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You can design and launch a custom Shopify storefront just by describing the store you want. Agent provisions a Shopify store, builds a front end against it, and adds your products all from one conversation. When you’re ready to sell, you make a single trip to Shopify to claim the store and turn on payments. In this guide you’ll build Ember & Oak, a small-batch candle store, from a prompt to a published storefront.
The finished Ember & Oak candle storefront — a warm, cream-and-amber boutique design with a lit-candle hero image, the headline 'Light that feels like home', and a grid of soy candle products with Add to cart buttons

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What you’ll achieve

By the end of this guide, you will have:
  • A custom-designed candle storefront backed by a real Shopify store.
  • Products and prices created in Shopify and rendered on the storefront.
  • A working cart that sends buyers to Shopify checkout.
  • A clear path to go live: claim the store, turn on payments, and launch.

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What you’ll learn

You will learn how to:
  • Describe a store so Agent recommends Shopify and provisions it for you.
  • Connect Shopify without handling any API keys.
  • Add and publish products by chatting with Agent.
  • Refine the design and the buyer flow.
  • Take the store from development to a live, sellable storefront.

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Connect Shopify

Shopify is available to all builders on all apps, and you connect it right in the conversation. Start by describing the store you want to build.
1

Describe your store

Copy the prompt and paste it into the prompt box on replit.com, or click Build on Replit to open Replit with the prompt prefilled.
The Replit home prompt box with the Ember & Oak candle store prompt typed in, ready to start the build
Agent recognizes that you’re selling a physical good and recommends Shopify as the backend for your storefront.
Replit Agent handing off to the Shopify skill for the Ember & Oak candle store, showing a 'Connect to Shopify' card with a Connect Shopify button
2

Approve creating a Shopify store

Agent asks to create a Shopify store for your app. Approve it, and Agent provisions a Replit-owned development store and connects it. No additional configuration needed. Your email is shared with Shopify so you can claim the store later.The store starts password-protected and can’t take real payments until you go live, so you can build freely without risk.
Each Shopify store is scoped to a single app. If you build a second store later, Agent provisions a fresh Shopify store for that app. For the full connector details, see Connect Shopify.

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Build the storefront

With Shopify connected, Agent designs and builds the storefront against your store.
1

Let Agent build the front end

Agent generates the storefront from your prompt — the hero, product grid, cart, and supporting sections. When it finishes, the right pane switches to Preview so you can scroll the page and click through the design.
The Ember & Oak storefront rendered in the Replit Preview pane next to the Agent chat, showing the candle hero section and product grid
2

Add your first products

A new store starts with an empty catalog. Ask Agent to add a product, and it creates the product in Shopify and publishes it to the storefront.The product is created in your Shopify store and appears in the storefront product grid.
Agent chat adding a lavender soy candle product, with the new product appearing in the Ember & Oak storefront product grid
3

Fill out the catalog

Keep adding products by describing them. Agent creates each one in Shopify with its price, description, and image.
Leveling up: ask Agent to group products into collections (“Create a Holiday collection with my three best-selling candles”), add product variants like size or scent, or track inventory so the storefront shows what’s in stock. Shopify stays the system of record for all of it.

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Iterate on the design and checkout

Every part of the storefront is editable through conversation. Refine the look, then check the buyer flow end to end.
1

Refine the design

Describe what you want to change, and Agent updates the storefront.
2

Test the cart and checkout

In Preview, add a candle to the cart and start checkout. The cart sends buyers to Shopify’s hosted checkout. During development your store is password-protected, so the checkout preview may show a password page — that’s expected and doesn’t mean anything is broken.
Leveling up: ask Agent to add a product detail page, a cart drawer, search, or a featured-products section. Because the storefront is a real Replit project, you can extend it with anything you can describe — a blog, a wishlist, or custom landing pages — while Shopify handles checkout and orders.

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Ship it

Going live happens on Shopify. Ask Agent to start the Go Live flow, then complete the merchant-owned steps.
1

Claim your store in Shopify

Claiming happens on Shopify and is the one step that takes place outside Replit. Because your email was shared with Shopify when the store was created, you can claim it from the link Replit provides or the email Shopify sends.Shopify emails you a Store owner invitation that walks you through the steps. Open it and select Get started.
Shopify 'Store owner invitation' email inviting you to become the store owner, with a 'Get started' button
Log in with your existing Shopify account, or create one to accept the invitation.
Shopify 'Create an account' screen to accept the invitation, with email, Google, Apple, and Facebook sign-in options
Select Claim store to authorize the Replit app on your store and start your free trial. You then land in your Shopify admin as the primary owner.
Replit 'Claim your store' screen with a 'Claim store' button to start a free Shopify trial
2

Choose a plan and turn on payments

Pick a Shopify plan and activate Shopify Payments or another provider. Shopify collects the identity and banking details needed to pay you — none of that happens in Replit.
3

Configure shipping, taxes, and a domain

Set your shipping rates and review taxes in Shopify, and optionally connect a custom domain.
4

Launch and publish

Remove the storefront password in Shopify to open the store to buyers. Back in Replit, click Publish to deploy your storefront to its public URL.
Payments, identity verification, taxes, shipping, and fraud checks stay on Shopify. For the full go-live checklist and connector details, see Connect Shopify.

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Next steps

Connect Shopify

The connector reference: how the Shopify connection works and the full go-live checklist.

Add a custom domain

Give your store a branded URL before you launch.

Improve SEO

Help buyers find your store in search.

Launch a landing page

Build a focused campaign page to drive traffic to your store.