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How to Build a Complete Online Store with ZenBusiness Website Builder

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To build a complete online store, open ZenBusiness Website Builder in the Advanced editor with eCommerce enabled. Set up your business information, add or import products, organize categories, configure SKUs and inventory, connect payments, set taxes and shipping, add the cart, test an order, and publish the site.

Before You Build Your Store

A full online store requires the Advanced editor and an eCommerce add-on or store-enabled package. The Advanced editor uses Duda's Classic Editor interface, where design components appear under Add → Widgets. The Simple editor does not include a complete product catalog, cart, checkout, inventory, shipping, tax, and order-management flow.

The current ZenBusiness Native Store configuration supports up to 100 products in the catalog and up to 8 variants per product. Duda's CSV importer can process a larger batch—up to 500 products and variants combined—but an import cannot increase the store beyond its 100-product catalog capacity.

For detailed, task-specific instructions, use these guides:

Before adding products, gather:

  • Business name, address, contact information, currency, and notification email
  • Product names, descriptions, prices, and categories
  • Product images and image alt text
  • Internal SKUs and inventory quantities
  • Product options such as size, color, or material
  • Package weights and dimensions for physical products
  • Shipping regions, rates, and pickup locations
  • Tax settings appropriate for where you sell
  • An account with a supported payment provider
  • Store policies for shipping, returns, privacy, and terms

In the editor, go to Store → Business Settings first. Confirm your business address, regional settings, currency, and the email addresses that should receive order notifications. These details can appear on invoices and affect payment, tax, and shipping setup.

Add Products One at a Time

Go to Store → Catalog → Product Catalog → + Add a product, then select the product type. The current ZenBusiness store supports physical products, services, and donations. Duda also documents digital products, but the current ZenBusiness Native Store configuration does not allow digital products to appear on the published site.

For each product, complete the fields that apply:

  1. Add a unique product title and a clear description.
  2. Add the price and optional sale price.
  3. Upload product images and add descriptive alt text.
  4. Enter an SKU if your business uses one.
  5. Turn on inventory tracking for physical products and enter the available quantity.
  6. In Product options, select + Add options. Enter an option name, enter its values separated by commas, and select Add. Add every option before editing variants.
  7. Open Manage Variants and give each generated variant its own SKU, inventory quantity, image, availability, and price adjustment when needed.
  8. Add the product to one or more categories.
  9. Add package weight and dimensions if the product ships.
  10. Review the product page title, meta description, and URL handle.
  11. Set the product to Active when it is ready to appear in the store.

Add all product options before editing individual variants. Adding another option later can regenerate the variants and overwrite variant-level changes you already made.

Understand products, options, and variants

A product is the main item, such as a T-shirt. Options are choices such as size and color. Variants are the sellable combinations of those choices, such as Medium/Blue.

The number of products and variants depends on the store plan. The current ZenBusiness Website Builder eCommerce configuration supports up to 100 products and 8 variants per product. Duda also allows up to 20 reusable product options across the catalog and up to 50 values per option, but the eight-variant limit still controls how many sellable combinations one product can have. If your product requires more, split it into separate product listings or consider a commerce platform designed for larger, more complex catalogs.

Import Products, SKUs, and Inventory from a CSV File

If you have many products, import them with a CSV file instead of entering each one manually. Go to Store → Catalog → Product Catalog → Import, select the source of your catalog, and download the CSV template. Using the template is the safest way to preserve the exact column names the importer expects.

A single CSV file can include up to 500 total products and variants, and the file can be up to 20 MB. Variants count toward the 500-item batch limit. This import limit does not override the current ZenBusiness Native Store's 100-product catalog capacity. For example, a file containing 75 products and 425 variants reaches Duda's 500-item batch limit while remaining below the 100-product catalog limit.

At minimum, each product needs:

  • title — a unique product name
  • price — a number without a currency symbol

Common optional columns include:

CSV column What to enter
sku Your product or variant SKU, up to 50 characters
inventory IN STOCK, OUT OF STOCK, or a numeric quantity
description Product description, up to 5,000 characters
status ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or DRAFT for products
type PHYSICAL, DIGITAL, SERVICE, or DONATION
category A category; separate multiple categories with semicolons
product-image-url A publicly accessible image URL
weight, height, width, length Package measurements for shipping
product-option-name-1 An option name such as Size or Color
product-option-value-1 Option values separated as required by the template
seo-title Product page title, up to 70 characters
seo-description Product meta description, up to 320 characters

After uploading the CSV, confirm that the detected product count is correct. If the importer finds a problem, download the CSV error report, correct the listed rows or headers, and upload the file again. Review the imported catalog before activating products.

