Owned storefront

Shopify due diligence

Published · Reviewed by The Diligence Standard Team · Updated

A Shopify store can provide more customer ownership than a marketplace, but ownership of the store does not automatically transfer the domain, apps, payment relationships, data permissions or profitable demand.

Evidence to request

  • Shopify analytics and order exports reconciled to processor settlements
  • Store owner, staff, collaborator and organization access register
  • Domain registrar, DNS, theme, code and creative ownership
  • Shopify Payments and alternative gateway dispute and reserve history
  • App stack, monthly cost, permissions, data access and cancellation dependencies
  • Cohorts, repeat purchase, discounts, refunds and contribution by channel

Transfer risks

  • The seller personally controls domain, owner account or critical apps
  • Gross margin ignores discounts, returns, payment and fulfillment costs
  • Customer acquisition depends on one paid channel or founder audience
  • Theme, photography, code or customer-data rights are incomplete

Control-change sequence

  • Move store ownership only after buyer-controlled identity and recovery methods exist.
  • Transfer the domain, analytics, pixels, email, apps and payment relationships separately.
  • Test order, refund, payout and customer-service workflows under buyer control.

Shopify supports store ownership and staff-role administration, while payment providers, domains and third-party apps retain their own contractual and verification requirements.