Setting up a custom domain for your online store is one of the most important decisions you will make. It's the foundation for your brand. This is how your customers will remember you.\ A typical Reetail store is hosted on a .reetail.store subdomain. This isn’t exactly pretty. Attaching a custom domain will let you bring in your own domain name.

Buy a new domain

The first step is to buy a domain. We recommend NameCheap. The set up is easy and the prices are reasonable.

Tip - Instead of looking for a .com, try looking for a .shop or .store which are typically much cheaper.

Update your DNS

DNS records tell your domain provider where to send people when they type your domain name in the browser. In our case, we want to send people to your Reetail store.

Follow these steps to add your DNS records depending your domain provider:

Namecheap

To add a CNAME record to your Namecheap DNS configuration, follow these steps:

Go to the Namecheap website and sign in to your account.
Click on the "Dashboard" button in the top right corner.
In the "Domains" tab, click on the domain for which you want to add a CNAME record.
Click on the "Manage" button.
Scroll down to the "Advanced DNS" section and click on the "Add New Record" button.
In the "Type" dropdown menu, select "CNAME".
In the "Host" field, enter the subdomain you want to use.
To use the root domain like "cookiestore.com", use "@" (without the quotes).
To use a subdomain like: "shop.cookiestore.com", use the first part, "shop" as the value.
In the "Value" field, enter "cname.reetail.store" (without the quotes).
Click the "Save All Changes" button to add the CNAME record.

It may take some time for the changes to take effect, as DNS updates can take up to 48 hours to propagate.

GoDaddy

To add a CNAME record to your GoDaddy DNS configuration, follow these steps:

Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio.
Go to the domain you would like to add and navigate to "Domain Edit Options" > "Edit DNS".
Select "Add" to add a new record.
In the "Type" dropdown menu, select "CNAME".
In the "Name" field, enter:
To use the root domain like "cookiestore.com", use "@" (without the quotes).
To use a subdomain like: "shop.cookiestore.com", use the first part, "shop" as the value.
In the "Value" field, enter "cname.reetail.store" (without the quotes).
Leave the "TTL" field empty.
Click the "Save" button to add the CNAME record.

It may take some time for the changes to take effect, as DNS updates can take up to 48 hours to propagate.

1&1 Ionos

To add a CNAME record to your 1&1 Ionos DNS configuration, follow these steps:

It may take some time for the changes to take effect, as DNS updates can take up to 48 hours to propagate.

HostGator

To add a CNAME record to your HostGator DNS configuration, follow these steps:

Go to the HostGator website and sign in to your account.
Click on the "My Account" tab.
Scroll down to the "Domains" section and click on the domain for which you want to add a CNAME record.
Click on the "Advanced DNS Zone Editor" tab. Scroll down to the "Add a Record" section.
In the "Type" dropdown menu, select "CNAME".
In the "Name" field, enter:
To use the root domain like "cookiestore.com", use "@" (without the quotes).
To use a subdomain like: "shop.cookiestore.com", use the first part, "shop" as the value.
In the "Address" field, enter "cname.reetail.store" (without the quotes).
In the "TTL" field, you can specify how long the DNS server should cache the record before requesting updated information. You can leave this field at the default value or specify a different time in seconds.
Click the "Add Record" button to add the CNAME record.

It may take some time for the changes to take effect, as DNS updates can take up to 48 hours to propagate.

Test your configuration

You can use a tool like MX Toolbox to verify that the DNS changes have indeed propagated over.

Here's what my domain looks like once it's configured:

## Attaching the new domain to Reetail

Go to your Reetail App Settings, add your new domain under "Custom Domain". Make sure to not include any "https://", "http://", or "www".

Additional Verification

In most cases, setting the CNAME record should be enough to connect the domain. In rare occassions, you might be asked to add an additional TXT record to your DNS to verify. Follow Step 2 with your hosting provider to add that record.

Congratulations - Now you can access your store at your custom domain!

FAQ

Domain is not connecting. Make sure that that domain name in Reetail settings exactly matches the domain name that you set the CNAME for in the DNS. A domain with www, like www.cookiestore.com is considered different from cookiestore.com. Make sure either both are www or neither are.

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