Build your first batch

You cannot tell in advance which niche Google will find first. So build several stores at once, set each one up the same way, give them the same fair run, and keep the ones that get found. This guide covers the batch page and the three steps after the build.

Why several

Each store is its own test. One store tells you about one niche. A batch tells you which of your niches gets found.

Open the batch page

Go to Stores > Create a Store and click Build several at once, or open my.freshstore.com/stores/batch. On a free trial the batch is capped at the trial's three stores.

Pick your stores

Three ways to add a store. Mix them as you like.

1. Researched niches. Six niche cards, each with a reason, four ratings, and a line showing how deep Amazon is for that niche in each country. Tick the ones you want. Press Show me more for a fresh six.
2. Pick a template. A ready-made store with its products already chosen. Templates cost fewer chips and build faster.
3. Type a niche. A few words, such as "cold-water swimming gear", then Add. AI Builder does the rest.

Not sure which niches go well together? Read Choose your niches as a set first.

Every store you tick appears in the Your batch list on the right, marked Template or AI Builder, with the chips it is likely to use. Up to ten stores build in one batch.

The License and chip lines

Under the list are two lines.

Licenses. "3 of 10 Licenses" means three stores picked and ten free Licenses on your plan. Pick more than you have free and the Build button switches off.

Chips. The estimate for the whole batch, against your balance. An AI Builder store and a template store cost different amounts, and each row shows its own figure, so swapping a few AI Builder stores for templates brings the total down. If the estimate is more than you have, top up or pick fewer stores. On a paid plan you may carry on anyway: if the chips run out the batch pauses until you top up and press Resume. More on chips: What are AI Chips?.

Press Build

Click Build N stores. Every store gets a free web address on our subdomain and an AI-chosen name; you can change both later. You land on the progress page, the batch's home from now on.

The progress page

Two stores build at a time. The rest show "Waiting its turn". At the top you see "4 of 10 ready" and how long the batch has run. You can leave the page; your dashboard shows the same count.

• Ready. Click the address to see the store, Manage to open it, or Put it on a domain.
• Needs attention. One store had a problem. Click Fix this store and press Retry there. The rest of the batch carries on.
• Ran out of AI chips. The batch pauses. Top up, press Retry on that store, then Resume.

Cancel the rest removes only the stores still waiting. Built stores stay.

When the last store finishes you get one email for the whole batch, listing the stores and any that need a hand. Its Open your batch button logs you straight in.

The three batch steps

After the build, the page shows Set up every store the same way: three steps counted across the batch, each with a Do it button. The same list sits on your dashboard as "Finish setting up your batch". Do them in this order.

1. Amazon tag on every store

A store cannot earn without your tag. If your account holds an Amazon US tag, Do it opens the Table view, where Use my Amazon US account tag applies it to every selected store at once. For other Amazon countries, add the tag in each store's settings under Affiliate IDs. See How to add your affiliate tracking IDs and How to create an Amazon tracking ID.

2. Each store on its own domain

Start on our subdomains and switch to a full domain after, or use your own domains. Two ways:

• Find a domain registers one through FreshStore. We set up the DNS, attach it and handle the search verification.
• Change domain moves the store onto a domain you already own. Add it first under Domains > Add a domain I already own.

Do this before you connect Google. When a store moves, its subdomain address stops working and search starts again on the new domain, so a store verified on the subdomain is verified again and its pages are found from zero. Move first, then connect. See Domain Names feature guide and How to add a custom domain.

3. Google connected on every store

Do it opens the Table view on the Search columns. Select the stores and run Connect to Google, then Connect to Bing for the stores on their own domain (Bing does not accept our subdomains). See Google Search Console and How to add your store to Bing.

Then the fair run

A fair run means every store in the batch had the same set-up and the same time. Tag, domain and Google on each one. A few articles each over the first months. Then leave them to be found. Search takes time, and the point of a batch is to compare like with like, so do not judge after a week.

When the run is done, open the Table view and read the stores against each other: Your store scorecard.