Appearance
Getting started
When your shop is ready, you will have a storefront link, merchant dashboard access, and (for live shops) checkout and payouts. This guide walks you through first steps — whether you are on a preview shop (test checkout) or a live shop (real sales).
Your preview shop
Before you start
You completed the preview intake form and received your shop link by email.
Open the preview link we sent you — it looks like https://yourshop.staging.d4connect.com (your address may differ slightly).
What you can do
- Browse your product catalog and categories on the storefront
- Add items to cart and complete a test order (no real charges)
- Sign in to your merchant dashboard with the sign-in email you provided on the form
- Review your store template, copy, and brand colours
Before your demo call
- Open your shop link and click through home, products, and a product detail page.
- Try a test order through checkout.
- Sign in to the merchant dashboard and open Products and Orders.
- Note anything you want changed (copy, colours, categories).
Graduating to production
When you are ready to go live, complete the full onboarding form. Your D4 contact will collect bank details, commercial terms, and shipping setup required for live sales.
Your live shop
Use this section after production launch from the onboarding form.
Your live shop is at https://yourshop.d4connect.com (or a custom domain if agreed at go-live).
Day-one checklist
| Task | Where | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sign in to merchant dashboard | Link in your go-live email | Manage your shop |
| Confirm store name and About contact details | Your storefront About page (set at launch) | Customers see this on your shop |
| Add or import products | Products | Stock your product catalog |
| Organise categories | Categories | Help customers browse |
| Check stock levels | Inventory | Accurate availability on your shop |
| Review open orders | Orders | See incoming sales |
Good to know
Store branding, homepage copy, and contact details are configured with your D4 contact at launch. To change them later, contact your D4 sales rep.
Managing your product catalog
Products and categories are managed in the merchant dashboard. When new stock arrives, open Inventory and use Receive — do not edit on-hand quantities directly in the table.
Orders and fulfilment
- New paid orders appear in Orders.
- Pick and pack, then mark fulfilment stages as you ship.
- Courier Guy labels and tracking appear on the order when shipping is configured on your shop.
Payouts
Online sales settle via Paystack to the bank account on your onboarding form. Platform fees follow your agreed tier.
Getting help
- Day-to-day how-to: Merchant dashboard
- Sales or account changes: contact your D4 sales rep
- Technical issues: use the support channel agreed at go-live
Who does what
| You | D4 |
|---|---|
| Complete intake forms and provide brand assets | Set up your shop, payments, and shipping |
| Add products and manage your product catalog | Platform hosting and checkout |
| Fulfil orders and update fulfilment status | Support channel agreed at go-live |
| Keep bank and contact details current | Process platform billing per your tier |
Typical timeline
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Preview shop | 1–3 business days after a complete preview form |
| Go-live | 3–7 business days after a complete onboarding form |
| First sale | You control catalog readiness — most shops launch within a week of dashboard access |
Next steps
- Shop onboarding overview — forms and launch paths
- Merchant dashboard — products, orders, and fulfilment
- Onboarding form — if you are graduating from preview to live
- D4 Connect overview — what the platform offers