How to open your store
From empty spreadsheet to live store in about ten minutes. No coding, no app installs, and SpreadFront never gets access to your Google files: your sheet only needs a public view link.
1. Create your product sheet
Copy the template sheet to your Google Drive: one click, then just edit the sample rows.
Or start from scratch: go to sheet.new, put the column names in the first row, then one product per row. You can copy this block into cell A1 as a starting point. If it lands in a single column, select column A and use Data → Split text to columns:
Name Price Discounted Price Description Category Brand Tag Availability Thumbnail Image1 Image2 Lavender Candle 12.90 9.90 Hand-poured soy wax candle, 40h burn time Candles MajaCraft Bestseller Available https://www.example.com/lavender.jpg Vanilla Candle 12.90 Classic vanilla scent Candles MajaCraft Available https://www.example.com/vanilla.jpg Gift Box 29.00 Three candles in a gift box Sets MajaCraft New Sold Out https://www.example.com/box.jpg
What each column means
| Column | Required | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | yes | Product title. Rows without a name are skipped. | Lavender Candle |
| Price | yes | Regular price, number only or with symbol. Both 12.90 and 12,90 work. | 12.90 |
| Discounted Price | no | Sale price: shown big, with the regular price struck through. Must be lower than Price. | 9.90 |
| Description | no | Shown on the product page. Plain text works as-is (line breaks kept), and Markdown is supported for richer formatting: **bold**, *italic*, [link](https://…), lists with "- " or "1. ", headings with "## ". | Hand-poured soy wax… |
| Category | no | Products get filter chips per category on the store home page. | Candles |
| Brand | no | Adds a brand filter when there is more than one. | MajaCraft |
| Tag | no | Small badge on the product photo. | Bestseller |
| Availability | no | "Sold Out", "No" or "Hidden" disables ordering; anything else (or empty) = available. A numeric Stock column of 0 also marks it sold out. | Available |
| Thumbnail | no | Main photo: a link, pasted as text (see images below). | https://…/lavender.jpg |
| Image1 – Image4 | no | Extra photos for the product page gallery. | https://…/detail.jpg |
| SKU, SEO Title, SEO Description | no | Optional extras for inventory codes and search-engine text. | LAV-40 |
| File | no | Name of a file uploaded in your dashboard's Files section: makes the product digital, delivered as a download link (paid plans). "File Download" works as a header too. | my-ebook.pdf |
| Interval | no | "weekly", "monthly" or "yearly" turns the product into a subscription billed automatically by card (paid plans). | monthly |
| Payment Link | no | This product's own pay-by-link URL (e.g. a Stripe Payment Link): buyers get a "Pay online" button after ordering when enabled in settings. | https://buy.stripe.com/… |
Coming from store.link? Your existing sheet works unchanged, same columns (C2 is understood as the variant column).
2. Product images: free hosting that works
Paste the image address as text into the Thumbnail / Image cells. Important: pictures inserted into the sheet (Insert → Image) are invisible to every external service. That's a Google Sheets limitation, not ours, so always paste a link instead. All of these work:
- Google Drive (recommended): upload photos to a Drive folder, right-click a photo → Share → “Anyone with the link” → Copy link → paste into the cell. SpreadFront converts Drive links to fast direct image links automatically.
- Postimages (postimages.org): free, no account needed: upload, copy the “Direct link”, paste.
- ImgBB (imgbb.com): free, copy the “Direct link”.
- Dropbox: copy the share link; we convert it automatically.
- Any image already on your own website: right-click → “Copy image address”.
Square photos around 800×800px look best in the grid. Use your own images. Don't hotlink other shops' photos.
3. Share the sheet
In Google Sheets click Share (top right) → under “General access” choose Anyone with the link, role Viewer → Copy link. That's the only access SpreadFront ever needs: we can see the sheet, never touch it.
4. Create the store
- Sign in with Google or an emailed link (used only to know who you are, no file access).
- Enter a store name, pick your address (
yourshop.spreadfront.com), paste the sheet link, choose your currency. - Click Create store: we read the sheet, and you're live.
5. Get paid: 0% commission
In your store settings you can enable either or both:
- Cash on delivery / pickup: on by default; you arrange payment when fulfilling the order.
- Per-product payment links: put each product's own link (a Stripe Payment Link, a PayPal.Me link, or any pay-by-link URL) in a Payment Link column in your sheet. After ordering, the customer gets a "Pay online" button per item, plus their order number. Tip: use links that stay valid for more than one purchase, like Stripe's product Payment Links, not single-use links that die after the first buyer.
6. Running the store
- Editing products: just edit the sheet, and changes appear on the store within a minute (or instantly via the “Refresh products” button in your dashboard).
- Orders: every order appears in your dashboard with the customer's details, and the app pings your phone instantly. Click the buyer's email for a ready-made confirmation draft. Update the order status as you process it.
- Sold out? Type “Sold Out” in the Availability column, and the product stays visible but can't be ordered.
- Look & feel: store settings let you set a logo, banner, description, and switch between the light and dark theme.