To help you set up your online shop at the abz.life Christmas Market, we have created a step-by-step guide for you to follow.
It should only take 15-20 minutes to set up your shop and add your products, and each seller can add up to 5 products in total. This should ideally be done on a laptop or computer, not a mobile device.
You must be a registered member of abz.life to take part in our Christmas Market, and we will be approving all vendors before the website goes live. You can sign up to abz.life for free by clicking here, and then come back to this blog post to set-up your Christmas Market store.
If you have any questions that are not answered in this document, please email us on market@abz.life.
Step 1: Creating your account
The Christmas Market is separate to your abz.life account, so each seller will have to set up a new account for the market. The two sites are not connected.
Visit https://setup.market.abz.life/... and you’ll see the screen below. Add your email address and password, and make sure you select ‘I am a vendor’.
Complete the details required, and select the ‘5 Products Free’ subscription pack. This does not cost anything.
This subscription will then be added to your basket, and you’ll be taken to the final registration page. Click the ‘Place order’ button to complete the set-up of your abz.life Christmas Market account. You will not be charged anything - our market is free for vendors.
Step 2: Setting up your store - store information
When you initially sign-up, you’ll be taken to the store set-up wizard, which takes you through 4 steps to quickly set up your store. However if you miss this, or want to set up your store later on, you can do this by following the below steps.
Visit https://setup.market.abz.life/dashboard/ and make sure you’re logged in. Click ‘settings’ from the menu on the left.
On this screen, you’ll be able to update your store's profile photo, store name, address, phone number, biography and more.
Step 3: Setting up your store - payment configuration
All vendors must use Stripe to process payments, ensuring money goes straight from the buyer to the vendor’s bank account. Setting up Stripe is very easy, and millions of businesses of all sizes across the world use this software.
abz.life will not charge you anything, however Stripe will charge you a small fee per transaction: 1.4% + 20p.
To set up or connect your Stripe account, select ‘Payment’ from the left menu, then click ‘Connect with Stripe’.
If you have a Stripe account already, you can choose to sign in on the top right of the screen. If you don’t, all you have to do is complete your information in this form and click ‘Authorise access to this account’. Please note, a lot of these fields are optional and are not required.
Please note, you may have to verify your email address before this step can be finalised. You will then be directed back to the abz.life Christmas Market, with a confirmation note that your Stripe account has been connected.
Step 4: Setting up your store - shipping configuration
There are two options available for shipping - either posting items to the buyer, or collection. Both must be added as shipping options in your settings. If you don't have shipping methods set up, people will be unable to buy your products when the market goes live.
Click ‘Shipping’ from the menu on the left, and then ‘Add shipping method’.
Then click the pink ‘Add shipping method’ button on the next screen.
You can choose between 3 options: flat rate, local pickup or free shipping.
You can set up multiple shipping methods for your store. Select the one you want to set up, then click ‘edit’ to update the details for this shipping method.
You can update the title and cost.
For flat rate delivery, you can specify a single cost or choose for this to be calculated based upon the quantity of the items purchased. There is a note underneath the cost section to explain how to do this, e.g. 2.50 * [qty] to charge £2.50 per item a buyer purchases.
Once finalised, click ‘save settings’.
Once back on the previous screen, you also must ensure that the option to ‘Limit your zone location’ is disabled. Then click ‘save changes’.
Now we need to give your customers information on how their products will be delivered, e.g. how long it will take.
Click the button at the top that says ‘Click here to add shipping policies’.
From this screen, you can update processing time, add information to your shipping policy and add details about refunds. Once you’ve updated this, please ‘save settings’.
Step 5: Setting up your store - adding products
To start adding products to your store, click ‘Back to Dashboard’ then ‘Products’ from the menu on the left, and select ‘Add new product’. Each vendor can list up to 5 products on the abz.life Christmas Market at one time.
From this screen, you can upload images, the product name, price, descriptions and categories. Once you’re happy with the information provided, click ‘Create product’.
You’ll then be taken to the ‘Edit product’ screen where you can add even more information if required.
For products that can be personalised, and require information from the buyer, we recommend adding how to do this at the end of your product description. The buyer will be able to send you a note at the checkout screen. Please see the example below.
Information in your product description:
Message from buyer:
If you want to add a limit on stock, this can be done in the inventory section. Check the ‘enable product stock management’ box, and you can input the stock levels for that product. This will then show your product as out of stock when the limit is reached. This can be edited at any time.
You can also add the shipping information for each product from this screen. Please ensure the box is ticked for ‘This product required shipping’ and the ‘standard’ shipping class is selected for every product, even if it's collection only. You can also add the dimensions and weights for your products, although this is not essential.
Then press ‘save’ to complete this step.
Repeat this for each of the 5 products you wish to upload to the Market, and then you’re finished! You can go back in and edit any of the details at any time.