Update an existing catalog in bulk

To update products safely, first export the current Product Catalog. Edit that exported CSV, return to Product Catalog → Import, upload the file, and select Update existing products.

Do not change the url-handle while performing a bulk update. It is the product’s unique identifier; changing it can create a new product instead of updating the existing one. Product type also cannot be changed through a bulk CSV update.

Use SKUs, UPCs, and Barcodes Correctly

An SKU is your internal stock-keeping identifier. Give each sellable variant a unique SKU so orders and inventory can distinguish Medium/Blue from Large/Blue. Keep SKU columns formatted as text in your spreadsheet so leading zeros are not removed.

A UPC is a standardized barcode number assigned outside ZenBusiness. The Website Builder native-store CSV format has an sku field but no dedicated upc or barcode column. If you need to preserve a UPC, you can:

  • Use the SKU field for the UPC when you do not maintain a separate internal SKU, or
  • Add a custom product field named UPC or Barcode when that information should be retained with the product.

Website Builder does not provide a built-in handheld barcode-scanning workflow. If barcode scanning, warehouse receiving, purchase orders, supplier synchronization, or point-of-sale inventory syncing is essential, confirm your external inventory system can work with the store before loading the full catalog.

Set Up Inventory

For a physical product, open the product and find Inventory. Turn on Track Inventory when you want the store to reduce stock automatically as customers purchase items.

  • Products without options can use one inventory quantity and SKU.
  • Products with options should track inventory at the variant level.
  • Each variant can have its own SKU and quantity.
  • A numeric quantity lets the store track remaining units.
  • IN STOCK or OUT OF STOCK can be used when you do not need a numeric count.
  • Review inventory when canceling an order and restock the items when appropriate.

Inventory does not replenish itself when new stock arrives. Update quantities manually or export, edit, and re-import the catalog. If you also sell through another platform or physical location, confirm whether your external system synchronizes stock; do not assume the same SKU creates an automatic sync.

Organize and Display the Store

Create categories and subcategories so customers can browse the catalog. When the store is created, Website Builder adds store, product, category, and customer login pages. Active products and categories can be included in the site’s generated sitemap.

The Product Gallery is normally added to the Store homepage. The Shopping Cart widget may not be added automatically, so confirm that customers can open their cart and begin checkout from every relevant page.

Before launch:

  • Add the store to the main navigation.
  • Confirm category links lead to the correct products.
  • Check product images and descriptions on desktop and mobile.
  • Confirm each active product has an Add to Cart button.
  • Add shipping, returns, privacy, and terms pages.
  • Review product SEO titles, descriptions, URLs, and image alt text.

Connect a Payment Provider

Go to Store → Business Settings → Payments and connect a provider available for your location and store configuration. Options can include Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Mollie, and manual or offline payments.

ZenBusiness provides the storefront but does not process the payment. Your payment provider handles verification, transaction fees, disputes, refunds, and payouts. Complete the provider’s identity and bank-account verification before launch.

Publish your storefront before connecting Stripe. Stripe may need to verify that the store URL is reachable. If verification fails, confirm the site is published and enter the exact live URL, including www. when your site uses it.

Configure Taxes, Shipping, and Pickup

Go to Store → Business Settings → Taxes. Depending on the plan, you can create manual tax zones or use Avalara for automated tax calculations in supported locations. Automated taxes do not determine where your business has a duty to collect tax. Ask a qualified tax professional which jurisdictions and product tax codes apply to your business.

For physical products, go to Store → Business Settings → Shipping & Pickup. Create shipping zones for the locations you serve, then add one or more methods:

  • Free shipping
  • Flat-rate shipping
  • Rates based on order price
  • Rates based on total order weight
  • Automated rates and labels through Easyship, when available
  • Free in-store pickup

Add accurate package weights and dimensions before using weight-based or automated rates. Test checkout with addresses inside and outside each shipping zone. If no valid shipping method covers the cart’s destination, weight, or price, the customer may be unable to complete the purchase.

