Check point list before opening store?

[ninabell]

Is there something like a check point list that can help letting one know that the store is ready to be opened? Thank you.

[dbltoe]

There's a term, Subject Matter Expert (SME), that applies here. Nobody knows better than you if everything is in place and ready for the store to open.
There's a new pharmacy going in near us and, for about a month, it has looked like any other of the chain in and around San Antonio. But, they are not open. The building is finished, the parking lot is striped, and all the products are in the store. There's no "Now Hiring" sign out front so one could assume that they have a staff in place.
What they didn't count on was the study that needs to be done since they built a parking lot over a recharge zone for an aquifer. Water runoff has to be dealt with differently in the recharge zone than in the city itself.
Had they gone strictly by the corporate checklist, they might have been subject to massive fines and possible closure.
The bottom line is that you are your own SME. Trying to make a one-size-fits-all checklist is just not possible. It might be as simple as

1. Products? - Check
2. Product Descriptions? - Check
3. Payment Method? - Check
4. Open the doors.

I will say that it's a bad idea for either you are the pharmacy to open with empty shelves. Imagine walking into a new store and only half the shelves are stocked. Wouldn't look good, would it? Unfortunately, many new carts contain categories with no products. Nothing turns a customer off more than going to the shelf only to find it empty. If I find that in a shopping cart, I simply won't return. I can accept that something might be sold out but, the no products here really irks me.
Lastly, I tell our customers to

1. Send 10 of your friends to critique your site
2. Fix things you think are relevant
3. Send 10 enemies to critique your site
4. Fix things you think are relevant
5. Publish

[ninabell]

Maybe I did not explain myself well :).

When I said 'check points' I was referring to the technical aspect of the cart. Of course 'I' will know when 'I' will be ready to open. Actually, I am ready 'NOW'... if the cart had everything implemented.

But is the cart ready? How do I know that I have gone through all the things the cart needs implemented so that it runs properly? Is there a tutorial or a check list I can use to make sure I put in place all the things the cart needs to work? I may feel I am ready but I may have left something out.

[stevesh]

There's no such check list I'm aware of. Make sure your navigation works properly (no 404 pages) and test your shipping and payment modules and actual checkout process as an actual customer, you should be good to go.

[ninabell]

There's no such check list I'm aware of. Make sure your navigation works properly (no 404 pages) and test your shipping and payment modules and actual checkout process as an actual customer, you should be good to go.

Thank you. :)

[niccol]

http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Basic_Checklist

But there are some specific pre-launch checklists out there. Just google ' zen cart checklist ' and you'll get a selection. If you amalgamate them all then you are probably about right :-)

[ninabell]

http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Basic_Checklist

But there are some specific pre-launch checklists out there. Just google ' zen cart checklist ' and you'll get a selection. If you amalgamate them all then you are probably about right :-)

Thank you. Something like this is what I was talking about. :)

[schoolboy]

I tend to agree with dbltoe (yet again) and would add that it's not so much a check LIST as it is a check PROCESS.

Any ADDED functionality (mods that alter behaviour) need to be tested thoroughly.

Our PROCESS for checking a site begins the moment we have the initial DETAILED brief from the client. We keep meticulous records of when and how a plugin is added, and of all "tweaks" to core behaviour.

When the site is complete, this list of "construction" methods forms our bible for checking everything, and we go through every action that each plugin has been installed to perform.

We do anything up to 15 test purchases on most sites.

One key area that gets forgotten, are parts of the site that are seen only by customers in the purchase process - particularly things like the checkout_success page, and the various email messages sent out by the site.

Make sure to set up a TEST customer account, and go through ALL the things a customer can do... from making purchases to contacting the store, to telephoning the store, to unsubscribing from newsletters... everything that you put in place for a customer to have a go at, needs to be tested...

[dbltoe]

It's nice to have a "yes man."

I tend to agree with dbltoe (yet again) and would add that it's not so much a check LIST as it is a check PROCESS.

Seriously, glad I was reminded about the checklist. Sometimes I forget the basics I take for granted. Like schoolboy, we spend far more time finding what the client wants than we do building the site.
You are the exception to the rule as we've found it. We have to spend a lot of time convincing customers there's more to it than creating a couple of products and going live.