All documentation · Selling & payments

Hosted storefronts

Provision a hosted e-commerce storefront in minutes, pick a theme, connect a custom domain, set shipping charges and payment methods, and archive or delete a store safely.

8 min read · Reviewed 2026-07-13

A Clyentra storefront is a real, deployed e-commerce site — built, hosted and shipped for you. There is no server to rent and no build pipeline to babysit. You name it, pick a theme, and a few minutes later it is live and selling the products already in your catalog.

Where storefronts live

Go to /settings/stores. The screen is titled Stores — "Manage your hosted e-commerce storefronts" — and it has three tabs:

If you have never provisioned one, the empty state reads "No storefronts yet" — "Provision your first hosted storefront, pick a theme, and go live in minutes — no servers to manage." — with a Provision your first store button. After the first one, that button becomes New Store.

Provision a store

The sheet is titled Provision New Store: "Set up your hosted e-commerce storefront. Provisioning runs in the background and typically takes 1–3 minutes." You are not waiting on a spinner — close it and get on with something else.

1. Name the store. Store Name * needs at least two characters. As you type, Clyentra derives the URL Slug * for you — lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens only, starting and ending with a letter or number.
2. Edit the slug, or don't. The slug field is locked by default and stays in sync with the name. Press the lock button to unlock it and type your own. Once unlocked, it stops auto-syncing — that is the point.
3. Choose a Theme *. The gallery shows every available theme with a cover preview. Click a card to select it, or use the expand button to see the full preview set before you commit. The selected theme gets a check mark.
4. Generate the Store API Key *. "Generate a fresh API key that your storefront will use to communicate with this platform." Give the key a name, press Generate Key, then press Use this key for my store. The field confirms with API key ready.
5. Press Provision Store. The button changes to Provisioning… and the work moves to the background. The sheet closes and the store appears in the list with its status ticking forward.

The API key is shown exactly once: When the key is generated, Clyentra says so plainly: "Key generated — copy it now, it won't be shown again." Use the copy button and put it somewhere safe before you move on. There is no screen anywhere in Clyentra that will show you that key a second time — if you lose it, you generate a new one.

Reading the status

A store moves through three states on its way to selling:

The header of the Storefronts card carries counter pills — Live, Building, Archived — so a team running several stores can see the fleet at a glance.

Customize the storefront

Each store card has a Customize Storefront button that opens the CMS builder — the visual editor for the site's content and layout. You can also switch the theme later from inside the builder; you are not married to the one you picked at provisioning time.

Point a custom domain at it

A provisioned store gets a working URL immediately. To put it on your own domain, open the store's Domain panel.

1. Enter the Domain. The placeholder shows the shape it expects: shop.yourdomain.com. Press Assign.
2. Create the DNS records. Clyentra shows you exactly which records to create at your DNS provider — a CNAME for a subdomain or an A record for a root domain, plus a TXT verification record. The values are shown on screen, ready to copy.
3. Press Check Verification. Come back once the records are in place and press it. The button reads Checking… while it works.

DNS is slow, and that is normal: Clyentra tells you up front: "DNS propagation can take 5 minutes to 48 hours." If verification fails on the first try, the records are almost certainly right and the internet has not caught up yet. Wait, then press Check Verification again.

Shipping charges

The Shipping Charges tab defines what a customer pays for delivery. Each charge has a Name ("Standard Post, FedEx Express, ..."), an optional description, and a type:

The Active (visible at checkout) checkbox controls whether customers ever see the option, so you can build a holiday shipping rate weeks early and switch it on when you want it.

Under Conditions you bound when the charge applies: Min Cart Value, Max Cart Value, Min Items and Max Items. All four are optional and their placeholders say what happens when you leave them empty — "No minimum", "No maximum". This is how you build "free shipping over $75": a Free charge with a Min Cart Value of 75, and a Flat Rate charge that covers everything below it.

Payment methods

The Payments tab decides what a customer can pay with. For the US, Canada and Europe that is Stripe ("Online payments via credit/debit cards") and Cash on Delivery ("Pay in cash when the order is delivered"). Each has an on/off switch and an editable Display Label — the words the customer actually reads at checkout. Details are in orders-invoices-payments.

Archiving and deleting

Archiving is reversible. Archive Store suspends the deployment and makes the underlying repository read-only; the card greys out and the store leaves the Live count. Unarchive Store brings it back. Use archiving for a seasonal store, or one you are pausing rather than ending.

Permanent deletion destroys everything, and it means it: Permanently Delete Store? warns you: "This action cannot be undone." The repository, the hosting project, and all data are permanently lost. Clyentra makes you type delete {store name} exactly — the delete button stays disabled until it matches. That friction is deliberate. Archive first; delete only when you are certain.

What you need before you start

• The Ecom Store permission at Editor level. Provisioning, archiving and deleting all check it — see roles-and-permissions.
• A hosting token. Storefronts are built and deployed for you, and that deployment needs a Vercel token configured on your organization — see integrations.
• A catalog. An empty store is a very fast way to sell nothing. Get products in first — see products-and-coupons.

The storefront is not a silo: Orders placed on a hosted store land in /finance/orders. Carts that are abandoned land in /finance/abandoned-carts. Customers who buy become leads you can work. The storefront is a front door onto the same workspace, not a separate system to reconcile.