Test and Publish Your Store

Complete this launch check before accepting real orders:

  1. Confirm the site is published on the correct domain with SSL active.
  2. Open the store on desktop and mobile.
  3. Search or browse to each major category.
  4. Test products with and without variants.
  5. Confirm prices, inventory, and SKUs are correct.
  6. Add products to the cart and change quantities.
  7. Test discount codes if you use them.
  8. Test shipping or pickup with multiple addresses.
  9. Confirm taxes and the final order total.
  10. Complete a test order using the provider’s test mode or a low-price product.
  11. Confirm the order appears under Store → Sales → Orders.
  12. Confirm merchant and customer emails arrive.
  13. Test refund, cancellation, fulfillment, and inventory-restock steps.
  14. Remove or hide the test product, then republish any final changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I upload a large product catalog to my ZenBusiness website?

Use Store → Catalog → Product Catalog → Import and download the native-store CSV template. Format your catalog with the template's exact headers, upload the CSV, verify the detected item count, and run the import. Each file can contain up to 500 products and variants combined and can be up to 20 MB, but the current ZenBusiness plan supports no more than 100 products in the catalog.

What is required in the product CSV?

Every product needs a unique title and a numeric price. Do not include a currency symbol in the price. Other fields, including SKU, inventory, description, status, product type, category, images, package measurements, options, and SEO text, are optional but should be included when they apply to your products.

Can I update prices and inventory in bulk?

Yes. Export the current Product Catalog, edit the exported CSV, then import it and select Update existing products. Keep each product’s url-handle unchanged so the importer matches the existing item. Review the detected update count and download the error report if any rows fail.

Does ZenBusiness Website Builder support SKUs?

Yes. Products and variants can have SKUs, and the CSV importer supports an sku column with values up to 50 characters. Use a unique SKU for every sellable variant. Format SKU cells as text before editing the CSV so spreadsheet software does not remove leading zeros or convert long values.

Where do I enter a UPC or barcode?

The native-store product format does not have a dedicated UPC or barcode field. Use the SKU field for the UPC if you do not need a separate internal SKU, or create a custom product field to retain the UPC. Built-in handheld barcode scanning is not included, so verify external inventory workflows separately.

Can I track inventory for every size and color?

Yes. Add all size, color, or material options first, then turn on Track Inventory and open Manage Variants. Enter a unique SKU and quantity for each sellable combination. Adding a new option after editing variants can regenerate them and overwrite variant-level changes, so finalize the option structure first.

Why did my CSV create duplicate products instead of updating them?

The most common cause is a changed or missing url-handle. For existing products, the URL handle is the unique identifier used during bulk updates. Export the current catalog, edit that file without changing its URL handles, upload it again, and select Update existing products rather than importing the rows as new items.

Why is my product missing an Add to Cart button?

Confirm eCommerce is active, the product status is Active, the item or selected variant is in stock, and its price is valid. Then confirm the Product Options widget appears when choices are required and that the Shopping Cart widget is on the site. Republish after correcting the product or page settings.

How many products and variants can my store have?

The current ZenBusiness Website Builder eCommerce plan supports up to 100 products and 8 variants per product. A shirt with two sizes and four colors creates eight variants. The CSV importer can process up to 500 products and variants in one file, but it cannot increase the catalog beyond 100 products. If you need more products or variant combinations, split items carefully or consider a commerce platform built for larger and more complex catalogs.

Can I sell digital downloads?

Not with the current ZenBusiness Native Store configuration. Duda supports digital products on some plans, but a live ZenBusiness test store reported that digital products cannot appear on the published site. Use physical, service, or donation products that appear in + Add a product, and do not promise downloadable-product delivery unless that option is enabled in your store.

Does inventory sync with my physical store or supplier?

Not automatically just because the same SKU exists in both systems. Website Builder tracks online inventory when enabled, but supplier, warehouse, point-of-sale, and marketplace synchronization depends on a compatible external integration. Test that integration before launch or maintain a process for exporting, reconciling, and updating inventory manually.

Which payment provider should I use?

Use a provider available in Store → Business Settings → Payments that supports your country, currency, products, and payout needs. Stripe and PayPal are common choices, while other providers and manual payments may also be available. The provider—not ZenBusiness—sets transaction fees, verification requirements, payout timing, and dispute rules.

What should I test before publishing my online store?

Test the full customer journey on desktop and mobile: browse categories, select variants, add items to the cart, apply discounts, calculate taxes and shipping, complete payment, receive emails, view the order, fulfill or cancel it, and confirm inventory changes correctly. Also test an address outside your normal shipping area.