked to my
store back over to onboarding alright
next up are the premium features these
features are available with the upgraded
plans so if you're on the free claim you
just need to upgrade to take advantage
of these features
and you can do that at any time from the
billing section of your admin first up
is inventory tracking it reads set stop
quantities to make sure you're only
selling what you have on hand we'll keep
track of the numbers and your product
status will automatically update to sold
out when the last is gone super
straightforward I'm going to click to
enable inventory tracking and I will
just toggle from grey to green turn on
inventory tracking and you'll see
another option below that allow product
overselling allow overselling lets you
keep selling products even after they've
reached zero in stock something to keep
in mind with both inventory tracking and
overselling is that they are across the
board so if you enable inventory
tracking then the system will track all
of your products inventory if you enable
over selling then the system will allow
over selling on all products in your
store whether you're making some of them
by hand or outsourcing others the system
won't know the difference
so just keep that in mind if you're
thinking about turning on over selling I
will save without turning on over
selling and I get a confirmation that my
preferences were updated and I am at 50%
we're halfway there now when I turn on
my inventory tracking all my product
stock will be set to 1 by default so I
do need to pop over to the products
section and update that and you'll want
to do this on your end as well just
click a product scroll down here and
you'll see the in stock field here under
your options so whatever your options
are whether they're sizes whether
they're colors maybe you're a
photographer and you sell different
sizes of prints they're all going to be
set to one so make sure you adjust that
field to reflect how many you actually
have in stock because that's the number
the system will use to track your
inventory so just make sure it's correct
next up is to add a custom domain using
a custom domain will hide the Big Cartel
com from your URL so you'll have a more
unique web address to share with
customers whether you already own a
custom domain or need to purchase one
we've got you covered
so if you don't have a custom domain yet
and you want to use one you will need to
get one from a provider like I want my
name com or hover com then you'll
configure your domain settings according
to our help manuals instructions now
there are definitely some providers who
set up is just easier like I want my
name com
or hover.com so if you don't already
have a domain and you're not set on a
particular provider then I'd suggest
going with one of those two to get to
our help manuals instructions you'll
just click this first link and that'll
take you over to our custom domain page
of our help manual scroll down and click
find setup instructions based on your
provider here and you're gonna find a
whole list of providers so wherever
you've got your domain hosted you're
gonna find instructions here now the
easiest are the ones with a fire icon
right here but you can use any of them
if you're already going through
Namecheap or if you want to use GoDaddy
that's not a problem I'm going to
completely skip this step and there we
go it's grayed out my progress bar has
gone up to 60% but it's not checked off
because I didn't take care of it now I
can go back later and add a custom
domain if I want that's not a problem so
let's say I already launched my shop and
down the road I decided to get a custom
domain
I bought one from hover.com and I have
followed the manuals instructions for
setting up my domain forwarding in my
hover comm account and now I just need
to add my custom domain to my Big Cartel
admin I just need to scroll up ahead to
the account page click to add custom
domain add my custom domain here save
and done super easy next up is to add a
discount okay so we've got info about
the discount feature here helpful links
below it and then my three options for
taking care of this step so I'm going to
add a discount now I'm going to create a
new discount code so we can check it off
our list but I will leave all of the
default variables as is so it's going to
give free shipping and I do need to
create the code itself so we'll do free
and that's what customers would enter on
the checkout page to actually get their
discount I also need to give it a
description and that's just to help me
remember what this discount is for now
this description will be visible not
only in your admin on the orders page it
will also be included in the customer
order confirmation email so do make sure
that you want your customers seeing this
description because they will I'll save
that there we go my discount was created
and I am at 70 percent already of my
setup now while I'm here I can create
more discount codes but I can always
just come back by clicking discounts if
I need to add edit
delete discount codes in the future so
let's go back to onboarding last few
things are the finishing touches let's
add a profile image here we are says
make your admin feel like home add your
logo product photo or any image you'll
recognize to make your shop your own
we've got these three familiar options
I'm definitely gonna add a profile image
but let's look at this pro tip first it
reads your profile image is what your
customers will see when you share your
shop on social media so that's something
to think about when you're choosing the
image you're going to use for your
profile it will be displayed when you
share it on social media so your
customers will definitely see it so I'll
click to add a profile image click there
to upload the image and we'll use the
