You won’t do this alone. Your implementation contact and Customer Success Manager set up your account with you, and several settings — pricing, coverage, and revenue share among them — are configured in partnership with the Order Protection team rather than by you directly.
Your setup checklist
1
Watch the dashboard walkthrough
Start with the Order Protection App Walkthrough — a video tour of the merchant dashboard. It’s the fastest way to get oriented before you start changing settings.
2
Log in to your dashboard
Your dashboard lives at app.orderprotection.com. Access starts with an invite from your implementation contact, so if you haven’t received one, ask them to send it.
3
Add your team
Invite the people who’ll work claims day to day, and give each of them the right level of access.
- How to invite a new team member
- Learn about roles — review these before inviting, so people land with the right permissions the first time
- Granting developer app access
4
Review your claim settings
These control how claims are resolved and how long they sit at each stage. Get them right early — they shape every claim your customers file.
- Account Store Credit — whether store credit is offered as a resolution, and in what form
- Claim Queue Settings — how long claims wait before moving automatically
- Alternate Sales Channel Settings — for claims on orders placed outside your store
5
Review your policies
Your Policies settings define the commercial and coverage terms of your account. Some are configured with your Order Protection team rather than self-serve, but you should understand all of them.
- Coverage Matrix — which claim types are covered, at what reimbursement, and what evidence customers must provide
- Policy Windows — how long after delivery a customer can file
- Shipping Pricing — what protection costs and who pays
- Widget — cart and checkout behavior, including which regions are opt-in
6
Map your product taxonomy (optional)
Only needed if you sell bundles or products made up of component SKUs — a water bottle with a separate lid, for example. If every product you sell is a single standalone item, skip this step entirely.If it does apply, set up your product taxonomy so a customer can file a claim against just the broken lid instead of the whole bottle. See how to upload your taxonomy and the CSV structure.It takes real effort to prepare, so start it early rather than saving it for last.
7
Set up your customizations
Make the experience look and sound like your brand:
- Branding your claim portal — logos, colors, and typography on your co-branded portal
- Email designer — the transactional emails customers receive, including your sender signature
- Widget customization — how protection appears in your cart and checkout
- Info modals — the “What’s this?” explainer customers can open
8
Connect your integrations
Connect the tools your team already uses — help desks, subscriptions, returns, and more. See the integrations directory for the full list.Connecting your help desk is worth doing before the next step: if you use Gorgias, Order Protection can generate draft SOPs from what your team has already documented there.
9
Set up your SOPs and macros
These teach both your team and claim automation how you want claims handled.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) — your store’s rules for handling claims. Active SOPs are used directly by claim automation, so the more specific they are, the more closely automation follows your policies. If your help desk is connected, you can generate a first set of SOPs from it rather than writing them from scratch.
- Message macros — the voice used when agents message your customers
10
Set up payment and payout methods
Make sure money can move in both directions before you go live.
- Add a payment method and set a default for your invoices
- Manage your payout methods so you receive your monthly payouts
- Read How Payouts Work and Claim Types Credited to understand what you’re paid and what’s reimbursed
After a few weeks: review your analytics
Once you have claims flowing, your analytics become the feedback loop for everything you configured above.- Analytics Dashboard — claim volume, resolution mix, and trends. Start with what you’ll see and filtering the dashboard.
- Analytics Gallery — customer-submitted claim photos, filtered by issue type. Useful for spotting packaging or product problems behind repeat claims.
Keeping things current
Onboarding isn’t quite finished when you go live. A few things are worth revisiting:- Your SOPs, as your policies change — automation follows whatever is active today.
- Your product taxonomy, as you add products. See keeping your taxonomy up to date.
- Your coverage and windows, once you can see real claim patterns in analytics.
Also worth reading
- Frequently Asked Questions — common questions about coverage, claims, and billing
- Order Protection as an Optional Service — opt-in/opt-out configuration and pricing compliance
- Order and Claim Tags — sync claim data back to Shopify for reporting and flows
- Manufacturer & Extended Warranties — if you offer warranty coverage alongside shipping protection