Build your first store

Two ways to set up your Zillo store — describe it in plain English to the AI builder, or build it product by product yourself. Both land at the same place, so pick whichever feels faster, then review everything before you go live.

Build your first store

There are two ways to get a store up and running, and they end up in the same place. The AI builder is fastest if you're still figuring out what to sell and how the store should look — describe your business and it drafts a starting point for you. The manual flow is better when you already know your product list. You can mix both: start with the builder, then fine-tune everything by hand. Whichever you choose, set aside a few minutes to review before you publish — the goal is a store that sounds like you.

Option 1 — the AI builder

The fastest way to see a store come together.

    1. Go to zillo.app/create and describe your business in plain English — what you do, who you serve, and what you'd like to sell.
    2. Watch it build. The builder picks brand colours, suggests a store name and web address, writes a welcome message, and drafts your first product.
    3. Refine by chatting. Ask it to change colours, rename the store, adjust a price, or add another product. Each message updates the preview.
    4. Sign up to claim it. When you like what you see, create your account and everything you built carries over automatically.

You don't need an account to try the AI builder — sign up at the end only if you're happy with the result. Already signed in? The same chat builder is on your dashboard overview, so you can keep shaping your store from there.

Option 2 — set it up yourself

If you'd rather build it directly, add products one at a time from the dashboard.

    1. Sign up at dashboard.zillo.app/signup and confirm your email.
    2. Open Products in the dashboard sidebar.
    3. Click "New product" at Products → New and pick a type — gift card, event ticket, class session, appointment, reservation, membership, voucher, or a physical/digital product.
    4. Fill in the basics: title, description, and price. Each type adds a few fields of its own — gift card amounts, an event date and capacity, a class schedule, appointment availability, and so on. The form prompts you for exactly what that product needs.
    5. Save as draft while you're still tweaking, or set the status to Published to make the product live on your storefront.

Appointments and reservations need bookable availability before customers can pick a time. Set your working hours and bookable people, tables, or rooms in Settings → Resources. See Managing bookable resources.

What the AI builder gives you vs. what you finish

The builder seeds a strong starting point — a store name and web address, brand colours, a hero image, a welcome message, and one example product. Treat all of it as a first draft. The builder gets you most of the way; the finishing touches — your exact wording, your real prices, your photos — are worth doing yourself. Open Products to edit what it created, and Settings → Branding to adjust colours, logo, and hero image.

Avoid changing your store's web address (slug) after you've shared it. Existing links — in emails, on social media, on printed cards — stop working once the address changes. The dashboard warns you before allowing a slug change, so only do it before you start promoting your store.

A good launch checklist

Before you flip the store live, it's worth a quick pass:

  • At least one product is set to Published (drafts stay hidden).
  • Your store name, welcome message, and prices read the way you want.
  • Stripe is connected so checkout works — see Setting up payouts.
  • You've previewed the storefront in an incognito window to see what a customer sees.

Next steps

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