How to create a storefront on Merchize and configure domain to connect to Merchize
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Creating POD or Dropshipping store on Merchize with some basic steps:
- Access https://seller.merchize.com to create a store with your domain.
- Contact Merchize’s support to active domain
- Our supporter will activate the store and guide you to do the rest.
Instruction to set up DNS through Cloudflare and Connect Domain with Merchize.
Step 1: Go to https://seller.merchize.com
After signing up using your email, fill in your store name and domain to create your own store.
For example, I have created a store with storen name and domain: demostore and demostore.xyz and have status as pending – waiting to active.
Step 2: Contact our support team to active your store.
Once your store is activated, pending status will be removed and you can click on the store name to manage your store.
You can contact our team via fanpage Fulfillment by Merchize or live chat on seller.merchize.com.
Now, Merchize has 3 pricing plans: $79/month or $299/month for storefront and Merchize Lite plan $0/month for fulfillment only. You can refer to detailed information for each plan here: https://merchize.com/platform-pricing/.
Note: Your store can only run if it is activated by our team. When waiting for the Dev team to activate your store, you can jump to step 3 – domain configuration to connect with Merchize.
Step 3: Domain configuration to connect with Merchize.
This step is only required if you are using a storefront plan. If you just want to use a fulfillment plan, you can skip this step
Here, you can choose 1 of 2 options for domain configuration:
- Option 1: Connect via CloudFlare
- Option 2: Directly connect, not via CloudFlare
To connect your domain with Merchize, we recommend you connect via CloudFlare. By this way, your store can be managed and protected by CloudFlare which can help to reduce the risk of store loosing, Ddos, and also increase the site speed in some cases. Moreover, the DNS lookup process that doesn’t go through CloudFare can take up to 24 hours, quite long.
- Firstly, you move your domain to CloudFlare by creating an account at: https://www.cloudflare.com/
- After that, click on the “Add A Site” button.
- Fill your domain store in
- CloudFlare will ask you for a pricing plan, you can choose the Free plan
1.2. Change the nameserver to suit with CloudFlare
- After that, you can see the guideline of changing Name Server to complete domain migration to CloudFlare. You have to change the current Name Server to the Name Serve same as in the guideline. For example:
- Next, log in to the domain manager of your domain service provider, change Name Server setting of domain and point to Name Server of CloudFlare which has the form: xxx.ns.cloudflare.com.
+ If you are using NameCheap, you will see like that:
+ If you are using Godaddy, the changing Nameserver management will be like that:
Click on Change, choose name server type is Custom. After that copy and paste name server link which is provided by CloudFlare (Godaddy may ask you to connect with Wix, Weebly, WordPress or something else, you no need to answer). Finally, you click on SAVE to finish.
After changing Nameserver successfully, the DNS appearance of Godaddy will notice that they cannot display DNS information since this DNS isn’t managed by them. It means your change is successed.
The Nameserver changing process may take up 30 minutes to 1 hour for CloudFlare to officially manage your domain. After this process, you can see the status of your domain on CloudFlare is Active instead of Pending
1.3. Update DNS on CloudFlare according to the Configure DNS page
Log in your CloudFlare account, go to DNS management and add 2 records with the values as written in the Configure DNS page of the store on Merchize.
In this step, if it has any records of type A, you can also delete them to be sure.
For instance, we will create 2 records form CNAME with value:
- Record 1: name: demostore.xyz, value: demostore.merchize.store
- Record 2: name: www, value: demostore.xyz (or @).
These 2 records have TTL value is Automatic TTL and status is Traffic go through CloudFlare (the orange cloud).
1.4. Choose SSL Full
Next, the last step is going to Tab Crypto, choosing FFL is full.
After 10-15 minutes your site can be accessed.
Option 2: Direct connect, not via CloudFlare
Since this option takes a lot of time for the DNS process, and it is not secure as going through CloudFlare, Merchize does not recommend this option.
2.1. Log in to the domain manager of your domain provider.
Go to the DNS manager: For example, with service of Namecheap, you can see as below (the other domain providers have the same manipulations):
2.2. Change the record of CNAME type as the guideline on the Configure DNS page on Merchize.
To make the site can run, you need to create 2 records as below: (based on your store that “demostore” value can be changed. You need to check in your Configure DNS part again.)2
To do this, you only need to create the new record with the value for each is CNAME and fill the respective values:
- The server: demostore.xyz (remember to change based on your store)
- Point to: demostore-534.merchize.store (remember to change based on your store)
Now, you have domain configuration but cannot access your domain immediately. You need to wait 24-48 hours for the DNS process. So, we do not recommend you use this option. For the fastest, you should use CloudFlare.
Step 4: Additional: Add WWW for your store.
Basically, when you have done step 3, you can access your store at your domain in form https://your-store-address.com.
Though, if you add WWW before your domain, it will get error 404 – default backend when you access. This is because you do not set up WWW.
It’s very simple to setup WWW:
- Go to Page Rules on CloudFlare.
- Choose Create Page Rules
- Fill the information as below:
+ “If the URL matches” item: you fill domain with WWW and /* behind. For example, my store is demostore.xyz, I will fill http://www.demostore.xyz/*
+ “Then the settings are: “ item: choose Forwarding URL and 301-Permanent Redirect
+ Under, you fill your domain. For example: https://demostore.xyz
+ After that, choose Save and deploy
