Quick Overview: STORES Isn't Just an Online-Only Service
Most people searching "STORES" want to understand the basics of how this platform works. The short answer: STORES is an online store builder you can start with no setup or monthly fee, and at the same time, it's a store-operations platform that connects with a physical store's POS register, spanning both online and offline. This guide covers how you can start building for free, how many design templates are available, the basics of payment processing fees, extra features like pre-orders and digital product sales, and the strength of linking with a physical store's POS register.
Starting With No Setup or Monthly Fee
According to the official site of STORES, Inc. (the company behind the platform), there are two plans for opening an online store: Free and Standard. The Free plan costs nothing — no setup fee, no monthly fee. The Standard plan costs ¥3,300/month (tax included) on an annual contract, or ¥3,960/month if paid monthly. Neither plan charges a setup fee to open your store itself.
That said, there are differences elsewhere: the Free plan charges ¥27,720 (tax included) for the payment terminal (for mobile card payments, etc.), while the Standard plan includes one terminal for free. It's worth weighing which plan makes sense alongside the processing fee rates and features you actually need.
A Wide Range of Intuitive Design Templates
On design, the official site states that 48 design templates are available for free. You don't need specialized design knowledge — picking from the available templates alone is enough to put together a polished-looking shop page.
The Basics of Payment Processing Fees
On fees, according to STORES's official site, the online-store processing fee is 5.5%+ on the Free plan and 3.6%+ on the Standard plan. For carrier billing and buy-now-pay-later methods like PayPal, Paidy, atone, Rakuten Pay, PayPay balance, and Amazon Pay, the rate is somewhat higher — 6.5% on Free and 4.6% on Standard. Which plan comes out ahead depends on your expected monthly sales and which payment methods your customers tend to use.
Extra Features: Pre-Orders and Digital Products
Beyond simple in-stock product sales, STORES offers a pre-order feature suited to items that haven't arrived yet or are made to order. You can set a release date and an order window, and start taking orders before the product is physically in hand. There's also a "digital content" product category listed among the available types, meaning intangible products can be sold too (it's worth checking STORES's own help center for the specifics of how to set this up).
The Strength of Linking With a Physical Store's POS Register
One of STORES's defining features is that it's not just a standalone online store service — it connects with "STORES Register," a POS system built for physical stores. According to the official site, linking with STORES Register lets you manage product and inventory data across your online store and physical store from one place. On the Standard plan, this POS feature is included at no extra cost.
A 2022 survey of shops using STORES Register found that apparel and fashion was the top industry at 24.4% of adopters, with retail overall making up roughly 60% of users. The same survey found that among shops using both STORES Register and the online store together, 76.4% actually use the inventory-linking feature between their physical and online channels. For a business running both a physical shop and an online store, that kind of unified inventory tracking — rather than managing two separate stock counts by hand — is a clear point of difference from online-only store builders.
FAQ
Q. Can I start on STORES for free?
A. Yes — the Free plan has no setup fee or monthly fee. That said, other costs can still apply, such as payment processing fees and a terminal fee if you use one for payments, so it's worth checking the full cost picture before committing.
Q. Is there any benefit to using STORES if I don't have a physical store?
A. Yes. Even without a physical store, you can make full use of the free design templates and features like pre-orders as a standalone online store. If there's a chance you'll open a physical location later, the POS integration could become useful down the line.
Q. Should I choose the Free plan or the Standard plan?
A. Since the processing fee rates differ, which one comes out ahead depends on your expected monthly sales and order volume. A practical approach is starting with the Free plan to test things out, then considering a switch to Standard once sales pick up.
Summary and Key Takeaway
"What is STORES" isn't fully answered by calling it just an "online store builder." Understanding both sides — how easy it is to start with no setup or monthly cost, and how it's designed to connect online and offline through POS integration — reveals the kind of business it actually fits well. Building the online store itself is only a means toward growing the business; the real question to face, once the design and features are in place, is how you'll actually grow sales from there.
For more on this, see our analysis of the acquisition strategies behind shops actually running on STORES.
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