Spree Commerce gives you a powerful, flexible platform to build and manage your online store - but before you can start selling, there are a few key steps to complete.
This guide walks you through the essential setup tasks, from configuring payments and taxes to adding products and launching your storefront. Whether you’re launching an MVP or just exploring Spree’s capabilities, this guide will help you get up and running quickly.
Getting Started
When you log into a fresh Spree Commerce instance, you’ll land on the Getting Started tab - a quick-launch checklist that helps you configure the essentials and go live faster.
You’ll see four key onboarding tasks:
- Setup payments
- Add products
- Set customer support email
- Setup taxes collection
Once all tasks are completed, the checklist will disappear from view. Let’s walk through each step below.
Setup Payment Method
To sell anything, you’ll need to configure at least one payment method.
Click Setup Payment Method to jump to Settings → Payments.
At the top, you’ll see your currently enabled methods (e.g., Store Credits, added by default).
Below that is a list of available payment methods you can add, such as Stripe, Adyen or PayPal.
Only payment methods that have been installed will appear in the Available Payment Methods list. If a method you’re expecting isn’t listed, ask your developer to confirm it has been added to the codebase.
- Click Add next to your chosen method
- Follow the setup instructions in the form
- Click Create to enable it
Most payment gateways require you to have an account with the provider before setup.
Add Products
There are three ways to populate your store’s catalog:
Click the Add Products button to start adding manually, or refer to the relevant articles based on your method.
Once you’ve added some products, make sure to set them as Active to publish them on the storefront.
For more detailed guides on creating and managing products, see:
Add Customer Support Email
This small but critical step ensures customers know how to reach you.
Simply enter your customer support email in the field provided, and click Save.
This address will appear on your storefront and works as a contact for your customers in case they have any queries or require support.
Setup Taxes Collection
To charge the correct taxes at checkout, click Setup Tax Rates to be taken to Settings → Tax.
From here, you can configure:
- Tax rates (manual or through third-party services like Avalara)
- Tax categories
For full instructions, please refer to our Tax support article.
Shipping Methods
Customers won’t be able to complete orders without at least one shipping method configured.
To configure a shipping methods, go to Settings → Shipping and click New Shipping Method to define:
- Shipping zones
- Cost calculator settings
- Estimated delivery times
- Shipping and Tax categories
- Tracking links
See Shipping Methods for a full breakdown of settings and examples.
By default, all Spree stores have a Digital Delivery method pre-configured. If you plan on selling digital products, be sure to assign those products the Digital shipping category.
Storefront Setup
Once your product catalog, payments, taxes, and shipping are ready, it’s time to build your storefront. Spree gives you a built-in visual page builder that lets you design your storefront without writing any code.
Navigate to Storefront in the admin dashboard to access:
Themes
Here you can customize the design, layout, and branding of your storefront, and add new themes that you can switch between when desired.
Simply click on the theme you wish to edit to launch the Theme Editor.
If this is a fresh Spree installation, you’ll see the blank, default layout. However, here you can easily:
- Add and arrange pre-built page sections
- Update global theme settings like fonts and colors
- Upload and swap out media in individual sections
- Switch between mobile and desktop editor preview
- Click Publish in the top right when you’re ready to save changes
For a detailed guide on customizing your storefront theme, please refer to our Theme Editor support article.
Changes are only saved when published. Previewing alone does not make them live.
Connect Your Domain
At the top of the Themes section, click Connect your own domain to add a custom domain or subdomain. This will redirect you to Settings → Domains where you can complete the setup of your custom domain.
Pages
Use the Pages section to add static pages like:
- About Us
- Contact
- Custom landing pages
Click Add new page and fill in the page name and SEO fields.
Click Create to finalize the settings of the new page, and you’ll be taken directly to the Theme Editor to edit the content of your new page.
To learn more about Pages, please refer to our Pages support article.
Posts
Spree includes a built-in blogging tool that’s great for content marketing and SEO.
To add a blog post, go to Storefront → Posts and click New Post.
Simply, fill in your post content, image, and SEO fields, set a Published At date, and click Create to finalize your new post.
To learn more about Posts, please refer to our Posts support article.
Storefront Settings
In Storefront → Settings, you can control:
- SEO settings, including search engine indexing preferences
- Favicon and social share images
- Social media links
- Custom code snippets to add to head and body tags
- Storefront password protection preferences
Make sure to click Update to save your changes.
To appear in search results, make sure Index in search engines is checked.
Managing Multiple Stores
If you need to launch multiple storefronts (e.g., for different regions or brands), you can create a new store by clicking the + button next to your store name (top-left) and selecting New Store.
You’ll be asked to:
- Name the store
- Choose a country, currency, and locale
- Decide whether to import products and payment methods from the current store
Each store can operate independently and have unique designs, catalogs, and settings, but they all share customers, admin users, and some other configurations.
Learn more about managing multiple stores in our multi-store use case documentation.
Analytics
Your Spree dashboard Home tab gives you high-level insights into store performance.
You’ll see:
- Key Sales KPIs for revenue, orders, AOV and sign-ups
- A list of top selling products over the selected time range
Use the date selector to change the reporting period at any time.
Similarly, you can view and export sales reports from the Reports tab:
For more detailed analytics, we recommend using our native Google Analytics 4 or Google Tag Manager integration.
Next Steps
Once you’ve completed the basic setup, you’re ready to explore more advanced features and tailor your store to your business model. Here’s some recommended reading:
- Learn how to manage orders - process payments, fulfill shipments, create and edit orders
- Learn how to process returns - configure returns flow, authorize returns, reimburse customers
- Explore multi-store setups - run separate storefronts with unique catalogs, domains, and branding
- Launch a B2B storefront - offer net terms, tiered pricing, company accounts, and purchase flows optimized for wholesale
- Build a multi-vendor marketplace - invite third-party vendors to sell through your platform
- Create a multi-tenant platform power multiple stores or clients from a single backend
- Sell digital products - deliver files automatically, skip shipping steps, and disable inventory tracking
