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Setting Up Shopping Cart Checkout, Payments, Tax, and Order Emails

Complexity Level: Basic to Advanced

Overview

This guide helps you set up the parts of your online store that affect checkout. Checkout is the part where a customer enters their information and places an order.

Words used on this page

  • Dashboard: The first screen you see upon logging in.
  • Menu: The list of choices you click to move around the Springboard.
  • Page: One screen in the Springboard, like a form or a list.
  • Form: A screen with boxes, buttons, and choices where you enter settings.
  • Payment gateway: The service that safely takes card or bank payments.

You will learn how to:

  • Set up checkout steps and labels.
  • Connect and choose payment methods.
  • Set up tax behavior.
  • Create email messages sent after orders.

When You Would Use This

Use this section if you need to:

  • Set up checkout for a new store.
  • Change the payment choices customers can use.
  • Turn tax settings on or off.
  • Create or edit order email messages.
  • Fix checkout text so it is clearer for customers.

Complexity Level

  • Basic: Set up the checkout flow and customer-facing labels.
  • Intermediate: Connect a payment gateway and choose accepted payment methods.
  • Advanced: Create order email messages and configure tax calculation settings.

Opening Shopping Cart Settings

  1. Click My Website, then click Website Settings.
  2. Click Shopping Cart. Screenshot: Shopping Cart page with cards for General Configuration, Shipping Providers, Tax Calculations, Checkout Process, Email Messages, and Promo Codes
  3. You should now see the Shopping Cart settings.

Note: If you don’t see the Shopping Cart Options, verify that this account is able to access that feature. (Possible link to support or page to enable that)

Setting Up Checkout Steps and Labels (Basic)

  1. Click Checkout Process. Screenshot: Checkout Process page showing form sections and Save and Cancel buttons

  2. For the "Checkout Method" step, fill in the required information:

  3. Step title: Enter a title for the Checkout Method step. If left blank, this will default to "Checkout Method."

  4. Step Instruction: Update the Step instructions if desired. This will default to "If you already have an account with us, please log in to complete your checkout."
  5. Checkout Method: Check the box(es) next your preferred checkout method:
    • Existing customers: Check this box to allow Existing Customers to log in with their username and passwords to checkout.
    • Guest: Check this box to allow guests to checkout without signing in.

  6. Submit button label: Update the button label if desired. If left blank, this will default to "Continue to Checkout."

  7. Update the Checkout label & description if desired. The label will default to "Checkout Details" if left blank.

  8. Fill in the required information for the "Billing & Shipping Address" step:

  9. Step title: Enter a title for the Billing & Shipping Address step. If left blank, this will default to "Billing Information."

  10. If you would like to Allow customers to ship orders to an address other than the billing address, toggle to Yes.

  11. "Billing & Shipping Address" form content: Update the form content as desired. Use the Edit button next to form fields to make edits to your form fields. Click Add Form Content to add new form fields. Use the gear icon to delete any extra fields.

  12. The Display "Shipping Method" step will be toggled off by default. To display this step, toggle to Yes, then fill out the required information:

  13. Step title: Enter a title for the Shipping Method step. If left blank, this will default to "Shipping Method."

  14. If you would like to Allow customers to complete order if no shipping rates are returned, toggle to Yes. This will allow customers to checkout even if there is no shipping rate associated with their order. Update the "No Rates Returned" error message if desired.

  15. Order shipping methods by: Toggle to your preferred option to order shipping methods by. You can list these alphabetically, or by rate.

  16. We are going to skip the "Payment Method" step. This step will be covered in more detail later in this article.

  17. By default, the "Additional Information" step will be turned off. To display this step, toggle to Yes, then fill out the required information:

  18. Step title: Enter a title for the Additional Information step. If left blank, this will default to "Additional Information."

  19. "Additional Information" form content: Click the green Add Form Content button to add additional fields to your checkout form.

  20. For the "Order Review" step, fill in the required information:

  21. Step title: Enter a title for the Order Review step. If left blank, this will default to "Order Review."
  22. Step instructions: Enter any Order Review instructions necessary for your website visitors.

  23. Submit button label: Update the button label text if desired.

  24. Fill in the required information for the "Order Completion & Response" step:

  25. Step title: Enter a title for the Order Completion & Response step. If left blank, this will default to "Order Complete."

  26. Response type: Toggle to your preferred Response type. If you choose to Display a response message, you can customize the message as needed. You can also choose to Redirect to another page, then select your page using the dropdown menu.

  27. Click Save & Finish to return to the Shopping Cart settings page.

Connecting a Payment Method (Intermediate, Admin)

Regular users may be able to select a payment method in checkout, but adding or editing payment gateways is usually an admin task.

For now, use the Payment Gateways guide for full setup steps.