Big Cartel Fletch here we go and this is
what customers will see if I share my
shop on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere
else on social media we are at 80
percent let's go back down we've got a -
op description next your shop
description is how you let customers
know what you're about it won't appear
in your shop but this description will
show up in search engines and on social
media so make it unique so just to
reiterate the shop description will not
show up in your storefront so don't
panic if you're not seeing it there it's
not supposed to be there ok you can
click these links to get to our help
article and our blog post on search
engine optimization and how it all works
I'm going to click to add a shop
description and I'll just type it right
in here
there we go we'll save that
alright profile is updated and we are at
90% of our setup awesome alright last
thing we've got is to browse apps and
integrations and this will take us over
to our help manual now this page is
split up into topics so you can click
through each topic that you're
interested in if you're looking for an
app to help with promoting your shop
then click marketing and promotion apps
and you'll see elf site Facebook
Instagram MailChimp lucky orange live
chat and zapier or maybe you're looking
to outsource some of your production
just click manufacturing shipping and
fulfillment you can use art of ware or
printful to print your teas or your
totes
if you want to sell
products you can use Puli for that and
if you want to integrate with a shipping
app you can use ship station ship rush
or ship robot now these are totally
optional so you don't have to integrate
with printful or MailChimp to launch but
these integrations are designed to help
you get more out of your shop and run
your business more smoothly so I
definitely recommend checking out all
the integration options that are
available to you back over to onboarding
we are ready to launch so I can click to
launch my shop but it looks like there
are three quick things I can do just to
make life a little bit easier when
running my shop I can do these at any
time but I am here so I'll just take a
look at these add a phone number
it reads you can always use your email
to reset a lost password think of adding
your phone number like a spare set of
keys just in case you need another way
to get into your shop so if you ever
change your email address without
updating that in your admin first it's
no big deal if you've got your phone
number in there so I'm definitely gonna
take care of that now I'll pop that in
right here and I do need to enter my
password now when I click send code my
phone is going to be sent a code that I
need to add right here and that's to
confirm that yes this is the phone
number
I want linked to my account let me just
pop that in there click Save and there
we go phone number was updated so even
if I change my email address without
adding it to my admin first or maybe if
I lose access to my email account
altogether it's no big deal because I
can use my phone to reset my password
all right next up is collect tax again I
can do this later but let's just get it
done now I can click the first link here
to get to our help manuals article on
how the actual tax settings work or I
can link over to our blog here to read
up on why it's important to collect and
remit sales tax but we're going to say I
know my sales tax rate so I'll just get
started and I will toggle from grey to
green charge tax on orders all right now
I'm going to click through this message
but you will want to take the time and
read this when you're setting up your
own shop and link over to our blog
excuse me our a help manual for the
article that's got more information on
this so this is kind of a do as I say
not as I do kind of thing alright so we
will say
California it's warm there I'm not here
will stand at 7.9 percent we will save
and done my preferences were updated
let's head back and this last step is to
set up Google Analytics Google Analytics
is a free service that lets you get more
in-depth stats on your shops traffic and
visitors we've got a link here to our
help manuals article on Google Analytics
but I'm gonna skip this step I'll take
care of it later
so it's not grayed out or checked off so
we are ready to launch I'm gonna go
ahead and click launch my shop and I get
a little message that says once you take
your shop out of maintenance mode it'll
be visible to the world there are a few
more ways to prep for your big moment
but if you're ready now you're clear to
launch
now I'm getting that little message
there are a few more ways to prep for my
big moment because there were two steps
I skipped I didn't set up a custom
domain and I did not integrate with
Google Analytics but I am ready to
launch so here we go
Congrats you've officially launched your
new shop
we did it now I can click to copy my new
link here and I can share immediately on
Facebook Twitter or via email I'm gonna
click done to get back to the admin and
as I click through you'll notice there
is no more progress bar because we are
live we did it from start to launch we
just created a Big Cartel store and you
can set up as quickly as you want or you
can take your time maybe this is your
first online shop and you want to be
extra thorough and get really really
comfortable first that's fine it's your
story you get to call the shots alright
if any questions come up don't hesitate
to reach out you can email us at support
at Big Cartel com or you can message us
using the speech bubble in your admin
you can also check out our help manual
at helped up big card sale calm or visit
our blog too for some really helpful
info it's at blog Big Cartel com
that's it for now and thank you so much
for watching