Welcome to Pulse Commerce! This guide will walk you through the essential setup steps to get your store up and running. Each section links to detailed articles that provide step-by-step instructions for completing that part of your onboarding.
1. Account Setup and User Management
Start by configuring user accounts for your team members and setting up appropriate access permissions.
What you'll do:
- Create admin user accounts for team members
- Configure roles and permissions based on job responsibilities
- Add or update your authorized contacts
Detailed instructions: User Accounts and Roles: Managing Access and Permissions
2. Payment Gateway Setup
Connect your payment processing gateway so you can accept credit card payments and other payment methods.
What you'll do:
- Gather your payment gateway credentials (Authorize.net, PayPal, etc.)
- Configure your payment gateway connection
- Set up custom or offline payment methods if needed
- Configure credit card security settings
Detailed instructions:
3. Shipping Configuration
Set up your shipping methods and connect your carrier accounts for real-time rate calculation and label generation.
What you'll do:
- Submit your UPS and FedEx shipping credentials
- Configure real-time shipping rate calculation
- Set up custom shipping methods
- Configure warehouse and return addresses
Detailed instructions:
4. Sales Tax Configuration
Configure your sales tax settings to ensure accurate tax calculation on customer orders.
What you'll do:
- Provide state-level sales tax rates
- Configure sales tax rules for your business
- Decide if you need Avalara AvaTax integration for automated tax calculation
Detailed instructions:
5. Email and Domain Configuration
Set up your email accounts and configure DNS settings to ensure reliable email delivery for order confirmations and customer communications.
What you'll do:
- Configure email settings and notification addresses
- Set up DNS records for email delivery
- Manage domain name settings if hosted with Pulse Commerce
- Configure email client access if needed
Detailed instructions:
6. Product Catalog Creation
Build your product catalog by creating your first products manually, then work with support on your first bulk import.
What you'll do:
- Create product categories to organize your catalog
- Manually create your first 3-5 products to learn the system
- Prepare sample product data for your first bulk import
- Work with Pulse Support on your first bulk import during training
- Review and validate imported product data
Detailed instructions:
- How to Create Products Manually - Start here
- How to Import Products - Review for bulk import preparation
7. Customer Data Import
If you're migrating from another platform, import your existing customer data to preserve customer history and relationships.
What you'll do:
- Review the customer import template provided by Pulse Support
- Prepare your customer data in the required format
- Work with Pulse Support to import your complete customer database
- Validate customer data after import
Note: Pulse Support will provide guidance and assist with the customer data import process.
Detailed instructions:
8. Vendor Management Setup
If you work with suppliers or drop-ship vendors, set up vendor accounts to manage purchase orders and vendor relationships.
What you'll do:
- Create vendor accounts manually in the system
- Configure vendor contact information and payment terms
- Assign vendors to products as needed
- Set preferred vendors for products
Detailed instructions:
- How to Set Up and Manage Vendors
- How to Create Vendor Purchase Orders
- How to Import Vendors and Assign Vendors to Products
9. System Testing and Validation
Before going live, thoroughly test all aspects of your store to ensure everything works correctly.
What you'll test:
- Place test orders with different payment methods
- Verify order approval and fulfillment workflows
- Generate shipping labels for test orders
- Test creating purchase orders and RMAs (returns)
- Verify all customer email notifications are working
- Review and approve email templates
- Test integration connections with other systems
10. Training Sessions
Participate in guided training sessions to learn how to use Pulse Commerce effectively for your daily operations.
Training topics include:
- Admin panel navigation and system basics
- Advanced configuration options
- Order management, purchase orders, and returns processing
- Shipping and fulfillment workflows
- Reporting and data exports
Note: Training sessions are scheduled with your onboarding team and typically occur over several days leading up to your launch.
11. Go-Live Preparation and Launch
Complete final preparations and launch your store.
Pre-launch tasks:
- Final inventory updates to reflect current stock levels
- Complete final system validation
- Conduct go/no-go decision meeting with your team
Launch day:
- Go live in production
- Monitor first orders closely with Pulse Support
- Verify all integrations are functioning correctly
Ongoing Support and Resources
After your launch, you'll have access to:
- This Help Center for self-service documentation
- Cahoot Account for Automated Label Creation with its own dedicated help center
- Ticketing system for contacting support
Your success is our priority. We're here to help you get the most out of Pulse Commerce.