After you add a gateway:

  1. Click My Website, then Website Settings.

  2. Click Shopping Cart to return to the Shopping Cart settings page, then click Checkout Process.

  3. Scroll to the "Payment Method" step, and toggle to Yes.

  4. Update the Step title if desired. This will default to "Payment Information" if left blank.

  5. Select your new Payment gateway using the dropdown menu.

  6. Update the payment gateway settings. These will vary based on the Payment Gateway selected.

  7. At the bottom of the page, click Save & Finish.

Configuring Tax Settings (Advanced, Admin)

Tax setup is usually handled by an administrator.

  1. Click My Website, then Website Settings.

  2. Click Shopping Cart.

  3. Click Tax Calculations.

  4. Click Tax Settings.

Screenshot: Tax Settings page showing Tax status options and Save Changes button

  1. Choose your tax status:

  2. Disable tax calculations if you do not plan to charge tax.

  3. Basic for simple item-level tax behavior. If you would like to Apply tax to shipping costs, toggle to Yes.

  4. Tax calculator for address-based tax behavior. Toggle to your preferred Address used to calculate tax. If you would like to Apply tax to shipping costs, toggle to Yes.

  5. Click Save Changes to return to the Tax Calculations page.

Creating Order Email Messages (Advanced)

  1. Click My Website, then Website Settings.

  2. Click Shopping Cart.

  3. Click Email Messages.

  4. Click Add Email Message.

Screenshot: Email Messages list page with Add Email Message button and status badges

  1. By default, your new message will be active. Toggle to No at any time to deactivate this message.

  2. Enter a descriptive Title for your message.

  3. Select your preferred Email type. This can be an Order response, Order notification, Additional order notification or Shipment shipped message.

  4. Is this message for specific pages? Toggle to Yes if you would like to associate this message with a specific page or pages. Choose your page(s) by selecting it in the Available items list, then use the arrow to move it to Selected items.

  5. Toggle to your preferred Sender email address. This is who the email will be sent from. The Site default email address will be selected by default. The Billing - Email and Shipping - Email will use the customer's email when sending this message. You can also enter a Custom email address.

Note: If your domain is marked as "Domain not verified," follow the verification help link before sending live messages.

  1. Select your preferred Recipient email address. This is who the email will be sent to. Select Billing - Email or Shipping - Email to send the email directly to the customer. This is a great option for Order response or Shipment shipped email types. If you would like to notify someone internally, an Order notification or Additional order notification, select Other email address(es) and enter your preferred email address, or a comma-separated list of emails. If no recipient is selected, this email will be sent to the Site Default email address.

  2. Enter a Subject for your email.

  3. Enter a Message for your email.

  4. Specify your Included billing information by selecting from the Available items list, and moving items to the Selected list using the provided arrows.

  5. Specify your Included shipping information by selecting from the Available items list, and moving items to the Selected list using the provided arrows.

  6. Specify your Included additional information by selecting from the Available items list, and moving items to the Selected list using the provided arrows.

  7. By default, Include message tracking number will be toggled to Yes. Toggle to No if you would like to omit any associated tracking numbers from this email message.

  8. By default, Include file download link will be toggled to Yes. If you do not wish to include the file download link in this email, toggle to No.

  9. By default, Include payment information will be toggled to No. If you would like to include associated payment information in this message, toggle to Yes.

  10. Click Save & Finish.

Editing Order Email Messages (Intermediate)

Your site comes with pre-built default email messages that you can customize to use with your ecommerce checkouts.

  1. Click My Website, then Website Settings.

  2. Click Shopping Cart.

  3. Click Email Messages.

  4. Click the title of the email you wish to edit.

  5. Make any necessary changes, then click Save & Finish.

Tips, Notes, and Helpful Guidance

  • Use clear labels customers can understand quickly.
  • Keep payment gateway titles short and descriptive. Include the gateway type in the name, so it is easier to select on payment forms across your website. For example: ABC Organization Stripe
  • After changing tax behavior, place a small test order to confirm expected totals.

Troubleshooting

Problem: You cannot find the Shopping Cart in Website Settings

Solution:

  • Ask your administrator to grant you access to the Shopping Cart by updating your permissions.

Problem: Save & Finish is not working

Solution:

  • Scroll through the form to look for warning text near required fields.
  • Fill in any missing required fields, then click Save & Finish again.

Problem: My payment gateway does not appear in checkout

Solution:

  • Make sure the "Payment Method" step is toggled on in the Checkout Process settings.
  • Confirm the gateway was added to the "Payment Method" step in the Checkout Process settings.

Problem: Tax options are missing or limited

Solution:

  • Confirm you are on Tax Settings (not just the Tax Calculations settings page).
  • Ask an administrator to verify your role access.

Problem: I am seeing a "Domain Not Verified" warning message

Solution:

  • Follow the on-screen verification help link to verify your domain.

Screenshot: Example warning message for unverified email domain

Summary

You can use Shopping Cart settings to customize the checkout process for ecommerce checkouts on your site, including how customers pay, how tax is handled, and which order emails are sent. Start with checkout basics, then move to payment, tax, and email setup based on your role and access.