Set up demo shop: test new ideas without risk

A demo store is worth its weight in gold when you want to try things out without affecting your live store. Whether you need to test a new theme, experiment with a Black Friday setup, train a new employee, or simply see how a change works in practice, an extra test shop is the easiest and safest way to do it. In Shoporama, you can create an extra store under the same company in just a few minutes and copy products from your existing store, so you have something realistic to work with. A demo store is free as long as it has “demo” status.

This guide shows you how to create the demo store, copy products from your current store, test at your own pace, and how to extend the trial period when you need to.

Why set up a demo store?

A demo store is a regular Shoporama online store, but it operates alongside your actual store under the same company and has “demo” status. As long as the store is in demo status, it’s free. This means you can have a permanent or temporary testing ground at no extra cost. Typical use cases:

• Test Black Friday setups, discount codes, promotional banners, and sale prices without the risk of disrupting your live store in the middle of peak season.
• Try out a new theme with your actual products and see how the homepage, product pages, and checkout will look before you hit the button.
• Train new employees to create products, update descriptions, and manage the store without them risking any disruptions for real customers.
• Review new shipping configurations (e.g., GLS, PostNord, DAO) and prepare them in advance before the changes are deployed to production.
• Set up a dedicated demo environment for a B2B customer or supplier who wants to view the product range in your store without disrupting your regular operations.

How to set up the demo store

Setup takes less than a minute, and there’s no charge for creating the store itself. The store is created with “demo” status and remains free as long as it retains that status.

1. Log in to the Shoporama administration.
2. Go to the menu item Company → Online Stores.
3. Click Add Webshop.
4. Enter a web store address. The easiest option is to use a .shoporama.dk address(e.g., test-yourshopname.shoporama.dk), so you don’t have to mess with DNS and can get started quickly.
5. Save. Your new demo store has been created with the status “demo” and is ready to be configured.

Copy products from your existing store

The easiest way to populate the demo shop with realistic content is to copy products from your existing store. This is done directly from the product overview as a bulk action, and you can copy as many products at once as you like.

1. Go to your existing store and open the product overview.
2. Select the products you want to copy, either individually or all on the page.
3. Select the bulk action “Copy to another store.”
4. Select your new demo store as the destination.
5. Click " Copy." The products will be created as drafts (offline) in the demo store.

What Is Copied and What Isn’t

This feature copies everything associated with the product itself. Elements related to the store’s operations—such as orders, customers, themes, etc.—are not included, as the two stores are completely separate.

The copied products are created as drafts (offline), so they aren’t visible to visitors. This means you can review them at your leisure and manually activate them when you’re ready.

Test designs and configurations at your leisure

The demo store is a real Shoporama online store, so you can work with almost all the features you’re familiar with from your live store, but without any risk to operations or customers:

• Install and customize a new theme—try the Delaware theme, for example, or a completely different style.
• Build homepages and landing pages with the Page Designer without affecting the live homepage.
• Review shipping methods, category setup, custom fields, and texts.
• Test discount code setup, product variants, and templates for automated emails.
• Let a designer or developer work directly in the demo store with limited user access.

Limitations of a demo store

A demo store is intended as a safe testing environment, so there are some deliberate limitations you should be aware of:

• Payments do not work: You cannot process real payments in a demo store. Payment gateways are only activated once the store goes live, so you cannot complete a full checkout using a credit card, MobilePay, or similar methods during the testing period.
• Indexing is disabled: The demo store has a robots.txt file that blocks search engines. It will only become accessible to Google once the store goes live.
• Separate data: Orders, customers, statistics, and discount codes are not shared with your live store. From a data perspective, these are two separate stores.
• Unused demo stores may be deactivated: If a demo store remains unused for a long time (typically around 180 days after creation without being used), it may be automatically deactivated. Contact support if you want to ensure that your test store remains active. See the next section.

Extend the trial period

If a demo store remains unused for an extended period without being put into use, it may be automatically deactivated to prevent unused test stores from piling up. If you need to keep a shop running for a long time, or if you want to use it as a permanent test environment, you can have the trial period extended indefinitely by contacting support@shoporama.dk. We’ll agree together on how long it should run, and it will continue to be free as long as the shop remains in demo status.

Tips to Keep in Mind

• Use a .shoporama.dk address: It’s the fastest way to set up a new store—no DNS setup required, just an address like test-yourshopname.shoporama.dk, and you’re up and running.
• No need to worry about Google: Demo stores automatically have a robots.txt file that prevents indexing. You don’t have to remember to hide it from search engines yourself.
• Payments only work once the store is live: You can’t test a real payment gateway in a demo store. If you need to see the full checkout flow, the store must be put into production.
• Activate products manually: Copied products are created as drafts. Review them and activate them manually when you’re ready. This also gives you a good overview of what’s included.
• Plan separate setup: The theme, shipping settings, and discount codes must be set up in the demo store. They are not included with the products.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to have an extra demo store?

Nothing. As long as the store has “demo” status, it’s completely free—even if you leave it active for a long time. Only on the day you choose to launch the shop as a real store will you need to select a pricing plan and pay for it. If you have any questions, please email support@shoporama.dk.

Will my demo shop show up on Google?

No. Demo shops come with a built-in robots.txt file that instructs Google and other search engines not to index the site. So you don’t need to remember to block it yourself—it’s set up from day one and won’t be removed until the day the shop goes live.

Can I test real payments in a demo store?

No. Payment gateways do not work in a shop with “demo” status. If you need to test the full checkout flow with credit card payments or MobilePay, you’ll need to go live with the shop. The demo store works fine for testing the setup and the fields in the checkout; it’s only the actual payment processing that’s disabled.

Are orders, customers, and discount codes included when I copy the store?

No. Only product data is copied (name, price, descriptions, images, categories, variants, brand, supplier, meta fields). Orders, customers, statistics, discount codes, newsletter subscriptions, and the theme must be set up separately in the demo store. The two shops are completely separate in terms of data.

How do I know if a product has been copied correctly?

Copied products appear as drafts (offline) in the demo store. Go to Products, filter by status “draft,” and check that images, variants, and prices have been included. The product will only become visible to visitors once you activate it.

Can I invite a designer or colleague to work exclusively in the demo store?

Yes. Users are managed on a per-shop basis, so you can create a user with access to the demo shop without granting access to your actual shop. This is useful if, for example, a designer needs to experiment with the theme and page builder without affecting the live store.

How do I close the demo shop again when I’m done?

You can just leave it as is. If the demo store is never used, it will be automatically deactivated after approximately 180 days, and it won’t cost you anything in the meantime. If you want to close it immediately or extend the trial period beyond the standard duration, please email support@shoporama.dk. We can either shut down the shop or extend the trial period indefinitely, subject to agreement.

Can I use my own domain for the demo store?

Yes, but the easiest option is to use a free .shoporama.dk address, such as test-yourshopname.shoporama.dk. That way, you won’t have to mess with DNS settings, and the store will be ready right away. If you want to switch to your own domain later, you can always add it. See the DNS setup guide for details.