Online Store

A store is tested with one scenario: product in catalog, product in cart, order in admin. Payment, shipping, and promotions come after that. Until the loop is closed, the showcase is not ready for customers.

Engine overview: PHP store script. This is the operational launch checklist.

Catalog

• A category with a clear name and at least one product with price and photo.
• If stock is enabled, zero-stock products cannot be bought.
• The product page opens through a permanent link.
• If sizes or colors exist, variant selection is required before adding to cart. See variants.

Hide empty menu categories. A showcase with filters but no orders is still a catalog.

Cart

1. Adding from the product page updates the header counter.
2. Quantity changes recalculate the total.
3. Removing one item does not break others.
4. Refreshing the page does not clear the cart.
5. Stock of one cannot be exceeded.

Guest and logged-in carts must merge predictably.

Order

Place a test order and find it in the admin panel. Status "new" must be visible without filters. Customer email may wait for SMTP setup, but the order must be saved.

Check price snapshots: later catalog price changes must not rewrite old orders. Details: checkout.

Shipping and Payment: Second Layer

After pickup plus pay-on-delivery works:

• add courier or pickup-point delivery and free-shipping thresholds: shipping;
• test online payment: YooKassa;
• create one promo code for testing: promo codes.

Do not enable every layer on domain-migration day.

Admin Roles

• Admin: products, settings, payment keys.
• Manager: orders, statuses, comments, without system files.
• Content editor: descriptions and photos, without payment refunds.

Morning reconciliation of paid orders catches webhook issues early.

Ready for Traffic Checklist

1. A test order is found in ten seconds.
2. Zero stock cannot be purchased.
3. Mobile checkout works without horizontal scroll.
4. SSL has no warnings on /cart and /checkout.
5. There is an email or at least an accepted-order page.
6. Database backup exists before the first campaign.

Own hosting and SaaS differences: ecommerce.

Content Before Opening

Minimum viable content: one main category, several child categories if needed, 12-20 real products, payment, delivery, returns, contacts, and a test promo code disabled for public use.

First Month Routine

1. Every morning: new orders and pending payments older than N hours.
2. Twice a week: reconcile paid orders with YooKassa.
3. Weekly: products with stock at or below two.
4. Move repeated questions into FAQ.

Orders received in messengers should still be entered into admin, otherwise analytics and stock lie.

Common First-Week Failures

• Payment test mode was not disabled.
• SMTP is wrong, while orders still exist.
• Stock was not updated after a manual sale.
• An empty archive category appears in the menu.
• Two managers edit one order without comments.

Before advertising, repeat the same acceptance checklist on a phone as a guest.

Minimum Pages

Besides catalog you need shipping, payment, returns, contacts, and data policy. Links should be in the footer and checkout footer. Keep the homepage simple until the first orders pass cleanly.