Want to create a Shopify website quickly without worrying about technical skills or high costs?
This beginner-friendly guide will walk you through the exact steps to build a Shopify store in just 90 minutes. You don’t need coding experience—just follow the screenshots and instructions to launch your own fully functional Shopify website.✅ By the end of this guide, you will:

  • Set up a Shopify website from scratch
  • Add products and enable payment testing
  • Configure shipping and get your store online for just $1/month (for the first 3 months)

This is perfect for students, side hustlers, or anyone new to eCommerce who wants to create a Shopify website quickly and test if people are willing to buy their products.

Step 1: Register a Shopify Account (5 Minutes)

  • Visit the Shopify website
  • Click Start Free Trial and enter your details
  • Create your account and access the Shopify dashboard

👉 Pro Tip: The store name doesn’t matter now. You can always change it later.

Step 2: Choose a Free Theme (10 Minutes)

Shopify provides many free and paid themes, but the Dawn theme is the best for beginners.

  • From the dashboard, go to Online Store > Themes
  • Select Explore free themes → Choose Dawn
  • Click Add Theme and Activate

👉 Avoid paid themes at this stage. The free Shopify website builder tools are more than enough to launch.

Step 3: Add Your First Product (20 Minutes)

  • Go to Products > Add product
  • Fill in just 3 fields:
    • Title: e.g. “White Cotton T-Shirt”
    • Price: e.g. $19.99
    • Images: Upload one clear photo
  • Save the product

👉 Keep it simple. Add no more than 3 products in your first week.

Step 4: Set Up Store Information (15 Minutes)

  • Go to Settings > General
  • Edit your store details:
    • Store name: e.g. “MyShop”
    • Currency: USD
    • Time zone: Hong Kong (or your location)

👉 Don’t overcomplicate with logos or branding now. Focus on functionality first.

Step 5: Enable Payments (10 Minutes)

  • Go to Settings > Payments
  • Activate PayPal (fastest approval for beginners)

👉 Use the same email for both Shopify and PayPal—it speeds up verification.

Step 6: Configure Free Shipping (10 Minutes)

  • Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery
  • Create a new shipping profile → Name it Free Shipping
  • Select your target countries (e.g., North America)

👉 Offering free shipping makes your Shopify website more attractive to new buyers.

Step 7: Use Your Free Shopify Domain (10 Minutes)

  • Your store URL will look like: yourstore.myshopify.com
  • You can rename it anytime from the settings

👉 Don’t buy a custom domain yet. The free domain is enough for testing.

Step 8: Final Store Check (10 Minutes)

  • Preview your Shopify website from the dashboard
  • Test these 3 things:
    • Product pages (images, price, availability)
    • Cart shows Free Shipping
    • Checkout button works (simulate payment, don’t use a real card)

🎉 Congratulations! You Just Built a Shopify Store

At this point, your Shopify website is live and ready to accept test payments.
Here’s your 90-minute Shopify website builder checklist:

  • ✅ Store theme working (Dawn theme)
  • ✅ At least 1 product visible
  • ✅ Free shipping displayed at checkout
  • ✅ PayPal activated

What to Do Next (First 30 Days)

  1. Share your store link on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok with a caption like:
    “Just launched my test store 👉 [your link]”
  2. Monitor analytics: Check orders and traffic in Shopify’s dashboard
  3. Decide next step:
    1. Got orders? → Keep building traffic & improve your store
    2. No orders? → Close store (only $1 lost) and try different products

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

  • ❌ Spending time on paid themes too early
  • ❌ Adding too many products (stick to 1–3 at first)
  • ❌ Installing unnecessary apps before testing

👉 Remember: The only goal of your first Shopify website is to validate if people are willing to pay.

Final Thoughts

Building a Shopify store doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. With Shopify’s beginner-friendly website builder, you can create a Shopify website in just 90 minutes, test real payments, and start your eCommerce journey with almost zero cost.🔥 Ready to try it yourself? Start building your Shopify website here.