Prepare to receive your first order and build your customer base.

Your first sale is an exciting milestone for your business. You’ve registered a domain and published your site. Now it’s time to accept and fulfill orders. Each order is an opportunity to connect with your customers and build trust in your brand. Clear communication, timely fulfillment, and strategic use of our built-in marketing tools can turn a first-time buyer into a regular customer.

Prepare to sell

Ensure you’re ready for business when customers visit your site.

Connect a payment processor

To sell anything, you'll need to connect a payment processor: 

1. Connect a payment processor to accept payments for your products or invoices.
2. Set up tax rates to ensure you charge the correct sales tax on every purchase.
3. If you sell physical products, set up shipping rates to cover the cost of shipping, including an optional markup. This is a good option if you want to offset the cost of additional tariffs.
4. Customize your email notifications.
5. Run a test order to confirm that your checkout and notifications work as expected.

Add your business information and check your reply-to email address

Your business information and tax ID appear on all invoices and customer notifications. Customize these details in the Customer notifications panel. If you sell with invoices, ensure your reply-to address is valid, otherwise your invoices won’t send. 

Enable product waitlists

If you have limited inventory, enable product waitlists to capture interest in future runs after a product sells out.

Accept pre-orders

To gauge interest in your services or products before making an investment in studio space or inventory production, you can accept pre-orders.

Build your mailing list at checkout

Collect customer email addresses at checkout for future email marketing campaigns.

Fulfill your first order

When a customer places an order or pays an invoice, you both receive a confirmation email with the details. You can see all the orders you’ve received in the orders panel. The steps you take next depend on what you sell.

Fulfill orders for service products after the service is completed

Service products, like classes, consultations, and events, don’t require shipping. Mark these orders as fulfilled after the service is completed. If you need to contact a customer, you can find their details in the order confirmation email and the contacts panel.

1. Review the order in the orders dashboard.
2. Complete the service.
3. Mark the order as fulfilled.

Fulfill orders for physical products when you’re ready to ship

It’s best to mark orders for physical products as fulfilled when you’re ready to ship them. Unless you opt out, your customer will receive an email letting them know their order is fulfilled. When you have a pending order:

1. Review the order in the orders dashboard.
2. Package the item.
3. Buy and print a shipping label.
4. Mark the order as fulfilled and add tracking details.

Fulfill orders with local pickup and delivery

Mark orders with local pickup and delivery as out for delivery or ready to pick up to let customers know their order status. 

Orders for digital products are fulfilled automatically when the customer pays

Customers sign up for access to your digital products by creating an account and purchasing a pricing plan. They gain access to your content as soon as their payment goes through. They receive an email letting them know how to access your content, and you don’t need to take steps to fulfill these orders. You may want to review and manage pricing plan purchases after customers sign up, or customize the emails your customers receive from your store.

Orders for download products are fulfilled automatically when the customer pays

When customers buy a download product, their order confirmation email includes a link to download the file, which they can do right away. Their order is marked as fulfilled automatically in the orders panel, and you don’t need to take steps to fulfill these orders.

Invoices are fulfilled automatically when the client pays

After you send an invoice, your client can pay through a secure checkout page. When they do, their invoice status changes from pending to paid, and a new order appears in your orders panel to help you keep track of the invoice payments you’ve received. You can also mark an invoice as paid if your client pays with cash or check.

Keep track of your customers

Each sale can help grow your base of repeat customers. Consider using these features to stay in touch with customers from the start:

• Build email campaigns mailing lists - Use Squarespace Email Campaigns to build mailing lists and send marketing emails to customers and clients.
• Build customer lists and segments - Everyone who buys something on your site or pays an invoice appears in the contacts panel, where you can build smart segments based on their behavior. Use these lists to understand your customer base and plan marketing campaigns.
• Ask for product reviews - Send an email to customers 14 days after their order fulfillment to ask for a product review. Reviews display on your store page.
• Place targeted ads with Meta Pixel - Place targeted ads to encourage customers to return to your site.

Track your sales and grow your business

After your first sale, you can turn your attention to building momentum. Track your sales performance in the analytics panel, and use built-in marketing tools to reach new customers:

• Use social media integrations
• Optimize your site for search engines
• Plan product promotions
• Explore high volume inventory and fulfillment options 

Learn what other entrepreneurs have built on Squarespace

Your first sale is just the beginning. With consistent marketing and customer engagement, you can build your online store into a thriving business. Learn more about what other entrepreneurs have built on Squarespace.