A first shop version need not be the final design, but must handle orders responsibly. Distinguish a nicer font from a missing delivery promise. Use this checklist for a Netherlands-based consumer shop and keep evidence for each item. Product-specific rules require their own review.
Separate necessary from desirable
Create two lists. Before sales: safe products, accurate prices and information, business details, payment, delivery and returns handling. Later tests: extra animation, more imagery and additional channels. Simple presentation is acceptable; skipping essential information or checks is not a design choice.
Complete a full test order
Ask a tester to select a product and variant, check the total on mobile and order through the appropriate test mode. Keep the order number, expected amounts and observed status. Then check cancellation or refund, stock and accounting correction. Repeat failed steps after fixing them.
Check safety and accessible information
Collect relevant supplier details, warnings and traceability. Publish characteristics, total pricing, delivery, contact and information about complaints and withdrawal. Check current rules for your product. A terms page alone does not replace clear information at the appropriate time.
Test what happens after ordering
Actually pack the selected product and record weight, parcel dimensions and working time. Check that the shipping tariff fits. Also name who acts if a label fails, a parcel goes missing or you are absent. Publish a delivery promise that this process can support.
Schedule the first review
Do not assume automatic growth. Review questions, cancellations and contribution after initial deliveries and again after the returns period. Start with a manageable product selection so mistakes can be corrected without an unwieldy catalogue.
Add functions for demonstrated needs
Prioritise an additional channel or app when a concrete problem and desired outcome are known. Record its cost and how you will assess benefit. More features can add maintenance, privacy questions and failure points.
Understand the cost of an error
Fictional launch preparation excluding VAT: €40 packing trial, €60 samples and eight hours at €25 equals €100 cash and €300 including labour, alongside the platform and other obligations. Add inventory, processing fees and a refund reserve. This is an illustrative trial budget, not a universal minimum.
Make blockers explicit
Do not launch with unresolved product safety, broken payment, missing essential information or infeasible delivery. Check privacy and tracking too: visitors must be able to refuse tracking where consent is required. Give each issue an action and review date instead of dismissing it as minor.
Decide readiness using evidence
Ask another person to review the checklist on mobile and desktop. Launch when necessary items demonstrably work and you have aftercare capacity. Keep design wishes on a follow-up list. Read the requirements checklist if fundamentals are missing.
Sources and checks
Primary sources checked on 26 October 2026: ACM: informatie vóór en na de koop; European Commission: product safety; Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: tracking cookies.
