Greetings innovators! Today, at Unicorn Makerspace, we’re diving into a special guide designed to empower our entrepreneurs with the tools you need to take your digital creations from concept to online store. Whether you’re selling your own video game, digital art, or coding projects, setting up a digital storefront is an exciting step towards entrepreneurship. And with Squarespace, it’s easier than you might think!

Step 1: Select a Template and create a login

Visit Squarespace and select a template. To filter the templates for ones with e-commerce capabilities, check “Online Store” under TYPE. Don’t worry too much about finding the "perfect" template; you can customize it to fit your unique style later on. Finish the selection process by choosing a sample color preset. At the end of this step you will be asked to create a login. You can use an email address or sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook. You will now be able to use a free Squarespace trial.

Step 2: Customize Your Website

Once you’ve selected a template, it’s time to make it yours. Start by naming your site. Then, choose whether you will create a course or go straight to design your site. Squarespace’s editor is user-friendly, making it simple to customize layouts, add pages, and change colors and fonts to match your brand. This is your canvas to express the identity of your digital product. Have fun with it!

Tips for Customization:

Keep It Simple: A clean, uncluttered design can make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for.
Highlight Your Product: Use high-quality images or screenshots to showcase your digital product. Make sure the product descriptions are clear and enticing. Need help with this?
Mobile Optimization: Squarespace templates are mobile-friendly, but it’s always good to check how your site looks on different devices and adjust as needed.

Step 3: Set Up Your Product

Now, let’s add your digital product:

Navigate to the “Selling” section and select “Products.”
Select the type of product you want to sell.
Follow Squarespace’s easy-to-follow tool to enter important details like product name and price to complete the set-up.

Step 4: Choose a way to get paid

Before you can sell anything, you’ll need to connect to a payment processor. SquareSpace makes this straightforward by offering integration with Squarespace payments, PayPal, Square and an existing Stripe account. This step is crucial for handling transactions securely and efficiently.

Step 5: Upgrade your account

If you’re happy with everything Squarespace has to offer, this is the time to upgrade your account. As of April 2024, Squarespace offers 4 price plans. If you want to use the selling features, you need to select a plan at the Business plan or higher. In my opinion, the Commerce plan is best if you are selling physical products (you pay 0% on transactions instead of 3%), you want to sell in-person (you can pair a Square reader with your Square account and track inventory, customers and analytics), or you want to sell on Instagram (you can sync with FB catalog and tag products directly in your Instagram posts for increased sales).

Step 6: Preview and Test Your Store

Before going live, take the time to preview your website. Navigate through it as if you were a customer. Make sure all links work and complete a test purchase to ensure the checkout process is smooth.

Step 7: Launch Your Store

Once everything looks good, it’s time to launch.

Squarespace has a "Site Availability" option in the settings, allowing you to go from private to public.

Navigate to the “Settings” section and select “Website.”
Click on “Site Availability.”
Change availability from “Private” to “Public” and click “Save” in the upper right corner.

Congratulations, you’re now the proud owner of an online store!

Craft A Digital Storefront