So, you've created an online store at www.x-cart.com and need to know what to do next. Follow the steps below, and you can quickly start selling within a day!

The system should automatically sign you in to the X-Cart Admin area right after creating your store. So the very first page you will see will be the "Welcome to X-Cart!" page:

This page provides an Onboarding Wizard that can guide you through the store configuration tasks. You can click the Let's set up your store button and follow the Wizard instructions to configure your store and populate it with all the necessary information. However, you do not have to use the Wizard: it is possible to work on your store configuration in any order that you find convenient.

After you get signed out of your admin account, you will be able to sign in again using your admin login and password. It is possible to sign in from any page of your store:

There is also a dedicated Admin area login page.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

X-Cart 5.4.x:

Inside the Admin area, you can work on your store configuration.

Once you are in your X-Cart Admin area, it is time to configure it. Before you stock your store with products, you need to enter some business information (company name, address, contact emails) about yourself and your store.

Use the Store Profile page to enter this information.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Store Profile

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Store profile

Providing store profile information is critical for both you and your customers. For example, your name and email will automatically display in customer email notifications.

Also, you need to decide on some basic standards for your product listings (what units and formats will be used in your store, in what languages information will be provided, in what currency the prices will be specified, etc.˜). This kind of configuration can be completed via the Localization page. For more info, see the articles on Localization.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Localization

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Localization

You will also need to give your customers access to legal information regarding your store operation like your store's terms of service and policies (return policy, customer care policy, privacy information, etc.). You can create and organize your store's legal pages using a special section of your store's Admin area. Detailed information on the management of pages is available in our Knowledge Base.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Design > Menus & Pages, Content Pages tab

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Content > Pages

An essential part of your online store setup process will be deciding what your store should look like.

X-Cart comes with a default skin/theme with many elements that you can personalize: header image, logo image, page layout, etc. With so many possible design variations, you can create a personalized and unique store. In addition, the default skin/theme is responsive, making your store look good on any screen size. You can also check for alternative design templates in the X-Cart App Store.

You can find more information about managing your store's design in the Look and Feel section of our Knowledge Base.

You can start by changing your store's skin/design theme.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Design > Themes

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Look & Feel > Layout

After applying the skin/theme you like, check and adjust the layout of specific pages using the Theme Tweaker (X-Cart 5.4.x) / Storefront Builder (X-Cart 5.5.x) tools.

Store logo and favicon can be changed on the Logo & Favicon page in your store Admin Area:

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Design > Logo & icons

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Look & Feel > Logo & Favicon

Use the store's general settings to specify the rules for product info representation and expected customer behavior on the storefront.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Cart & Checkout

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Cart & checkout

General settings also allow choosing the preferred checkout type for your store, configuring customer profile fields, and setting a default customer address.

Each X-Cart store comes with a set of demo products for testing purposes. You can delete the demo products and populate the store with products when all tests are done.

To delete demo products from your store, use the Remove Data page in the System Tools section of your store Admin area:

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See System > Remove Data

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See System tools > Remove data

When you are ready, add products to sell. Depending on how many products you plan to offer, adding and organizing your product listings can be the most time-consuming step of setting up your X-Cart store. So be sure to give yourself plenty of time to add your products and organize them.

X-Cart enables you to sell physical or digital products, services, and anything in between.

You can add products to your store using the Catalog > Products section in your store Admin area.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

X-Cart 5.4.x:

If you do not want to add products one by one, use the import tool in your store's Admin area.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Catalog > Import & Export

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Catalog > Import

To add structure to your product catalog, organize your products into categories using the Catalog > Categories section.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

X-Cart 5.4.x:

X-Cart supports both online and offline payment methods and allows configuring several payments at once to give your customers more options.

Set up at least one payment method to collect sales revenue. Use the Payment Methods page in your store Admin area for the purpose.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Payment Methods

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Payment methods

It is also essential to configure taxes correctly before you start selling.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Taxes

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Taxes

Taxes setup will also require the related zones to be configured correctly. This involves configuring countries, states and zones.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Localization; Countries, States and Zones tabs

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Countries, states and zones

If you sell physical products that require shipping, you must decide how to deliver your products to your customers. X-Cart supports offline and online shipping methods that you can choose from and combine. You can access your store's settings related to shipping on the Shipping page.

X-Cart 5.5.x:

See Store > Shipping

X-Cart 5.4.x:

See Store setup > Shipping

More information on shipping setup in X-Cart can be found in the Shipping section of our Knowledge Base.
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